In the kingdom of Macesa, there is trouble. The king and queen are dead and their daughter Lila is due to inherit the throne. But there is trouble. The king had married an evil stepmother with a son who wants to inherit the throne. Check out part one here. The knight Princess Part 1.
Ken the pageboy crawled away from the hidden passage where he had been hiding and listening. He heard everything. They intended to kill the princess. He hurried across hidden passageways in the castle. Ever since the Queen and her son Brian had taken over the kingdom there were mercenary guards posted everywhere, all of them spies of the Queen.
Ken entered the chamber of Mary the nanny through a hidden passageway after knocking. She was not yet asleep. She was reading her bible and praying. Ken told her of the plot to kill Princess Lila. Mary thanked him and told him to get to bed she would think over the issue. She knew ken would not lie about such an issue and besides he was her nephew so he was loyal to her and the princess.
The next morning Mary went to see Lila the princess. The princess had virtually become a prisoner in the castle. Only her nanny and ladies in waiting were allowed into her chamber. Even some ladies in waiting had been changed so that some loyal to the evil Queen could spy on her.
Lila and Mary had breakfast together then bible study. The nanny told the princess what was going on in hushed tones.
“Princess we must leave this place. They will kill you if you refuse to marry Brian. You know you can’t marry that evil man. He will still end up killing you if you stay and marry him and he will destroy your spirit.”
“Oh Nanny Mary what will we do?” asked the princess.
Mary said, “Listen I prayed about this the whole night. God showed me the way. This is what we will do.” Mary whispered the plan to Lila. The princess was not quite convinced it would work but after arguing about it with her nanny she decided to give it a try.
*****
The next night.
The castle was quiet, well almost. In the wing where the princess had her chambers snores could be heard. Mary had ground some sleeping herbs into a powder, passed them to a loyal cook who had drugged the princess’s guards’ food. They were now asleep dreaming of being knights rescuing fair damsels in distress.
At about 2 O’clock the door to the princess room was open. A hooded figure with a bag crept out and went to the Nanny’s chamber a few doors down. A gentle knock opened the door. The hooded figure slipped in and shut the door. Inside the hooded figure knocked back the hood, it was the princess. Lila was wearing an old pair of boy’s trousers and a shirt. She was also wearing some old boots. Ken had donated some old clothes of his to the princess. Her face was covered in soot as a disguise.
The nanny was also dressed in an old faded gown with patches. She also had soot and dirt on her clothes. They were planning to use the secret passages to get out of the castle but just in case something went wrong outside the castle they needed a disguise. The princess and nanny looked at each other and laughed. Finally, there was the last thing to be done before they escaped. The nanny took a pair of scissors and cut off Lila’s beautiful long hair and left her with short hair which she then rubbed with soot and dirt to make her look more like a commoner. She gathered up the hair and put it in one of two sacks she was carrying.
Mary rapped on a wall and a secret passageway was opened from inside. Ken was inside and he motioned them to enter. The princess picked her small sack and entered followed by Mary. The corridor was very dark lit only by a small candle.
They travelled up and down hidden corridors until finally, they were out of the castle. They had to put out the castle but there was a full moon so they had some light. There were guards so they had to wait in the shadows until the guards did their patrol then they sneaked out to the hidden gate that Lila and Gabe used to escape into the forest when they were young. The gate was overgrown with vegetation but they managed finally to open the gate and get out.
When they got out of the gate they were met by a guardsman who was loyal to the princess, another childhood friend. Mary had sent Ken with a message to him during the day so he knew what was happening and he had come to guide them through the forest. He took them into the forest. The forest was pitch black and alive with the sounds of the night. It was very spooky.
The guard led them through a path in the forest. When they had travelled about a mile he told them to stop. He went into the forest and returned with a young lamb in a sack that had been hidden. They light a lamp. The guard took the lamb out of the sack and killed it.
Mary gave him one of the sacks she was carrying. Inside was a beautiful gown of the princess, one of her favourites. It also contained a pair of the princess’s favourite slippers. The sack also contained an old gown of Mary’s. He smeared the blood on the clothes and slippers, letting the blood drip on the clothes. He then used a knife to tear holes in the clothes. Finally, he threw some strands of the princess beautiful hair on the ground and he scattered the clothes. He let the blood of the lamb drip on the ground and near the clothes. Anybody who came across the clothes would think they had been attacked and killed.
The guard then took them off the main path and into a little-used path in the forest. He led them deeper and deeper into the forest until they were about 3 miles from the place where he had killed the lamb.
“Princess,” the guard said, “I must go back. If I am discovered missing then our plot will be undone. It must look like it was you and your nanny who escaped by yourselves. Rest here and when it is light keep moving deeper into the forest. I have drawn Ken a map. Eventually, you will reach a cottage that’s about 7 miles as the crow flies. It’s abandoned but since there was no time to prepare nothing could be done.”
The princess said, “I understand. Thank you for everything you have done for us. I will need to get a message to Gabe about where we are.”
The guard said, “For now it is not safe. Stay low and don’t contact anyone at the palace even me it will not be safe. When it is safe, when they are convinced you are dead and there is no suspicion, I will send word to Gabe. But there are spies everywhere. One must be careful.”
Lila nodded, she couldn’t speak. She wanted to cry. The truth of the situation she was in was now becoming clear.
Matthew the guard knelt before Lila. “My princess, I will serve you until my dying breath. Stay safe, you are the only hope for our kingdom. Stay safe and may the kingdom be restored again through God’s deliverance of his people through your hands. May the Lord keep you and be with you.” Matthew stood, saluted the princess and left.
Lila, Mary, and Ken were left in the forest. None of them could get comfortable enough to sleep in the strange forest surroundings. So they prayed and sung a few hymns as they prayed for God’s favour and protection. They knew that the danger was far from over and they needed to be alert. In the morning at first light, they needed to move so that any search parties that might be sent into the forest could not find them.
