The Uninvited Princess ✔

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

It was the third day since Ritthirong had last talked to Pranee.

Pranee was now pacing around her cell with shaky legs while Shashi watched, slumped in the corner of their own cell.

"Are you sure we're going to get help?" Shashi asked for what seemed to be the thousandth time the past few days.

"I don't know. I hope we will."

Pranee was tugging at the strands of hair on her wig. When was Wipa going to arrive?

"Pranee?"

"Hm...?"

"You shouldn't be wearing your wig for so long. Your head still needs to heal." Shashi had a worried expression as they kept staring at the top of her head.

She stood there and shifted her weight between her feet, not wanting to take off her wig.

Shashi's frown deepened. "Pranee."

"Hm?" There was a slight crack in her voice. She knew what they were going to say.

"Please take it off. I don't want your cuts to get worse." Their tone softened and their eyes seemed to be pleading to her. She didn't expect them to act like that.

Pranee sighed and her shaky hands reached for the wig, slowly sliding it off her scalp. Shashi exhaled in relief and Pranee just stood there with a wig in hand, unsure of what to do next. She began to pace again and her fingers grazed her head every so often, trying to see whether the pain would go away anytime soon.

"Sit down, there's no use worrying if you're going to tire yourself out like that."

Pranee sighed and shut her eyes momentarily before walking over to Shashi. She sat next to them and propped her head onto their shoulder, letting herself calm down a little. Her mind had so many questions yet she still needed to formulate a backup plan in case Wipa failed.

"Your highness."

"I told you not to call me that."

"I had to. The bars just disappear and your first thought was to cuddle up next to me?"

Pranee's head shot up and she looked around them to notice that all the bars had disappeared. The two of them got onto their feet and hesitantly inspected the areas where the bars used to be. Shashi carefully swiped at the air with a foot and when they both saw the bars had indeed vanished and not turned invisible, they ran towards the door.

Pranee threw the door open with ease and was about to run forward until a familiar face stopped her.

"Are you kidding me? What the fuck are you doing here?!" Shashi yelled.

"Are you going to keep yelling at me or thank me for getting you your precious staff?"

Wipa held up the staff with one hand to show that she actually had it and Shashi scowled. Wipa tossed the staff towards them and Pranee thought it was going to hit them in the face until it halted suddenly. It began to float and it tilted itself till it was floating horizontally. Shashi propped a foot onto it and sighed.

"...thanks."

"You're very welcome." Her words came out in a sing-song tone. "I also found this."

Wipa took out Pranee's old wig from her satchel. Pranee's hand gripped tighter on the wig in her hand and Wipa's eyes zeroed in on the princess's hands.

"But it seems you don't need it anymore. That one looks much nicer than this dead rat." Wipa said, flinging the old wig to the side.

Pranee noticed it was louder in the hallways and the sounds of footsteps were thunderous. She was about to ask Wipa a question but she had disappeared again. Shashi was now on their staff and seemed to be adjusting their position on it.

"Ready to fly?" Shashi looked to Pranee expectantly.

"I hope so."

She hopped onto the staff and put on her wig while holding onto Shashi. They glanced at her and she could feel that their body was stiff.

"I'm not sure how to navigate around here so I trust you know where we'll be going."

Pranee nodded and the staff began to fly through the corridors at a fast pace.

"The left!"

The staff swerved around the corner and Pranee felt like she almost fell off the staff. She clutched ono Shashi tighter and shut her eyes for a moment. They were going so fast that she barely had time to process where exactly they were.

"Doesn't this place have any windows?!"

"Not in this area I think."

"What do you mean you think?"

"I've only been here a couple of times."

"Pranee jump!"

She didn't realize what was happening as Shashi jumped up from the staff, effectively taking her with them. The staff flew directly into a guard beneath them, throwing him to the ground, and they shakily landed back on the staff.

"What was that?!" Pranee shouted.

"He was about to draw his sword at us! We're lucky he didn't have a spear."

"Shashi, turn right!"

There was a large set of doors in the corridor in front of them and Pranee could see small traces of light coming out from the window above it.

"That's an exit!" Pranee felt almost relieved to say it.

Shashi turned their head to her briefly. "You're going to jump this time when I tell you, right?"

"Uh... I'll try."

"Good," they said. "Jump!"

This time Pranee jumped with them, a hand still gripping onto them while the other hand was clamped to her head. The staff quickly spun towards the doors, throwing them open. It then quickly flew back to catch the two. The landing was just as shaky as the last but they managed to escape.

The warm sun shone on Pranee's face and she had to put a hand over her eyes to see it all.

But what she could see was that there were hundreds of soldiers, lined up in a row, with Ritthirong sitting on top of a white elephant. She could see that even the royal magicians were standing by his side, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

A battle had broken out while they were in the cells and escaping didn't seem as good of an idea anymore.