Princess Felicity Grey

Felicity sat at the head of a long table. Her blond hair had been done up and wrapped delicately around a golden crown made of flower buds and leaves woven together. She wore an elegant white dress with blue, yellow green and pink flowers embroidered all over it. It was a beautiful dress that complimented the Princess’s ever curve and she looked miserable in it. This might be due more to her company than the fact that her laces had been tied so tight she almost could not breath.
Her company was a man that at first glance looked more like a woman than the beautiful princess he sat beside. His clothes were all lace and frills. Their colors matched the Princess’s gown perfectly. The garments had been made by the best seamstress in the capital for the engagement celebration of the Princess of Averness and General Marcus the finest man in the Avernessian army. Though, sitting next to him now Felicity doubted that the man had ever seen real battle. The King, Felicity’s father, sat beside the General and they were having a good old time together. It was easy to see why, too they were very much alike, Both greedy old men only interested in power.
Felicity was disgusted and felt angry and helpless all at the same time. This engagement was not her idea in the least bit and the wedding was set to happen in a little less than a month. Those who know her best would tell you Felicity was and always had been a clever girl, too smart for her own good more often than not but her father had played his cards well. The princess had not seen this coming until it was too late and now she was scrambling to find a way around it.
Luckily she was left alone for most of dinner, except for the occasional jab with a butter knife or pinch by her 'beloved' to remind her to smile and behave herself. Every time he did this Felicity thought about taking her own butter knife and driving it into his neck. In fact that image was the only thing that got her through the evening.
There came a point after the dinner, when the music had began and all the guest were dancing and the General was occupied with some duchess he would no doubt have an affair with, that Felicity found that for the first time that evening no one was paying any attention to her. It was in that moment that the Princess stole away, out of the ball room and down the long corridors, back up the stairs to her personal chambers. As she walked through the door and startled her handmaiden she was already struggling with the laces of her dress, trying to loosen the thing up.
“Help me out of this, will you?”, Felicity asked and the hand maiden, recovering from her start, nodded her head and walked over to untie the laces and pull the dress off while the Princess tackled her hair. She pulled countless clips out and untangled the golden crown from her blond locks before tying her hair up again in a pony tail. Now out of the dress and only in her undergarments, Felicity attacked her face with a wet rag, wiping the powder and makeup away to reveal a light spray of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She looked in her mirror to make sure she had removed all of the make up and a pair of eyes, the same shade as the sea she had been born beside, stared back at her. She did not look long. Her eyes only served to remind the girl of her mother and that would not do.
After helping the Princess out of the dress, the handmaiden, very much aquatinted with Felicity’s habits, went to a trunk and produce a pair of worn trousers a blue undershirt a sleeveless leather tunic that buttoned up the front and a roll of bandages. The garments were in fact clothes she had smuggled into the palace for the Princess. When Felicity turned and saw the clothes all ready laid out for her she smiled and unlaced her corset. After removing the bothersome thing she picked up the bandages and bound her breasts so that she would appear flat chested. She than dawned the trousers and undershirt before sliding the tunic on and buttoning up the front and grabbed an old floppy leather hat and smushed it down on her head. When she was finished she turned and looked at her handmaiden
“well how do I look?”, she asked and the handmaiden smiled.
“like a boy, Your Highness. Though I will say, a pretty one, but a boy non the less.”, The other girl said and Felicity smiled heading over to an open window.
“Good cause I need a drink.”, She said before grabbing a small bag of coin and climbing out of the window.
She could not walk around the palace dressed like a boy, but lucky for her her chamber window was apart of the palace outer walls and ivy grew up the side. It was easy for the Princess to scale the wall the climb down in the ally below. Once she had reached the bottom Felicity quickly checked to make sure no one had seen her than she quickly jugged out of the ally and into the main street disappearing in to the crowd.
The tavern Felicity chose that day was a regular of her’s. They had they best ale in the capital, and the over all sleaziness of the place was like a breath of fresh air to the Princess. On today it was a little busier than normal. There was a couple merchant ships in the port and the sailors filled the bar, laughing and having a good time.
Felicity was not opposed to the noise and found a seat at the bar, squeezing between two men that smelled like fish. She got the tavern owner’s attention and he smiled big and brought her over a big mug of ale.
“Haven’t seen you around here in a while, Will. How are you doing?”, The owner yelled over the loud bunch. Felicity took the mug and tipped it back taking a big gulp before slamming it back down on the bar with a grin.
“I’ve been out of town the last couple weeks!”, Felicity shouted back making something up. What she enjoyed about the tavern and its owner was that no one asked too many questions. As long as she paid for her drinks at the end of the night they would be all too happy to have her there.
She was half way done with her second mug of ale and was just starting to relax and forget about her betrothed and her present problems when a large hand clamped down on her shoulder.
“Hey, boy that’s ma seat ya sittin in.”, A gruff voice said behind her. Felicity tilted her head back to look up in to the nostrils of a very drunk looking sailor. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her drink only to have her stool spun around to face the man a moment later. He smelled of vomit and fish guts and alcohol and he glared at Felicity.
“I said that’s ma seat, boy. Now get up before I make ya get up.”, He said again. Felicity rolled her eyes again.
“It is not ‘ya’ seat, Sir. I’ve been sitting in MY seat for the past twenty minutes. Now go pick on someone your own size, or at least someone drunker than you.”, Felicity said and with that she lifted her feet up and placed them on the man’s chest than pushed as hard as she could. The man, already wobbly from his intoxication stumbled back and with a cry fell into a table. The force of his fall split the thing in half and sent ale and cards flying everywhere as the patrons sitting at the table cried out and jumped up trying not to get ale all over them. They looked from the now unconscious man to Felicity and glared angrily, not happy about having their drinks all over them and their card game disturbed.
“What?”, Felicity shouted glaring them all down as she rose and stood on top of her stool, “I have had a very bad day and would gladly fight you all. So come on I dare you!.”, She declared and raised her fists like a boxer as they advanced on her.