Chapter 3: A mysterious plot

It was on a very cool evening, one of the days Isabella was allowed to meet up with her childhood friend Lady Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was a year older than Isabella, she was aware of her existence ,but she lived with her father in the palace and wasn't allowed to speak to anyone about Isabella by her father outside the palace walls.

Isabella sat down on the couch in the fields of the palace, flipping through the pages of a novel which she had ordered from the palace library, when Elizabeth joined here.

This was the only time Isabella felt relived and happy to speak to someone, her sisters where rarely around her , they preferred attending functions outside the palace. She most times had reading sections with Elizabeth whenever they met.

" What book are you reading? ", Elizabeth asked sitting next to her.

" Just a novel", Isabella replied, quickly shoveling the book aside. It was a book on mind readers and how they could practice some spells to help them read the minds of those with dark powers.

" Do you care to let me know what this book is all about", Elizabeth insisted.

" it's just about a faking love story", Isabella replied almost immediately, handing over the book to Elsie immediately and signaling on her to take it away.

" So how have you been , my friend", Isabella asked immediately.

" I have been well and you?", Elizabeth replied.

" I have been well too, I have something to tell you, something great", Isabella said.

This time around, Isabella told her on her first moment out of the palace and how she desired to go out more often.

The both of them were aware that Isabella was always kept a secret , but Elizabeth had no reason why. She had tried asking her father about it alot of times , but got no response.

They kept on discussing, when Elizabeth tells her that she had an idea on how she could leave the palace whenever she wanted.

Isabella is surprised to learn from her friend, Lady Elizabeth, that there is a secret door in her chambers leading to the outside world. She is even more shocked when Lady Elizabeth reveals that her father, Lord Arcturus, showed her the hidden passage.

She had lived in the palace her entire life and had no idea that such a thing existed in her own chambers.

"How did you know about this?" Isabella asked in disbelief.

"My father is the advisor to the king. I know many secrets about this palace," Lady Elizabeth replied with a sly grin.

Isabella couldn't help but feel a bit envious of her friend's access to such knowledge. She had always felt trapped within the palace walls and longed to explore the world outside.

They both had their usual reading section as well as discussed what they would want their future to be like, before they called it a day, with Lady Elizabeth retiring back to her courthouse and Isabella to her chambers.

As the night lingered, Isabella, unable to resist her curiosity, she walks from side to side ,in her chambers, looking for the secret door. She was almost giving up the search when she felt the wall and heard a little cracking on it. The bricks were separated, then she saw an entrance with a door.

"Elizabeth was right", Isabella muttered in surprise.

Isabella sneaks out of the palace through the secret door, disguised in sack clothes.

She walks through a passage which looked more like a tunnel. When she finally got to the end of the tunnel, she found herself in the streets.

She wanders through the streets of Adernia, heading towards the forbidden areas where the poorest people live, without her knowledge. She made her way through the busy streets of Adernia, her heart beating fast with excitement and fear. She had always been curious about the world outside the palace walls, and now she had a chance to explore it on her own.

Isabella walked for what seemed like hours until she found herself in a part of the city she never knew existed before. The buildings were run-down and the streets were filled with rough-looking characters. She tried to blend in with the crowd, but her elegant posture and refined features made her stand out like a sore thumb.

As she wandered through the dingy alleys, Isabella heard the sound of hushed voices coming from an abandoned building. She crept closer, using her gift to listen in on the conversation.

Her heart raced as she overheard the plot to overthrow her father's reign. They spoke of bribing members of the council and assassinating key figures in the palace. Isabella was shocked to her spine.

As she eavesdropped on the hoodlums, she realized that their plans were more sinister than she had anticipated. They were not only planning to overthrow her father's reign, but to destroy the entire kingdom.

She slipped away unnoticed, making her way back to the palace as quickly as she could.

But now, as she sneaked through the forbidden areas of Adernia back to the tunnel, Isabella's thoughts were focused solely on the danger that lurked around her family and her kingdom. She was determined to use her gift to uncover any plots against them.

Isabella knew she had to act fast. She quickly made her way back to her chambers and thought of reporting everything she had heard to her father and his advisors ,but realized how disappointed her father would be to find out that she had left the palace without his consent.

Feeling the weight of her secret knowledge heavy on her heart,she decides to gather more information together . She sneaked out of the palace more often through the secret door at night and returned almost at sun rise.

She discovered that the rebels were planning to attack the palace during the upcoming royal ball, using the chaos of the festivities as a cover for their attack.

Isabella knew that she had to act quickly to foil the plot. She confided in Lady Elizabeth, who promised to help her in any way she could.

Together, they came up with a plan to expose the rebels and stop their attack. She secretly enlisted the help of her maid Elsie and the chief chef of the royal court, carefully selecting them who she knew she could trust to keep the kings security tight on that day.

Isabella's heart raced as she made her way to the neighboring kingdom's palace, hoping to see Prince Alexander , she had not been herself ever since the last visit. She had secretly left Adernia through the secret tunnel without the notice of her maid to speak with him.

She disguised herself as a royal maid to gain entrance into Arondale but found the prince with his bethroned Princess Victoria, in the palace field. They both seemed happy, smiling and bowing to each other ,as Alexander held her hand.

It was their first day meeting each other, and they were trying to get to know themselves better. Isabella felt a bit of jealousy and sadness as she went back to Adernia , without speaking to Alexandra. She had no idea that he had someone, and she wondered how stupid she must have been to have feelings for him ,when he was already tied to someone else.

Isabella spends the next few days keeping her discovery to herself, afraid to speak up and unsure of how to proceed. But as she hears more rumors of the plot to overthrow her father, she builds up her plans.

One night, as she laid alone in her chambers, she hears a faint voice in her mind. It's a man's voice, urgent and pleading. She realizes with a start that she's tapping into someone else's thoughts.

As she focuses her mind, she hears more clearly. The voice belongs to a member of the kings guard. She could hear him nursing the thought of the plot to overthrow her father. He's talking to himself, figuring out how to actualize his plans and what his next move should be.

Isabella listens carefully, taking in every detail. She realizes that they plan to strike sooner than expected.

Determined to stop them, Isabella decides to take matters into her own hands. She uses her gift to read the minds of the kingdom's top advisors, then notices that she is unable to read the mind of her father's personal advisor, Lord Arcturus.

She is taken back by this and wonders why this is so, she had never noticed this and it left her with so many questions in her head. The ball was in a day's time and she had to be very careful.

Quickly she rushed to her father's chambers to tell him about this particular guard and her lack of ability to read Lord Arcturus' mind,but found out that he had gone on a general meeting away from Adernia and would return on the night of the ball.

Isabella was very confused and scared, she knew that this particular guard and gone on this journey with her father and so was Lord Arcturus , she also couldn't tell Elizabeth anything. She had no idea that she was a mind reader , but only knew that some people were after her father the King.