Chapter 7

MIRABEL'S POINT OF VIEW

Staying in my room all day long with two women who were monitoring me outside the room was becoming unbearable. Ryder wanted to keep me safe, and I was thankful for that, but I wanted to do something fun. I wanted to hang out with my friends. Where's the harm in seeing my friends? Isabella's death was getting to his head.

He couldn't keep me locked up forever. I would do something I wanted, whether or not he liked it. He wouldn't understand, anyway. I threw on a black jacket on top of the black tank top I was wearing. I knew very well that the women in front of the door wouldn't let me just waltz out of the palace, so I was going to use the window.

There was only one person who could help me escape from here. I had no intention of coming back anytime soon because I knew my brother would ground me for life before those women ever told him I had escaped. I grabbed my duffel bag and phone.

I dialed my friend's number, and on the third ring; he picked up.

"Mira!" he squealed with excitement. "Why didn't you answer my calls or return them? I've been worried sick about you? You haven't even returned to school. What's going on?"

"My brother has me locked up in the palace. I cannot go anywhere until he says so."

There was a moment of silence. "Because of what happened to Isabella?" He heaved a sigh. "I can't blame him for being overprotective of his little sister right now. Anyone would do same."

"I'm tired of it. He has people following me, watching me."

"It's for your own good, Mira."

"Yeah, right. I need your help, Jackson. Come to my place and wait outside the gate. I'll meet you there. Make sure the guards don't see you, okay?"

"Oh, hell no." He snorted with laughter. "I won't be a part of this."

"Well, why not?"

"I've read books, Mira, but I have never come across a book that said sneaking out of the house will make someone realize that he or she was wrong about doing certain things."

"That's because you haven't read mine yet."

"Mira, listen to your brother. It's for your own good, you stubborn child."

"I have decided, Jack. Are you coming or not?"

"Mirabel-"

"Will you be here or not?"

There was a shuffling sound in the background before he responded. "I hate the idea, but I'll be there in ten. God, your brother will kick my ass."

I hung up and put my phone into my pocket. Now, how was I going to get down? My room was on the second floor. I had seen people use curtains, bed sheet and literally anything long to get down, but what if I fall to my death?

No, Mira, you won't fall. Did they ever fall? I gently slapped my cheeks to boost my morale. It was now or never.

I quickly removed the curtains and tied them together. Next, I tied the bed sheet to it. Yes, this would do. I threw it out of the window and smiled victoriously when it touched the ground. Woo hoo! Freedom!

Being careful so as to not alert those annoying women outside, I started climbing down. My heart felt as if it was going to explode as I went down.

"Please don't let me fall. Please don't let me fall." I chanted, my breathing becoming unsteady. This was absolutely terrifying. How did they manage to make it look so easy?

I was about to jump off my escape baby when Theo and I locked eyes. He rubbed his eyes to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. No, no, please.

When he was certain he had indeed seen me, he brought out his phone. I was dead meat.

"Don't do it." I mouthed, shaking my head.

He pointed in my direction as he spoke to someone. It had to be Ryder.

"Princess." I looked up when one of the women Ryder had assigned to watch me called for my attention. "Stay right there."

Wait.

I was close to the ground, so what the hell was I waiting for? To get caught?

I jumped off and bolted in the gate's direction. When I looked behind me, one woman was coming down from my window with what I had tied together. Well, shit. The guards at the gate were walking from left to right, doing the opposite of what I thought they would be doing. Why weren't they slacking on the job?

"Princess Mirabel!" The one who had come down through the window was getting closer to me.

The men at the gate heard my name, and their heads snapped in my direction.

"Mirabel!"

Ryder.

My heart was beating uncontrollably. I didn't know what to do at this point. My brother sounded pissed and an angry Ryder was a very dangerous Ryder. Rest in peace, Mirabel Smith.

"Grab her!" Ryder ordered as he ran toward me, with Theo by his side.

I felt two hands on my arms and one took my bag from me.

"Hey, give that back." I thrashed around, trying to get them to loosen their grip on me.

"What were you trying to do, Mirabel?" Ryder stood in front of me, glaring like I had never seen before. He was furious. "Even after everything I explained to-" He noticed the duffel bag one guard was holding. "You wanted to leave home?"

"You're locking me up in here like I am a prisoner. It's hard for me, you know."

"So you decided the best thing to do was leave the house? How could you-"

I cursed under my breath when my phone rang.

"Give me your phone." Ryder held his hand out. "Now."

I put the phone behind my back, keeping it out of his reach. It would be over for me if he were to see who the caller was and why he was calling. "It's my phone, not yours. You can't have it."

"Mirabel, give me the damn phone!"

I jumped at his sudden outburst, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. He had never yelled at me before. My brother was changing; for the worse. I slowly brought out the phone and handed it to him.

"Jackson?" He raised a brow questioningly when he looked at the screen. "Is this the bastard that's making you want to leave home? Is he your boyfriend?"

I shook my head immediately. "He is not my boyfriend, I swear. We're just friends."

He didn't respond and answered my call. My stomach sank when I heard Jackson speak.

"Mira, where are you? I'm waiting outside."

Ryder's face held disappointment as he left me with the guards and went out of the gate. He was going to look for Jackson. This wouldn't go well. Ryder would hurt him. I had to do something. I didn't know what to do, but I knew I had to do something for my friend. After all, I had dragged him into it.

"Theo, please tell my brother not to hurt Jackson. He was just trying to help me." I begged.

"Is he really your boyfriend? Is that why you're defending him?" He asked, mirroring the same expression my brother had.

I had started crying at this point. "Jackson is just my friend, believe me. I know Ryder," I sniffled. "He's going to hurt Jackson and I don't want that. He's not the one at fault here. Please listen to me."

Right then, Ryder returned with Jackson. He had the poor boy by his hoodie and was pulling him like an animal. This was all my fault.

"Ryder, please."

"Shut the hell up, Mirabel." He pushed Jackson to the ground. "What's your relationship with my sister, you piece of shit."

Jackson looked at me, and then at my brother. He got up from the ground and bowed his head, refusing to meet Ryder's eyes.

"Your majesty, Mirabel is my friend. That's all there is to it. Just friends."

Ryder scoffed before swinging his curled fist at Jackson's face. Jackson fell on his back and Ryder stood over him, his hand still curled in a fist.

"Ryder!" I screamed, more tears pouring from my eyes. "You're hurting him!"

"Do you think I'm a child? What do you take me for?" He asked, bending down to grab Jackson by his hoodie. "I'll ask you again, Jackson. What is your relationship with my sister?"

Jackson coughed. "Sir, we're just friends, I swear. Mira-"

Ryder swung his fist. And this time it connected to Jackson's stomach. "Wrong answer, kid."

"Ryder, I am begging you. Stop hurting him."

He averted his gaze from a coughing Jackson and to me. "Lock her up in her room and stay in there with her."

My eyes went wide. "What? Lock me up? You can't do that to me." The women dragged me farther away from Jackson and my brother. "Ryder!"

"Miss, please stop shouting. You're only going to give yourself a headache." One advised as they led me up the staircase and to my room. "The king is only doing what's right."

"Shut your mouth, blondie." I snapped, "You know nothing."

The woman kept shut. The other one opened the door to my room, and we went in. She shut the door and locked it. I watched as she put the key into her pocket.

"Do you want to shower?" One with auburn hair asked. "We can look away and let you do whatever you want."

I ignored her and climbed onto my bed. "Please do not speak to me. I don't want to say things I'll regret later."

"Alright."

<<<>>>

It had been two days since I last saw Ryder. He would often have Theo come check on me and sometimes bring me food. When I asked Theo about what Ryder did to Jackson, he would say he was told to not have a conversation of any sort with me. Just like now.

"Please tell Ryder that I want to see him."

Theo sat down on my bed. "Your brother is still hurt by what you did, Princess. I've tried to put in a kind word for you, but he still insists that he doesn't want to talk to you yet. Give him some time, okay?"

What I did was wrong, but saying he did not want to talk to me was heart wrenching. The women in the room didn't talk to me, and Theo had a time limit in my room. He lifted his left hand up and looked at his wristwatch.

"It's time to leave. I'll see you in the afternoon, Princess. Make sure you eat your food, okay?" He patted my head and stood up. "Ryder will come around soon."

My brother didn't come to see me for the rest of that day. I didn't even have my cellphone to check on Jackson. No one would tell me what Ryder did with him. I was scared for my friend.

"She's still awake, your majesty."

Ryder?

"Alright. Thank you for watching her for me."

He really was here.

Ryder opened the door and let himself into the room. He wore a black button-up shirt and blue jeans. From the way he looked at me, I knew he was still angry.

"Ryder, I'm sorry." I quickly got off the bed and ran to him. "Please forgive me. I didn't think-"

"That's the problem." He cut me off. "You didn't think. What if you had gone with that boy and something had happened to you? Did you think about how devastated I would be if I walked into your room the next morning to find out you weren't there? Did you even stop for a second to think that you could be walking right into a trap?"

I looked down at the floor, unable to meet his pained eyes. "I was wrong, Ryder. Sneaking out of the house wasn't my brightest idea, but I did it because I thought you didn't understand me. You had me locked up, and all I wanted was to go out and be happy."

"Mira, I understand you; I always have. Just because I refused to let you return to school doesn't mean I don't understand what you're going through. Do you think I enjoy having you stay in your room? I'm only trying to keep you safe. Whatever I do, it's for you, Mirabel. I thought you knew that."

A tear rolled down my cheeks as his words sunk in. I was too blind with anger to see that he cared. And now he would never trust me.

"In the end, Mira, it's you who doesn't understand me."