“Morning Princes” Sara said pushing the cart of food next to the table and setting it out.

“Good morning Sara, and don’t call me that.” Kathryn hated it when people called her ‘Princes’.

“Sorry dear but ‘Kathryn’ sounds just as noble to me.”

Kathryn nodded, she had to agree with Sara. Her names was one of the things she hated about her life. The moment she introduced herself, people would bow and start apologizing that they hadn’t known. What they didn’t know always baffled Kathryn.

“Dear you have your history lessons today. I’ve had a talk with your father, he’s agreed that you can go out of you room so long as you don’t disappear again.” Kathryn smiled.

“With more then a hundred rooms how can I not get lost?” She asked, Sara only smiled at her.

Kathryn picked up the two extra sandwiches that Sara always gave her, and shoved them into her purse.

“I’m going on a walk. I’ll be back shortly.” She said, and before Sara could protest she ran from the room.

Kathryn loved exploring any kind of place. She loved it so much that by the time she was four, she’d found three secret passageways in the castle. Two leading out of it. She walked along the corridors until she came across one of them, and took it.

It lead her out to the back of the palace, just next to the willow tree where she could hide for hours without any fear of being found. She hurried under its shelter and climbed up onto the lowest branch. Taking out her purse she took a small moment to admire the roughness of it. Her purse was off white, and made of sheets, she herself had sewn together. She opened it and took out a book she’d been reading called ‘Not So Far From Home’. She propped it up on the tree before taking out half of her sandwich.

The book was about a girl, named Nell, who would always find herself in some sort of trouble. She and her dog, Theodor, would run about the city, trying to find out what had happened to her brother, Billy. Kathryn had read this book many times before. She loved how it always made her feel like she was in the story.

Nell had looked everywhere for her brother. She was beginning to loose hope, while sitting on his bed she began wondering if there were any clues left at all. Any random piece of information which she’d missed. She gazed around the room. The blue wall paper was barely visible behind the many bookshelves.