Other than myself and the torturer, there were three other people in the dungeon. In the first cell was a pale skinned man who had scars all across his body. He had long black hair and an equally long beard with sunken blue eyes. He smiled weakly as I decayed his chains, busted him free and helped him to his feet. The man attempted to walk on his own, but only succeeded in falling to the floor. The man was weak and skinny, like he hadn’t eaten in months.

“Dude, when we bust out of here we’re getting you a steak.” I slapped him lightly on the shoulder and picked him up from the floor “You’re looking a bit thin buddy.”

“That and breaking me out of the Castle’s dungeon? I’ll owe you quite the debt, friend.” His chuckle sounded sandpaper rubbing together. Dude needed a drink of water stat.

“Jesus man, how long you been in here? You look and sound like shit. This King dude is totally violating some prisoner rights laws, you should sue.” I helped him lean against the wall near the exit. Before the man could answer, another prisoner called out to me.

“Ole Ribs’ been in here the past years, new blood! Caught sellin’ supplies to the Artone Imperium!” Ribs smiled weakly,

“Yep. Traitor to King and Country.” I shrugged in response to him.

“I won’t judge, I’m new here.” With Ribs secured, I moved back for the next prisoner.

Next up was a large dark-skinned man covered from his bald head to his toes with a canvas of golden colored tattoos. He watched me with sharp brown eyes as I broke his chains in the usual way.

“Black magic.” He spoke in a deep voice. I recognized him as the one who initially dubbed me ‘new blood’.

“Seems so. Got something against black magic?” He merely grinned and walked to the torture table. He considered the items arrayed before him for a few moments before picking up a knife and moving to keep watch at the door that led out of this hellhole.

The last prisoner was short, had wiry brown hair, and whose green eyes kept glancing back and forth wildly.

“Hey so you’re gonna get us outta here yeah? Names Rambles, been here only a day. Picked the wrong guy’s pocket ya see, was gonna cut off my hand but was some ceremony going on ya see. Couldn’t be bothered they said ya see.” I broke his chains and he rubbed his wrists gratefully. “Many thanks sir, many thanks indeed. Who are you and whats the plan?”

“I’m Harold, and-”

“Guard shifts just changed.” The dark skinned man whispered from the doorway as he peaked out.

“Whats that mean?” Rambles questioned.

“It means a new guard is standing watch nearby and there won’t be another for a few hours.” I explained. The dark man raised an eyebrow at me. “What? Don’t tell me you guys have never watched James Bond movies.” Blank stares. “Mission Impossible? C’mon, you guys are killing me.” I sighed, “Oh right, different world.”

“Stay back. Silent.” The dark man commanded. Nobody moved or spoke, even Rambles. With the knife in his hand, the man clinked it lightly on the stone and drew back. Ready to pounce.

“Hmm? What was that?” A new voice questioned. The clinking of metal on stone sounded closer and closer. In an instant, The dark skinned man sprung from behind the door. “Wha-” was all the new voice could utter before the dark man dragged him into the dungeon with his mouth covered. The guard struggled as much as he could, but the dark man knocked him hard on the back of the head like had been done to me. The guard was out like a light.

“Man, from now on your name is Snake.” I laughed.

“Snake?” He looked at me with a questioning glance.

“Yeah, he was a man who was unequaled in the art of stealth.” Snake smiled,

“I like.” He then returned to looking out the door. “Clear. Follow.”

“Aren’t we going to take his clothes? Harold is the only one with anything on!” Rambles complained.

“No time.” Snake spoke. “Come.” He then crept into the hall beyond.

Rambles and Ribs looked to me, so I shrugged. “Might as well.” I lent my shoulder to Ribs, and we followed after our guide.

Out in the stone hallway was quite the unusual sight. Three naked dudes and myself in raggedy clothes sneaking about a well decorated hall full of golden displays, marble busts, velvet carpeting, beautiful paintings, and other such extravagant things. And we didn’t take a damn thing. Well Snake did. He took a lantern, but I won’t judge. But other than him, nope, first and foremost on our to-do list was survival. Snake led the way, stopping at every doorway to listen for sound, and peaking around every corner to make sure the coast was clear before waving us forward. We walked through the halls for nearly an hour. The sun was just beginning to rise before we made it into a small side room with nothing in it. Once we had closed the door behind us, Snake pressed on a loose stone and the wall slowly moved to the side.

“Well I’ll be…” Ribs gasped in his sandpaper voice.

“How’d ya know theres a passage here Snake?” Rambles questioned.

“Its obvious you dolt. The man’s obviously a mason that worked on the castle back in the day.” I sarcastically stated.

“Really? That true Snake?” Rambles eyes widened in wonder.

Snake laughed as we piled into the passage. He then pressed on another stone and we were enclosed in the secret passage.

“Not mason. Come.” We followed him until the passage split into two directions. Downward and upward. Snake pointed to the downward path, “Exit is well guarded.” He moved to the upstairs path. We followed close behind. “This leads to servant’s room. There we take clothes and make escape.”

The stairs took us up two floors which made Snake grumble as if something had happened he didn’t like. But he kept on going, so we followed. Eventually the stairs tapered off and we followed the path a short distance until we hit a dead end. Snake fumbled around before finding the right stone to press and a doorway opened.

“Who are-” A girl cried out but Snake rushed forward into the room ahead of us. The three of us followed into the well lit room full of art, mirrors, dressers, and a lofty queen sized bed. And in the middle of the room stood naked Snake restraining Princess Kaithlyn wearing a revealing negligee with his hand over her mouth.

“Kaithlyn my love! Long time no see!” I laughed as I entered the room. She regarded me with surprise that quickly turned to fear. Tears dripped down her face as she clenched her eyes shut and struggled to free herself. Snake responded to her struggle by increasing his grip to the point where the Princess began sobbing. “Snake, ease off the poor gal.”

He regarded me for a moment and nodded, easing his grip upon the Princess. She gave me a thankful look and seemed to relax a bit. Kind of naive to do so in a hostage situation, but I guess she kind of trusted me a bit. We were almost engaged after all. And you’re supposed to trust your spouse.

“Alright now lets gag and bind her so we can work on a plan to get the hell out of here.” I sat Ribs down upon the Princess’ bed and went about rummaging through her stuff with Rambles’ help. With his quick fingers, Rambles quickly found a bunch of clean handkerchiefs to use.

I rolled one into a ball and tied them all together to make a firm gag. With Snake’s help, we had little trouble binding up the Princess and tying her arms to the bed. I honestly thought Kaithlyn would have given us more trouble, but strangely things went smoothly. Though she kept her eyes glued to me the whole time.

“Good work.” Snake said as he patted my shoulder.

“Thanks. I knew a girl in High School that was into this sort of thing. Life tends to lead to strange experiences which lead to strange skills I’ve found.”

“Quite true my friend.” Ribs said as he sniffed at a goblet that Rambles handed him. The man swiftly chugged the contents and sighed, “Ah, its been too long since I’ve had a drink… Thanks Rambles.”

“No problem Ribs! So what do we do now?” Rambles asked. “We can’t just walk out of the Princess’ chambers without any clothes on!”

“Is problem.” Snake rumbled.

“Not really.” I spoke as I looked through one of the Princess’ dressers. Finely woven dresses filled one of the drawers in a few sizes. But before we needed those, my fellows needed some underwear.

The Princess began to yell into her gag as I rummaged through her dresser drawer. I’ll be the first to admit that I took no pleasure in this whole affair of stealing a woman’s underwear while she was in the room. The joy of a panty raid is the rush of adrenaline you get from knowing you could be caught. With the woman in question in the room, it was like a snake with no fangs.

“What ya doin’ there Harold?” Rambles asked as he looked into the newest drawer I rummaged through. “Do I want to know why you’re looking through the lady’s unmentionables?”

“Its simple really.” I said as I held up a pair of lacy underwear. “Any good actor knows that to feel your role, you must become your role in all ways.” I tossed the underwear to Ribs. “C’mon boys, time to cover up your dangly bits.”

“I am not wearing women’s underwear!” Rambles spoke in shock as he backed away.

“Oh yes you are. Desperate times call for desperate measures after all.”

Thankfully, I only needed to put on a bra, as I already had my own underwear. But as my fellows struggled coming to terms with putting on the fairer sex’s underwear, I chanced a glance at my bound almost-fiancee. Her face was flushed and she was watching us with interest. I couldn’t blame her, its not everyday you see a bunch of dudes dressing up in drag. Though the faint purple haze near her chest was unusual. Perhaps she could use magic as well? I put the strange sight from my mind, we had more important things to worry about. It was time to find dresses that fitted us.

Compared to the whole underwear dilemma, the dress problem passed quickly, as the Princess had many dresses in a few different sizes. Only Snake posed a problem in this category of our disguise. The man was a bit large for all the dresses that the Princess owned. But I had a solution. I apologized profusely to Kaithlyn as I tore the back of the closest-fitting dress as Rambles worked a needle and thread to fix it up enough for Snake to wear comfortably. I have to hand it to the man, he was very deft with those fingers of his. That thief must have been an ace tailor in a past life.

After some time, and more than a few torn threads, our disguises were well on their way to completion. But we were missing a few things to complete the look. And as everyone knows, the devil is in the details. Breasts were only one detail that we were currently lacking, as the dresses hung a little loose at the chest. However, I had accounted for this, and the problem was easily fixed as I defaced more of the Princess’ property by cutting open a pillow and filling our bras with the woolen stuffing inside. Sadly, we still had more to go. Namely, Ribs’ beard.

“Anyone good at shaving with a knife?” I asked as we sat Ribs in front of a mirror.

“I will do this. Am good with knife.” Snake stated proudly. While Snake got to work on the beard problem, I focused on finding a bunch of makeup and a comb. I didn’t have to search for long, and I even found a wig with long white hair for Snake!

After his beard was shaved, Ribs had found a stash of shoes that we could wear. Once we each had a pair for ourselves I began to apply makeup to the group. I had plenty of experience painting faces for sports events, so I was pretty sure I could do makeup well enough. After I had finished with the group I began to work on myself. As I was dabbing the blush onto my cheeks I felt an ice cold shiver run down my spine. Goosebumps riddled my flesh as I felt the familiar sensation of absolute terror on my back. I turned around to find the source of this feeling. That was when I locked eyes with Kaithlyn. The Princess was breathing heavily into her gag and stared at me with a feral hunger in her eyes.

“Uh oh.” I stated as Ribs and Snake practiced giggling like a bunch of noble ladies would. Strangely, Rambles hadn’t said a word or made a sound. Thinking back, he had become strangely pliable once he had worn the Princess’ undergarments. It made no difference to me, we could easily pass him off as demure.

“What is it my friend?” Ribs questioned.

“I think I’ve created a monster.” They paid me no mind and quickly returned to their practice. I myself returned to putting makeup on, but the whole while I could feel Kaithlyn’s piercing gaze as she watched my every move. I had accidentally awakened a fire within her. A burning passion for male cross-dressing. At this moment, I was grateful that we weren’t actually engaged. Such an obsession could only lead to a very awkward relationship.

Once I had finished, it was time to make our escape. And fast. But first, I had some business to attend to.

“Kaithlyn.” I whispered as I knelt next to her bed. She regarded me with those hungry eyes of hers that made sweat drip from my brow. I had to get out of here fast. “You’re a nice girl and all, and I’d totally be down with our engagement but your dad wants nothing to do with me so I’m sorry that we never gave it the old college try.”

Against my better judgment, I then loosened the binds holding her slightly. “There, now you can get out of those binds pretty easily if you work at them a bit. I’ve read too many…” I motioned with my hands, trying to grasp at how to accurately describe what I wanted to say. “…books…where leaving a girl like this leads to some serious shit.” I took the knife Snake had taken and put it under the pillow beneath her head. “This is if some ungentlemanly bastard tries to get at you with ill intentions. Remember, sharp end goes into the bad guy. Think of it as a parting gift. Bye!” I then rushed to the door where my posse of cross-dressing criminals awaited and together we strode into the hallway, giggling our hearts out.

Of course, I made sure to lock and close the door behind me as we left. Just in case. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were missing something.

Maids and butlers rushed through the early morning halls as we daintily strutted our way past them. Snake led the way, but didn’t giggle, as his voice was far too deep. As for Ribs, Rambles, and myself, I was the best at a high falsetto voice that could almost pass for a woman’s. A few guards looked our way as we passed, but a giggle and a wink from one of us made them blush and stand taller with a grin on their faces.

As we exited the castle however, a guard called out to us.

“Hey!” The broad shouldered man shouted as he approached us. “Where are you ladies heading to without an escort?”

“Oh my, such a strong man!” Ribs gasped in a falsetto voice, which made the guard crack a smile that he tried his best to smother.

“Master guard, we’re only going down the street to my friend’s abode.” I explained. “We’re in no danger enough to warrant an escort for only walking a block!” I fluttered my eyelashes, “But your concern is duly noted. I thank you.” I curtsied to the man.

“Uhhh…its uhh…fine…yes. Have a good day.” The man saluted as the rest of my group curtsied and we went on our way.

———

“Good looking girls.” The guard said to his fellow as he returned to his post.

“Yeah, I liked the dark-skinned one best. She looked amazing in that dress.” The other guard grinned as he watched the ladies backsides.

“I was more fond of the short one really.” The man pointed, “A bit shy, she didn’t say anything and looked rather uncomfortable. She musn’t be good with strangers.”

“Shame about their arm hair though.”

“Agreed.”

———

“We made it.” I gasped as we turned into an alley a few minutes from the castle. We all decided to take a break and hang out in the shaded space for a few minutes to let the adrenaline flow out of our systems. Cross-dressing is one thing. Cross-dressing in public is another. Cross-dressing in public where any mistake in our cover could get us killed? Yeah, stressful.

We glanced at one another as grins were plastered on our faces. It wasn’t long until we were howling with laughter.

“You are mad!” Snake cried from laughing, “Never have I done this thing! Others will never believe me!”

“Hey, first time for everything right?” I laughed as he smacked my shoulder as he guffawed.

“Am owing you big favor my friend. You want anything, you tell me!”

“Aye.” Ribs laughed as he clutched his namesake for laughing too hard. “You’re one mad bastard to get us out of there!”

“…I gotta say, women’s underwear is quite comfortable…” Rambles mumbled which only led to more laughter from the group.

“See! And you thought I was crazy for suggesting such a thing! I fucking told you man, you gotta believe.”

“Its certainly a new experience.” Ribs chuckled. “Come friends, I know an inn in the common district where we can lay low for awhile.”

“Alright.” “Sure.” “Sounds good.” We all agreed and followed Ribs as he led the way deeper into the city that surrounded Castle Halwyn.

———

Deep within the bowls of Castle Halwyn, a monster was thrashing against the binds that held it. Ever since the Hero, Harold Lisbe, had made his escape Princess Kaithlyn Halwyn had begun to thrash against the handkerchiefs that held her tied to her own bed. ‘Such audacity!’ she trembled. ‘Such disrespect!’ Her heart pounded in her chest like a blacksmith’s hammer. ‘Such…adventure…’ she groaned into her gag as she felt the binds loosen further and fall apart completely. She gasped as she pulled the gag from her mouth and sat up in her bed.

She panted with excitement from her ordeal. Her mind filled with the events that had just occurred within her very room. At first, she had been afraid that the large dark-skinned man was about to kill her. But the Hero came to her aid! But…her father had said he was a False Hero…how could that be? There was no way that he was a False Hero, her father had to be wrong. That man…Harold Lisbe…thought only of her safety as he left her a means to escape her situation before he left. He had even gave her a weapon to protect herself with!

Granted, before the Hero’s group had broken into her room she had never felt the need for a weapon for self defense. Even the very thought of others knowing about the castle’s hidden passages would have brought cold shivers down her spine. But right now she was shivering in excitement. Today she had witnessed something grand. The sight of the Hero as he wore one of her dresses and made himself look as feminine as possible was constantly at the forefront of her mind. Over and over she recollected every detail of every preparation he had made. Every dab of makeup, every brush stroke in his hair made her heart beat faster and faster. Her mouth salivated at the thought of seeing him like that again.

“Harold Lisbe…” She whispered the name of her now beloved as she licked her lips. “I will find you.”