Now that she had the materials, Tianna decided to wait until the next day to test the disguise. She was exhausted. Every day since her birthday had been long and mentally draining. A part of her hoped that with this disguise she could take back a tiny piece of normalcy. For that night, instead of the usual confused nightmares about being the Queen’s heir Tianna had peaceful dreams full of freedom given to her by her new disguise.

Tianna woke the next morning feeling more refreshed than she had since the start of this mess. She wanted to try the disguise immediately but she had to find the right timing.

“Jerath, where do you think would be the best place to put on my disguise?” she asked.

“I don’t recommend leaving the resort,” Jerath replied thoughtfully, “and it would probably be best to avoid this room when you take it on and off.”

“Should I ask an employee? It would be best in case they realize it anyway…”

“No. If they can tell there is a chance that the Black Wolf’s people can tell and we need to know immediately,” Jerath warned, “Be careful what you tell the people of Belleas.”

“But if they want something shouldn’t they be more desperate to help me?” Tianna asked.

“The moment you show too much weakness people who want to use you will throw you out and latch onto someone new,” Jerath warned, “You should always have a few secrets you never tell those kinds of people.”

Tianna gave in. “That doesn’t leave too many options. I can’t just walk into any room, and the public facilities are bound to be full of people,” she muttered, “Do you think Soral would let me use his room.”

Jerath grimaced. “He might but that is risky as well,” he muttered, “Still you have a point that there aren’t many options.”

“I have no confidence in being sneaky,” Tianna admitted, “So using a public place would be hard, and if we are keeping it a secret from the Belleas Company I can’t exactly ask for a room since that would be the same as using this room.”

“You would still have to be a little sneaky,” Jerath warned, “Otherwise people who see you enter and don’t see you exit will grow suspicious.”

Tianna thought for a moment. “Actually, why can’t I use this room?” she realized, “We could rent the room next to us or something for my friend who is coming and my friend could be my disguise, right?”

“Perhaps but wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of being disguised since you might be targeted by people aiming for you either way,” Jerath pointed out.

“Oh,” Tianna realized, “Then perhaps I should ask to use the a room near Soral’s so I can study and be able to consult him easily? That way all the time spent in that room would be less suspicious?”

“And you would sneak out through Soral’s room in your disguise?” Jerath clarified, “That could work and it might be good to have a separate place to study anyway.”

“But we would need Soral’s permission for it to work,” Tianna realized, and frowned, “Do you think he will agree?”

“It is hard to say. He is a fairly easy-going person but he is known for being stubborn about random things,” Jerath replied and headed for the door. “I will go ask him. Wait here.”

A piercing silence filled the room the moment that Jerath left the room and Tianna waited eagerly for his return. If things went well she could go out and explore town in a disguise. It would be like she was truly free again. Then, maybe, she might be able to face the reality of what was happening to her.

Jerath returned several minutes later. “I got permission from Soral, and he reserved the room next to his for you before I could stop him,” he reported, “Still, since you would be studying there with the excuse of asking Soral for help and advice it shouldn’t be that strange that he would reserve the room.”

“Great!” Tianna said and leapt up, “So can we try it out now?”

“Hold on, we need to gather some study materials first,” Jerath warned, “I will let you go out, but we will be studying for real when we come back.”

“That’s fine,” Tianna agreed easily.

They quickly gathered some books, papers, and other things that Jerath had prepared for her to use when she studied and took them to the room Soral had reserved.

When they arrived in the room, it was clear the layout had been changed last minute to be more like a study room than a bedroom. The Belleas employees certainly worked fast. Once they were inside and had things set up, Tianna took her disguise out of where it was hidden in the study supplies.

“Hold on, if you are coming with me, won’t you need a disguise too?” she asked.

“I already have one,” Jerath assured her, “I prepared various disguises for myself beforehand just in case.”

“Oh,” Tianna muttered. Secretly, she had been hoping to see Jerath flustered at his lack of preparedness. It was probably a good thing that he was always on top of things, but the fact that Jerath refused to show her any weakness hurt her. She couldn’t help but notice he was treating her in a similar way that he recommended she treat the Belleas employees.

“I will scope out a good path to leave so we won’t be noticed, “ Jerath told her and headed over to the window.

Luckily the window faced the garden and the lake so it wouldn’t be strange for someone to walk there, but it would also be difficult for people to observe them sneaking out. It turned out that they didn’t even need to sneak through Soral’s room on the way out, but it was good to have it as a backup.

While Jerath was busy deciding their exact path, Tianna got her disguise ready. It was easier to apply than she thought it would be, and when she checked her appearance in the mirror she really did look completely different.

Jerath came over to her. “It looks like you applied the disguise just fine,” he noted, “Good job.”

She noticed that he had somehow made his hair less metallic which made it appear to be reddish brown instead of bronze. Other than that he hadn’t changed anything but his clothes had all been carefully selected to not stand out.

“Have you figured out the path?” Tianna asked.

“I have,” Jerath told her and led her to the balcony beyond the window, “We will have to move quickly. I don’t know if you have the agility to land correctly from this height so I will carry you when we jump down.”

“Are you sure?” Tianna checked.

“I’m a dragon. Jumping from this height won’t phase me,” he pointed out. Before she could say anything else, he carefully picked her up and jumped down behind the hedge that marked the start of the garden. He landed lightly, proving his words.

Tianna slipped out of his arms and looked back up at the balcony. It seemed farther away from the ground from this standpoint. “How are we going to get back up there when we return?” Tianna asked.

Jerath gestured to Soral’s balcony. “Soral installed a ladder for us on his balcony just in case. I would like to avoid using it since it would draw a lot of attention, but I could use illusion magic to hide us if absolutely necessary.”

“Why only if absolutely necessary?” she asked.

“If I use magic like that here there is no way that the Belleas employees won’t notice something,” he answered.

Tianna nodded and headed for the other side of the hedge. “Let’s worry about that later and have some fun. This time I will make sure to not run into anyone suspicious.”

“I will stay by your side just in case,” Jerath promised, but he had a small smile on his face as he led her out of the garden and into town.