"Isn't this exhilarating?!" Flair calls to her two partners in crime as they dash through the forest, pine needles crunching underfoot and branches whipping at their faces. The satchel containing the lost princess's tiara thumps rhythmically against her back with each stride. Now all she has to do is lose these two.

Up ahead, sunlight glints off a small cliff that blocks their path, its stone face rough with handholds. Flair can hear the thunder of royal horses behind them, the sound growing closer with each passing second. This is her chance. She skids to a halt, dirt spraying from her boots, and turns to her comrades with wide eyes, mustering all the false panic and concern she can.

"We need to get up there! Boost me up, and I'll pull you guys." Her voice cracks with manufactured urgency as she gestures upward.

The two men glance at each other suspiciously, beards glinting with sweat, but the sound of hoofs against dirt grows louder by the second. There's just no time for arguments.

The taller one sighs heavily, planting his feet firmly and lacing his fingers together to form a step. Flair uses his cupped hands to shimmy her way over the ledge, her muscles burning with exertion. Once she's safely on top, he turns around, his voice low and gruff with menace.

"Now help us up."

But Flair was already gone, satchel slung across her body as she disappears into the trees, listening to her partners' enraged cries fade into the distance. The sweet scent of pine fills her nostrils as she runs, but she knows she isn't safe yet. The tiara is still gone, and the royal guard will never stop hunting for it - or for her. She needs to find someplace to hide.

Flair slows to a walk when she reaches a clearer patch of the woods, sunlight dappling through the canopy above. She glances around, chest heaving, when she spots what looks to be a half-hidden tunnel. Its entrance is almost completely covered with ivy and vines, making it nearly invisible to the untrained eye. It's perfect.

As Flair brushes away the vines and steps through the tunnel, cool air wrapping around her like a blanket, she's gobsmacked by what she sees on the other side.

A tower rises before her, tall enough to rival the palace spires, its stone walls weathered but intact. No windows mar its lower levels, and the only entrance appears to be far above. Seemingly abandoned. Perfect shelter. Flair just needs to find a way in.

After walking around the entire perimeter, boots scuffing against the packed earth, she determines there's no door at ground level, meaning she'll have to climb. The thought makes her grin - she's always been better at climbing than hiding anyway.

The climb is long and arduous, her fingers scraping against stone and her muscles screaming in protest, but Flair manages to haul herself over the windowsill and into the tower. Her legs nearly give out the second they touch the floor, and she leans against the wall, chest heaving as she catches her breath. The room is small but cozy, with a spinning wheel and loom in one corner and a bed piled with patchwork quilts in another. Not exactly abandoned then. But it will have to do.

She takes a step forward to further explore, her boot squeaking against the wooden floor, when a clang sounds through the air. Pain explodes across the back of her head as something heavy connects with her skull, and the world goes black.