Addy had always possessed a cunning mind, with machinations as intricate as the tapestries that adorned the grand halls of the castle. Devotion to her lady, Princess Saraphina, was the wellspring of her diligent plotting—a loyalty which tonight, would catalyze a clandestine encounter under the cloak of darkness.
With the castle enveloped by the velvety caress of night, Addy set her plan into motion. Earlier that day, under the guise of laundered linens, she had secreted away garments simple enough to belong to any common maid yet of a quality that would not agitate the princess's royal skin. The ploy was simple: Saraphina would shed her regal trappings for the nondescript attire of a servant—plain, but fitting to blend seamlessly into the shadow-soaked corridors of the castle.
The head covering was crucial; Saraphina's fiery mane was a beacon that could betray her identity with a mere glint under errant moonlight. Thus, Addy provided a scarf of deep forest green—a shade rumored to ward off ill omens and draw the favor of the night. Wrapped snugly around the princess's head, it concealed her lustrous locks, the color melting into the nocturnal palette of their surroundings.
With the transformation complete, Addy became the princess’s guide and guardian, leading her through lesser-known passages and stairwells that spiraled down to the service quarters. Her intimate knowledge of the castle, gleaned from years of navigating its secrets for both duty and mischief, now served a purpose both noble and perilous.
They moved like whispers through the corridors, Addy a step ahead, alert to every sigh and creak of the ancient stones that might betray their presence. They were phantoms darting across the castle grounds, past flickering torches that hungrily devoured the darkness before them.
Their journey was a delicate weave through the tapestry of night, past the barracks of slumbering guards and beyond the stables where the soft snorts of dreaming horses filled the air. Here amongst the service quarters, where the air held the mingled scents of tallow, hay, and the humble toil of the castle's unseen hands, Saraphina was but a shadow—her royal birthright left behind in the high chambers, her heart leading her forward.
The final steps to James's door were the most fraught, a palpable mix of anticipation and fear for what the discovery of their tryst could spell for them all. Yet, Addy's face held a resolute calm, her task nearing completion as she delivered the princess unto her heart's yearning.
Her knock upon James’s chamber door was a gentle tap, the prearranged signal that would change the course of two intertwined destinies. As the door opened, enveloping Saraphina into the solace beyond, Addy slipped into the shadows from whence she came—her role as the architect of this forbidden rendezvous complete, her heart content in the silent triumph of love's indomitable will.
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