Dim strips of light allowed Julia to see the outlines of plates and bowls when she looked around carefully. The hole must have lead her into one of the cabinets in the kitchen. One of the few areas in the castle the prince had never visited before. It was a place for servants, not royalty. For a mouse, Julia's nose said it was a good place to get a quick meal. That was a high priority in spite of everything.
She weaved through the big crockery until a wooden door loomed large. It seemed unlikely to her that she could open it, but decided to try. She placed her front paws on the door and leaned forward hard. The door creaked and budged. Not much, but enough to allow her to slip out of the cupboard. She found herself on a counter top with a good view of the kitchen. A quick scan revealed the kitchen to be empty with many half finished tasks abandoned. The workers must have fled due to the rebel attack. Good for Julia as she could move about without the fear of being spotted. The counter had nothing but empty dishes stacked up. Some still had bits of food on them, but Julia turned her nose up at those scraps and ran along.
On the ledge of the counter, Julia spotted a table piled with fresh food. without thinking, she leapt forward. A flash of terror filled her as the hard stone floor rushed to meet her, but she simply landed on it softly with a small bounce. It seemed there were some advantages to being so small. Shaking herself to get reoriented, she continued toward the table. Climbing the leg was a breeze. Her claws sunk into the soft wood and propelled her up almost as fast as she could normally run. Once at the top, she let out a squeak of delight.
The fragrant table was packed with fruit, cheese, and meat. For the first time, her new perspective made her happy. She walked along an avenue made of grapes, plums, melons, apples, and pomegranates. brie, cheddar, and asiago. All the meat was raw. A shame, but there was more than enough of the other fresh offers. Julia grasped a grape pulled it free from the stem. She ripped at the skin with her teeth and happily pressed the juicy fruit into her mouth. She took a taste of each of the fruits before moving on to the cheese. Normally she did not like cheese, but it smelled so good. She giggled at the cliché and nibbled on a slice of cheddar. It tasted even better than the fruit.
The good food filled Julia's empty belly, but also distracted her from the fact she was no longer alone in the kitchen. A bump caused her to drop a pomegranate seed in surprise. Someone was definitely in the room, but she was surrounded by food that prevented her from seeing. That also meant whoever was there had likely not spotted her either. Best to keep it that way. She slowly rounded an apple to get a peek and jumped back in surprise at what she saw.