The Dying Rose (Completed)

Chapter 29: A Friend In The Darkness

Before the sun had risen the next morning, there came a knock upon our bedroom door. Neither Rixenda nor Petronille was stirred by it. I climbed over Rixie, and clambered across the room, stumbling as I shivered.

Realizing that I wasn't in possession of a robe, I pressed up against the door, and loudly whispered, "Who is there?"

"It's Mirabelle!" came the hushed reply through the door.

I unlocked it, and opened it to let her in. She squeezed through the cracked door, and, once inside, instructed me to hurry and shut the door. Once it was locked again, she dropped the hood on her cloak.

"Wake your friends. We need to leave shortly," she prompted me.

"But, it's the middle of the night?" I responded, groggily.

"That is why we should go. I made sure that no one has followed me from the castle, and we don't want anyone to follow us. Now get them up, we need to hurry!" she hissed across the darkened room.

"But, why would anyone follow us?" I asked.

In the darkness, I heard her sigh. "I'm a princess. They refused to let me leave yesterday without permission from my father. Especially for traveling with no guard, for fear you are kidnappers. I had to sneak out of the castle, and if I am caught, I will be dragged back, until my father returns, in a few weeks."

"A few weeks! We can't wait that long. You're perfectly safe with us," I said, trying to reassure her.

"Well, that may be, be we still need to leave as soon as is possible. The more time we take to leave, the more word will spread that I have vanished. A few people in the castle know already, so it won't be long before they begin to tell it," she said.

"Fine," I sighed, turning back to the large bed where the girls slept.

I gently shook them awake; first Rixenda, and then Petronille. I told them that Mirabelle was there, and that we needed to get ready to leave, even though it was the middle of the night. There were minimal protests, which surprised me, for Petronille had always been fond of sleeping in, if she could. The three of us helped each other dress, quickly, and gather our few, scattered possessions from around the room.

Mirabelle, all the while, stood in the corner, by the door, impatiently pacing, and clearing her throat.

Finally, Rixenda thought to run across the hall, and wake Lucas, so that he could be readying himself as well. It took a while for her to return, and her explanation for it was, "He's up. Against his will, but he is up."

"Good. Now, if only you all could move a little more quickly, we may make it out of here before dawn," came Mirabelle's alto voice from the corner, gruffly.

Rixenda glared at me, her eyes nearly bulging from her head. Her facial expression screamed resentment of how pushy Mirabelle was being, and I couldn't exactly blame her. I was starting to be a little annoyed by her as well, and I didn't feel very well, either.

Just as I finished pinning Petronille's hair up in a ladylike fashion, Lucas knocked on the door. "The horses are ready; let's go!" he whispered loudly through the door.

His voice had a harsher tone to it that I had never heard from him before. I presumed that he, Rixenda, and I were all a little irritable, from being up so late after my venture out into the city.

Well, if this is any inclination, by the time we make it back to the castle, we may have killed one another.

Mirabelle turned to stare at the three of us in the room. "You heard him; let's go!" She opened the door and slipped out of it.