𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘦𝘴

The Escape (part 1)

We had come up with a plan. Everyone knew what we were doing. I was to leave Ferox to rest and I would see Lena at the castle.

I woke up with him next to me so I quietly moved out of bed and into the kitchen where I quickly had breakfast. I then went back to the room and changed into my riding leathers.

"Are you leaving already?" Ferox said though a groggy voice. We hadn't spoken much the evening before and I wanted to keep it that way. "My love..."

"Goodbye." I said and hoped it would be goodbye.

"Hilda..." he tried to reach me through words but I turned on my heels and left the house without looking back.

***

Lena was waiting eagerly at the window. She could feel the blood pumping though her veins as she gazed into the courtyard below. Her patience was running swiftly out and there was only so many times one could untie and retie your boot laces.

Eventually Hilda appeared but she only got a glimpse of her sister because Lena moved from the window quicker than an arrow could be fired.

***

Wymond had taken his shift on the wall and had made his way to his house. There, he picked up what he really needed: his hunting jacket, a spare dagger and a ring that once belonged to his mother that he wanted Hilda to have as a token of their marriage.

He took one last look at the small and dingy room, the one with the worst memories: his Father shouting at him, abusing him; his Mother dying a long and painful death. Were there any happy memories? No, he new the answer to that: all the times he was in the woods, alone or with Kamden, it don't matter, that was where he was meant to be, where he was happiest.

Finally he closed the door and walked up the cobbled street as if it were any other normal day.

***

As Kamden finished his shift at the gate, he did what he knew Wymond was doing: made his way home and took what he needed: a knife, an extra layer of clothing for the nights and a locket for Lena. If his Father knew who the locket was going to, there would be a whip on his back at that very moment. No, there would not be, Kamden is stronger than his Father ever had been and the boy he was then has grown to be a resilient man who would not take the abuse directed at him.

He left the house. Closing the door felt like closing a box full of bad things and leaving it underground never to be reopened. When the town changed to being ruled under Hilda, she would not let him return to that place.

***

I took Lena by the arm and lead her upstairs to my bedroom that didn't look like it had been touched for the whole time I had been away. I opened the draws of my familiar riding gear and picked my favorite items: the warm leather jacket with sheep wool on the inside, my old but best riding boots that I used to wear before Mother insisted I got a new pair after I was married. I made Lena try on my other jacket, which she loved and agreed to take.

I then moved to the side of my bed and pulled up a loose floorboard. No one had ever found it, lucky really, because inside there were knives, daggers and spare arrows.

"Take your pick." I said to Lena who's intake of breath showed she was not prepared to find such a stash of weapons in my room.

We chose which ones we wanted and I pushed the wood back into the floor. We then helped each other conceal the knives and daggers under our clothes. There was not much talking, just waves of knowledge passing between us as we prepared for the escape.

***

Hilda and Lena made their way back downstairs to find their Mother had gotten the chef to prepare food and placed it all in packs for them.

"Where are you off to today, girls?" She asked, surprisingly cheerfully.

"Oh, just our usual ride," Hilda said, "stop for lunch somewhere, stay out as late as we dare."

A smile played across their Mother's lips. What a strange mood she was in! "Very well, have fun my dears." Unexpectedly, her arms came around both the girls and they each received a kiss on the forehead.

As she let them go, Lena looked at Hilda with a quizzical expression.

"Bye Mother." Lena said and started towards the door, grabbing Hilda's arm as she went.

"Take care." Their Mother said, adding, "I love you."