Conquest of War

Chapter eleven

11
In the Talvok Palace 

Fayrn was standing in the entrance of the passage with a candle in one hand and a piece of charcoal in the other. This was her sixth venture into the passage system and she was pretty sure that she knew the way to the dungeon. In the last week she had been mapping the passageway system, using charcoal to mark the walls so she would not get lost in the maze of corridors like she had the very first time. It had taken her several hours and some luck to finder her way out of the maze of hidden passages the first time; however she had found several unexpected passages that day. For example she had found one that led to a hidden room in the palace that looked like it had once housed treasure or something, but that was a long time ago because her country had been poor for several generations now. That vast room now stood empty and unused. She had found other passages that led to many parts of the palace including the King's bed chambers. She knew that the prince had taken residence in the Royal Chambers so she had decided to slip in and look around. To her surprise, she discovered that her future husband had changed quite a few things. Her father had gilded everything and nothing was ever organized, with piles of clutter strewn everywhere and things covered every flat surface. Her future husband had removed every touch of gaudy gilded shows of affluence her father had displayed in his chambers and replaced them with a cold organization that lacked any personal touches. If she had not known it was the royal bed chambers she would have thought it belonged to a simple guard commander or something, not a prince. She couldn’t help noticing that the room smelled like him as she rummaged through his things. To her disappointment, she didn’t find a single thing of interest. 
Tonight she was heading to the dungeon and she knew the exact way to get there, she had memorized it by heart over the past week. She took a deep breath as she closed the passage door behind herself, not wanting a soldier to walk in and find out her secret because she left the door open. The candle flickered in the dark as she walked along the black corridor and a rat scurried past her foot, making her cringe in disgust. She despised rats because they were smelly, creepy, and dirty. The princess sighed as she walked along the path to her goal and checked the markings on the walls to make sure she was going the correct direction and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw she was not lost.
After about fifteen minutes Fayrn came to the door she had marked dungeon, which opened into a small alcove that most of the guards did not even know existed. She cracked the door open and peaked out to make sure that there were not any guards around to see her and sighed when she saw the coast was clear. She set the candle and the pack on her back just inside the door, so that they would not slow her as she worked to free her best friend. Then she crept over to Gala’s cell with her lock pick set in hand. 
"Gala" Fayrn whispered softly, so only the other woman could hear, as she stopped outside the cell and the woman in rags immediately looked up at her from where she was curled up in a ball in the corner of the small cell with shock.
"Fay, what are you doing here?!" Gala demanded in confusion as she crawled across the cell to stand before the small princess. 
"I'm here to rescue you of course. Did you honestly believe that I would leave you down here to die?" Fayrn answered bluntly as she slid the lock pick set out of the leather satchel slung across her chest and Gala scowled. 
"How exactly are we escaping? Are we just going to waltz through the palace and go out the front gate? That prince has this palace pretty well guarded..." Fayrn cut her off as she fiddled with the lock until the door to the cell popped open. 
"That's exactly why we are not going through the palace. We are going to take a secret passage that takes us into a cave system under the palace which leads into the forest. Come on hurry before the guards come back" the princess said urgently as she pulled her friend towards the secret tunnel entrance in the alcove and her friend looked at her nervously as the guard room door started to open. They both scrambled for the door and managed to shut it behind themselves without being noticed. Fayrn opened her bag and pulled out a second candle and holder for her friend. She used the lit candle to light the second candle and handed it over to Gala who was looking at her in complete disbelief.
"Fay, I cannot believe that your plan actually worked without either one of us getting caught" Gala marveled as she looked over at the Talvok princess, who was smiling at her and they both giggled in nervous excitement.
"I cannot believe it either. I was so sure that those guards were going to see us when they came out, or that I had read the guard changes wrong and I would get caught before I even saw you" Fayrn admitted as she glanced over at her best friend and Gala rolled her eyes. The two women spent the next couple of hours wandering through the corridors, talking quietly to one another as they went. They had to stop once to change candles, but other than that there were no mishaps or delays that stopped their progress. Fayrn gazed up at the immense span across the largest of the caverns as they walked through it, but Gala distracted her as she began to talk about their future. She talked about how she and Fayrn could travel to the sea and live with her cousin until things settle and then they could go wherever that they desired. It all sounded so wonderful to the little princess, but she knew in her heart, no matter how much she dreamed it or wanted it to be, she would never be able to leave with her best friend. She had sealed her fate with the prince. She was a prisoner in her own home and she did not have the choice to escape, too many people would suffer if she did.
The two women looked at each other as they came to the mouth of the cave and Gala smiled excitedly as she took a deep breath of fresh air. Freedom was before them. Fayrn knew that if she just slipped into the forest, the prince would never find her and she would be free, but she also knew her duty was to her people. 
The friends walked out into the night and Gala turned to her princess with a smile, the moonlight illuminating her face. 
"I have a cousin who lives in the South. He's a merchant. He will be glad to take us in. It's only a few weeks' travel on foot" Gala stated as she turned towards the trees, the full moon light illuminated the night so the two women could see each other quite clearly. 
"Take this. It has food. Clothes and all the gold I have in my possession..." Gala cut Fayrn off as the princess handed her the bag and looked at her in confusion. 
"Fay, what are you talking about? You're coming with me..." Gala trailed off as the princess looked at her with sad green eyes and shook her head. 
"I can't. If I leave him...then he will slaughter women and children..." Gala cut her off with a look of anger in her grey eyes as she grabbed Fay’s shoulders. 
"He'll kill you! Or if he doesn't kill you he'll make you suffer..." Fayrn cut her best friend off as she looked at her with anguished eyes and swallowed hard. 
"I know that, Gala, but I don't have a choice. I will not be responsible for the slaughter of my people. My duty must come before myself and my desires" the princess whispered sadly and Gala hugged her as tears welled up in both women's eyes. 
"I'm so sorry, Fayrn. You don't deserve this. You are the kindest person I have ever met. Let me take your place or something" Gala said softly as she looked at her friend and Fayrn shook her head firmly. 
"I would not let this fate fall on anyone. It is mine to bear and mine alone" the princess murmured brokenly and tears spilled down her cheeks. 
"Will I ever see you again?" Gala asked as she choked back a sob and Fayrn faked a smile, but on the inside she was holding back her sobs as well. 
"We will see each other again someday soon" the tiny princess murmured as she hugged her friend tighter before letting go.
They both knew that was a lie. This was the last time they would ever see each other, but neither of them had the heart to say goodbye. 
"You should go. Get as far away from this place as possible. Write to me from your cousin's home so I know you made it. I want to know all about your travels and your adventures" Fayrn whispered in a shaky voice as she looked at her best friend.
"I promise, Fayrn. Please try to be happy. I will miss you so much" Gala sniffled as she wiped her eyes.
"I will miss you too" the princess murmured and Gala hugged her one more time before slipping into the night. The woman stood at the entrance of the cave for a few long moments staring after her only friend before she turned to the cave and began the journey back to the palace. Her heart was breaking into a million pieces as she wandered through the passages.
AN:
I will be doing lots of editing in this story.