The Beauty in Pain | Book One of In Pain Trilogy *EDITING*

2. Escaped

Saenar was right. She was little. The man was barely six feet yet she had to bend his body to gain the upper hand.

Before he could react, she pressed two fingers hard on the side of his neck. It was a little trick she had picked up from the last time she snuck out. Before, she would have to try to either distract the incoming guard with a diversion before sprinting out of sight, or try to make it down in such record time that she was on the ground and out of sight before he realized anything was amiss.

The fat man grew limp in her arms. His heavy body bore down on her and she dragged him over to the wall as quickly as she could before she wasted any more time.

When he was safely against the wall, Mynera noticed that the stars had come out, illuminating her path further. She reached up and pulled the hood closer over her face. The grass beneath her feet made her a silent sneak, and she crept along the walls, making sure keep to the shadows. 

The next guard she encountered was standing near the stables, walking back and forth and whistling tunelessly. Also dressed in the standard guard garb, flashy blue and black armor, he too had a sword hanging from his hips. For this one, Mynera knew the timing was impertinent.

Throwing the stone wrong and it hitting someplace else could throw off her whole plan. But throwing the stone at the wrong time could alert the guard of her presence. That definitely couldn't happen. Once she was found, that was the end for her. She would be on permanent lock-down until she was transferred to the King's Castle where she would continue to be on lock-down under the king's watchful and wary eyes. That thought hade her sweating as she scanned the ground for a decent stone. 

Mynera bid her time patiently until the right moment presented itself. She picked up a stone and threw it.

The palm sized stone collided into the stone wall of the stables. The soft yet distinct cluck that sounded had the pacing guard's head swiveling in the direction of the sound.

"What's that?" she heard him ask himself. Mynera edged her way forward, keeping her eyes steadily on the guard. His eyebrow knitted and he turned, no doubt still wondering what could have made that sound instead of going to check. Finally, he must have decided that facing Lord Daego's wrath was too much of a threat to just leave it alone and he walked warily to where the sound had originated from.

Just as his back turned to her, Mynera sprinted across the grass, bracing the shower of moonlight on her face, exposing her to anyone who happened to be looking her way. Those dreaded four seconds lasted an entire lifetime. Adrenaline and fright pumped her legs harder until she plunged back into the shadows of the stables and was able to release a silent breath of relief.

The stables were huge. The stable hands had long since gone home so the place was empty except for her and the many four legged beasts of burden that snorted at her from their stalls. The stables comprised of several interconnecting buildings, storing horses, ponies, mules and whatever it is they needed to take care of them.

Mynera smiled to herself. Half the journey was done and only half more to go.

The horses whinnied when she entered. Mynera grabbed a few stunted apples she saw lying in the corner. She fed them to the horses as she passed by, feeding two to her personal horse, Bolt. Bolt was a beauty among horses, with smooth chestnut brown hair that glowed under any light. Her mane was a darker shade of brown but was just as pretty. Mynera named her Bolt partly because of the white lightning bolt shape on her rump and partly because of her frightening speed. Mynera ran her hand over Bolt's head, cooing softly.

When Bolt was done eating, Mynera gave her a farewell pat and continued on her way. She walked all the way down to the end of the passage, rounded the many corners until she saw the window she was looking for. She crawled unto the ledge and pulled herself up unto a lowered section of the roof. She kept low so that she would not be spotted. If anyone saw her, all they would be seeing was what looked like a hooded thief that had managed to breach the castle gates. That would most definitely raise the alarm. So Mynera scurried along, trying to move as fast as she possibly could with herself bent this low.