Queen of Nothing

Chapter 16

My feet carry me through the halls that I by now know so well. My mind reeling I try to come up with a plan. Oak's hand in mine and the sword in me other hand make the servants quickly move out of our way. It won't be hard to get out of the estate, but it will be hard to escape beyond it. I don't even know where to go with Oak to keep him save. In order to avoid more eyes I take the stairs down into Lock's hidden story basement. I barricade the door behind me with one of the chairs. "Jude.." Oak's trembling voice makes me turn to him. "What is it? Are you hurt?" I quickly look him over again. There are no injuries I can see. He shakes his head. "What do we do now?" His whole body trembles and his eyes reflect a fear I know all too well. My eyes looked like that when I first came to Fairy. I kneel down and pull him into a hug. "It's gonne be okay. Trust me." If only I had more faith in my own words. "We need to go." With that I pull away and take him to the door that leads outside. After opening it I quickly scan the surroundings. Nothing's there. I look over my shoulder into the room. I need a way to slow them to follow us. My eyes land on the book shelves. Then the torches. "Oak, go ahead to the maze, I'm right behind you." I approach the the closest torche. I struggle a little to get the torch out of it's holder. The construction is old and rusty. I jump at the sound of someone trying to open the door. Thankfully the chair holds the door in place. It won't for long and I know it. I run for the bookshelves and don't hesitate to throw the torch into them. The books catch fire right away. I turn and leave more chaos and destruction behind.

The cool fresh air helps me find more clarity. But the rest of my body feels the full cold of the night. I am still wearing this stupid nightgown. It's like wearing no clothes at all. As the maze comes into view my muscles tense up. Oak is already there and someone is standing bysides him. I tighten my grip on nightfell ready to kill this person. But when the person turns to me I know his face. It takes me a view seconds to place his face. He is one of Lord Roiben's personal guards. I lower my blade and stop before him. "We need you to take us to Lord Roiben now." I tell him breathlessly. His gaze slowly moves down my body and I see the hunger in them. My cheeks heat and I cross my arms in front of my chest in a desperate attempt to hold on to what remains of my dignity. "And please lend my your cloak." His gaze holds mine as he winks at me. "Of course." I don't want to read into what it might mean. He unties his cloak and hands it to me. And I quickly put it on. "Thanks." "I take it things didn't go so well tonight?" He asks sheepishly. I just give him a look and he holds up his hands defensively. "I'll take you to my Lord, get on." I just stare at him frowning. Did he say get on? I'm about to ask him what he means when he turns into a horse-griffin. My mouth drops open. The animal stumps its claws in the dirt. And it's eyes give me, what seems like to be, an amused expression. It's feather like wings flex a bit as if he was saying hurry up already. So I get Oak and lift him up first. Then I quickly climb onto the animal as well. Sitting on this being gave me a sudden realisation that there is nothing I can hold on to. Only a giant neck and feathers. With a schriek the beast launches itself into the sky. And my scream of panic gets lots in the noise of batting wings. I hold onto Oak and as much of the feathery neck as I possible can. The wind tears at me. The cloak is no protection from the cold that comes with the height and the wind. My teeth rattle with it. Oak whimpers when he looks down. I look as well and immediately regret it. I see guards running out from Locke's estate. But they quickly grow smaller as we get higher and further away. I just hope none will follow.

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I've been so busy lately, it's hard to find time to write >.<"

Also I've been living under a rock. I just found out about the Modern faerie tale trilogy from Holly Black about Lord Roiben and his girlfriend.  Like I need to read that ASAP! I wanna bring Jude to his court but I have no idea what it's like Dx much struggles....