Chapter 12 - Escape

Although, Evanna had relaxed in the bath before bed, it did not keep her nerves at bay. That night, she did not sleep well, tossing and turning a lot, restless and consumed with her thoughts. There were only a few hours left until she was to get up and go, she knew the time that she was going would be perfect, no one would be awake except for the guards patrolling outside.

A few restless hours later, the princess opened her eyes wide awake as though she had slept perfectly well, she knew however that this was a lie, and she would feel very tired later in the day. With the dim light that came through from her glass door at the balcony, she could see the outlines of her golden pocket watch that she left on her bedside table. Reaching her hand out, she grabbed the watch to check the time to see that it was an hour before she was meant to be up.

Instead of going back to sleep she sat herself up against the headboard of the bed, if she went back to sleep, she knew it would not be peaceful. The light coming through the glass must have been from the last of the moonlight, she thought. With one last look around her dark room, she got out of bed and went to her desk where she left the items her mother brought her.

Before opening the boxes, she pulled her nightgown off, sighing at the thought of how much comfier it was to sleep in than what she would be wearing from this morning onwards. Standing naked in the dark, she opened the first box and brought out the Dracosbain shirt. Once she put it over head and removed her hair from underneath it, the shirt clung to her body like a second skin, with no air able to go underneath it. It was not painful and she felt like she was still wearing nothing.

After that she put on her black breeches, tied her two daggers against the bottom of her legs and put her boots on over the top to cover them. She put on her normal black shirt, tucking it into her breaches before putting the bluish leather top on over the shirt. It was not a corset, but she still had a small leather thread going down the side to pull on, which tightened the fit, looking in the mirror she saw that the top covered her chest, she undone the top two buttons of her shirt underneath which revealed her necklace slightly.

Once she finished with the shirt, she noticed her hair was still flowing out down messily to her waist, she quickly pulled it back into a plait and tied it with a string. Happy with her outfit she placed her swords on her back along with her new dagger which she placed in its sheath behind her back at the top of her bottom. At last, she could put her navy cloak on top, where she tied the three toggles together at the top of her chest, which made it cover most of what she wore. Lastly, she put a pair of black leather type gloves on, which she knew she would need to keep her soft hands from forming calluses, if she were indeed needed to use her swords a lot.

Before leaving she made sure that the letter, she had written for the king was left on her now made bed, she then placed her hood over her head after grabbing her bag and slinging it behind her. The bag held multiple items she knew she needed, along with the leather tube with the parchments in, an elvish book that held information about Direwood forest in, food and water supplies, a spare shirt and of course a lot of gold coins.

Evanna opened the door slowly and looked outside, making sure her surroundings were clear before creeping out of her room and closing the door silently. She started to make her way down the hallway, stopping again and double checking there were no guards, she calmed her racing heart and continued her silent slow steps. There were a few instances where she stopped and hid behind walls as a guard would walk past, but the closer she was getting to the servant's quarters, the quicker her steps were becoming, the anticipation tightening her neck muscles.

As soon as she was near the servant's quarters, she heard the sound of metal clanking against each other, it was armour. Her body tensed as adrenaline rushed through her, the noise was coming from her right and on looking over, there was nobody there yet. She swiftly tiptoed across the hall to the nearest curtain and hid, making sure her feet and body were covered.

Evanna held her breath as the guard came closer, her body tensed again as he walked past her, she waited until the noise of his armour subsided, then pulled the curtain back and took a few steps before opening the door to the servant's quarters. Closing the door behind her, she carefully took the steps downwards in the darkened staircase, careful of her foot placement. Once she cleared the small obstacle she calmed down and walked to her normal spot, the open area where the barrels were, she grabbed her normal dirty cloak and put it on, placing the nicer one in her bag.

"Princess"

Evanna jumped at the loud voice, someone had sneaked up on her!? She turned around to see Sir Hugh standing behind her, who looked from her face to her bag and back to the cloak she now wore. Out of everyone, she did not think she would run into him. He took a step forward which snapped her out of her shock. She immediately kicked him in his manhood, making him gasp and fall to his knees, shock showing on his face.

"I am so sorry!"

She then punched him on the top right part of his temple, a spot she was taught would knock someone out. He fell down unconscious immediately, guilt spread through her stomach, but she couldn't stop and stare at what she done. Grabbing both his hands, she pulled him back towards a cupboard, closing the door on him, she turned the key in the lock before dropping it on the floor.

Sighing, she put the old hood up and walked outside towards the stables, where she found Midknight and a cart she had left next to him. She placed her bag and swords in the cart, covering her belongings with a cloth before attaching the wooden pole to the back of her horse. Grabbing a lantern already lit from the front of the stables, she attached it to the front of the cart.

"Let's keep the rest of the escape simple Midknight" The black horse neighed in response. She walked back and climbed up sitting on the front part of the cart. Without a word spoken, Midknight started pulling her and the cart forwards. As they made their way through the castle grounds, some of the guards started to look over, though they did not see the hooded servant to be a threat.

Fog emerged out across the long bridge and river below as the horse and cart trotted along the stony surface. The sky had started to get lighter with the moon getting lower in the sky as birds started to chirp and rise for the new day. Evanna's heart started to pound quicker as they approached the gatehouse, Midknight stopped pulling as soon as the two guards approached the cart. Jumping down, she brought a sealed letter out from her cloak pocket and gave it to the guard closest to her, making sure to keep her head down so that her features would not show. The guard gave the letter to his comrade next to him, who opened it and read it. His face showed surprise,

"Is it not a bit early for you to be leaving for Birch?" The guard on duty who read the letter, asked.

"Nah, I wanna get the princess's supplies as soon as the market is open, I 'ave a lot of work to do today. Better to get there early" Evanna put on a fake man's accent.

"Very well, safe travels"

She climbed back onto the cart and without another word, Midknight started pulling the cart forwards. She let out a breath she did not know she was holding. As they moved further into the village of Reigh, she started giggling to herself. She did not know how she got away with that terrible accent, maybe the guards were tired, it was nearing the end of their shifts after all.

Once they reached the outskirts of the village, Midknight stopped and Evanna unhooked the cart from him before grabbing his saddle and tying it on top of him. She then removed the worn servant's cloak and placed her swords back in their sheaths before putting her own cloak back on. She then climbed on top of Midknight, feeling better to be sitting on him than have him pull a cart. He turned around so that they could face the village and see the almighty palace standing up proudly against the dark blue backdrop with the glimmers of the sun rising on the horizon. There were only a few lights still left burning that showed the outline of her home. He turned back to the path they were next to take, knowing that she was ready.

"Run as though you've never ran before," She whispered the words softly next to the horse's ear while she stroked his neck before sitting back up straight, he instantly galloped forwards.

They galloped in haste throughout the remaining darkness, the sunlight started to shine across the land and claiming the start of a new day. Farmers were the first to be out in their fields before the early morning gradually brought out more people in the villages as they passed by. Midknight slowed down when they arrived at the fourth village that appeared to be more of a town, the buildings were bigger and so was the road going through it.

The high street was now bustling with people and noise, though they could go around the village, she felt it would take even longer than just walking through it. People started to move out of the way when they saw a cloaked rider passing by. Some stared at the unknown stranger, others kept their children from running into the street, holding them tightly so as not to anger the person on the black horse.

Once they made it through the town like village, Midknight picked up his pace again and they were soon galloping. The rush of the wind flew gently across her face as the sound of hooves galloped against the dirty path, her body started to relax into the rhythm of horse riding. A sense of euphoria rushed through her, making her smile as she felt free. The distance from her home growing at every step, she took a deep breath of the fresh air, closing her eyes. Midknight neighed lightly, enjoying the stretch of his legs and running somewhere new. Evanna opened her eyes again at the realisation that this was now the furthest she had been from her home by herself.

The last of the four villages had passed by an hour ago now but she did not complain, she was enjoying the last of her alone time. Midknight snorted his nose, making her chuckle, the last of THEIR alone time. He neighed in agreement.

Finally, further down the road, a building stood out on the side of it, the closer they were getting to it, the more she could make out that it was an inn. This must have been the one they were meant to meet at. When they came closer, Midknight slowed down again to a walk, he stopped in front of the inn where a long wooden watering trough was on the floor, meant for the horses of any travellers. Evanna looked up at the old run-down building and read the sign that said, "The Hawk's Nest Lodge", which had a hawk flying above a nest with eggs in it.

Evanna then climbed down and held her forehead against Midknight's, thanking him silently. His tail swished then he bit the bottom of her hair playfully. She chuckled then released him so that he could drink from the trough. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, she abruptly turned around. It was then she saw Ger, Axel, Ronan and off to the side from the group, was Cilv with her arms crossed against her chest. Ger walked ahead of the others to greet her.

"You made it," Ger said, Evanna smiled broadly,

"Did you doubt me?"

"Not for a second," He lied.

Evanna then noticed that Axel and Ronan were staring at her, she went closer to Ger and whispered,

"Why are they staring?"

Ger looked over his shoulder to see Axel shocked at her appearance and Ronan appreciating what he saw, with a smile sliding up his face.

"Maybe they did not expect a princess to show up battle ready?" He shrugged. They then walked over to where the two men stood, Ronan crossed his arms making the material tighten on his biceps, showing how big they were.

"You know, I do like a rebel," Ronan winked, Evanna blinked in shock at his comment before a blush formed on her cheeks, making him chuckle and Ger hit him across his chest.

"OW!"

"Enough, we need to get going. What time does the maid normally come to your room?" Axel asked sternly, making Evanna look back up. Axel seemed to be the oldest, if not then it was his huge beard and body that made her assume this.

"Normally 8am latest, but I told her I was not feeling well last night, so she may check on me at 9." She took her pocket watch out of her breeches and checked the time to see that it was now 8:30am. She looked back up at the men before her and said, "It's 8:30. I also ran into a little trouble on the way as well, if he has woken up, then it is possible they are already out searching for me."

"What are we doing standing around here then? Jeese, it's like you want to get caught princess," Cilv spoke up, although she was the furthest away from them, she somehow picked up on what they were saying.

"First things first, I need a new name, you cannot go speaking my true name."

Cilv pouted before making her way to the other side of the inn, Axel and Ronan also disappeared from view. She assumed they were getting their horses.

"We have a whole day of travelling ahead of us, maybe you can come up with a name in that time?" Ger smiled before also making his way behind the inn, Evanna turned back to Midknight and hopped up and onto the saddle. The other four came back in view with their own horses, Midknight caught up to them, seemingly happy to be in the company of his own kind.

"We ride for three hours straight before resting, do you think you can manage that prin- Evanna?" Axel asked, looking over from the brown horse he sat on. She stopped herself from rolling her eyes, she knew he was trying to be considerate because she was a princess, but she just wanted him to relax, she was more physically active than most ladies.

"Of course, Axel. Do not worry about me, if we need to go for longer, I will be fine."

He nodded his head, then turned back to face the front. With a silent command, Midknight started trotting forwards a long with the others. And for the rest of the day, the group rode their horses across the countryside, getting further and further away from the safety net that was the Kingdom of Dunhurst.