To hell and back

Run as fast as you can

Was I deflecting from thinking about what the hell was happening with the king? Yes.

Was I doing it to avoid questions from the curious bird? Also, so yes.

But at the same time, I was alerted as well.

The bracelet broke once it did its job of protecting the person wearing it. And the magic that needs to be used to break it is not some mere spell, it is something with power behind it.

Quickly, I took the younger girl's hand and started leading her out of here to the closest exit I could spot. On the way, at the same time, I did my best at trying to locate the girl's mother. To my luck, she was not that far away and spotted us moving in the not so typical way. It was clear she realized the severity of the situation as she started following us.

My body and mind were moving in complete autopilot mode as this was way closer to life and death situation than I ever thought I would be in on this side of the wall.

Once we were finally outside, I was kinda relieved as we were finally out of the eyes of the crowd, but I doubted that the person would try to attack again so soon. First, they would need a lot of juice to power something of even considerable power... and I am pretty sure that the person casting this, would take us disappearing as a sign that their spell might have worked.

What I was worried about was the person casting the spell, coming to check if their spell worked and finding me here. Chances of someone using this level of magic and them not being part of the dark kings cort or having some sort of connection to it is bellow low... meaning that the chances of them knowing me or about me are very very high. And there was no doubt that they would love to get the honor of bringing my head to the dark king... dead or alive... so I prefer if I would not get mixed with any of this.

In a quick pace I continued to drag the younger girl through the small court yard while keeping close to the walls for safety as we made our way to the where I was expecting the cars to be. I am hoping that the driver that took us here would be there, but I am not taking out from the consideration the option of taking one of the cars and driving us back to the manor on my own. It would not be the first time I borrowed a car or stole on this side of the wall...

As we were about to turn the last corner, I felt the hairs at the back of my neck stand as I knew someone was moving after us and they were close. In that millisecond I considered all the ways I could protect myself. As I was expecting this thing to be safe, I only have one knife attached to my thigh under my dress, but it would not be much help if it is a magic user that is following us. But it is the best I could do, so I was about to reach for it when an out of breath voice filled the air.

"What happened?"

With a quick glance over my shoulder, I saw a disheveled mother of the young girl next to me.

Once I saw that it was her, I relaxed a little, but I knew that we were still in danger.

"Lady Bernadeth was attacked with a very powerful spell and the barrier broke that I put on her. So we have to leave as soon as possible. The situation is way more serious then I first anticipated..."

The older woman face went pale, for a moment her eyes lingered on her daughter and then turned to me, but this time they were filled with anger... great, just what we need right now.

"You promised to protect her!"

"And I did that, the only reason she is standing here is my protective charms!"

I could feel anger boiling in me, but now was not the time or place to let emotions boil over. This is the first time the years of emotional control came in handy after giving up my magic.

Forcing myself to take a breath and slowly exhaling it I looked up at the older woman. In my calmest voice I gave her a short explanation.

"The truth is that I am not sure if there is much I can do with someone of this magnitude... the real chances of someone on this side of the wall wielding s**t like this is should be close to impossible."

For a moment, everyone was silent, but I had to get us out of here.

Without waiting for an answer I walked to the nearest car.

First checking if it was locked, but of course it has to be hard. For a second I longed for my magic... I would not need to scoop so low as breaking a window to get into the car, I could just snap my fingers and it would roar to life... hell I would not be running in the first place if I still had my magic. I would walk back inside and face who ever was messing with my s**t.

But no, that life was behind me and now I had to remember how to jump start a car. Lucky for me, rich royal people liked old cars that were much easier to steal then the new electric ones. After two sparks the car roared to life as I looked up the two women staring at me with their mouths open.

"Well don't just stand there, get in, before either of you get killed."

That was enough to make the older woman to snap out and drag her daughter to the car. In not so genteel manner she pushed the younger girl into the back as she sat next to me.

"Do I want to know how you know that?"

She asked me, but I just laughed at her question as I changed the gears and pressed my foot on the pedal forcing the car to roar angrily as it bolted straight.

"Well, life teaches you things to help you survive. The question is if you are willing to learn them and survive or let the world win and swallow you."

I made a sharp turn and we were out of the yard of the manor at which we the ball was held at. But even as we were far enough away from there I did not slow down. There was no way I would be slowing down, not to let some asshole take me out in the middle of the road where I was an easy target.

The woman next to me had a tight grip on her seat as well as the front panel, doing her best not to get thrown to the side as I made sharp turns as I sped past other cars on the road.

"Where did you learn to drive like this? Do you even have a drivers license... We are going to freaking die even without the help of some dark spell."

The woman looked almost as pale as she did back at the manor when I told her that her daughter almost died. And I could barely hold in the laughter rising in my chest. This was the first time in a while that I felt power at my finger tips. Sure, it was a far cry to magic, but it gave me at least some sort of a rush.

For a moment I considered telling her that I do not have a license and that the man that I messed around for a while taught me how drive and steal cars... it was sort of a fun hobby for him, but I decided to not say anything and just drive.