Mara:Between Two Worlds

An Escape Plan

Elina had gone back to her room, while Mara was already making her way through the corridors. Guards stood at every corner, including outside Elina's chamber. Once she gathered everything she needed, she'd figure out the rest.

She approached the guard stationed at the end of the hallway.

Clearing her throat, she spoke as politely as possible.

"Hello."

Mara waited for a response, but the guard's stern face didn't so much as twitch.

"Could you tell me where the laundry room is?"

The guard stared at her for a long moment. He seemed to be debating whether he should answer at all.

"I need to collect my clothes."

Silence again.

Mara covered her face with one hand.

"My underwear..." she muttered. "I'd rather not have strangers handling it."

The guard's expression softened slightly when he saw her embarrassment.

"Go down to the ground floor and exit into the garden. There's a small building behind it. That's the laundry room."

Elina's room was on the third floor. Mara descended the stairs without rushing. By the time she reached the garden, she'd already had to explain herself to five different guards.

She started crossing the grounds.

Calling it a garden felt ridiculous. It was practically an estate.

After a long walk, she finally spotted the small building. The lights were off.

Everything's going smoothly.

When Mara reached the laundry room door, she found it secured with a padlock.

Nothing is going smoothly.

She circled the building, searching for another entrance, but found none.

Standing before the lock, she scratched her head. Her fingers brushed against the metal hairpin tucked into her hair.

"You're a wonderful invention."

She pulled it free, slid it into the keyhole, and began fiddling with it.

Click.

Mara wouldn't have been this happy if she'd just unlocked a treasure chest full of gold.

She slipped inside and felt along the wall in the darkness. As she searched for a way to light the room—

The lights came on by themselves.

Across from her stood Eranric, leaning casually against a wooden table.

A faint, unsettling smile rested on his lips.

He wore a loose white linen shirt and olive-green linen trousers. His long hair hung freely around his shoulders.

Mara's heart nearly leaped out of her chest.

Eranric folded his arms.

He was clearly enjoying this.

"I'm listening."

"What would you like to hear?"

"What would you like to tell me?"

Mara placed one hand on her hip and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm... let's see. Would you like to hear some stories from the orphanage?"

"That would actually be entertaining."

"I'm already entertained, Mara."

There was no sign of amusement on Eranric's face. If anything, a flicker of sadness crossed his eyes.

"Okaaay..." Mara dragged out the word. "Then how about this one? The Story of the Girl Who Was Abandoned with a Single Note."

She took two steps closer.

Tilting her head, she looked up at him.

"Does that one interest you?"

Eranric's jaw tightened.

Frowning, he stared into her eyes as if trying to read every thought in her head.

Come on.

Just say something.

One word...

One word so I can finally move on with my life.

A tingling sensation spread across Mara's scalp. She could feel tears threatening to form.

Taking a deep breath, she turned away and blinked several times.

"Well, good thing I didn't come here to tell stories."

She began rummaging through shelves stacked with clean laundry.

She knew Eranric was watching.

First she had to find her own clothes. The last thing she wanted was to make him even more suspicious.

"When are you leaving?"

Mara raised an eyebrow and glanced at him sideways.

"Why? Are you hiding something?"

She stopped searching and let out an audible sigh.

"No. I just feel uncomfortable digging through laundry while someone's staring at me."

This time Eranric smiled.

Just a little.

"Nothing I haven't seen before."

Heat rushed straight into Mara's face.

Her cheeks turned bright red.

She opened her mouth, then immediately closed it.

For once, she had absolutely nothing to say.

Instead, she returned to searching.

Eventually she found her trousers.

Freshly cleaned.

"Then I have a story for you too, Mara."

Resting her hands on the table, she turned toward him.

Eranric slipped his hands into his pockets and slowly approached.

Closer.

And closer.

Until he was standing directly in front of her.

He leaned down.

Their noses were almost touching.

Their breaths mingled between them.

"There was once a blind girl," he murmured. "A girl who knew how to look... but never truly saw."

Mara swallowed.

"Yeah?"

For a split second, anger flashed through Eranric's eyes.

Then it vanished.

He straightened and walked past her.

Heading toward the door, he spoke without turning around.

"That's it."

Mara frowned.

"What?"

"You can finish the rest yourself."

And with that, he left her alone with her thoughts.

---

Once Eranric was gone, Mara grabbed two white shirts and two pairs of trousers. They belonged to the servants.

After finding a sack, she stuffed her own clothes on top.

Now all she needed was rope and a hook.

She stepped outside and glanced around.

Then she heard the distant whinny of a horse.

"Of course. The stables."

She headed toward the sound at a brisk pace, keeping an eye on her surroundings.

A guard—or Eranric—could be following her.

The stable was enormous.

The doors stood open.

Horses occupied stalls on both sides. Some were eating hay. Others slept peacefully.

A long aisle covered in straw ran through the middle.

Mara left her sack near the entrance.

She had to be as quiet as a mouse.

If one horse spooked, they all might.

And there was probably at least one stable hand somewhere nearby.

Moving carefully, she continued down the aisle.

The horses looked exceptionally healthy.

At the tenth stall she spotted a rope hanging from the door.

It looked sturdy.

More importantly, it was long.

Two stalls later she found another.

She took that one too and continued toward the end of the stable.

"Hrrrrrr..."

Mara immediately dropped to a crouch.

She waited.

"Hrrrrrr..."

Snoring.

Relieved, she crawled forward.

A man in his fifties was asleep on top of a sack in the corner.

His cowboy-style hat covered his face.

An empty liquor bottle lay tipped over beside him.

Mara exhaled quietly and stood.

To the man's right sat a wooden workbench covered with tools.

But none of them looked like what she needed.

As she examined them one by one, she noticed a rope tied to the sack the stable hand was sleeping on.

At the end of it—

Something metal gleamed.

Mara moved closer.

A hook.

Exactly the kind she needed.

"There you are, baby," she whispered to herself.

Tucking the ropes under one arm, she lifted the hook.

Two quick tugs later, the knot came undone.

She hurried back through the aisle.

Once she reached her sack, she hid everything beneath the clothes.

The hard part was done.

By the time Mara reached the third floor, she was completely out of breath.

The sack had become much heavier.

Two guards stood outside Elina's room.

She stopped before them and waited for the door to be opened.

One of the guards kept glancing between her and the sack.

Mara didn't give him time to think.

"Are you seriously planning to dig through a lady's laundry?"

The guard exchanged a look with his partner.

Mara pressed her advantage.

"Should I assume you're protecting the princess... or that you're a p*****t?"

The guard immediately looked away in embarrassment.

"Forgive me, Lady Tiyandi."

He opened the door.

The moment Mara stepped inside, Elina let out a relieved breath.

"Where have you been? I thought you'd gotten caught."

Mara began unpacking the clothes.

"I did get caught."

Then she turned around.

"Can you untie this?"

Elina started loosening the laces of Mara's dress.

"By who?"

"Eranric."

Mara pulled her shirt over her head.

"He was waiting in the laundry room."

Elina buttoned one of the servant shirts.

"And?"

Mara stepped into a pair of trousers.

Then she told her everything.

Every last detail.

When she finished, Elina wrinkled her nose.

"And then you two went to the stables and had s*x, I assume?"

"What?!"

"Mara."

Elina emphasized the next word dramatically.

"You smell like a horse."

"Sorry, darling. There weren't any ropes or hooks in the laundry room. I had to go to the stables. I was crawling around on the floor."

As Mara checked the length of the ropes, Elina asked,

"What do you think he meant?"

Mara selected one of the ropes and began tying the hook securely to the end.

"I don't know. And I don't want to think about it."

She tugged the knot to test it.

"We'll spend hours arguing about it once we're home."

After making sure the hook was secure, she turned to Elina.

"Right now, we have a bigger problem."

She tilted her head toward the door.

"The guards."

Elina smiled.

"I've been thinking about that too."

She pulled a comfortable everyday dress from her wardrobe and slipped it over the servant clothes.

Then she spun in a circle.

"We're going for a walk, Maralin.”