Ariana stood immobile. What a fool she was!
Her brief moment of defiance had done nothing but bring ever closer the fate that she dreaded – marriage to the Prince, a man whose kisses were a torture to her and whose bed might well be a pit of snakes for all the allure it offered to her aching heart.
*
The air in her room seemed suddenly stifling.
Clutching the stole tightly, Ariana hurried out and down the stairway.
She passed Bujar on her way up with a candle and a jug of hot water, but she did not return the housekeeper’s astonished question.
There was no one in the hall, so Ariana was easily able to slip out of the front door.
She welcomed the sharp night breeze on her face and ran quickly down the stone stairway into the gardens.
She made for the woods to the right of The Castle
