The Escape
1306 Words
Seconds pass by like hours as I listen to each sharp c***k of the whip ringing through the air, followed every time by a tortured scream from deep in Ladon’s throat. Each one feels like a dagger to my heart, because I know that I’m the one that caused that pain.
But I can’t make my move. Not yet.
I get dressed again, hoping I that this garment doesn’t meet such a disastrous fate as the last two. It’s my favorite, a blue velvet gown trimmed with gold details.
Why am I dressing up? Is it because I know I might see Ladon again soon?
This boy has turned me into an air-headed i***t.
After I finish getting dressed, I watch through the window as they drag Ladon’s limp and bloodied body over to the stockades, locking his head and arms inside the wooden contraption with a giant iron lock.
I grit my teeth impatiently, waiting for the courtyard to clear for supper time. The palace grounds are like a beehive right now, humming with activity. Nobody is allowed outside the palace walls during the lockdown, so they all seem to be going stir-crazy already.
So it’s too busy for me to do anything yet. All I can do is watch… and wait. And watch… and wait.
Slowly but surely people begin to filter out, bustling away to their dinner tables surrounded by happy families and warm meals. I hate every one of them for it.
Part of me wants to wait until nightfall, but I’m growing too impatient. I know it would be smarter to do this under cover of darkness… but I’m not smart.
I watch as the last few people leave the courtyard and the golden light of the evening sun streams through my window like it’s beckoning me. I clutch the saw in my shaky hand and lift it to the window.
With all of my might i begin sawing back and forth, sending sparks and shards of metal flying everywhere.
Damnit, it’s loud.
But I keep going. I have to.
Click, click… I hear the distant sound of footsteps climbing the stairs of my tower.
Crap. They’re bringing me an evening meal. I look at the bar that’s been sawed halfway through and panic begins to set in. If he sees it, my plan is lost.
I throw the saw under my bed and rush to the door, putting my ear against it and waiting for the footsteps to get closer.
My heart is racing. I don’t have another plan. I don’t have another way out.
The lock begins to jingle as the stranger on the other side of the door inserts the key, and there’s another flash of light as the spell is deactivated.
Knock… knock…
I take a chance and open the door a c***k, peeking my head out.
My blood runs cold when I see who’s on the other side.
“Hello, Father,” I say through the opening, and I can feel my face beginning to heat up. He looks as if he’s about to explode with fury.
“Lady Arona is spreading some very disturbing rumors about you,” He growls, “Are they true?”
“It was a misunderstanding,” I say with a nervous, forced smile. “She was insulting… us… our family.”
He narrows his eyes angrily at me. “I cannot continue to protect you and make excuses for your behavior if you won’t protect yourself!” He roars.
“I’m sorry,” I say, trying not to panic. “Truly. I won’t go outside anymore. I’ll wait here until you decide what to do with me.”
“You’d better,” he says under his breath. With a grand flourish of his cloak, he turns on his heel and begins to stalk down the stairs. He waves his wand behind him, slamming the door shut in my face and locking it too.
At first I feel hurt that my father is treating me so coldly, but then I exhale. He’s gone. I can make my move. I watch out the window, and I can see him exiting the door at the bottom of the tower and heading toward the Great Hall. The high court is eating there. Probably an enormous, gluttonous feast. That’s where I would be eating too if I was a proper lady.
But I’m not.
The second he is out of sight I begin to saw at the bars on my window again. The beads of sweat are dripping from my forehead, the saltwater burning my eyes. My hands are raw and red from the friction, but I won’t give up. I let out a long groan as I push through the pain. With that one thrust of the saw, I swear the sparks flying from the blade turn blue for a moment.
I blink quickly trying to focus again, but it’s gone. Probably some leftover magic from my father’s spell that created these damned bars in the first place.
I keep pushing, sawing back and forth until my arms are burning and my hands are cracked and bloodied. Then, the blade cuts through the last bar with a loud clank as it hits the window frame.
“Hah!” I let out a victorious laugh and throw my fists in the air. “Take that, dad!”
I pull the loose bars out of their place and put them on the ground, then claw my way out of the window just like I’ve done so many times before. I look around to make sure the courtyard is still abandoned, and luckily it seems like most of the guards have gone in to eat as well. There are several on the outside of the palace walls, but there’s only one in the courtyard. And he seems far more interested in picking crumbs from his beard than actually guarding the palace.
I can’t climb straight down, that would put me outside the palace walls where I would be discovered in a heartbeat. So I use a different path down the wall of my tower, searching for footholds with my toes and clinging to weathered rocks with my reddened fingers. My chest is burning and my whole body hurts, but I am nothing if not stubborn.
One rock at a time, one step, one grip, and I finally reach solid ground. I want to collapse right there, but I can’t.
I press my body against the wall, shuffling along quietly so I don’t draw the guard’s attention.
There he is, just ahead of me. His head is hanging limp and his whole body seems inches from death. I clench my jaw, trying to fight back the guilty tears that want to fall down my cheeks. “Ladon!” I whisper as I reach him, “are you okay?”
He lifts his head slightly, and he has to flick his head to the side to get his hair out of his face.
God, he’s adorable.
He smirks at me weakly. “I’ve been better,” He whispers, “what are you doing here? You’re going to get caught!”
“I’ll be fine,” I say with an eye roll, pulling the saw from my bodice. “And so will you.”
- Writer
