Sorry for taking so long! I've been busy with school and I've had writers block for a bit. But I managed to post the next chapter! I'm sorry for any misspelled words you might come across. Enjoy!
-Make the plan.
Okay first thing's first, you need to figure out an escape route through the town. But how can you leave the castle without anyone seeing you? You could head towards the woods and stay near the trail, but that seems to easy. You're currently standing outside the Prospit castle observing a few knights training some pages while looking for a way you can exit the area without anyone seeing you. This seemed to be a lot easier in your head. Everything is easier in your head, but you're plans always work out in some way. Some of the pages are staring at you so you give them a look then point back to the knights. Stupid kids, wonder how they react to the other royals.
You decide to take a stroll around the entire building for any sign of possible hiding places. Leaving at night is your best option so you will need places to slip into in case of guards. You could always jump in a bush or hide behind a wall since thats all thats here. Maybe you can run to where they keep the horses and take one, but then will they notice a horse is missing? Maybe they would think it just escaped. No, someone could see you riding down the path on a big horse. You'll just steal some poor saps horse while running to the edge of the town.
While heading back inside you see the king walking down the hall. When we gets to you he gives you a nod and continues on his way. The king is an O.K guy compared to the ladies. He didn't speak much when you were in that 'meeting' with them but every once in a while he would throw in his opinion or explain something about his son that his wife couldn't. Speaking of the prince he should arrive here in a few days. Everyone is pretty excited for his return, well except you of course, maybe if you weren't being forced to marry him you could try to become friends.
Although making friends is kinda hard for you.
While walking back to your room you tell a servant to bring you some water as you head up the stairs. At the top you go down the hall and into your bedroom. This is the time to organize the things you need to bring with you. You can use the bag that you brought to the castle since it's pretty big and can hold a lot of things.
First thing you'll need is extra clothes. You're not going to be changing in the woods but it might get cold at night and you might need to cover up more. You're also bringing a bed blanket, some food and water before you go, your sea monster rag doll your dad made, and of course your necklace. You pull out a drawer which holds your clothes and you take out a pair of gloves. You reach into one of the gloves and pull out a golden necklace with the tip of a trident in the middle. This thing has been in your family for generations and is worth more than all the clothes in this drawer. You put it on your neck then start putting some things in your bag.
The plan is to leave tomorrow night before the guards change shift. They should be tired enough so they won't notice you as easily. You need to run toward the edge of the town and grab a horse then run into the woods as fast as you can. Once you leave, someone is sure to come after you within the hour, or maybe minutes after you take the huge animal. You should pack extra water flasks and food for the horse. After that you should ride for a couple hours before your first rest. You have to be careful of any boars or wolfs in the woods and any other creature that is dumb enough to try and attack you. Adding a knife to the list of things you should bring would be a good idea. Anything after that you'll just have to think through when its time.
-Wake up lazy pants.
You wake up to the sight of light shining through your window in your room. It's pretty but not pretty enough to make you get up. You and Rufio had returned home last night and were exhausted from the long ride home. When he dropped you off your mother was inside sitting on a chair waiting for you. "How was the trip?" she asked. "It was exciting and long. I wish we had more time to look around but with all the knights and lack of time I knew we couldn't. But it's good to be back home so I can rest" you replied in a tired voice. You then went into your room after that and went straight to bed.
After a few more minutes you force yourself up into a sitting position. Your back is a little soar from the ride, but not as bad as you thought it would be. Finally you stand up and stretch before you change into some fresh clothes.
When you enter the kitchen there is a plate of bread sitting on the table. You take a piece and head outside where you find your mother washing some clothes. "Good morning!" you say, "I'm heading over to the farm mom, i'll be back later!".
"Alright Aranea but be home early. By the way is Vriska up yet or do I need to get a bucket of water?".
Vriska is your little sister. She tends to get into trouble with the other folk around here, whether its taking something of theirs to sell for coins or just being a bitch, someone always seems angry. But she's not really that bad! She has a softer side that you can see when she thinks no one is looking, but she doesn't like to show it often even in private. Sometimes she comes to the farm with you to bother Rufio's little brother.
"I don't think so. I would get her for you but I really must get to work. Bye mom!".
You skip down the road until you reach a trail near a few trees. The farm is a bit farther away from other homes so the animals don't bother anyone at night. As you walk on the trail you admire some small flowers along the path. It's nice when you walk to the Nitram's farm with the pretty plants and fauna. Sometimes a chipmunk runs across the path or a squirrel but only so often because of the stomping noise your feet make when you walk this way.
When the winter time comes its like a wonderland of white. The trees and bushes would be covered, and you would spot a white hare or two hopping along sometimes. It's pretty amazing to you how it would look so different during the seasons but still look the same.
While taking your time looking around you hadn't noticed how close you were to your destination. The farm comes into view and you break into a small jog. You can already see a few pigs in the wooden pen and a horse tied to a post, look's like is cleaning the old gal. You run past the gate then slow down your pace as you walk over to greet him. "Good morning sir! I see that you are cleaning up Betsy huh? She's looking great so far. Is your son up yet? I want to get working right away."
"Yes he's up. He went to the butchers to sell a pig a while ago but he should be back in a few minutes. While you're waiting you can clean out the empty horse pens".
Out of all the things you have to clean (besides feeding buckets and containers) cleaning the horse pens is one of the cleaner things to do. It's easier than trying to wash Tank (the family's bull). He kicks up dirt into your face and you almost lost your arm when he starting fighting you last time.
You head over to the horse stalls and grab the broom. A few horses greet you with a few huffs when you walk into an empty pen. "This one should be quick". You sweep out any bad hay patches you find and pick up any poop and throw it in a bin. Horse poop is just dried hay anyways.
You then lay down some fresh hay and fill up one bucket with water, and the other full of hay before moving on to the other three pens.
"You missed a spot!" someone points out as you're cleaning the last empty stall. You turn to see your friend standing by the shitty hay pile, "Watch out there or your going to be scraping horse poop off your shoes". Rufio looks down and makes a face as he scoots away from the pile.
"Sorry I wasn't here when you came. I actually wanted to leave earlier but I lost track of time riding by the woods."
"You mean down by the shed?"
"Yea. Soon I can start cutting out a path to the secret spot, but who knows how long it would take? It takes us 20 minutes to get there by horse, so actually creatinga path could take forever."
You both found the secret spot three years ago when searching for a lost pig. The little bugger got out of the pen and he was important profit for the farm. You both went farther than necessary and almost got lost. You suggested to go back because one, it was taking forever, and two you stepped in a pile of poison ivy.
"Just a few more minutes, and if we don't find him then i'll just have deal with my dad".
Your feet were killing you and you were pretty sure that a rock got into your shoe. So you took a break and sat down for a few while Rufio when on.
You hear a scream a few minutes after Rufio left. "Rufio?", you gotten up and ran in the direction of where you heard his voice. You ended up in a opening and nearly ran off the side of some rocks but caught yourself in time. Wow, that place was pretty.
It was a large pond surrounded by some large rocks and patches flowers. The trees were a good distance from it, you could probably fit a smell house by the edge. The sun was shining right above the water so that the light danced off the water with gleam. It wasn't a big place but it was very pretty. When you looked down you saw that Rufio had fallen in the water. "Hows the weather down there?" you teased.
He looked up at you and stuck his tongue out.
Now it's a good place to cool off when it gets hot or when you just want to relax, but getting there can be a challenge on foot. One day you and Rufio started to get ride of some plants and trees to make room for a path to ride horses over there instead. Every other day or two Rufio would ride threw that little area to stomp out everything in the way and soon you'll have a path for a faster way to get there.
Also, you never found that pig.
"Well, that's good. Maybe tomorrow I'll ride with you! But lets just get our work done before we plan anything. We still got cleaning to do and you're making me do most of the work!". You frown at him but you're really trying to hold back a smile.
"Oh I'm sorry that I was just working on our little project that means something to us and not cleaning up horse and bull shit. What WAS I thinking?".
You pick up a tiny piece of poop and aim right between his eyes, then throw it. He ducks but not before some small pieces fall into his hair. "Hey! I don't need anymore shit in my hair!".
"You can say that again. When's the last time you washed?".
Rufio lifted up his arms and stuck his nose in one of his pits, taking a long sniff. "I think I smell good. Here, come smell!" You chuckle and look for a way out of the stall as he comes at you with his hairy pit heading straight for your face. "Gross! Ruf- don't!". You're giggling and almost slip on some hay when you try and run past him.
"You can't escape Aranea! My pits will find you!".
"No please! I don't deserve this kind of punishment! What did I ever do to you!". You're laughing really loud now, running out of horse pens and head toward the house. Rufio runs after yelling like some wild creature with both fists in the air.
You escape inside and slam the door behind you. You need a chair, you need a chair. You find the nearest one you could find and push it to the door, but you know it won't hold for more than a few moments. You already hear him banging on the door and laughing. "Okay! I'm done I swear". You don't move for a while, now sitting on the chair. Heknows he can just push open the door easily. But why doesn't he? Who knows.
"Araneaaa, we have chores to dooo" he groans. You sigh and take the chair away before slowly opening the door, "No more fooling around until we're done okay, poopy head?". He takes a moment to mess with his hair to try to get rid of any unwanted contents. A few pieces of brown fly out while a few just end up landing in the back of his hair instead. "Oh hey I just remembered something. Can you come here tomorrow afternoon? I need extra help with some crops and Dad's busy. I would have asked Kankri but, uh, I don't feel like being asked five hundred questions about what were doing".
You look at him and take a moment to consider this. If you go then you'll miss a few hours that could be used finishing one of your books. And you really like that book, nice leather skin, a great story about the first kingdom built, that thing cost you quite a few coins. But it was totally worth it.
But if you do go you will be helping a good friend out and the crops will be harvested faster. Heck, maybe you'll even make a few extra coins while you're at it. "Okay, I'll do it".
His face breaks into a hug grins and he gives you a small hug. "Thanks Aranea".
-Get ready, get set-
It's time to go. Tonight's the night.
You double check to make sure you have what you need. Clothes, water, a few breads and fruit (no meat, that would spoil), carrots, your rag doll, and of course your necklace. Well there's no going back now. You can't believe how excited you are.
You slowly open your door and peak out. Your mom and them are already asleep, but the servants and a few knights wander the halls now and then. You quickly slip threw the door and shut it as quietly as you can. The thing squeaks a bit and you bite the inside of your cheek, hope no one can hear it from down the hall.
You half tip-toe half walk down the hall and whenever you reach a corner you set yourself against the wall and peer over. But no one is in sight yet, that'll obviously change once you're outside. You made sure to wear your darkest dress for this. Well, it's not really a dress anymore. You modified a dark brown silky dress by cutting the bottom of it so it reaches your knees, later you took some of the cook's pants to wear under them. You had dipped the pants in mud hoping it would darken it a little. So far so good. Your hair is tied up into two buns instead of your usual braid or pig tails, you considered actually cutting your hair but the though of having short hair seemed to weird for you.
You descend the stairs with nothing more than a few claps from your boots and soon your down in the main hall. The door is right there. You can just taste the outsi-
Someone's coming. You can hear their footsteps.
Without a second to lose, you jump behind a pillar and get as close to the ground as you can. An unarmed knight walks threw mumbling about how he has to take the dumb night shift. Shit, you gotta get out of here before the shift change or else they might see you. Once you are 100% sure that no one else is going to appear you make a dash for the front doors. Oh look, some idiots forgot to lock the doors tonight. It's not like anyone would want to sneak in here or anything. You open the door just enough to poke your head out. You can't stay in the doorway long, these are some pretty big doors and someone can easily notice the light coming from inside.
You quickly sneak out and close the door, then look around as if you're being hunted yet. You WILL be hunted after tonight.
A few knights are moving around getting ready to switch. This is going to be a little tougher now. Just a little. You can take a silly knight any day of the week.
Quickly, you find the closest thing to hide behind and slowly, slooooowly make your way to the side of the castle. Okay Pexies, you just need to head out to the edge of the woods and down to the village. There you can get a horse and get the hell out of here.
"Stop!"
You freeze for a moment, then turn you head to see one of the younger knights heading toward you. "Who are you! Don't move!".
As he nears you, you have a very important decision to make: Advance or Abscond?