What is up my darling readers, I have been working every day on this chapter, it's just been hard because I'm easily distracted. But here is the next chapter please review please please please review! haha
Disclaimer: Welllll you see I'm not a published author, so the logic there would be that I didn't create Twilight yes?
I prayed with all of my heart and soul that he did. Oh, God, please let him escape. Please.
The guards immediately jumped from the stage, and those in the crowd ran after him the moment he had turned to leave. Any remaining guards weren't sure on what they should do, but in the end there were very few left to guard the gates or the prince himself. Alice and I quickly tried to think of ways to take this to our advantage. I pushed through the worry and pain that came from what was basically abandoning my friend and fought to get out so that I may be able to save him. That was the way I needed to look at it. If I was captured now, no one would be there to take care of all those people, and no one would be left to save me or Jacob. I knew he would be beyond furious if I went after him and was thankful that Alice was ahead of the game when it came down to it.
We went into another alleyway, and discussed routes of escape. If they caught Jacob the likeliness that they would reopen the gates were slim to none because if Jacob was still here that meant we were.
There was a brick wall between us and freedom, and because we had no other options we decided to climb it. It was fairly old, so the stones were uneven, not enough so to make it an easy climb, just enough to give us the start that we needed.
As I told her my observations on the small list of options we had, the little pixies face got impossibly paler as she realized what climbing the wall meant. "No!" she shrieked, I quickly covered her mouth with my hand and insisted we had no other choice. "But this is my favorite dress! Please, Bella there must be some other way!" she insisted, her tone on the verge of begging.
I gave her a bemused grin and gestured toward the crowd behind us with an expecting expression I waited for what felt to be hours in the tension until she finally sighed in defeat. I was actually surprised it took her so long to come to the decision of whether or not we should risk our lives for a nice dress. I instantly felt the need to worry for Alice's sanity and what she saw as a priority versus what she needed to have as a priority, but instantly shooed those thoughts away and began with the task of getting us and our loot over the wall.
Taking a knife out from my boot I began cutting away at the seams that held my deep pockets to my dress and tied each opening shut then connected the few full bags with more knots. "Okay, give me your belt." I held out my open hand for the leather belt wrapped around her small waist. With as much energy as a disgruntled child, she took of the expensive accessory and handed it to me with a huff. Lacing it through the loop the knots had made, I strapped my new pack across my shoulder, and secured it further for good measure. Something told me this was going to be a little more than slightly difficult.
As I began cutting away at my skirt I couldn't help but smirk and turn to my little friend, "You know, this wouldn't be an issue if we would have just worn men's clothing." She gave me the second most terrifying look I had ever received in my life. The first being when she had first seen me in my men's attire.
Her eyes shrank to slits, "Not. Funny." With a sigh I went back to work, it was hard to be merry whit the sounds of angry metal clanking up and down the streets. Occasionally, Alice and I would have to flatten against the shadowed brick of the alleyway as more of the King's men raced frantically, passed in search of us. These moments were some of the more stressful of my short lifetime, to say the least. Eventually, I had successfully cut myself free of the horrible circus tent that had been attached to my hips, and quickly turned to the little pixie to begin doing the same to her outfit. She was not happy, even began crying at one point, closing her eyes to keep from having to watch me deform her beautiful gown.
With an exasperated sigh, I let the fabric fall to the dirty cobble and told her I was finished. She just nodded and opened her eyes, pointedly avoiding looking down at her ruined dress. I just shook my head at her childish attitude and knelt down, lacing my fingers together to make a cradle for her foot. She was too short to get a good start at climbing the wall, and I knew I couldn't just hang on it or sit at the top as I waited for her to reach me, so I intended to give her a boost that would provide the necessary head start she needed.
At the count of three we bounced together and I heaved her upward, she grabbed and clawed at the ragged wall until her fingers found purchase. I made it a point to keep hold of her until she found the right foothold and was able to start climbing to the top of the barrier.
Little Alice may not have been a fighter, but she sure was quick and agile. She had reflexes like a cat, which had surprised me when I first met her. When she was two-thirds up I began my climb, by now the chaos going on in the town square had become nothing but background noise, so when an arrow when whizzing my way, I was a little more than startled.
Alice was sitting at the top of the wall when the arrow ricochets off the wall, skittering on the ground. I looked up at her and yelled urging her to jump down the other side and start running. With a panicked glance she obeyed.
I continued climbing, not even taking a moment to look back at the archer. Another arrow came whizzing, scratching through the fabric of my top and cutting into my side. I cringed and hissed at the pain but continued climbing; my life and several others depended on it.
"Stop!" well, it was a man that was shooting at me, you'd think he'd have a little more decency than to try and shoot a lady down, but chivalry is very dead these days. My fingers latched onto the flat surface of the peak of the wall, just one big swing of the legs and I was at my longed for freedom. There were more men in the alley by this point, some continued shooting – they were terrible shots- and others began running for the wall. I only knew this because they didn't exactly tread lightly on the loose cobble of the streets.
"Get her down!" voices shouted and growled, I threw one foot over the ledge, preparing myself for the steep fall. Another arrow hit my arm, it was only a few seconds after I had jumped down that the pain really registered. My left arm had exploded with pain, drowning out any soreness that should have occurred in my legs as I hit the ground.
Knowing better than to rip out the arrow and leave them a nice bloody trail to follow, I forced myself forward, pushing Alice to ignore the new injury I had acquired. We ran as fast as our feet would go to the horses tethered to the trees not too far from the gates of the city. It was more than slightly difficult to get up using only one arm, but I had managed, and just gritted my teeth through the pain that was pulsing through my body.
As we galloped further into the wood, I grabbed the shaft of the arrow and snapped it to a shorter length, so as to lessen the chance of it catching on anything. The grunts and shouts of our pursuers were heard as they reached the trees that outlined the forest and once protected our horses from view. Many curses and phrases that would make even a sailor blush echoed through the hills as we raced away to what should be our safety.
The faint sound of three other horses bashing through the wood nearly knocked me off my own steed. I had forgotten about the other horses we had taken to get here in my rush to hop upon my own. There was no doubt in my mind that it was the soldiers who were following us. I looked over to Alice; she was glancing at me with realization and panic. I nodded to her then pointed in a different direction, we made a silent agreement to drive these men away from the helpless people still packing up the camp.
We jerked the reins, she going south and I went to the north. If they only followed her, I would go back to the camp to warn everyone before heading back out to find the little pixie. If they followed me she would go back to camp and stay there, maybe sending out one or two of my men to search for me. But they should realize by now that I am pretty capable of taking care of myself.
As I veered off the path, I waited and waited for the sounds of hooves to come up behind me. It had been a couple of minutes and I began to worry, I honestly did not want them following her even if I had a ready-made plan for it. I fought the urge to turn around, it was so tempting. I had already left one friend behind; it would hurt so much if I lost two. Alice is so small.
I yanked on the reins once more, pulling my horse to a stop and sat for what felt like hours debating on whether or not I should turn around and distract them. I could handle them, she would get away and the people would be warned of the possible dangers heading their way.
"There she is!" well, long time no see. It was the younger guard from my trip to the castle. I smiled as all three horsemen headed my way.
Yanking my horse in the opposite direction, I dug my heels into its sides. "Let the chase begin."
E POV
I pinched the bridge of my nose as the meat head guards told me what happened. It wasn't until they threw the remains of two skirts at my feet that I really started paying attention to what they were saying.
"..We got one of them with an arrow, so that should slow her down a bit." For some reason fear rushed through me, what if it was a fatal wound?
"You shot her?" I hadn't intended to shout, but it just came out. I had no reason to be so alarmed, he was right, the wound could make it easier to catch her and once she was here we could see how bad it is and keep her alive… well, long enough to kill her.. I suppose. At this point it was just sadness that ran through me, creating a weight on every part of me. Especially suffocating my heart.
What was wrong with me?
B POV
Great, these bastards had bows and arrows as well. Not that they knew how to use them obviously, they had missed me so many times within the last mile, I'm surprised they still have ammo to shoot.
The arrows, of course reminded me of the one sticking out of my side and the pain it was causing me. With every move of the horse pain shot through me, thank goodness for the adrenaline this chase was providing because without it I'd probably pass out from the agony.
So take that pain searing in my side and multiply it by a thousand, my horse falls as an arrow finds its mark in its leg. I push myself away as the poor creature trips, falling with a thud and almost landing on my leg. However, despite the good fortune of escaping possible braking of my bones, I had the unfortunate pleasure of greeting the very real pain of the arrow shaft being pushed deeper into my side when I landed. If I was hopeful of a speedy recovery before, it's definitely not happening now.
I ran to my brown steed, checking the area he was hit. It wasn't that bad, but it was enough to slow us down majorly. There was only one thing I could do now, and that was to face them.
They surrounded me, arrows kept on their target as the horses protested against the strangers on their backs. I crouched to the ground, in an act that made it seem like I was covering myself from the bastards, I was mainly only wearing underclothes at this point, having cut off my skirt earlier to escape over the wall. One of the men actually looked away, I tried to stifle the giggle that threatened to come out at this sight, he even blushed a bit!
The young Gerald smiled as he looked down on me, "Well, isn't she a pretty young thing." I scoffed and spit at his horse's feet. He just chuckled in response, "Oh, a feisty one." He dismounted Jacob's favorite horse, white as snow, and as fast and powerful as lighting. 'Pure, but dangerous 'he had once described it as. It made me sick seeing a man of the castle so close to such a wonderful creature. The idiot had the audacity to come closer to me. I knew I could not attack him, well, not yet. I had to wait for the other two to jump down before I could even consider letting them know I had a weapon.
I slid my knife out of my boot and up my sleeve, catching the blade in the tightest part of the cuff. "So, princess" I cringed, this man was just going to keep pushing at my buttons until I go after him, he wanted an excuse to attack me, "where were you headed? Hmm?" he smiled and grabbed my chin, wrenching my face upward. "Are you going back to that nice little town of yours? How about you show us the way?" he kept leaning closer and closer to my face.
Someone behind me spoke up, "We do not have orders to go to the village, just to capture the girl." Gerald looked up at his fellow officer, giving the poor boy a mighty glare that almost put my own to shame. The guard only grunted and leapt off of what was James' horse, it was fairly young and seemed terrified, poor thing. "We do not have enough men here to try and take the village." The boy was stern, Gerald stood straight, only slightly taller than the young one.
Surprisingly he held his ground and only returned the disrespectful git's glare. Two down, one to go, if I made a bit of a struggle, the third would either shoot me or come off Richard's old steed to come and help his fellow guards. I swept my leg behind Gerald's knees and pulled him to the ground. Hopefully the impact knocked him out, but I wasn't sure if I was that lucky, so I let my dagger drop from my sleeve and smacked his head with the butt, just to be extra sure.
The second guard who had been on his feet sidestepped my next attack and grabbed my arm, yanking it behind my back to cause a burst of pain that was quickly drown out by the shot of agony that came from the arrow scratching at my muscles. I gasped and swallowed back a scream as I turned into the aching of my side and grabbed his collar and pulled him against me taking a step forward and sweeping my other leg behind him and pushing him to the ground. He landed with a thud as an arrow whizzed past us.
I gave him a taste of my fist before turning to the man still on the horse, looking stunned. He fumbled for another arrow; loading his bow he aimed it true. We sat there just staring at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time. The one I had just thrown grabbed my foot pulling me to the ground, this stunned the other and he shot; the stone of the arrow head dug into my cheek, but only left a scratch as I turned my head away from the sting. I hit hard, the rock and dirt scrapping my cheek and knees.
I blindly kicked at my attacker, trying to turn against his grip so as to loosen it.
I felt my foot connect with his shoulder and heard the grunt as I hit the same place even harder in my attempt to escape. The sound of feet hitting the ground hit my ears two seconds too late, rough hands grabbed my shoulders, pinning me down. The hand that had grasped my ankle released its grip, but I could feel a slight pressure still on my muscles. That was going to bruise.
"Are you done?" the last man off his horse pushed harder on my shoulders, digging his knee into my back. I hissed in pain, feeling my back crack in several different places. "Get me some rope." He threw at the other guy, keeping what felt like all of his weight pressed on me.
He jerked my hands behind my back, keeping his knee between my shoulder blades which caused him to pull my arms at an awkward angle. I tried to pull away but it just caused more pain to rush through my joints. He yanked hard on the knot, I wouldn't be surprised if my hands turned purple soon. "Get her up on my horse." He kicked my knife away into a bush, not even bothering to pocket it. That was an antique, it was my grandfather's hunting knife. I glared at his feet, ignoring the roughness of his touch as he yanked me to my feet. My top and part of my undergarment were covered in the blood that was dripping from my open wounds.
"Wonderful." I grumbled, with a sigh I looked at my captors, actually taking the time to really take their features in. The one at my arm was a head taller than me, and seemed older then Gerald as he had highlights of grey shining from the depths of brown that was his hair. Wrinkles at his mouth and eyes told me he was usually a happy man, but at the moment his face was so grave you would assume the man had never smiled in his life.
The younger one, who had hopped off his horse to help the man still on the ground was bleeding from his nose. I smiled a little, I always did have better aim when I wasn't concentrating too hard on my target. He glared at me, while ripping a piece of fabric off of the cape draped over James' horse. He held the rag up to his head, which was also bleeding- dying his blonde hair a dark red and orange. This one had to have just turned twenty, just a year or two younger than me.
I sighed again as the boy came over and pushed me toward Jacob's white beauty, "Well, if we are going to take this journey the least we can do is exchange names, yes?" The only thing I had going for me now was kindness, but I doubt even the young one would fall for it. I just needed to get close enough to the hunting knife in his belt to take that small step toward freedom.
The older one laughed a bit as he grabbed the water skin from the oldest of the horses and walked over to dump it on Gerald. "Well, I know what his name is," I gestured to the guard who had been with Richard in the castle when I had my first encounter with the prince, "I might as well know yours. Hell, I know the prince by his first name. Not that I enjoy that acquaintance, but we can't help who we know sometimes I suppose." I shrugged and leaned against Jacob's horse, patting it's nose. The older guard just gave me a funny look before kicking his friend awake.
"Is that so? What is his name then?" he asked with a smile, expecting me to stutter out some guess.
"Gerald. His partner was Richard before they sent him and some blonde named James to come and get our location and find the leader of the 'rebellion'." I couldn't help but laugh at that last part.
The younger one gave me a confused look, "You mean Jasper? The prince's right hand man?" he finished wrapping a fresh bandage around the cut on his temple. I just nodded with a shrug. He had to reach over to the other side of the horse he had ridden to grab the water skin there, and it was in that moment that I fully realized that these were technically my horses. I packed them this morning. I mean of course I noticed this earlier, but I never fully recognized the advantage this would give me. These animals were more comfortable with me, and I knew where everything was on each. This information was very important when one considers that Jacob always carries an extra knife on his steed in case we ever got attacked and he lost his sword. I was pretty sure he kept it between his blankets.
The only problem was, my hands were tied and they were behind my back. This was going to be difficult, but not impossible. Nothing was impossible.
E POV
It felt as though anger was seething from every pore of my body, "There were three of you, what do you mean 'she got away'?"
Belly is awesome, I absolutely love writing her character, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it. Once again I beg for reviews and then will update as soon as I can with the fight that came to be Bella's freedom.
Love you all
LMSJM
