It looks like the coast is clear.
At least, as far as Emerald can tell, it doesn't seem like anyone is still out wandering the halls of Salem's lair. She's been waiting for over an hour now, pressed behind the door just out of sight, quietly waiting for any sign of activity to die down and for the fortress to be silent. Timing is everything in this case.
And right now, it feels like the time is right. Everyone else has returned to their quarters, presumably to sleep, and Salem has wandered off to wherever it is that she stays at night. Emerald has no idea if the queen of the Grimm sleeps at night, and she's not nearly stupid enough to ask. So yeah, that leaves Salem as the only wild card in the situation, since Emerald can't be sure what she's doing at the moment.
But, at least she isn't anywhere nearby right now. It's not much, but it's enough leeway for Emerald to try to take her shot and try to escape. Because she can't stay here.
She can't. Not with Cinder dead, and Mercury having abandoned her at the mercy of Salem's wrath. As even after everything they've been through, she didn't even matter to him at all. She was just as disposable to him as Cinder had been to Salem.
The only one who was still willing to stick up for her was Hazel, and Emerald is pretty sure that he's only doing it out of pity. It's nothing like the way Cinder used to take care of her—and yes, Cinder had cared about her, regardless of what Mercury says. She'd cared about both of them. They'd been important to her, Emerald knows it.
She refuses to let anyone tell her otherwise. Cinder had been one of the few people in Emerald's life to ever care about her, and Emerald won't let go of that, no matter what. Which is why she has to leave.
There's no question that she can't stay somewhere where they refuse to value Cinder. She won't betray her mentor like that. So after a few weeks of watching the others' patterns to find an opening she could slip through, she'd packed up the few things she owned and prepared to escape. And tonight is the night.
Emerald is a thief, after all. Sneaking around secure places while remaining undetected is what she's been doing for practically her entire life. Sneaking out of Salem's stronghold shouldn't be any different. Still, she can't quite repress the fear she feels as she darts out into the deserted hallway and creeps along, careful to stick to the shadows.
The entire time, she keeps her hands on her weapons in case she runs into someone that's still out and about—as if they're really going to do her any good if she runs into Hazel, or even worse, Salem. Both of them could easily wipe the floor with her without even blinking.
But she doesn't encounter anyone as she makes her way to the main entrance, silent as a ghost and hidden under a cloak of darkness. Heart pounding, she expects there to be pursuit from someone at any moment. But no one comes.
There isn't really much of a plan in place for what she's going to do once she's out. All she's really managed to come up with is that she'll head to the nearest town, then figure out what to do from there. Emerald can practically hear Mercury's exasperation at her recklessness and lack of planning, but there's not much she can do about it now.
It's not like she can turn back at this point.
And as she slips through the entrance and out into the night, she can't really bring herself to care too much about anything else. She's free. To do what, exactly, she's not quite sure yet. But at least it'll be her choice now.
