The cloaked man scampered into a patch of moonlight. He slid the small map from his sleeve and squinted. He smiled. It seemed that the powder magazine was closer to the castle than he thought.
He stole off, sneaking towards Rebecca's home.
BREAK
Rebecca tossed and opened her eyes. Something was burning, tearing at her throat and eyes. She sat up and swung her feet off the bed.
Smoke.
She had smelled it once before, when Francis was sick and Arthur took up cooking. She shuddered lightly at the memory, then walked softly over to the window.
A terrible glow was coming from the direction of- the powder magazine!
Something nagged at her, an angel, perhaps, and told her to put on her peasant clothes and shoes. She changed quickly, not stopping to think.
Run. Run. Run.
She packed small leather bag with a change of (commoner's) clothes, a bar of soap from the washroom, and a few pieces of bread and cheese from last night's meal.
Rebecca was almost out the door, when she froze. She ran back over to her bedside table, grabbed a silver locket, and sprinted away.
BREAK
The fire was spreading. As the king and queen obviously did not share a guardian angel with Rebecca, they slept soundly.
Rebecca looked disdainfully at the guards. They were sleeping, but as if they had been...drugged.
The word made her world shake itself, like a dog after a bath. What am I doing? she wondered.
At that moment, the powder magazine chose to spread the flame to the castle. The flame licked at the lovely purple banner, devouring it furiously.
So she ran.
BREAK
Running. Running. Running. She had never been in the forest, but, by some force of providence, was able to find her way back to the village.
Rebecca stopped at the edge of town. She realized that she was not hidden by a mask tonight, so the princess smoothed down her hair (excluding that obnoxious curl) and straightened her village dress.
She felt the sudden urge to cry.
As she took a few steps forward, something seized her around the leg and swiftly pulled her up.
Rebecca screamed.
BREAK
Thankfully, it was quite early in the morning. Elijah woke with a start. He had heard a scream from the direction of his traps. He slipped out of the blankets and peered at Gilbert curiously. He appeared to be mumbling something about birds.
Elijah pulled on his leather boots and crept towards the now-whimpers.
He was startled to find a girl hanging from a tree.
Her eyes widened and she started to scream again. He tried desperately to let her know that she was safe, but resorted to clapping a hand over her mouth. Rebecca's eyes were filled with tears.
He cut the rope with his knife, and gently carried her back to camp.
BREAK
Rebecca's eyes were puffy. She opened them, to find a pair of green orbs looking at her worriedly. She sat up, almost hitting her head on the man in front of her.
She began to apologize, but the man cut her off. "My apologies. I should have not frightened you so." He furrowed his brow and tilted his head. "Have we met?" Rebecca's brain was too fuzzy to respond. The man nodded. "Maybe you should go back to sleep."
Rebecca was too tired to disagree. She slipped into a cold sleep.
BREAK
Gilbert was carving a bit of wood when Madeline ran into their little camp. Her cheeks were tear-stained and flushed red.
The albino stood up and strode over, displacing Gilbird. "Birdie, what's wrong?" She tried to compose herself, only to start a racking sobbing again. Elijah noticed the girl and came over, silently tying his hair into a low ponytail with a scrap of leather.
"They burned it. They burned it all. The king and queen are dead! Our enemies have taken the throne." Gilbert and Elijah looked at each other. Gilbert, being slightly stupid sometimes, spoke up.
"Burned what?" This, of course, sent the poor traumatized girl into a fresh fit, which gave him the opportunity to comfort her.
She murmured quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you all, I was being watched." Elijah and Gilbert nodded.
After the girl calmed down enough, she disentangled herself from Gilbert, and her eyes fell upon the sleeping, dirty, puffy-eyed Rebecca. She looked disbelievingly at the two men. "How did the Princess get here? We thought for sure she died in the fire as well."
Elijah and Gilbert took a moment to process this. "The WHAT?"
Updating guilt is more motivating than deadlines. True story. Review and I will give you a bubble-pipe-smoking kangaroo who cleans kitchens and can travel through time and space and/or a cookie.
