Chapter 3: Escape

Drip… drip… drip…

"What on earth is that sound?" thought Hermione.

"Beautiful Hermione, true daughter of Lithia, come to us."

"Beautiful Hermione, with the heart of gold, come to us."

"Beautiful Hermione, intelligent and brave, come to us."

She opened her eyes to see three women in pure white hooded robes standing in front of her. You could not discern the characteristics of their faces, being hidden the way they were, by the low cowls of their hoods.

"Who are you? Where am I?" said Hermione, looking around. She was sitting on a bed, in a pure white room.

There was nothing in that room but the bed and a small table in the corner, on which sat a beautifully carved and ornate mahogany box. The box was open, and revealed what looked like a very large silvery blue gem, the size of her head. Curious, she made to stand up, but realized she could not move. Her feet were locked in place. This brought her gaze back to the three women.

"Do not fear us, beautiful Hermione, true daughter of Lithia."

"Come to us, beautiful Hermione with the heart of gold."

"Beautiful Hermione, come to Arcantha, with your intelligence and bravery, and all will be explained"

The room started to waver and her vision started to fail.

…

"Wait! What –" Hermione opened her eyes, and the first thing she noticed were her wrists, raw from rubbing against her shackles that hung above her head against the stone wall.

Looking around, she realized that she was locked in a dungeon cell well below the surface of the castle. Her jailer was a guard by the name of Yaxley. He was also a loyal guard to the queen. At the moment, he was grinning lecherously at her, sitting on a stool across the room from her cell, next to steps that led upwards.

Grunting, she shifted a little to her right, aware of the pounding on the back of her head.

They must have hit me on the head to knock me unconscious. What on earth is happening? My father? How can they think that I would murder my own father? This must be Alecto's doing. I need to find a way to get out of here.

Hermione glanced around her holding cell, trying to find anything that would help her escape her bonds. She moved her hands, and felt that she had about two candlesticks width of slack within the shackles. If she pushed hard enough, she found that she could slide her hands out of them with minimal damage.

These shackles are made to hold men who are larger and much thicker than I am. You made a mistake in your calculations… "mother". She thought bitterly.

Before she could continue her observations, she heard footsteps echoing from the stairs to the left of her cell. The hem of a richly sewn blood red dress appeared and her stepmother walked into view. Walking to her cell, queen Alecto smiled at her stepdaughter from outside the bars that held her in.

"Why, Hermione my sweet, darling daughter? How could you? Did you not love your father? Why would you slip that poison into his afternoon tea when you came to meet us privately in the throne room? How could you kill the man that loved you so?" Her voice was filled with false compassion and despair, but she could not hide the maniacal grin that spread across her face.

Hermione had once admired her stepmother. How could she not, when she was in her formative ages, and her stepmother's arrival in the castle was such a celebrated occasion. With her glowing red hair and slender figure, Alecto was the epitome of beauty. That was what attracted King Armand to her, and what allowed her to rein as Queen of Lithia. Now she saw the glint of evil in her stepmother's eyes, and berated herself for not looking past the façade at a younger age, to see how truly ugly Alecto's soul was.

"Nothing to say, my dear girl? You were always so quick with words, what is stopping you now?" sneered the queen.

All Hermione did was glare at her and say, "I will make sure you live long enough to regret this, Alecto."

Laughing, her stepmother looked haughtily down at her, "I wonder how you're going to do that, when your execution has been set for tomorrow at sunrise?"

Alecto threw her one more lewd smile, and made her way up the stairs and out of er sight.

"Don't try anything funny, princess, I've got a scary pointy sword right here," said Yaxley from his stool, still giving her his lecherous grin.

Turning her head and ignoring him, Hermione began to formulate a plan.

…

Three strikes of the bell. It was three in the morning, when Hermione heard a familiar voice sound from the stairs. She kept her head lowered, not believing her ears.

"I have a treat for you, Mr. Guard! I don't believe we've met, my name is Yarzia, and I'm a maid and I've come bearing gifts! We appreciate what all of you have done, capturing and guarding the King's murderer. Here's some mead, compliments of everyone from the kitchens!" A slender body appeared at the foot of the stairs, wearing the common dress of a maid in this castle.

"Aahh very nice to make your acquaintance Yarzia. I am Yaxley, and I would love to have some of this mead".

Before long, Hermione heard a thud, and she looked up, and saw Marcia, her handmaiden take the keys from Yaxley's belt, and unlocked the cell door. Hermione slipped her hands out of the shackles without much hassle, and smiled at Marcia.

"You are brave beyond words. Impersonating a kitchen maid? Your talents are wasted as a handmaiden, Marcia. You should be a spy for this kingdom! "

"Thank you for your kind words, princess, but it has been an honor serving you. Though you never failed to make my job difficult," said Marcia with a strained smile, "We must hurry. Sir Aidon is waiting for you at the top of the stairs. All the guards have been knocked out by the gift from the kitchens."

As they made their escape, Marcia continued, "Not many in the castle believe you killed the king, but the queen's forces extend past her personal guard. She has control of most of your father's soldiers, and nobody dares to defy her. The knights that tried have been killed. Oh princess, it was terrible!"

Hermione noticed Marcia's anguish, and held her hand, "I'm sorry Marcia, I wish I could have stopped it. But I promise you this, my escape is temporary. I will return to take my rightful place as the Queen of Lithia. I will make sure Alecto's crimes are punished. Leave with me, Marcia. You have proved your loyalty to me and my father's kingdom."

Marcia shook her head slowly, tears filling her eyes, "I'm sorry princess, but I cannot. I refuse to leave my graying mother and two young brothers behind. I cannot. I'm so sorry, please princess, save yourself. Put this on."

Marcia thrust a sturdy set of leather armor over Hermione's head, and laced it around the sides.

"This should protect you until you get to safety. I will miss you, princess. Be safe. "

When they reached the top of the stairs, Marcia pushed her into the arms of Sir Aidon, and turned, fleeing to safety.

"Princess, we must go." Aidon grabbed hold of her hand, and pulled her gently along, exiting the dungeons at the southwest side of the castle, near the stables.

Hermione ran to Faeron, who was saddled and loaded with packs, waiting for her outside the stable. Aidon jumped on his own brown stallion, urging her to do the same.

"We will ride to the Corteza forest. I know a man there, his name is Hagrid. He is perhaps the only human being to ever try living in that dense wood. He'll help hide us from the queen, and find a way for us to get to the East. Princess, we must get you to Arcantha. That medallion I gave you, do you still have it?"

Seeing her nod, Aidon continued, "Good, use that as a form of identification, but never let anyone take it from you."

They rode to the Eastern gates of the castle, but were stopped by the battalion of soldiers in their way. There were over a hundred soldiers there, and only then, did Hermione see the extent of the queen's poison. To be able to muster such a large force that easily, she must have been secretly instilling her own men and killing off her father's over the past years.

"For the King! For the True Princess!" yelled a voice from behind them.

Hermione turned and saw a group of twelve knights, dressed in their shining armor, riding toward them. The battalion of soldiers in front of them rushed forward to fight them, and to stop Hermione's escape.

Aidon grabbed Faeron's reins, and urged the horses to the right, trying to get them around the soldiers, but they saw what he was trying to do, and five of them separated from the main group, and pointed their spears at Sir Aidon.

Hermione watched helplessly, as Aidon slid off his horse and drew his sword.

"Ride, Hermione. Ride like the wind and don't look back."

Before he finished his sentence, he was already spinning with expert skill, twirling his sword in a series of cuts and stabs, maiming three of the five soldiers.

Hermione grabbed hold of Faeron's reins, galloped around the gap left by the falling soldiers, toward the open gate at the castle walls. She heard an anguished growl and turned to look behind her, despite Aidon's warning.

"No!" she yelled, as she saw eight more soldiers surrounding her beloved knight and teacher, cutting him to pieces. Before she could turn around, she felt an arrow pierce the left side of her leather armor, into her back.

The arrow had come from an archer above the castle walls, just as she rode out of the gate. The pain was excruciating, but she bit her lip and held on to the reins, continuing her gallop toward the north. She couldn't hear the sounds of anyone following her, but she rode on. She knew it was only a matter of time, before the queen's soldiers exterminated the remnants of her father's knights and came after her.

She rode toward the north, veering west, so as to get to the woods of Corteza, and to avoid the many wandering tribes of the far west.

Her thoughts never once strayed from Aidon, even as she covered the many miles between Lithia and the Corteza forest. His smile, his bravery, his loyalty, and her pain from losing him. She did not bother wiping the tears that were streaming from her eyes, because she knew they wouldn't stop.

Her resolve to live strengthened, as she vowed to avenge the death of her father and Aidon.

…

After many miles of riding across plains and fields of grass, she saw the dense forest of Corteza. Once Faeron plunged about a mile into the trees, she slowed him to a walk. She could feel his labored breathing, and knew that Faeron was just as tired as she was.

Hermione looked down, and saw the blood that was streaming down her breeches, with the arrow still protruding from her back. Her eyes were still tearing, so she did not notice her vision wavering, but she did feel the pounding in her head increasing. As Faeron continued to walk deeper into the woods, Hermione sat upon the horse, reached behind her, and yanked the arrow out of her back with the force of all her anger and despair.

She cried out in pain and dropped the reins, as Faeron slowed and stopped by the side of a big oak tree. Through the haze in her vision, she saw a young man exiting the back of a cottage and running towards her. For the life of her, she could not make out what he was saying, though he was shouting.

She felt herself sliding out of Faeron's saddle, and falling to the ground. She winced to herself, expecting to hit the hard ground below, but the thud and pain never came. She felt a pair of strong, muscular arms wrap around her, and the last thing she saw before her eyelids slid shut were two glittering blue-grey orbs that were shining with worry.

to be continued...

Here we are, where they finally meet!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please comment! :)