Chapter 2: A Quick Escape

No Name's POV

I tallied two weeks on the stone walls with the corner of my handcuffs. The first time they brought me scrappy leftovers and dirty water, they added the handcuffs to my hands and ankles so I wouldn't try anything funny. Two weeks of leftovers and dirty water and I was positive that I had gone back to the boney-looking me that first showed up at the castle doorstep. However, this time, my feelings were more distraught than ever.

I didn't sleep. I couldn't. Every time I tried, I thought I heard screaming. It was a girl's scream and it echoed all throughout my surroundings. But every time I opened my eyes and looked all around the dark room I was curled up in, there was nothing but me. Me and I. I and me. Whoever I was.

And in the rare moments that I did sleep, it was only for a brief moment, for the unexplainable faces that popped in my mind always awoken my curiosity. It started with the long, pale lady. She was always dressed in furs- white furs- that were draped around her shoulders. The crown on her head was pointy and silver, almost like an icicle. Her eyes were cold and there was something utterly terrifying. Her presence alone always had me waking up with a start and in a cold sweat.

The next one was a little harder to see. It was like every time I tried to look at him, his face turned into a smug. The vision of him was always blurry. I couldn't even tell for sure what his eye color was. But he was a boy, and I did know him. Except, he hardly ever smiled. He sat in this icy room with me. We were both handcuffed. And I always woke up to find that the handcuffs weren't just a dream like he was.

Then there were nights where I could've sworn I heard voices. "Listen…. Hear me…. You are not alone…"

I never truly felt alone in that cell. As much as I curled into the corner and cried, folding my hands in my lap and trying not to panic, I never felt the crushing despair of loneliness. There were nights where I would ponder what I had done wrong and why this had happened to me and other nights where I feared I would never get out and I would grow old and rot in this dungeon; I never felt alone, though. I always figured the faces and voices helped with that. Or perhaps I was just going a little mad?

But then one night, as I closed my eyes, hoping to get a better view of the boy who lingered in my dreams, I was interrupted by something I hadn't expected. The sound of a door opening and then quietly shutting. I sat up, knowing it couldn't be the usual, dismissive guard for he usually slams the door to make his presence known. I stayed silent and listened to the small patter of feet quickly rush down the steps; no sound of metal hitting stone, so I was right- it wasn't the guard.

I quickly sat up on my knee and squinted my eyes to see through the darkness. I was surprised that I hadn't recognized his shadowy figure in the dark until he opened the caged door. He stood over me with a sober smile.

"Sorry it has taken me so long, Estrella." The professor spoke in a hushed tone as he undid my bindings on my wrist and ankles. He had named me Estrella ever since my love for stars had begun; it means star in another tongue.

"You found me!" I gasped, not having what he said completely register in my head.

"Yes, and now you must come with me. I'm going to get you out of here."

I let him lead me up the steps, his hand firmly around my small wrist, before I asked, "Where are we going?"

He dragged me left and right down many halls I had never come across before. His eyes were alert and dodging here and there every few seconds. There was not a single second where he stopped for a quick breather, which had me struggling. I hadn't had a single ounce of exercise in that dungeon, so running up and down the marble halls was like a whole new world for me.

When we finally came to a stop, I almost fell over from the sudden change. I watched as he pressed his thumb on one of the stone bricks and bit his lip as he stared at the wall. For a second, I had started to think that the professor had lost it. Or that I had lost it and this was all one bizarre dream. But then I watched in awe as the wall began to move to the side, giving us an entrance to a smaller, hidden hallway.

"Come, quickly," he whispered loudly as he dragged me into the tight space, ignoring my previous question altogether. "We don't have much time."

The hallway was narrow, fitting only one person at a time, so I followed close behind. Luckily, the tight squeeze didn't last long and we ended up in a circular room with two doors and no windows; one door was the one we had just come through, the other was wooden and looked very, very old. To my relief, Caspian stood next to it.

When he saw me, his eyes widen and he quickly jumped forward and wrapped me in a hug, "Lost Girl?" He let go and looked me in the eye, looking just about as confused as I felt. "What are you doing here?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "What do you mean? I never left…"

His eyes suddenly looked very distant and I just barely heard him mumble, "But Uncle… He said…"

The professor was quick to interrupt whatever he was saying. "No time. I'm sure you guys will have plenty of time to speak about this, but not now."

I turned to both of them, "Where are we going?" It was then that I noticed that Caspian was dressed in armor and had a sword in his belt buckle. "Is there a war going on?"

"Not yet," The professor replied before shoving us out the wooden door. The door led us to a couple more secret doors which then led us into a secret passageway into the stables. He headed straight for a large, black horse that was already saddled to go.

"Y-you are coming with us, aren't you, professor?" My voice was shaky as I realized he had only readied one horse.

The professor shook his head, "Someone's got to keep watch on the inside."

I watched Caspian jump on, before the panic really settled in. I turned to the professor and hastily blurted out, "I don't understand."

"And you will, Estrella, you will, dear child." He kissed the top of my head before rushing me to jump on behind Caspian. Once I was seated in the saddle in front of him, the professor added, "Just not by me. Caspian will explain what he can when you two are safe."

"Safe." Well, of course. This was a prison break after all. But why was Caspian coming along? He was the prince. He belonged here more than I did.

"Take this," the professor handed me a steel bow and arrow. "I know you don't like to use them, but I'm afraid you might need them. Just take it." Reluctantly, because of the way he pleaded so desperately, I grabbed the weapon and slung it over my shoulder. "And this," next, he placed a white horn in my hand with the face of a lion on it.

Something deep within the back of my mind struck me hard as I stared down at it, almost like an awful headache. But it was there and gone before I could react.

I held it as if it was fragile, although it strong and slightly heavy in my hand. "What is it?" I asked as if it wasn't obvious.

Perhaps I didn't mean to ask "what is it?" I probably meant "where have I seen this before?"

"Neither of you use it unless you absolutely have to, understand?" I looked back down at the professors urgent eyes as both Caspian and I nodded. I placed the horn inside Caspian's belt loop for safe-keeping. "There's so much more I wish I could tell you both, but…. I can tell you this."

Somehow, I knew he was speaking the truth and nothing but the truth as he said, "Everything you know is about to change."

As if on cue, the sound of alarmed people started to ring out from in the castle. "Go to the woods," the professor cried. "Go!"

I nodded my head frantically before grabbing the reigns. I kicked the side of the horse with the two stirrups and we were off running in no time. Usually, I would enjoy the wind rushing through my long brown hair and the feeling of flying, but tonight, it had a different meaning. This was my only way to freedom. If I failed, I most likely die.

As we rode to the front gate, a guard stepped in our way, trying to knock us off with a large pole. I screamed and ducked my head in time for Caspian to grab it and knock the guard to the side. Outside of the gate, he threw it into a fireplace and it exploded, causing the outside guards enough scare to jump away and I took the chance to ride right past them. Behind me, I could hear the sound of the fireworks as it illuminated the village streets before us, but I didn't dare stop to look back.

I don't know if it was the adrenaline or not, but it didn't take long for us to make it into the woods. We lost a couple of the men as we trudged the horse through a deep stream, but I was almost positive that they were still trailing us, so I didn't stop.

I heard Caspian call "Lost Girl," but with the wind roaring, I couldn't tell what he was trying to say.

"What? What was that?"

The tree branch came out of nowhere, I swear! I just had enough time to lean forward and yell "duck!" before I heard a thump from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Caspian was trailing behind us, his pant leg caught in my stirrup.

"Caspian!" I pulled back on the reigns to stop the horse but he was far too spooked just like me.

I didn't notice when Caspian got his leg out as I continued to try and get the horse to stop. The atmosphere becoming darker and darker as the horse continued going that it was hard to see my hands in front of my face.

"Whoa, boy, whoa!"

I got him to finally stop. But he reared back and I lost balance of the saddle. My feet quickly slid out of their place on the stirrups and I went falling back into the damp leaves and the mossy ground. I had just barely heard a slight sound of a horn, just a second to think about how familiar it sounded to me- where have I heard that before?

And then my head bounced hard on the solid ground and everything went black.