Celina's POV

I climbed down the vines. Despite the higher volume of knights once that Baron died, there was none on the route I was taking. It was eerily quiet, but I was more focused on getting out of the castle's premises. I went my normal route of the servants to exit the castle, only to be hit with guards standing by the small gate exit. I racked my brain trying to think of a situation to distract the guards or if there was another exit that wouldn't be obvious and allow me to run into anyone.

"Guards!" a voice shouted. I whipped my head towards the voice, and it was coming from the sides. I noticed it was that crazy redheaded prince from the ball!

"Guards! There's a rat in my room! Go take care of it" he told them. The guards looked at each other in confusion.

"What are you waiting for? Don't you know who I am? Should I let the queen know about this?"

"No sir! We'll get on it right away!" one of them shouted, rushing to the direction that Prince Kael came out from. There was still the other guard remaining to guard the door.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Are you saying that you don't need to help me?" Prince Kael said, visibly getting angry.

"N-no Sir! I am on it!" I watched the two guards run off, but Prince Kael stood there for a moment longer. He turned his head back towards my direction and winked before walking away. I wanted to be confused, but I definitely did not have the time to be. I looked over the distance to the exit.

There was no one around, and I couldn't hear any footsteps, so I ran for it, leaving the castle. I ducked and stayed in the alleyways throughout the town, avoiding anyone that I might have come across. I didn't want to run into anyone or give the castle a chance to catch up to me, so I went towards the exit of the town. The best course of action now was to get as far from the castle and this town. And then I would have time to think about Prince Kael, or more like why did it seem like he knew I was there, and why was he helping me. Honestly, I was grateful for all the guests at the ball for once. Due to the larger number of guests that were staying at the castle due to the queen's insistence on inviting foreign ambassadors and foreign nobility, there was a larger amount of security focused on the castle. That meant, it left the weaker guards at the town gate. Or at least the ones with the least amount of experience, and ones that would give me less trouble.

I was hiding behind the corner of one of the closed stalls in the marketplace, eyeing who the guards were at that gate. There was one guard that seemed young and was nervously fidgeting with his weapon, and the other guard was an older man with a thick mustache. The easiest way to leave would be to wait for the shift exchange, but I doubt it would be soon. It would also be a waiting game and judging by even Snow White's rush to get me out, it would not be that great of an idea. I glanced around me to see what I could use to distract them so that I could get to the exit. Remembering some of the vendors and their items, I went back down a couple of stalls. It was Rosemary's stall, and I told her an apology in my head and promised I'll figure a way to pay her back. I grabbed her hidden batch of oil, and snuck into one of the abandoned stalls, grabbing a small lantern on the way. Making sure the guards didn't notice me first, I poured the oil all over the floor of the stall and threw the lantern on it, creating a fire.

Then I covered half of my face with part of the clock to make me less recognizable and ran towards the guards.

"Help! There's a fire! Help! Help!" I shouted at them.

"What?! Where?" the older guard asked. I turned around and pointed. I heard him curse under his breath before running towards the stall, yelling at the younger guard to sound an alarm and get some help and water to contain it. I watched the younger guard break off running, and used the newly unguarded gate to finally leave the town.

At this point, I kept running. It was quite a distance from the town to the forest, but I didn't have a chance to reminisce about it seems I only take this path to escape from the castle in some way. Although I was becoming more grateful I kept up an exercise routine, despite everyone's disapproval of it. I went towards the part of the forest that I knew, the part that I would go to practice my archery. I went to the place where I normally hid my bow and arrows, relieved that they were still there.

I had just tied my quiver around me, when an arrow embedded itself in the truck that was right in front of my face. I felt a sharp stinging feeling on my left cheek. I nocked an arrow in my bow as I quickly jumped behind a tree for cover. It was just in the nick of time, since another arrow appeared on the ground where my calf would have been. My heart was hammering in my chest, as there was another whizz of arrows. I crouched down as well, wondering who it was that was trying to kill me. I looked over at arrows, looking at the angle, seeing if it would give me an idea of where my enemy was, and where the trees next to me were for other hiding places.

I nocked an arrow in my bow, and darted to another tree. Mid-dart, I shot the arrow to the general area that I believed my enemy to be. Calming my heart as much as I could to hear how the arrow landed, I heard a dull thud, and then a grunt. I peaked out from the trunk of the tree, hoping to see if there was someone, only for an arrow to lodge itself in my left shoulder. I screamed in pain, and fell back, also dropping my bow. I was seeing red, but it didn't stop me from scrambling back behind some sort of shield. I was panting. I wasn't built to fight someone that was out to kill me. I was only taught to hunt smaller animals and non-moving targets, and I was feeling my lack of experience at that moment. I never expected myself to be put in the position of a prey.

Then, like my enemy was mocking me, there was silence. There were no arrows whizzing through the air. I unsheathe my dragger as a last ditch effort at arming myself in case there was a chance of close combat.

"You're not bad. I will give you that. Especially for someone like yourself, who has never really left the protection of the castle. But you're not going anywhere," a cold voice called out. I looked back. It was the queen's favorite huntsman, Fenn. He was taller and bigger than me, and he moved as swifting as any other predator of the forest. My one shot only managed to graze his thigh. I gripped the dagger, preparing to use it, but I wanted to distract him first.

"Why are you doing this? Who sent you?" I asked, trying to hide my fear. Like he was taunting me, he stepped right in front of me, smirking. He crouched down so his face was in front of my face before grabbing my neck.

"Someone really wants your heart carved out, and I will do my best to make it less painful for you." I wasted no time bringing the dagger I was hiding behind me. I tried to bury it into his own chest, but I wasn't able to.

I saw Fenn's eyes widen briefly, before he smiled. His hand was holding my right wrist. I didn't even pierce his leather vest.

"Nice try, but you're no match for me, little girl," he sneered at me. It was all in slow motion, as I watched him take my own danger, raise it in the air, and bring it down towards my own chest. I closed my eyes, hoping that it would end soon, but instead, there was a wet spatter on my face, but I couldn't feel any additional pain. I only heard a dull thud. I opened my eyes and there was no head. Instead there was a clean cut at his neck. I looked down to see the rest of his body, and slowly, he was moved to the side, like a sack of potatoes.

"Your highness, I think we might need to do some additional training so that you are not in this position again," a familiar voice said.

"M-Mira?" I called out. And then everything went black.