29: Solo

I carefully went out of the kitchen and headed to the door.

"Where are you going, Queen?" I looked at the young prince standing at the end of the stairs

"I have things I must do, Malika." I answered

"How can I help?" he asked

"Make sure you'll stay safe and wait for me." I said and he nodded his head

"I will, Queen." He answered and I smiled

I opened the door carefully, the sun hasn't risen yet and it's the middle of the night. I smiled at the young prince and I saw him turn his back from me before I closed the door.

"Sir Charles," My heartbeat doubled when I heard the young prince called someone

Sir Charles and Dame Therese are taking turns in watching over the whole night. Dame Therese had just gone up to rest in their room so I took that opportunity to leave, I didn't expect that Sir Charles would go downstairs immediately.

"Why are you awake, young prince?"

"I can't sleep, can we play chess?"

The young prince must've asked that to distract Sir Charles and help me escape. I carefully snuck towards the tree and placed my bracelet and letter there.

| I'm sorry, Zairo, there are things I must face alone. I shall contact you again when I have fulfilled my objectives, until then please refrain from tracking my whereabouts, I will appreciate it greatly. See you when I see you, my friend.|

I want to remove the pin as well but I doubt Zairo would appreciate that and he might trace me which could affect my plan greatly.

I ran pass the marking making sure that my cloak is not removed and revealed my face. I ran towards Astrae, each step is light but I make sure to keep my balance and footing in place to avoid tripping.

I formulated a plan on my own, they might get mad at me and consider this as a selfish decision but I do not wish to involve them in something I could fix on my own. I would appreciate it if they stay in place because I refuse to acknowledge that my trusted knights will die bloodily because of false accusations.

When I reached Astrae, I stayed by the outskirts of town, hiding among the trees. If I am able to walk pass them this easily then I can move according to my plan easily as well.

The trees are fully bloomed, the leaves serve as cover and their shadows are the blind spots of the tower guards and the wall guards. If I can continue to navigate through these trees until I reach my destination then it may only take me at least a couple of days or at the very least half a week.

This is the first step of my plan and I am taking my chances and trying the extent of my luck, it is up to me if I'll die here or if I'll succeed into doing my plan.

"Queen Avery?"

I stopped on my tracks and placed my body near the tree trunk to blend into the darkness. I almost stopped myself from breathing as I moved away from them

"What are you saying? The queen Avery's dead."

"I thought I saw the queen."

I placed the cloth to cover my face and made sure it remains intact as I move pass the villagers who are conversing. My heart is pounding so hard both from running and from the nervousness I'm feeling at every step I make. One wrong step and I can get caught by the guards or worse, Ezra and Katrina will be informed of my presence, of my return and order my execution immediately to keep their lie.

"Halt."

This definitely is not a good joke. Damn.

"What are you doing?"

Think, Patrice, think of a good excuse. Oh come on, there's no good excuse when they see a queen who's supposed to be de –

"We were just checking our goods."

"Go back inside."

That was close. Very close, I thought someone had seen me.

I continued navigating through the shadows of the trees and heaved a hard breath after I had made quite a distance from where I thought I had been caught.

I carefully climbed up the tree and sat on one of the branches. Moving in the shadows is easy during the night but I doubt it would be the same when the morning comes and the sun's already rising.

I watched the rising of the sun and heaved a sigh when I heard my stomach grumble. I'm hungry, my last meal was last night's supper.

I removed my cloak and took a handful of my hair then allowed it to fall freely on my back, I sprayed a black hair spray to cover my real hair color and the golden streaks that is hereditary to the Astrae royal family's bloodline. I carefully climbed down the tree and resumed my journey.

"Halt." I stopped on my tracks when I heard someone's voice

"Where are you heading?" he asked

Damn. What am I going to say?

"Vielle!"

"Halt." The man stopped in front of me and looked over my shoulder

"Is there a problem, sir?" he asked with a smirk

"Do you know this woman?" my heartbeat continued to race because of what he might answer

"She's my cousin, sir, I'm afraid she's incapable of speaking." He answered and I looked at him with wide eyes

What did he say? Why did he… why did he cover up for me?

"Oh, alright," I heard the galloping sound of the horse then it faded into our hearing

"Why did you do that?" I asked him and looked at his eyes

His eyes widened when he realized who I might be.

"You look like…" his voice faded into a whisper

"Why did you help me?" I asked again and he stared at me

"Are you a…"

"I'm not a ghost." I muttered

"Thank you for helping me." I said

"Y-you're welcome." He said

"Are you… by any chance…" he seem reluctant to ask me

"You called me Vielle, didn't you?" I asked and he nodded

"Thank you for helping me, I'll be going ahead." I said and walked pass him

I decided to cover half of my face while letting my colored hair falling behind me, the golden streaks of my hair aren't obvious because of the hair spray but I know for sure that it'll get washed off once it gets wet.

I continued my journey, ignoring the grumbling of my empty stomach. I don't know how long I could withstand my hunger but I am willing to push myself pass the limits.

I continued walking, I decided to wear my cloak again when I felt the burning heat of the sun hitting my skin.

I released a small wave of ice from my palm and cooled down the wind hitting my body to ease the heat. This is one of my gift's weaknesses. Ice is weak against heat and it just happened that Astrae's currently in the summer season.

I don't know how far I am from the border between Astrae and Holland, my stomach's really aching from hunger, I regret not taking food from the escape house because I need it now.

I continued my journey, I decided to rest on a tree nearby when I felt exhausted. I can't be both exhausted and famished, I'll be having the lower hand if I do that. I sat on the tree's shade and sighed when I heard my stomach grumble again.

I opened my satchel and I can imagine my eyes glistening when I saw a piece of bread. Never have I imagined that a piece of bread would look so delicious for me. I divided it into two and took a bite from one-half of the bread, I was supposed to continue eating the bread when I saw a child watching me, no staring at the bread from a distance.

I stood up and approached the child. This is one of the unresolved problems in the outskirts of Astrae. I bent down and caressed the child's face.

"Hello," I smiled gently

"Hello," I saw that the child's not alone, there's a lot of them who are in that spot.

"Are you hungry?" I asked and offered the piece of bread on my hand

They reluctantly took the piece of bread from my hand and it clenched my heart how children like them are suffering in this kind of life.

"Thank you." They said with a smile

"You're welcome." I smiled and stood up

I tapped their shoulders, I noticed that the little girl in front of me was surprised and that's when I noticed that there's ice in my fingertips.

I turned my back and continued on my journey. I don't know how long this is going to take me but I hope that I succeed.

I continued walking under the heat of the sun with only the cold wind brought by the wind I cooled down through my magic to ease up the heat and the burning rays of the sun that's hitting my skin.

I heard some galloping sound so I hid to the nearest tree. I climbed up the tree to see who came, I formed ice spikes on my hand. My brows furrowed when I noticed that the guy is familiar, he's the guy who saved me from almost getting caught earlier this morning.

"What are you doing?" I asked from the branches

"I mean no harm." He raised his hand

I held the ice spike with a tighter grip and pointed it to his direction, ready to throw it in case he charges in.

"What do you want?" I asked

"I saw what you did." He said and I looked at him

"What do you mean?" I asked

"What you did with the children in the outskirt." He said and I pointed the ice spike to his direction and made another one using my hand that's inside my satchel

"I don't think you're bad." He said

"I… I want to help." He added

"Help with what?" I asked and went down the tree

"Whatever you're doing." He answered and I chuckled then leaned on the tree

"You don't even know what I'm doing," I mocked and he seem offended

"You want to leave… right?" he asked unsurely

I don't want to leave but I won't tell him that. Not because he helped me once, he's an ally, he could be an enemy for all I know, he might be taking my trust but will break it afterwards.

"You're heading to Holland?" I guess he's not that bad at guessing.

"What if I am?" I replied still standing under the tree's shade

"I'm a merchant." He said and I raised my brow

"I… I can bring you there." He said

"At what exchange?" I asked and he seem unsure of what to say

"Just give me company along the way." He answered and I tilt my head a little while studying his expression.

I am still determining whether I could take the chance and trust him or not.