Escape

The day of the wedding was fast approaching. Amie was helping Julia set up for the rehearsal dinner in the dining hall the night before. Julia had been a huge help to Amie in the time leading up to the event. She helped her with her morning sickness and to find clothes that wouldn't constrict her belly, but that would also not give away she was pregnant.

They were both in a somber mood when setting up, but Amie felt she needed to thank Julia for all she had done, "Julia, I know we won't be seeing each other soon, and this night might be the last night we'll spend together as sisters. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you and I can't thank you enough for all you've done these past weeks to help me. Thank you for being such a great friend and sister."

Julia did not look up from what she was doing or say anything in response.

Amie was puzzled by Julia's reaction. She knew the night was not as celebratory as it appeared, but she couldn't understand why her sister wouldn't take this last opportunity to say goodbye. She thought that maybe Julia was too overwhelmed with emotion, "Juli-"

Suddenly the doors to the dining hall swung open. Jacques entered with guards following close behind, "YOU WHORE!"

Amie was shaken, how could he know? She looked at Julia who had stopped moving, but was still looking down. Amie couldn't believe it, "How could you do this to me?"

Julia meekly replied, "I'm sorry, Amie. Jacques wouldn't reassign me. Mother told me it was the only way."

Amie couldn't believe her ears. Not just her sister, but her mother betrayed her too? She was to be condemned to death because of the ones she trusted the most.

She had little time to think. The guards were closing in on her and she would be as good as dead if she let them reach her. She had no time to tell Julia how she felt. There was an opening to the guards' right, she took her only chance and bolted through it.

In seconds the guards had turned around and were in hot pursuit. She tried to push anything she ran across down behind her to try to gain more ground. Amie reached the bottom of the stairs of the tower she had been held captive in most of her life. Slamming the doors behind her, she place a makeshift barricade in front of it using some chairs set up next to the door. Typically guards would be stationed there playing card games, but as luck would have it, the guards had been stationed outside for extra security that was meant for the night's events.

Amie took this opportunity to speed up the stairs as fast as her legs would allow. She opened the entrance to the secret corridor, but before going in, she ran into her room and jumped over her bed to her nightstand. Pulling out the secret drawer, she grabbed her necklace and then darted for the corridor. She closed the door just in time. As she ran down the hidden stairs, she could hear the guards on the other side running up to capture her.

Amie wondered if Jacques would be so rash as to show the guards the secret entrance. When he was angry, he had a terrible habit of making poor decisions. Amie kept running in hopes she could escape the palace before they caught up to her. She took the tunnel leading to the forest outside of the city.

Once out of the tunnels, Amie ran into the woods. Bells started playing in the distance, alerting all the guards in the city of her likely whereabouts. She followed the same path she took to meet Sequana and ran as far into the grove as she could. Amie knew if she stayed there, she would be found with the hunting dogs. She had to think.

The river was next to her, she could use it to mask her scent. The water was cold this time of year, however. How could she drench herself enough to get rid of her scent without freezing to death?

Amie threw that plan out and tried to think of something else. She could double back and head towards the city, but that was probably an instant death sentence with all of the guards looking for her. Amie was racking her head for ideas but nothing was coming to mind.

She heard a noise in the distance. Somebody was coming. Panicked, Amie started running further into the woods. The grove of trees grew thicker and soon she found herself getting separated from the river. Amie kept going, trying to think of a plan while she sprinted into the unknown. The voices were getting louder, she could tell now for certain that they were guards. She looked around, trying to find something, anything.

There was a puddle nearby, probably leftover from the rain of a few days ago. Amie dove into it. She stripped her outer dress off, leaving her much lighter under-dress on as the only protection against the cold. She covered herself in mud as thoroughly as she could.

Looking around, she noticed a hole in a tree trunk. Amie made tracks in a different direction, then retraced her steps back to the puddle. Careful to cover her tracks to the trunk she made her way to the only hiding spot in the area. The voices were close, they'll see her any moment now. Diving into the trunk, she covered the entrance with shrub with not a second to spare.

Amie held her breath as she listened to the first guard approach, "Look over hear! I found something!"

Another guard yelled, "What is it?"

The first guard yelled back, "It looks like a dress!"

The second guard reached the dress. He was no longer yelling, but ordering the other guards what to do, "Follow those footsteps, take one dog that way. Keep the other dog here, just in case it's a false trail. Fan out and start searching, she can't be too far away. If we don't find her by nightfall, report her dead. It's supposed to be below freezing tonight, she won't survive the way she's dressed."

Amie could hear the sniffing of one of the dogs as it came close to her hideout. She put her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Another guard's footsteps could be heard next to the tree she was under. Any moment now, she would be caught.