CHAPTER 8

I motioned her to move behind me as we tiptoed towards the exit. I followed the guard's pace as he took one step at a time busy in his conversation. He was for sure talking to his girlfriend the way he way he was smiling ear to ear. As soon as he turned and crossed us, 

Go.. Go.. Go... 

Yes, Yes... I am.....

We stealthily tiptoed our way towards the other side of the corridor. The moment we were near we ran towards the end, turning only to be in this big massive hall and two staircases leading to doors.

"This is the basement... "Anya whispered as she moved forward as if she knew.... I was indeed right!! I hurriedly followed as she slowly moved up the stairs and out the door..... I opened the door and followed after. We were in another corridor. This was another place I wasn't familiar with. This place was a bloody maze, without help, you could easily get lost... All these corridors looked all the same. She switched through corridors her hard work paying off and in five minutes we were near a big black door.

''This is the Kitchen, it's always chaotic, there's a back door at the other end... we need to get out from there." She said as she sat down like a frog, opened the door and went inside, probably to avoid people. As soon as we were inside, It was chaotic. The once calm palace now looked like a fish market. the conversation was going left and right. There were a lot of maids, and chefs going about their day. The once calm palace now looked like a fish market.

"Control the fire lad...

"Veggies are chop done...

" I am finally going out with David tonight, he asked me out ... 

Conversations were going left and right as we hid behind the table. I scanned through the entire place till the end of the room and saw the small back door which Anya was talking about... That was our way out. I hoped this was right. I mean, It had to be. We laid low making our way across the room and then...

"I heard a rumor about the prince's ceremony....."

My ears perked at the words and I had to stop to listen. My curiosity got the best of me. I stood beside her among the crowd trying to listen in. Anya tugged me... I motioned her to wait...

" The day of the ceremony, they are also going to announce the Prince's engagement... that vile know-it-all-all princess Tiara... " Someone butted in...

''Yes, I saw them arriving today..." 

''She is rude to everyone and the Queen and her together will make this place a living hell hole" Another girl mumbled...

Someone rushed into the room heaving from the side we had entered from...

"Guys.... The prince is gone" She pointed the finger at the door as she spoke," The royal guards were talking about it...."

Everyone around gasped at her words.....

It's time for us to leave Elaara... No detours... remember... They know he is not here.... come on, Let's go.... and I agreed with her. We walked towards the back door and went outside....

"Our King is under her spell, that witch..." were the last words that fell on my ear as the door closed behind me. The way they spoke about the king showed their respect for him. They believed in him as if the rumors that had been circulating didn't even exist in this place. They gave the credit of evilness to the Queen.... She had a lot of names... 

so many doors.....

The door at the end of the kitchen which was supposed to take us out of the mansion to its lawn, led to another door and then we were indeed outside in the lawn. 

Ahh the sunlight.... so bright and warm.....

Finally, I was out...

It had been a whole day since I was inside this stupid place. We had managed to change our appearance a bit by wearing an apron and a chef hat which I took from the kitchen while the staff was busy gossiping...

I scanned around to see if there was anyone.

After making sure our path was clear, we moved around, making our way across the lawn hiding and running towards the boundary of the palace. After multiple attempts and with the help of each other, we climbed our way up, the branches of the trees playing their part as we jumped towards the other side... Once outside, we ran like there was no tomorrow...

After running for around twenty minutes, We were finally in the forest that surrounded the palace and kept it hidden from the outer world.We stopped to catch our breath as soon as we were in the clear..... 

Finally, I was free...

I was so happy...

I took a deep breath and felt myself finally relaxing after a while. The sun was already up.....

It was time to get back... Before they knew that I was gone... 

" Anya, I wanted to thank you, You are the reason we are alive.... I am so happy I got to meet you...." I thanked her from the bottom of my heart. She was the reason, we were enjoying this freedom.

" No, you are the reason, 6 months, I have been there... I had no hope and then you showed up Killian... I can't be thankful enough... " She smiled genuinely, there was a glint in her eyes. Seeing her smile like that, made me happy for some reason..... and she thought I was the reason... it made me the happiest....

I don't know why but I felt this moment filled me and made my time inside the palace worth it..... I was content.... for the first time in a while... 

" Be careful out there, We don't want the guards to get you" I spoke as we started walking together... 

" I will be.... '' We walked in silence through the forest for around half an hour... just embracing the fresh morning air....

" So Killian, You never told me why you get caught anyways?" Anya broke the silence as she questioned me out of nowhere...

what was I supposed to tell her... They didn't even know the actual reason why they had caught me.... Under weird circumstances, I was imprisoned... without them knowing my actual crime... 

" It was a confusion...I ran once I saw the big bulky guards because I got intimidated and they thought that I had done something wrong... they didn't even ask me and just put me in prison....." I spoke sounding confident about what I was saying...

"Yeah.... they just announce punishment without even knowing the crime...." She agreed with me but then suddenly turned around and stopped.....

"How did you open the door?" she asked as she stared at me in curiosity....

How do I explain to her that .....

.....