Chapter 3: 1: ESCAPE
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...1...
ESCAPE
The lights ahead made her mission more complicated and frustrating. She knew just how well the empire was guarded, yet, she was risking her long graceful neck to be doing this. Now wasn't the time to praise her neck, was it? Well her pretty neck was not ignorable. She walked forward, surreptitiously, not wanting to be caught. She knew the repercussions of such an act, but she was not scared, not an iota of fear rose in her. She had had enough of her captor, the beast. She'd had enough of the confinement that he had deemed her fit for, wanting out. The rules and punishments he issued her was hugely traumatizing enough to keep her trying instead of stopping. She couldn't give up, wouldn't give in, cave in to his dominance, controlled by him. She would rather get caught, and then punished. She'd rather cry, drink water and definitely try again. She entered the flower maze, navigating through it in the dark like some self assured pro.
This was obviously not the first time that she was attempting this, judging from her expertise. She must have done this lots of time to be more than fully acquainted with it all, every twist, every turn, every bend and every path. Well, it was infact the fifth time she was doing this. That first four -especially the first- had been a complete disaster, unsuccessful, thanks to none other than her captor, the Beast as she liked to call him. But this time, the fifth, She was bound to succeed having planned it for so long, so meticulously, straight down to minutes and even seconds details. She was sure she would scale through, successfully. She walked stealthily out of the maze and into the garden. The smell of likeable flowers tickled her nostrils. She stopped to inhale them for a moment before she resumed her journey. She walked for a moment until she upended at the fountain, water cascading with a lot of noise. She stopped and scooped some into her cupped palms. She drank the refreshing liquid and wendied on. She moved to the stone pathway. The stone pathway was beautiful with gargoyles that lined each side, leading out of her captors manor. She ducked onto the shadows as she neared the end.
A sound had caught her attention. They belonged to patrol guards. The manor was heavily guarded, especially at night. She moved stealthily, eluding the patrol guards, sneaking out noiselessly. She moved slowly, cautiously at the edge of the pathway. She saw three guards on standby. She sighed frustratedly in her head despite the fact that she was well prepared. She withdrew an explosive from her bag. She opened the pouch and added a portion of a liquid, then threw it in the opposite direction. She didn't hear it land. She inhaled and counted to five with her ears covered. She jumped when the loud 'Bang' sound of the explosive came, loud and surprising though she had been expecting it. The guards rushed towards it, deserting their posts. She made her escape then, running quickly to safety. She ran across the small wooden bridge that spanned the small stream and stopped upfront. She had completely left her captor's manor. Well, she had yet to leave his terrain and all the lands she walked on belonged to him for he was The Emperor of this Empire, The Linamine Empire.
She hurried towards the first gate. Yes, it was the first gate. His fortified Palace had three gates leading into his also fortified vast empire. She had seen this on a map she had found in his study. That was his fault, in his manor he gave her freedom, allowing her to go wherever she pleased in it. She had no idea where this empire was located or how far it was from the home that she vaguely remembered. Yes, she vaguely remembered it. Her memory was a little fuzzy. There were times when she remembered things and times when she did not. She knew she had a family, a sister especially. She tried in vain to remember more but failed. But still, she would first leave and then find them when she had her freedom. They were the ones who could answer all her unanswered questions. She remembered being taken, kidnapped, by the Beast. She remembered him with silver hair and silver eyes holding a sword to her neck. She remembered her lover. She even remembered his name. It was Trevor. She remembered so many things about her handsome amour. She remembered being chased, running away from someone, fire blazing in the background. She assumed that she was running away from the beast who had her now. It must have been then he had taken her. It might have been her home burning, but she knew not. She suddenly wondered what he had done to her family. Had he killed them, or left them to burn to their demise? She also knew not. She didn't have the time to ponder much for a sound drew her attention. She quickly stole into the shadows, internally cursing herself for losing focus.
The sound turned out to be a guard. She watched his pass her before she sighed inaudibly in relief. When she was sure that he was gone, she delved into phase two of her plan. She needed a horse. She knew where she would get one. The Riding arena. It was not far from his manor. She had seen it on the map that she had memorized. She moved in that direction, her eyes out for a prey, a patrol guard. She found another few minutes later, alone. She retreated behind a tree and watched him. He had grown tired and had sat down to rest a little. She stole up to him and sized him up. She knocked him out with one hit to the meridian. He passed out instantly. She felt bad but she did it anyways, undressing him. She stole his outer clothes, his patrol uniform and left him in his inner wears. She dragged him to an inauspicious spot and tied his hands, legs and mouth lest he awaken and alert the others. She made sure he was well positioned and breathing fine before continuing on her way. His clothes that she wore smelt like stale pineapples. It made her stomach uneasy. She went to the stables with his name card. She had tied her hair up masculine style and wore the patrol cap. She greeted the stable man in charge and requested for a horse. Her request was quickly met and she acknowledged the stable man with a respectful bow as a substitute for appropriate pleasantries. The brown horse that he had provided her looked well and agile. She mounted and rode away after a wave of farewell.
Joy erupted in her as she rode, faster, a notch above a canter. She felt happy, free as she approached the first gate after about twenty minutes of riding. She produced the patrol guard's stolen pass and showed it to the guards at the gate, all the while keeping her face slightly lowered. The head of the guards studied it as her heart palpitated madly in her chest. She was on the verge of convincing herself that everyone could hear it - her heart- when the guards gave the signal for her to pass through, returning her pass to her. Hope soared in her chest, filling it. She gave a slight nod of gratitude and moved on, realizing then, only then that her hands were shaking, her fingers fidgeting. She went on, riding her horse slowly until she was out of sight, then she went into a full fast gallop. From her study of the map, she tried to find the second gate. It took almost fourth minutes to do so after straight riding and two corners. She stopped far from it and rode her horse slightly into the pretty forest. She needed a change of identity. She took off the clothes that still smelt like stale pineapple and wore the clothes that she had stashed away in her bag. It belonged to Xiera. She was about to impersonate one of the guards that the beast had assigned to her, Xiera. She re-mounted her horse and rode towards the gate, her roaring heart threatening to disorganize her. She mustered all her scattered confidence and beaten courage, moving on at a fast trot, not wanting to be caught.
'Who may you be?' The head guard demanded from her. She came to a halt.
'I'm Xiera, First Military division,' she answered. 'I bear a message for the Emperor,' she imitated the lady's voice.
'Where shall you be delivering the message?'
'It is one for the head guard of the third gate.'
'Ah, I see. Be on your way then,' he urged. The gates began to open. She began to move forward. 'Wait!' The order causes her heart to still and her blood to congeal. She had been caught, she was so sure of it.
'What?' She managed to push out of her sealed mouth.
'Where is your hair?' He questioned her. Relief washed over her.
'Ah, that.' She took of her hat and out tumbled her oxblood plaits. She hoped that in the dark they'd mistake it for red like Xiera's. 'There,' she said. 'Are you satisfied?'
'Go,' was his only reply. She needed no other prompting to go into a fast trot. She dared to laugh as she rode. This freedom, it felt fulfilling. After a while, her heartbeat slowly returned to normal as she rode down the solid stone pathway that'll upend on the third and last gate. The pathway stretched on for what seemed like forever whereby it was only seventeen minutes. The gates were brightly lit, crowded with guards and busy when she arrived. The palace garrison occupied the side of the castle. She dismounted from her horse and joined the short queue of three people, her being the third person.
'Name?' The head guard asked when it was her turn.
'Xiera, First Military Division,' she gave away.
'Pass?' She gave it to him. The royal pass was all the same except the ones belonging to the Royals. He studied it and handed it back to her.
'Go through,' he permitted. She held the reins and made to remount when a masculine hand suddenly encircled her small waist, bringing her back against his chest. There was an angry curse at the edge of her lips when that scent hit her. She did not need anyone to tell her who it was. That overpowering mollifying scent, his impenetrable aura and the eerie silence that followed his presence said it all. His aura was too overwhelming to be mistaken. It was him. It was the Beast.
'What do you think you are doing?' came his deep velvety voice, soft and sexy yet intimidating. It made her knees go weak, a negative kind of weak, not out of fear but out of want. It irritated her yet she could do nothing about it except try to hate him more for he was her enemy. 'Won't you answer me?' he said to her with his mouth close to her ears, causing some unexplainable feeling to wash over her. She noticed then that he was angry, really furious. Fear began to seep into her formerly undaunted blood stream. The angry aura he exuded made her slightly tremble. She was instantly scared of him no doubt for he was nothing but ruthless.
'I,' she began. 'I-' her voice wavered, shook so badly that she had to stop talking. His hands around her waist tightened.
'You what?' He demanded softly, seductively.
'I didn't, I wasn't, I'm not leaving,' she said in a rushed voice, desperation boldly scrawled into it. 'You know that I won't, right?' She asked him. She was blabbering, muttering incessant nonsense and she knew. But, she wanted anything, just anything to buy time to keep her from his rage. He was a beast in his fury, a highly insane one at that.
'Speak,' he ordered her. She refused to answer, unwilling to make a fool out of herself once again for the umpteenth time. He whirled her around -catching her when she totally thought she would fall, turning her to him and bringing her against his hard chest gently, his hands still on her waist. Her breath caught in her throat -slightly out of fear and also want, need- like it always did at their proximity. She wondered how it was possible for her to be afraid and aroused at the same time, simultaneously. His shirt was missing the first three buttons, revealing his dark chest which her palm was currently on, her fingers sprawled across the glowing skin of his hard chest. God! Was he hard! His chest was rock hard and solid, sinfully gorgeous. Her blood was gradually warming by several degrees centigrade. She didn't dare look up at him or move her palm, subtly enjoying the view, feeling his sinews and eight stone abs. 'Look at me,' he commanded her in a low murmur. She tried to but could not bring herself to do such. He must have lost his patience for he hooked his fingers around her chin, caressing it lightly before tilting her head upwards, forcing her gaze to meet his deep deadly own. She met his dark eyes and gasped a little. She began to look elsewhere. 'Mine,' he whispered, his eyes turning silver for a moment before returning to its normal color of sable black. She met his eyes and their gazes locked properly. The instant it did so, she was fully lost in the melanous hollow of his terribly sexy eyes. Her heart tightened and she felt unable to breath. Would this be the end of her? Was she dying? Could this beast suck out her soul with his eyes? He chuckled then as if he had heard her thoughts. 'Breathe Mine, breathe. It's because you are holding your breath,' he informed her. She realised then that she truly was indeed holding her breath and that was the reason she felt as if she were dying. She felt stupid as he teased her with a smile. 'Breathe Mine, slowly breathe.' She knew that he knew what he was doing to her, the chaos and catastrophe that he was causing inside of her, the volcano he was slowly stirring each time. She inhaled and exhaled very softly. His soft teasing voice did not mean that he was no longer angry at her. It instead meant that he was losing his patience, getting more furious.
'I was breathing,' she said with venom. He laughed at her. It was a scorn filled guffaw to be precise. It sounded rather dignified coming from him. She stared at him until he was done guffawing, noticing then that his laughter had been mirthless. It only spelled trouble. His gaze hardened alongside his face. Her earlier fear accelerated, doubling.
'What do you think you are doing?' He asked her once again with furrowed brows, the fury in his voice magnified by his sharp features. He was no longer angry. He was now mad at her, raving mad, vexed beyond that which she could decipher. Her heartbeat became quick and vigorous. She was in a trouble deeper than the deepest of oceans.
'I was making an Escape,' she answered truthfully, not sure she could handle him more mad than this. Lying to him always seem to do that. 'Isn't it very obvious?' she continued brazenly. He cocked her one of his full silky arched black brows.
'You were?' he asked her as if he was just realizing it, an amused smirk on his lips. She chose to say nothing. He stared at her pointedly with a perturbing indiscernible expression. She recalled then that she was on a disguise. God! Had she given herself away? She could not be sure of it.
'How d' you know?' She asked with suspicious eyes. He smirked evilly at her, instantly understanding her.
'I would know you instantly Mine, even in the midst of myriads of ladies.' His answer was sure, self assured, concrete in a voice that left no room for doubt. He meant what he had just said. 'You thought you could fool me with a disguise? How audacious of you! How dare you do such Lady Mine?' He said to her, his eyes hard and unforgiving, raging but his voice sweet and molliscent. She wasn't fooled by the contrast. She knew him well enough to not be.
'I want to leave.'
'No! No! You can never do such! You must never do such! You can not leave Lady Mine!,' he spat out with a venom that matched his vexed eyes. There was a long pause where she began to withdraw her hands from his chest. He caught her palm, placing his over hers to keep it in place, stopping her. She stared surprised, perplexed. He stared at her like he was going to eat her whole, like the insane beast that he was. Her whole body tensed, rigid. But something surprising happened. The corners of his mouth lifted. She stared astonished. Was...was that a smile?! ' You can't fool me,' he said to her in a matter of fact way. 'You can never fool me Mine. You belong to me. I own you and it will remain so.' Tears stole her eyes but she dare not let it pour down. She was too strong for that. She could only stare at him as her resolve shattered into zillions of broken shards.
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...OmaPhinaPhire🔥
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone