Revenge of the Duchess

Chapter 11

Unaware of what was currently transpiring in the mansion, Annabeth had her own difficulties to worry about.

The sword had swung through the air towards Annabeth's neck. But in the next second, the sword had slashed through empty air.

Annabeth had heard the crunch of boots against gravel. She was moving the moment she had heard the sound and long before the fountain's reflection showed her two attackers.

She sloshed through the fountain and came out on the other side, bare feet landing on dry grass. Thankfully, Annabeth had kicked off her high heels earlier, or else she'd trip and already be stabbed.

Luckily, she had her knife secretly strapped on her calf. Moving her dress out of the way, Annabeth took out the weapon before staring down her enemies. But her attackers were surprisingly familiar.

The two men wore the uniforms of Black Knights. They were the ones who were on patrol in the garden. The one on her right had a small mole near the corner of his left eye. Annabeth recognized this man as one who had escorted Percy a few times. Were they enemies who had hidden themselves in the Black Knights Order then?

But the men seemed to be in a trance. Their expressions were emotionless and their eyes were blank.

"Hey!" Annabeth yelled, but the men didn't seem to hear.

Unfortunately, they were holding swords, and she was wielding only a knife. Logically speaking, they had better range and the much better weapon. Not to mention, her dress was highly restrictive in motion and her training could not compare to that of a Black Knight's. She had no choice but to yell for help, hoping that somebody would hear her. If all the other knights on patrol were also enemies, then she would be doomed.

Both men went around the fountain on two different sides, trying to trap her. Sometimes the best defense was offense. Annabeth rushed one man. Perhaps he was not expecting her to be so foolhardy as he stumbled when Annabeth used the hilt of her knife to twist the sword out of his hand.

With a well placed kick, Annabeth knocked the man down and ran towards the mansion, yelling for help. Hard stones dug into her bare feet but she ignored the pain. If she stopped at any moment, she would surely expect to be decapitated. For whatever reason, she had been given a second chance at life, and she wasn't going to die now without any reason.

She was about to run into the nearest door, but a shadow blocked her way. Shit! Annabeth cursed. It was another Black Knight in the doorway.

"Wait!"

The Black Knight raised his arms towards her. Annabeth dodged, forced to turn back to where she came from.

The two men who were originally after her were nearing from the garden's direction. Annabeth ran around the perimeter of the house, trying to look for an open window or door to hide in. But her earlier screams for help were successful as people began wandering outside from the mansion. Still, they were too far or did not notice the situation to help.

Annabeth scanned her surroundings to look for a suitable place to hide. There, an open window!

Unfortunately, the open window was four floors up. Gritting her teeth, Annabeth began to climb the trellis underneath the window that had been set up for rose vines to climb. Fortune was on her side, as the wooden trellis was stable enough to support her as the vines scratched at her hands and bare feet. The trellis was high enough to climb up to a balcony on the third floor. Perhaps she could open the door there or swing herself up to the open window on the fourth floor.

There were more shouts underneath her now but Annabeth was too focused to look down. There were sounds of a sword fight below her.

"Eek!" Annabeth yelped when an arrow nearly embedded itself in her right hand. She had to climb faster.