Eren POV
Mikasa and Armin were suspiciously quiet when they headed outside the palace just a few minutes after sunset.
Mikasa's information regarding this group of people that might be able to help them could prove to be a trap or another source of power. No matter what it would turn out to be, Eren was convinced that it would be worth their time to either prove Mikasa's source wrong or find new allies.
Said source was walking in front of them, firmly holding a torch in her fragile hands that had yet to be lit.
"The guards can't see us if we take this route.", the girl whispered. "I know a way to get out without having to climb those walls."
Eren eyed her up and down, taking in her shabby clothing and the long hair simply braided on her back. She was a beauty, no doubt. But in nature all beauty was built to lure in and destroy.
"How do you know each other again?", he asked and looked over his shoulder to Mikasa, who avoided his gaze when she noticed his questioning gaze on her.
"Thank the work of a servant for that.", the girl answered in Mikasa's stead and smiled at him. Every step of hers was taken with a confidence Eren found he admired. She didn't hesitate until they reached the grey stones of the wall, surrounded by bushes and old trees on this side of the palace.
Eren remembered how his mother had always tried to get him to play out here with the other kids of royals visiting the palace. They played hide and seek and Eren could always hear their laughter, their joy.
He had tried to join them once.
It was his last time talking to someone of his own age.
"It must be around here somewhere.", the girl whispered. Kou was her name, if Eren remembered correctly from the brief introduction earlier that evening. They had met up in one of their rooms and while Eren didn't trust this girl, her words of loyalty seemed to be meant sincere. If only for the moment.
Kou crouched down in front of one of the bushes and just when Eren wanted to tell her that they should better head back and look for another way out of the castle, she made a triumphant noise and brushed some of the branches of the bush aside.
With an almost arrogant shrug she revealed a hole.
In the dark and probably not even during the light of day would anyone suspect it there. It was small enough that one person at a time could slip through it into the small tunnel that led outside the walls.
Darkness waited for them, decorated by the shadows that followed the sunset every day.
Armin swallowed loudly and took a step back.
"We...we really have to go through this...hole?", he asked with a shaking voice. Eren turned around and touched his shoulder reassuringly, giving his friend a soft smile. Armin was shivering and Eren knew that his claustrophobia was one of the reasons for that even though the cold was also doing a great job of torturing them in their less than warm clothes.
But they would have to make due until they reached their destination. Wherever that was.
"You'll be through it before you know it.", Kou said and pushed a few more branches out of the way after kneeling down next to the hole, her knees digging into the dirt beneath their feet. The earth was wet on this side of the palace, sticking to the girl's dress even if they couldn't properly see it in the darkness.
"We don't have much time.", Mikasa grumbled and sat down next to Kou. When the girl reached out to her, she flinched and quickly entered the tunnel on all fours. Eren furrowed his brow at the strange interaction.
YOU ARE READING
Coming for your heart
Fanfiction|| Book 1 || Eren Yaeger had to flee from his home when he was only six years old. With his mother and his adopted sister he tries to forget anything related to the King and the secrets they left behind. Many years later war comes for Eldia and Er...
