My Wonderful Second Life

Chapter 70- A Break in

My head worked through the chaos, lodging at each step I took. I was aware of my surroundings, of both Fanny and Amelia, of their words. Felt the paws of Princess Lola trailing over me. Heard Fanny say how she had taken a detour from her second visit to the Empress's palace and noticed the left side of her apron had a small tear.

The royal maids, while they should be as most inconspicuous as possible, they were part of the palace. They needed to belong, to be perfect and presentable. And nothing could be amiss in their uniforms.

So each building had a room with extra clothes in case they had an accident while on duty and their attire had gotten ruined. Using that as an excuse, Fanny convinced the other maid, joining her that she needed to stop by the government building, which was the closest on their route to the Empress' palace, in order to fix her apron.

Fanny took us to this room. We were careful not to be seen by other maids or government officials. We could not trust just anyone.

"My Lady, maybe we should try to find Josef." said Fanny as she steered us to a corner at the rear end of the building and out of view of prying eyes.

It led us to a small corridor, which, at its end, smudged by the fire that happened some days ago, was a brittle door.

"This part has not yet been rebuilt. Lara told me we could go back to the Utility building instead as we were not sure of the state of the clothes kept in here, but I tried to buy some time...." said Fanny in hasty tones. "She will come to fetch me soon, there is not that much to gossip with the maids stationed here..." Fanny opened the door which protested against her meagre push to show a dilapidated room with the ceiling exposed and a few stubborn beams securing what was left of a tall arch.

Inside, smelling of smoke and soot, were walls of once pristine white, now full of marks, like claws, of the fire that went by. From all corners, filling every piece of darkened ground, were chests made of rusty metal. All with different shapes and sizes. The warmth of the fire had dented some, blacken the others, and shorten a few into almost ball shapes.

Fanny settled close to the one that seemed to be the most untouched, opening it with effort. The lid groaned but lifted and inside were layers and layers of uniforms. And my head began to spin.

Fanny took an apron, checking for any spots or damage. When she was satisfied, she took her torn one and put it behind the chest, just as she was asking me. "Should we find Sir Josef?"

I knew it was not a possibility. I shook my head and settled my eyes on the open chest. Neither Fanny nor Amalia understood at first what I meant until they followed my stare.

Fanny was about to gasp. In her hands was still the apron she was meant to use when we were interrupted by steps and a voice coming from outside. "Fanny, are you ready? We have to go soon or we will get a complaint."

The girl, older, taller, with a broad nose and frizzy hair, stopped as she saw me and Amelia. Before she could mutter a word, I was on top of her. "Sorry... but we have to keep you here for a moment."

"My lady!" yelled Fanny.

Amelia, however, was already helping me put a gag on the maid's mouth while I tried to tie her hands with Fanny's discarded apron. I really did not want to imprison her, but I could not trust her to be silent. And right at the moment, her silence would be the key to my plan.

Fanny asked for forgiveness with each breath she took, while she helped me and Amelia remove our clothes and put on a maid's attire. For all that, it was worth even unsure of our plan, as I described it. She was swift, and we were ready in mere minutes.

We departed with the two carts that Fanny and Lara were in charge of. Lara had managed to bring them closer to the storage room, leaving them in the corridor. I took one while Amelia took another. In mine concealed the musket in between plates and bowls of food. As it was a little heavier than I expected, Fanny helped me carry it, while we made our way to the Empress palace. I wanted to send Fanny right away to Francis, but neither I nor Amelia knew the place we were supposed to go.

She would have to go after.

There was no time to waste.

We moved along, passed through the Royal Academy, then into the high arches I knew to belong to the Empress' home, turning then, just before going inside, into the back of the palace, where a garden shaded by trees with ripped fruit sat untouched. It smelled of summer and joy. Yet it was eerily silent and ominous. No one was in sight. And I almost wondered if someone was watching from the shadows as we made our torturous journey with the carts to a tower that ripped from the ground like a grim thorn in the middle of a giant and empty clearing.

Not taller than the trees that surrounded it, the tower was a little more than a cluster of rocks. It was dilapidated, pebbles were falling off causing holes and cracks that were covered by poison ivies and other plants trying to cling live to it, wrapping around as if to make it whole. It seemed abandoned by time and care.

The only clue it was being used were the two guards by a heavy door, half of it buried in the ground. They stood guarding it, bored. We watched them while we hid away in some bushes, thinking about how best to approach them.

It was at this quiet moment that I whispered to Amelia. "It is not late to go with Fanny and find Prince Francis."

Amelia shook her head. "If you go alone, they will suspect something is up."

Yes... but I won't be afraid something is going to happen to you if you go.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded to Amelia before turning to Fanny. "Go to the Royal Academy. Find Francis. He should be there."

With a vigorous nod, she left, only looking back once before running and disappearing into the surrounding greenery.

Amelia and I waited for some minutes before we moved the carts slowly to where the men were stationed. In my pocket, my pistol, on my back, Princess Lola.

"What took you so long?" asked one of them.

They were both tall, tanned by the continued exposure to the sun, and had the face of someone who had yet to rest for some days now.

The good thing? They wore no helmets. So before they could question themselves why there were two different maids, before they could see my golden eyes or my grey hair tucked behind the burrow, I shot the ground between them. Fumes erupted from the crushed bullet, wrapping around them.

It worked instantly and tactfully, due to the silencer being well... silent. They fell to the ground, their heads hanging to the side, asleep like babies on a nap. Undisturbed.

We worked fast. Fanny had told us one of them kept a key at their waist. After a small search, I found it and opened the door while Amelia dragged one soldier. When we finished taking the other and putting the carts inside, we closed the door.

We were greeted by darkness, swallowing and cold, interrupted by weak points of light that grew with time. As my view adjusted, two paths appeared. A group of stairs that went up and one that went down to an even darker place.

Before I could suggest to Amelia that we split up, I heard something coming from the deep darkness.

The howling of an angry wolf.

First I wanted to apologize for my silence here! I have been in training all month and because I had a deadline to finish it I had to prioritize it. Unfortunately, real life gets in the way of Lulu's story (let's hope she does not kill me for that XD)

The good think is that I have finished so I hope to continue to write. I love it and I missed it so much. It is a therapeutic thing for me. And I missed my readers.

Hope this chapter compensates in some way.

And let us see what is behind the darkness.