When Nora woke up in the morning she was drenched in a cold sweat. Clammy skin had goosebumps running up and down her arms. Her face had dried lines from the tears she shed last night.
She had no time to grieve right now, she hadn't lost Lorien, and she wouldn't ever if she made a plan. Baby steps Nora, baby steps.
She knew she needed to calm down before she could think properly. She needed to be purely rational when making her plan, if she wasn't level headed then she could mess up. That wasn't a risk she was willing to take.
If she had it her way then Lorien would be at home with her rather than God knows where. If only she had pushed Lorien to get out the window first. She should have expected this, should have planned ahead.
How stupid could she be to let that thought slip her mind? Not helping. Keep calm, you can do this.
She hadn't taken her braids out last night, she hadn't even registered how tired she was the night before.
She couldn't take time to worry about that now, she had to plan. She needed to stay on task, no matter how hard that may be. She took a deep breath and pushed herself off the bed.
She felt stiff, still sick to her stomach about the.. prior events. She slowly made her way into her work room, usually something she enjoyed, now it was urgent and worrisome.
She slumped to the floor near her work table, she pulled down a few papers and a pencil. Good a start as any to make a plan.
She dotted down a few ideas, none were good enough. She needed to make one that had an absolute certainty of being successful. Needed one that couldn't harm Lorien, no matter what. That was all she needed to keep safe.
Lorien was all she had. She couldn't lose her. She would die before letting Lorien come into harms way. She'd never forgive herself if Lorien was harmed.
She just had to hope that she hadn't already..
"Focus." She clenched the pencil in her hand, the creak of the wood bending snapped her fully back into reality.
She had to steady herself again, raking her nails along the hard wood beneath her. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.
She wasn't calm, but it was the best she could get for the time being. She needed to get on task. Think Nora.
"If I can sneak back into the room I can find the proof I need.." she muttered out different ideas while scribbling out diagrams and possible flaws.
She had it. SHE HAD IT! She knew what to do, I guess braiding is good for more than calming her down. It made a pretty sturdy rope.
Let's get down to business (TO DEFEAT THE HUNS, I had to) then, shall we?
She worked a majority of the day, finding ropes or bedsheets that she could braid together. Once she got that part down all she needed to do next was make it back to the scene of the crime.
Even with a sprained ankle, she made pretty good time. She pushed through the pain more than she had to last time, the adrenaline from before wasn't back as strong, but her fight or flight response was heavy.
As soon as she made it to the window from before.. her breath caught in her throat. She was stunned- (the woman was too stunned to speak) the lights were on, the 'King' had guards posted in the death room.
She silently cursed herself for not thinking about that part, she assumed he would think she wouldn't come back. Bad idea. He was smarter than he let on, he did keep the whole town hooked on his story. She'd break that ruse
She knew just the way how.
