On Her Knees

collecting secrets

POV: Alruna

Now's my chance. I have to go now.

They've all been having a small party and gathering tonight so basically everyone is distracted. I'd excused myself to go to bed early, saying I was still feeling off after the carriage and no one seemed to question it except Cam, but she remained quiet.

I've been put in my own tent since Nor still doesn't trust me staying with Cam unsupervised, despite us being alone together almost all the time. Either way, it allows me to sneak around easier. Even better is that he has placed basically no soldiers around my tent to ensure I don't run, so my plan is even easier to carry out.

For the past few minutes I've been unpicking the threads of the back panel of my tent so that there's a wide enough space for me to slip through without permanently damaging the tent. I don't want any sign of where I went in case someone comes in to find me and discovers I'm gone.

With the threads picked apart and the flaps separated enough for me to crawl through, I sit on the ground and slip through it, trying to not get any mud on my trousers since there isn't anywhere for me to clean them or any easy way to clean them. I don't have any changes in clothing with me so I need to be careful.

After ensuring that the flap I made doesn't look too suspicious as long as no one looks too closely, I slip away, keeping low to the ground and keeping my footsteps light. I've been taught how to sneak through woodlands so it's easy to know where to step to remain out of sight of the few soldiers stationed around, not allowed to join in on the party.

It doesn't take long for me to be entirely out of their sights so that so that can start sprinting without a care of who I disturb. I only need to be careful not to twist an ankle in the dips and small hills in the ground.

I swiftly move between the trees, not tiring until half an hour in when I hit the hill my home is on top of. It instantly slows my pace as I end up doing a full hike instead of a run.

I didn't think this hill was so steep.

I used to run up it like a mountain goat yet now I'm out of breath before I even reach the halfway mark. I'm still not taking a break to catch my breath though. The longer I take to complete my mission, the more likely it is that someone is going to notice I'm gone.

Even though my legs are getting sore from running and hopping over small streams and animal burrows, I don't slow down until I reach the thin track that leads away to my home.

I catch my breath as I slow down and approach my house, not liking how overgrown the path is getting from not being used or tended to. As much as I want to fix it all right now, I don't have the time. I'm in a hurry and stopping at my home is already a detour.

Brushing through the growing wild plant life, my small wooden hut of a home fills my view, looking much smaller than I remember. Maybe its because I'm used to the size of the palace now, but it looks so small and quaint. Even though it looks small, my heart still aches to know its been abandoned and is now being taken over by nature.

Despite knowing it'll mean I'll get back even later, I can't stop myself from taking a peek inside.

I force open the door that still hasn't been properly fixed and is now jammed with gunk making it even more difficult to open. With my hand waving in front of my face to wave away all the dust that I disturbed, I take a look around, finding basically everything the same as when I left. The only things missing are a few of Lilli and Link's toys and some of Mama's valuable jewellery that she would never leave here, so I presume she took it with her.