Beneath the Fountain

18. Escape

I left the party not too long after dinner ended claiming I was exhausted. However, my escape wasn't that simple since nearly everywhere I turned there was a person waiting with a smile on their face. Quite honestly, their friendliness sent chills up my spine. People I didn't know patted me on the back as if they knew me, telling me my exhaustion was probably just nerves.

I forced a laugh and agreed with them only so that I could escape them.
Their friendliness just didn't seem natural to me. To some extent, it felt fake. Just the thought was very discomforting. It seemed as if they didn't want me to leave. A part of me feared that they somehow knew about my midnight escapades, but that would be impossible. No one knew because if they did, I would most likely locked in my room by my mother until the ceremony tomorrow when Mr. Daniels can whisk me away forever. I think they just didn't want me to leave because they didn't want the party to come to an end.

However, the hardest person to leave was my fiancé himself. He asked several times if I was ready to retire since it was still early in to the night, and after I told him I was certain several times, he finally relented. Mr. Daniels and I parted with him placing a kiss on my hand, and then I slipped out of the room, my body feeling rigid from our parting. It was a simple form of affection, but something about it still sent chills throughout my skin causing my little hairs to raise. People who saw it gushed at the scene of 'young love' which only succeeded in making me feel more uncomfortable. If a kiss on my hand in front of everyone makes my toes curl, how will I react tomorrow during the ceremony when we kiss?

In private it was stomach turning enough, but in front of all these people who are no more than strangers to me... In some ways, it feels like an invasion on my privacy, on my life. All I know is that I am dreading the moment when we are sealed together tomorrow. My heart starts to race a little just thinking about it.

I try tell myself not to worry yet since I still have tonight with Mystery. I still have time to forget, if only for a moment. I still have my freedom even if its time is constantly falling through the small hole of an hour glass. I only have a short amount of time left before the last grain falls.

Trying to remain calm, I walk down the empty hall away from party. It is dimly lit by candles that are being held high to the ceiling by scones, and the paneled red walls look a deep burgundy in the shadowed light. The hall is silent except for the receding sound of the music and the guests. I walk at a normal pace until I round the corner of the hall and out of view of everyone. Once it is completely silent, and I am sure that no one can see or hear me, I start to run down the hall, lifting my skirts up so I can do so.

The flats I'm wearing make a clacking sound against the floor so I stop, take them off, and hide them in a nearby potted plant to retrieve later. No matter how unladylike it is, I've always preferred to no wear shoes. Even when mother is around, I always manage to go unnoticed, but if she ever saw, she would probably faint because of how 'scandalous' it is. I have never understood why ladies aren't supposed to show their ankles considering all men I know don't have an ankle fetish. They are after something more.

My breathing comes out in quick gasps, and it's not because I'm tired. It's because I can't keep my battling emotions under control. I'm trying to tell myself not to worry, and in trying not to panic, but it just isn't working.

I just need to breathe fresh air to clear my mind. I need to push Mr. Daniels from my thoughts. I need to see Mystery to make everything okay. It is already later than I wanted it to be since dinner was served so late. Mystery is probably starting to wonder where I am. To make matters worse, I have to take the long way around so that I bypass the festivities.

I take the lesser traveled halls. At this time of night, even the servants aren't walking them. In this part of the house, one would never guess that a party was going on only halls away since it is so desolate here. I take the hall that leads by the library, and the one that leads to the parlor at the very end of the house, which at this time is empty. It is hardly used on most days since it is so far from every other room. According to Helena, the servants often use it as their break room since mother doesn't know, and she never comes this way. However, tonight it will be something different. It will be my haven, my escape.

Mother has always thought of it as a waste of a room. She hates it so much that she only wants it cleaned once a week, and I can't even remember the last time she visited it. I really I have no idea why she loathes it so much, but that woman is a mystery so complex that I will probably never understand.

The parlor is a comfortable room; it's not too big nor too small. The walls are a warm color, and the dark wood floor compliments it nicely giving the room a very inviting feeling. There are few potted plants; some hang from the ceiling, and others sit on the floor. It also has a couch and a chair in it to relax on, a small bookshelf that is stuffed to the brim with books that couldn't find a home in the library, and a warm fire place that is somehow always lit. However, what I believe to be the best part of the room is the huge window that tops off like an arch. It has iron vines imbedded in the glasswork that line the perimeter of it, meeting in a heart at the very top. Flowers bud from the vines as if it were early spring. Its craftsmanship is beautiful, but what makes it so special is that it is one of our few windows that slides open with ease, and it is big enough for me to fit through even in a ball gown.

Not wanting to waste more time than I have to since the night is growing older, I make my way to the window. Without much difficulty, I unlatch the small hook that keeps it sealed, and I pull it to the side. The glass work disappears into a slit in the wall silently. I slip out the window and on to the grass without a sound. I close the window behind me, but it doesn't lock from the outside.

I'll just have to hope that no one comes across it and makes the connection that I am no longer in my room.

I have to admit: this isn't my first time going rogue out the window. I've done it only a handful of other times before, and that was when father was alive. When he would go on merchant trips, mother would keep me locked in the house under the order that I needed to be studying proper etiquette. However, she wasn't particularly good at enforcing it since she never came to check on me as I studied in the parlor. One day when the sun was high in the sky and calling to me, I discovered the how the window opened, and I made my escape.

I have only done it so few times because the thought of being caught always terrified me, and the guilt of sneaking out overwhelmed me. After father died, I nearly forgot about it.

Until now.

The window lets out into the dark of the garden. It's far away enough from the patio and ball room that I am undetectable in the night even in a dress that is the color of the blush on my cheeks. During the day, high standing foliage blocks any chance of me being seen. The only way of seeing me is through the parlor, but once I start to navigate the paths of the garden, I may as well be invisible.

Letting go a sigh of relief since I am free, I let myself finally relax. No one can stop me from fulfilling my journey now. Stepping on to the cobblestone path, I begin to maneuver my way through the gardens and to the world beneath the fountain.

Sorry this was a short chapter, but it is setting up for what is to come. I promise not to disappoint;)

Also, I'd like to thank you for all the support this story has gotten over the past couple days. It means the world to me, and it makes it so much easier to write.

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