The Beauty in Pain | Book One of In Pain Trilogy *EDITING*

2. Escaped

The sun descended with a final whisper of its golden light. Shadows stretched across the bedchambers, like ghastly fingers that only grew as the seconds clocked by. They became like monsters filling the room with a dangerous darkness as the sun's orange glow slipped past the horizon, baring their claws. Unfortunately for them, Mynera was never afraid of monsters.

She watched them grow, sitting on the chair by the window. She'd been sitting there for a while, simply waiting for her chance. Behind her, her bedchambers which was nothing short of the Lady Antarian, remained untouched. 

Upon entering through large doors woven with the symbol of the Antarian household, the leaping form of a majestic Pegasus, the first thing one noticed was the enormous bed situated in the very centre of the room. The bed was in the shape of a circle, covered with dozens of azure and soft green pillows. It had always bothered Mynera to see it, feeling guilty when so many others made their beds from the cloth on their backs.

As a lover of books, her bedchambers also served as a personal library, books that she could spend days on end reading, stacked within a wall-sized bookcase that encompassed an entire wall. A large mahogany desk was positioned before them, with  pots of ink and a quill sitting on top.

Mynera's gaze drifted toward the growing shadows on her desk before she turned her attention back to the window. She tapped her foot incessantly against the hardwood floor, her fingers drumming against her thigh. Impatient bled throughout her as each second went by. Since she'd arrived arrived back to her bedchamber, she changed into her leather breeches, matching tunic, her leather laced shoes, and a hooded cloak to cover her face. And then, she'd waited, her diligence slowly slipping from her fingers like water.

Her father and the king had gone off to chatter about old time nonsense in the library, the king's guards following close behind them. Saenar had disappeared as soon as they returned from the gardens and she saw neither hide nor hair of him since then. Frankly, she didn't care. She was glad that he left her alone. In fact, she practically rejoiced when he'd turned his back to her and had briskly walking away. Meanwhile, Jagen and the Mutes had resumed their duties immediately, now positioned like statues outside her doors. She felt almost guilty for leaving.

Mynera peered over the ledge of the window. The guard was still standing at the base, just under window. In just a few minutes he would be relieved by the first guard to assume the night's shift, a fat man who was more alert than he looked. Fortunately for her, the current guard was as lazy as they came and would relieve himself as soon as the sun went down before the night guard arrived. Which gave her roughly three minutes to get down to the ground and out of sight. She would have been worried and maybe a little concerned that the guard standing by her window was such a slacker but it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The sun was finally out of sight. Mynera watched with anticipation. The guard looked up at the sky then looked around the corner. He checked the other corner then looked back up at the sky. After looking around the first corner again, he shrugged and walked away.

Mynera launched into action. She jumped up on the window ledge, swinging her leg over and making sure to carefully place her booted foot on a secure section of the wall. She grabbed ahold of the trellis, praying this was not the day it would break off with her. It was a long and dangerous fall.

She quickly and nimbly climbed down the wall. When she reached the bottom, she heard muffled footstep upon the grass coming her way. Mynera quickly pulled her hood over her head to cover her face. She pushed herself up against the wall.

The fat guard came whistling. All the better, she thought. She could tell how close he was. She braced herself against the wall. As soon as he appeared, Mynera pounced. She grabbed him from behind, wrapping her arm around his neck.