The Fairest (Book #1)

18: The Ledge

Mageia put her stealth skills to work. She descended the narrow stairway. Her feet were as soft as pillows on the marble floor, and her body was relaxed, save for her heart scratching against her ribcage. Her head was tilted slightly down, with her hair covering most of her face. At the bottom, she was greeted by a circular foyer, plain and dull, with two entryways. She chose the hall to her left and scurried down it with great urgency until she came to a corridor of wooden doors, which she assumed were rooms belonging to the slaves.

Trying the doors was not an option. It was known that the palace possessed ten times the number of slaves than any slave-owner in the kingdom. They were all from different backgrounds and stories, once Fair or never Fair, which meant not all of them could be trusted. The end of the corridor brought her to a main hall bright with windows. One glance out of them showed that she had possibly two floors to descend.

She did not stop. Every second of every minute counted when it came to an escape. She descended a staircase and passed a few more adjoined hallways with doors. Some slaves appeared here and there, too occupied to give her any attention. She hid her face by turning away ever so calmly, like she was gazing out the windows to avoid having her purple eyes spotted.

Heart thumping wildly in her ears, she knew Rasheem and the girl had noticed her disappearance and had either raised the alarm or tried to figure out what to do.

Her only goal was to exit the palace and slip off the palace grounds without getting caught by foot soldiers.

Gods help me, she prayed.

Finally, she came to the end of one hall, where a fancy stairway sat alone. She must've, at some point, exited the slave quarters. This only meant one thing: guards. She peeked around the corner down the only hall scaling an extended balcony over the next level. No guards, but if she descended, she could run smack into some on duty.

"What to do? What to do?" she whispered.

You could go back and try another hall.

A guard entered the new hall from somewhere, tugging on the front of his pants. He must've come from the privy, because he looked very relaxed and vulnerable. Instead of approaching the hall where she stood, he went the opposite direction. She exhaled, only to hear footsteps approach her from behind.

She spun around to face a guard on patrol. His humming grew louder, and the smirk on his face sloped as they caught eyes for a dragged out second.

"Hey!" he shouted, his hand going for his sword.

Mageia dashed to the stairway and descended. The guard's footsteps thundered with the thumps of her heartbeat. He shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in every direction.

"Purple Thief! Purple Thief! Intruder! Stop!"

Two posted guards flew around a corner in response. Seeing her, they drew their sword and raced to meet her at the bottom.

The lead guard sliced at her, only to cut air. She had the upper hand by being above him. She dropped to the steps and kicked him in the groin. He yelped and hunched over as he stumbled to the floor. The second guard was on her fast and tried to slice her in half with an overhead strike. She managed to roll to the right against the railing just in time and kicked him in the kneecap. She jumped up and punched him in the face. The guard behind her tried to slash at her head, but she slipped away, causing him to lodge his blade into the railing.

Mageia ran as a few guards came from a hall behind the staircase. Their countenance was furious after seeing what she had done to their comrades. She kept running, eyes focused on the corridor ahead, and blocked out their demands for surrender.