The Rogue Lady

Chapter Twenty Nine

    Enjoy, I'm right on time this time!! BTW, I think I forgot to add a song somewhere but I'll tell you when I change something. 

     Map in the external link.

     **

     “Your minute to rip your dress and untie your belt might just have allow those soldiers to catch up with us,” Bram grumbled as we ran.

     He might have been right but I would never admit that to his face. Besides, if we hadn’t taken that moment to rip my dress, I would have fallen flat on my face a long time ago. And if those soldiers did catch up with us, my blades would come in handy. All in all, Bram had nothing to complain about. We rounded a corner and almost straightaway I collided with someone, the impact sending us both to the floor. When I looked up, it turned out to be Harper. He rubbed his chest before looking up at his brother and Eric, and finally seeing me on the ground. He cracked a grin as he pushed himself of the ground and held out a hand for me to grab.

     “Come on, there is no time for sitting around,” he joked. I glared at him but didn’t get the chance to say anything. “We can’t go that way, I was almost entirely sure I was tailed by half a dozen soldiers as well. You made quite an exit, didn’t you?”

     I rolled my eyes and thought. Harper came from the corridor that would lead us to the courtyard, but we couldn’t go that way. We needed another way. There was only one door to exit this castle except for the one in the kitchen. Although I highly doubted there wouldn’t be guards there, it was still worth a shot.

     “Come on. We have to find the stairs to the kitchen!” I called as I set off into the other direction; the only corridor none of us had been through yet.

     But finding the stairs was easier said than done. After ten minutes of running around, tearing open doors, backtracking out of dead ends or to avoid soldiers, I was getting seriously annoyed with it all. Occasionally, I cast a glance out of the window and it seemed like we were only getting further away from the ground, which wasn’t good. How could we possibly be going up when we had not once ascended stairs? Were there even stairs in this stupid castle?

     “Stop!” I eventually yelled at the others. This was getting us nowhere; we were running in circles, only going higher into the castle where we would eventually be stuck. We needed a way out, and if I couldn’t find one, I would make one. I grabbed a shield from the wall where it had hung as decoration; I was sure it had never even seen battle. Then, without a though, I tossed it at a window. The shield went right through, shattering the glass into a million pieces. Next I took my blades, using the butt to get rid of the remaining big pieces of glass in the frame. When I was satisfied I put them away and took a look out of the now glassless window.

     “Okay, the fall to the stables’ roof is less high than I expected. Now, who goes first?” I asked.

     We didn’t have too long to debate about that question because the footsteps of soldiers could be heard from further down the corridor. Harper was the first to take the leap, backing up against the opposite wall, the run only just enough to give him that extra burst of speed. Of course he could have just stepped onto the ledge and jumped. Bram was next, imitating like his brother, taking a running leap and he jumped through the window frame. Fortunately for them, it was a large window.

     When both archers had landed on the roof of the stables below and there didn’t seem to be any problems, I turned to Eric. But he shook his head, “You go first. I’ll hold of the soldiers just a little longer. I’ll be right behind you.”

     “You better be,” I told him a bit irritate, not liking to go before he was out of there. But I could tell he wasn’t letting me have a choice in the matter and I was forced to climb onto the ledge. After on last meaningful look at Eric, I pushed off.