A fox in the snow

Chapter 19

Lilith's eyes ran across the cell, possibly looking for an escape route. She surveyed the walls, the ceiling as well as the floor. A small domed window with metal bars provided light and ventilation. But it was far too high for her to reach. There were no ropes or ladders in the cell to heave her up there.

Dejected, but not willing to give up, she surveyed the floor next. It was grey, very cold and extremely painful to sleep on. Some rocks were uneven and she tripped over a few times while walking lost in thought. 

She kneeled on the floor, carefully tracing her fingers over its rough edges. Her mind suddenly bubbled with excitement at the newfound escape route. She could pull out some of the rocks and escape through it!

Crazy plan, I tell you! Her rational mind scolded her.

Well, what other choice do we have? It's definitely worth a shot! Her intuitive brain clapped back.

But a few things bothered her– or her plan, rather:
Will she be able to do such a mighty feat?
Will she get out in time for the coronation?
What if someone catches her while she's digging the rocks out?
What lies beneath it (considering dungeons are already built underground, there's likely going to be nothing but soil underneath)? In that case, would she have to dig a burrow hole too?

Somehow, her go-getter mind cajoled her practical mind. She set off to work immediately.

She felt in her hair for a sharp hair clip that could scrape the edges of the rocks. But that would create a loud unpleasant noise that was certain to draw attention to the cell.

Slowly, she started to hum a tune. The tune got louder and louder until-

Thump!

The Crown Shield banged his fist on the iron doors to stop her from singing.

She didn't care.

She kept humming and made up a mindless song about mythical creatures and demigods she read in stories. She certainly did not sing well and cringed at her melody, which was in reality, far from a real melody.

The Crown Shield banged a few more times, but when he realised that she won't stop, he sighed exasperatedly.

She clutched her hairclip between her fingers and started scraping.
Crik- crik- crik... 
Tiny scraping sounds were drowned in her flawed melody. 

When the Crown Shield entered the cell, he saw Lilith lying on the hard floor, her face turned towards the wall at the back, singing to herself as if lamenting about her condition.

What he didn't see, however, was that she skilfully covered her work-in-progress using her black gown when she lay on the floor. As soon as he left, she resumed scraping.

What felt like hours passed by, but she kept scraping, hoping that the rock would soon budge out of its place.

However, it remained as fixed on the floor as ever. She became exhausted with all the meticulous singing and scraping. Frustrated, she jabbed the clip on the floor and unfortunately, it made the hairclip bend miserably. She could no longer use it. Calming herself, she felt in her for another clip, but it was all she had.

As if on cue, the cell door opened and the Crown Shield briskly walked in. She remained sitting on the floor, careful to hide the rock. 

He put a plate of somewhat flaky, stale bread on the floor along with a glass of water. An idea flashed in her mind. Usually, she hardly cared about table manners. But this time—

"I can't eat without a fork and knife," she said, eyeing her food, distastefully.

"Then don't eat," he replied curtly.

"If you starve me to death, people will see through the lies you've woven with Catherine. They won't forgive you," she said smoothly.

The Crown Shield rolled his eyes and within minutes, she was given a fork and knife to eat with. She poked her thumb lightly on the tines of the fork and the tip of the knife.

This will do. Now it's just a race against time. And luck.

Author's note

I skipped posting a new chapter last Wednesday because
(a) College assignments and classes were eating my head and
(b) With Wattpad shutting down yesterday for maintenance, I couldn't risk posting a few days prior to it and then losing the chapter. It may not happen, but what if?

Anyways, back to the chapter, do you think Lilith will get out of the dungeon? Will everything go the way she has it all planned in her head?

Thank you for reading so far. If you like this chapter (which was quite short btw) do drop a ⭐ and share this story with your friends!

Happy reading!