NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 21: How To Escape From The Enemy’s Clutches
After he leaves. She immediately scours her surroundings. It’s dim and musty here. Noisy with growls and barks. There are six containers in total. Three opposite her are packed with angry dogs that’re currently feasting on dead corpses emitting a wretched stench. One empty on the left. The right holds another decrepit carcass of headless and handless man. Though, from the faded griffin emblem on his back, she guesses, that must’ve been Rand Wascald. Estalis probably offed him in the end after realizing they could no longer use him to get Kanra. And she can’t help but to wonder, if she hadn’t interfered, then would he still have been alive?
Shaking her head clear, she needs to figure out a way to escape first. Focus, Lumeria. Pacing around her cell, she knocks her knuckle on the stone floor and walls. It’s completely solid. There’s no way to dig through this. Next, she examines the lock. It’s the same type she’s seen in Wascald’s dungeons.
Then, she gets up on her tippy toes to peer out of the grilled windows. She sees the forest in the distance beyond Feror’s gates. She can’t exactly identify which direction Kanra is yet. But if she can make it into the thick bushes, then she’ll at least be safe.
The biggest challenge would be to first get to the gates. She’ll need to sneak past the numerous blue Estelian tents perched up between the empty spaces of what used to be the town square. It’s extremely crowded and clustered. That also means there’re plenty of crevices for her to hide. The troops are evenly spread out all over Feror. Not everyone will be noticing her all at once.
She watches Rakgar exit a particularly flashy tent with two ravens perched on his arm. Her hair clasped within a note in one of the raven’s legs. The other, she’s uncertain but they’re flying in different directions. She follows where her hostage raven is travelling. Southwest. That’s the general direction where she must go. And from the looks of it, despite the soldiers don’t use honorifics with Rakgar, he must be at least on a commander level within the Estelian troops.
Mapping out a route, she thinks she has a pretty good idea of how to get started. The security is still too tight now. Curling back into her corner, she’s got to wait deeper into the night.
Time feels like it’s dragging on forever when she has nothing to do but watch the sun slowly descend and her thoughts to keep her company. She’s gotten so bored to the point she even attempts to chat with Bathory. But Bathory’s gone completely unresponsive. She tends to at times like this. Lumeria stops trying after a while.
A few hours pass and she smells meat being grilled beyond the walls. Sounds like they’re having barbeque for dinner.
Must be nice. Her stomach’s growling. The last meal she had feels like an eternity ago. Now she misses the greasy, salty flavor of the turkey leg. Come to think of it. Ever since she got here. This is the first time she felt so hungry. Soril has always been feeding her, and she didn’t even realize it. She can’t help but let out a tiny giggle in recollection. He’s like a mothering cat. She pictures a rodent in his mouth. Huh. Guess that’s quite a weird imagery. She bats it away. Instead, she again prays for his safety. Interlocking her hands together beneath her chin.
Please, please, please be okay. Please don’t do anything reckless.
Please Father. If you even care the slightest bit about me, then please, please, please, keep Soril safe. He’s a sweet man that doesn’t deserve any of this tragedy. This is all my fault that this world became so twisted. So don’t punish him. Please give him the plot armor blessings to survive the Demon. I’ll give you a back rub. No even better, I’ll wash your feet for it. So, please. Don’t be a prick to me this time.
There’s this uncomfortable twinge in her heart whenever she does this. Is this longing? It hurts. Like it’s being squeezed. She cradles herself into her knees and shakes her head clear after. Changing her perspective. If she wants to see him, then she must get out. Her being kept hostage only further jeopardizes him. Focus, Lumeria. Focus.
A few more hours go by before the noises finally diminish. The two guards outside have changed shifts. These two new ones look a little inebriated. Perfect. Time to finally set things in motion.