The door didn’t click all the way shut. The paper had prevented that.
For a while, I waited to see if she would come back, but she never did. The city grew quiet and when I could wait no longer, I grasped the doorknob between my fingers. When nothing stirred on the other side, I started to turn it and pull it open. There was no one there.
I removed the evidence of my escape and shut the door silently behind me before I glided down the hall. I moved quickly, retracing my steps toward the garden. The halls were deserted at this time of the night. Everyone was sleeping in their beds. I only came across one guard, but his footsteps were loud, and I was able to hide in an adjoining room until he passed by. There, I found a candle and a forgotten book of matches. I slipped both into the pockets at the front of my dress.
Before I knew it, I made it to the gardens. I knew that one of the ancient entrances into the depth of the castle was hinted to be somewhere around here. Carefully, I slunk along the shadows so that the guards up on the walls didn’t spot me. When they turned my way, I pressed myself flat against the ground until they turned and looked outward into the city. They appeared to be more concerned with people breaking in then they were with anyone sneaking out.
I rounded a corner into a portion of the garden that was overwhelmingly overgrown. Tucked away behind a crumbling wall was a well, but I knew it wasn’t only that. The books had indicated that this well hadn’t been dug deep enough to ever bring any water. It was simply an entry into the inner workings of the castle that had been forgotten long ago.
I removed my shoes and tucked them into the waistband of my dress before I touched the stone with my fingers. It was solidly built. The rocks weren’t budging, so I sat down on the edge and slowly began to lower myself down. My toes dug into the spaces between the rock as I climbed, lowering myself one slow inch after the next until my feet brushed the ground some ten feet down. Once I was done, I put my shoes back on and glanced up to ensure no one was watching. There was no one there.
It was dark, but by the light of the moon I looked around. I was surrounded by rock and I began to explore it with my fingers.
I found a spherical stone and pressed down firmly on it. There was a soft grating sound and I turned around to see that part of the stone wall had opened. I pushed my hand against it and forced myself into the small opening. Here, it was even darker. Thankful for my earlier find, I lit a match and then the candle.
The hallway went on for a good way and I began to walk down it. It was simple and when I got to the end of it, I found a door. It wasn’t locked. I pressed my ear to it, listening hard for anyone who might be nearby. Thankfully, all remained quiet.
I opened it and maneuvered myself inside. I held up the candle and gasped at what I found. It was a supply room from hundreds of years ago. There were weapons of all kinds, candles of every shape, and vases full of god knows what. I moved closer and reached for one. I brushed the dust off what appeared to be a label.
Liquid fire.
There must be at least a hundred vats of it down here. I knew that it was exceedingly rare. The recipe for it had been long forgotten and the stockpiles of old had long disappeared. Some of it was rumored to be unstable, poorly mixed and no longer useful. This didn’t appear to be that way. I climbed up and peeked inside, enamored by the swirling bright green color. I held the candle far away.
One spark and this entire castle would be blown to dust.
I stepped down from the ledge.
I found several piles of clothing and without too much searching, I found a dark pair of pants as well as a gray cotton shirt. They were mildly dusty, and I shook them out before I stripped off my dress and put them on. There was a thin fur cloak I slung over my shoulders for extra warmth and as I hugged it around my body, I was thankful for such an astonishing find.
That night, I explored the underground passageways. I found old unused bedrooms, along with a multitude of places where I could watch and observe everything happening in the castle. Importantly, I found a passage that led into the kitchens. Since it was the middle of the night, the kitchens were deserted, and I took advantage of the opportunity to steal food for the next several days. When I was satisfied that I had enough, I slipped back into the secret part of the castle and settled myself in a nearby bedroom. It wasn’t much bigger than the size of a closet, but there was a sturdy wooden table and a bed made of straw. I piled a few blankets on top of it to make it comfortable.
The sun would be rising any minute and I curled up in bed exhausted. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, knowing that with the sunrise my absence would be noticed. It wouldn’t be long before the king himself started to look for me and I would do everything in my power to ensure that I would not be found.
He would not take my escape lightly. That much I was sure of.
For the next several days, I made the secret passageways of the castle my home. I walked through them in silence. There were a multitude of places where I could watch people scurry by through a gap in the stone walls or even several window panels that doubled as one-way glass. I could observe in complete secrecy.
Despite my frustration with the king, I found myself watching him the most. He was in his throne room when the news of my disappearance broke. At first, he was angry, his fury nearly palpable even from a distance. However, when he was alone, I saw something of a sadness weighing heavy on his brow. I observed him more closely, but that look disappeared as Neegan rushed into the room with him.
“Has she been found yet?” Magnar growled.
Even though I wasn’t even in the same room with him, I could feel his fury and the power of his alpha. I sucked in an anxious breath and my pussy clenched down hard. I could feel slick gathering between my thighs, and I pressed them together so firmly that it hurt.
“Not yet, my king. We are searching every inch of this castle. She will be found,” Neegan reassured him.
“When she is found, bring her right to me. I will handle her disobedience myself,” Magnar growled and a shiver of anxiety rushed down my spine. “The entire castle will hear her screams and her pleas for mercy as she is punished. She will learn that she cannot run from me, nor can she hide. When I’m through with her, there will be no doubt left in her mind that she belongs to me.”
He peered over Neegan’s shoulder and stared in my direction as if he could see me. For a long moment, I forgot to breathe. I told myself that he couldn’t see me, that he couldn’t know about the mirror I was watching him through, that he couldn’t sense the slick dripping from my still needy pussy.
When I couldn’t take it any longer, I rushed awa
y and hid in my tiny bedroom. I curled up beneath the blankets and rested fitfully until it was night once again.
When I couldn’t stand lying in bed any longer, I walked the inner working of the castle safe in the hidden passages. The quiet of the massive building at night was overwhelming, but also calming and I enjoyed it. I quietly observed some of the members of Magnar’s advisory council and when Neegan wandered off on his own, I followed him. The passages were a bit disjointed and I lost him several times, but I eventually found him again in his study. He was seated at his desk looking over a leather-bound journal of some kind and a knock sounded on the door. He cleared his throat and opened a drawer, sliding the book inside and closing it swiftly before he spoke.
“Come in,” he murmured, and a young man entered the room. By his appearance, I guessed that he was a beta.
“Lord Neegan,” the man greeted him. He bowed his head respectfully and the king’s hand smiled thinly in return.