Word Count: 2153

~Aesira

I look out the window, a dark feeling of foreboding settled over me.

I waited too long to do this. I should have found another way earlier, before I got myself attached.

Now, instead of feeling pleased that I'm finally getting away, and getting Lincoln to freedom, I'm feeling regretful. Guilty.

Shaking my head slowly, I look out across the sea, at the sun dipping below the horizon. It paints the dark surface in swathes of violet and indigo.

The life I think I've built for myself here isn't real.

Everin isn't my husband because he wanted to be. He hasn't chosen me. He is not my mate. I may have found friends, but my place in that manor isn't cemented there. It could all be taken from me in a blink.

The moment my father found out I wasn't going through with the mission any longer, he would send someone to have my killed. Or, he would let Everin do it, by telling him about my true intentions.

No matter what, today, I need to run.

Turning from the window, I weave through the small cottage to the kitchen. Everin rented it for me, believing my story about wanting space for the evening to relax and be by myself.

I take the mug I prepared off the counter before heading to the front door.

Steam wafts up to greet my face as I shoulder it open, looking to the guard standing at the front step.

"Excuse me?" I smile tentatively as he turns around. "It's a bit of a cold night. I wondered if you wanted this hot drink."

He looks at the drink longingly. There is a chill to the air tonight, the breeze whipping off the sea and through the village mercilessly. It's what I've been counting on.

"I better not, ma'am," he says uncertainly.

"Come on. I won't tell." I hold it out to him insistently. "You deserve it."

He finally takes it, smiling graciously. "Thank you, that's very kind of you."

I leave him to drink it, closing the door behind me. Swallowing my guilt, I wander back into the cramped living room, sitting on the couch while I wait.

The last thing I want is to hurt anyone in this process. I've put every puzzle piece where it needs to be, and all I require now is for everything to go how I plan it to.

By the time the guard wakes, I'll be out of this pack and untraceable.

I find the guard slumped against the wall of the house when I peek back outside. He's slumbering peacefully, the remnants of his drugged drink spilt across the front steps.

He's heavy, but I manage to drag him into the confines of the cottage. I leave him on the rug in the living room, checking his breathing one more time before I grab what I need and leave, ensuring I lock him in on my way out.

The streets of the main village are empty at this hour as I slip out, pulling a hood over my head.

I've studied a map of the village streets to know where I go. I slip from alley to alley, manoeuvring between houses on my way to the other side, where the prison warden lives.

As I walk, my eyes keep flicking up to Everin's manor on the hill.

He'll be expecting me back tomorrow morning. When he finds out I've run away, will he be surprised? Will he be disappointed?

Will he come after me?

I hope I anger him. I hope he thinks I've gone back to my father, so he can move on with his life. That way, I will know for certain he won't pursue me.

Even if he chooses to, he won't find me. I won't let him.

The perimeter of the warden's manor is not as heavily guarded as I expected. Most of the guards are watching the prisoners, who mill about the property, working.

I crouch at the perimeter fence, looking through the narrow bars at the workers.

How many of these prisoners are my father's soldiers? Their only crime is being patriotic, and yet here they are, doing landscaping work for a bloated prison warden who is probably sitting at his office window, looking down gleefully at all he covets.

Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I continue creeping along the fence line, hidden amongst the bushes.

The warden's property is long and rectangular. His home stands out in the dark, lit brightly inside. It illuminates most of the property, giving me a good view as I look for Lincoln amongst the prisoners.

I look down as I walk, I look down, until I spot a jagged rock that fits in the palm of my hand. I grab it and keep going.

Guards don't notice me as I slink by. They survey the area, one even yawning. This is a standard night for them. They have no idea that someone is sneaking around, ready to free one of the prisoners they are responsible for.

I eventually find Lincoln speak to another prisoner at the side of the warden's house.

I pause in the brush, crouched down, watching their interaction.

They both have hedge trimmers in their hands, although it's clear by how they struggle to lop at the branches that the blades are dull. On their feet are long shackles that would prevent them from running, but that give them enough space to walk around and work comfortably.

Eventually the other prisoner walks off, ushered somewhere by a guard, leaving Lincoln completely alone.

He continues working while I approach the fence.

"Lincoln..."

He pauses, lifting his head at the sound of his name being called. He looks around, not noticing me nestled amongst the shadows.

"Lincoln, it's me," I whisper harshly, waving my hand through the fence.

He turns, finally seeing me. Checking he's not being watched, he rushes over to me, shackles rattling as he crouches into my view.

"Aesira, you're here." He smiles broadly, his relief palpable. I told him to keep an eye out for me, but he must have thought I wouldn't go through with this.

"We need to go, like right now." It's only a matter of time before the guard returns.

I hold the rock I found through the fence, dropping it into Lincoln's hand. He frowns at it, not quite understanding.

"Break your shackles. Quickly," I tell him. "I'll keep an eye out."

It takes him a few attempts to bash at the thin chain shackling his feet together, but eventually it shatters. He shakes his legs, grinning at his new found freedom.

I'll worry about the cuffs when we're safe.

"You're free, let's get out of here." I go to stand, but he reaches through the fence, grabbing my wrist.

"Wait, what's going on?" He questions.

I exhale slowly, irritated at his hesitation. Does he not trust that I can get him out of this? I've spent months planning for this exact moment.

"I can get you out, but we need to leave right now," I insist. "There is a weak spot in the fence back there. Crawl through, I'll be waiting for you here."

He looks the way I point, face tense. "How are we getting out of this pack?"

"I have a carriage set up to get us away. We'll worry about the destination once we're safe," I tell him, glancing nervously in every direction, afraid a guard is going to suddenly appear and thwart out plan.

Lincoln nods, having the confirmation he needed. "Okay, wait there,"

He rushes off, keeping to the fence line. With his ankles freed, he's able to move swiftly and covertly, and within minutes, he's joined me on the other side of the fence.

I allow myself to breathe once he approaches me. This is going to work.

He embraces me the moment he's close. "Thank you for coming for me...I'm so glad you did."

There's a hint of surprise in his voice, like he didn't expect I would pull through. After I broke up with him, he probably thought the worst.

I push him away, feeling strange about the way his body feels against mine. It feels like old times, and not necessarily good times.

"Alright let's get out of here. We need to make it out before the guard comes back around," I exclaim.

Lincoln sticks close as I lead him around the edge of the property. We only have minutes before a guard comes back around and realises he's missing. After that, all guards will be mobilised to find him, and if they do, I know they'll kill him on the spot.

We continue down the streets of the village, pulling further away from the warden's house. I had our transport out of here arranged be waiting a few streets over, with a local driver I paid who will get us to the next village.

We pause for breath in an alleyway, shadows drenching us.

Lincoln lays his hand against the brick wall, breathing heavily, unfit from all his days spent locked in the prison.

"I can't believe you actually got me out." He looks over me, eyes rimmed red.

"Of course I did. That was always the goal," I remind him, wetting my lips. "I wasn't going to give up on you."

"Honestly I didn't think you'd go through with it." He look down the alley, shoulders tense. "Especially after you broke up with me. I thought maybe..."

He drifts off, looking uncomfortable.

"What?" I frown.

He faces me square on, and for a moment, the shadows hit him in such a way that he looks completely unfamiliar to me, like I'm facing down a stranger. I don't see the male who was my lover for several years, who I've always trusted to be right beside me when I wanted to get away from my father.

"Did you kill the Alpha?" He asks, sounding hopeful.

I shift from foot to foot. "It's harder than it seems."

He shakes his head, looking away from me. A muscle in his jaw ticks, his fingers digging into the cracks of the brick wall.

"There has been rumours..." He says.

"Rumours? What rumours?"

"About you and the Alpha." His eyes are cold as they meet mine. "Guards have been sharing information, saying you are sleeping with him."

I flinch, confronted. Not because what he said is wrong — not entirely, anyway — but because people are talking about it. Staff are talking about it, which means my father will suspect my head is already turned.

"It's not information, it's gossip," I assure him, a dark feeling drifting up the back of my neck, making me shiver.

He tilts his head, accusation sharpening his gaze. "Is it true?"

While Everin and I haven't technically had sex with each other, we've done enough to damn me. If Lincoln found out, he would go out on his own, leaving me to fend for myself.

I'll always be a traitor in his eyes...

"Of course I haven't," I snap, anger at myself more than him and his questioning. "This really isn't the time to have this conversation, Lincoln."

His face slackens, and he looks at me like he's seeing me for the first time.

"You really did, didn't you..." He whispers.

I grab his arm. "We need to keep moving."

He hesitates as I try to pull him after me. "Are you coming away with me, or am I on my own in this?"

"I have a duty to assassinate Everin, but I think I've run out of time. If I go back now, he'll know I released you and...I don't know what will happen to me," I explain tensely.

Everin wouldn't forgive me. He wouldn't have mercy on me. He would take this as a suggestion that I am not loyal to him, and I'll be sent away, or worse.

Lincoln nods once, steeling himself. "Then it's settled, we go together. We'll get that fresh start we always wanted."

"I like that," I say, although I don't think I have in mind the same fresh start he does. "Now let's go."

We start off toward the end of the alleyway, only a few streets away from the transport now.

Only a guard wearing Everin's livery appears before us, turning to survey the area. We stop short just as he sees us.

"Hey!" He starts off toward us, another guard following suit behind him.

"Run!" I urge Lincoln, turning to sprint the other way down the alley.

🩶••🩶

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~Midika 💜🐈‍⬛