Chapter 116

The first thing she had to do was make a rope long enough to get down to the parapet. There was a thin ledge she could walk across to the parapet with enough concentration and calm.

She didn't think about the fear of falling as she pulled the sheets off the bed and began to tear and tie them together. She twisted and braided the pieces to make a rope and tied it to the bedpost before pushing the bed closer to the window. She grabbed the charm bracelet and slid it onto her wrist with a little calming breath.

She dropped the rope out of the window and eyed how far down it would take her. It was just barely long enough to get her to the ledge just below the window. She searched for something to help her hold on to the side of the castle. She still had her dagger, but she needed something else.

She searched the room, searching for something thin enough to use in lieu of another dagger, and found a metal letter opener. She winced, thinking how flimsy it was, and kept searching. The fire poker caught her eye and she grinned, grabbing it with something like relief.

Cutting the hem of her dress shorter and ditching the extra layers beneath the gown, she hauled the makeshift rope back up and added the extra length to the end before dropping it back out of the window.

Laurel took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She focused on Adolph and the werewolf kingdom, of all the happiness and love she would have in her future before tucking the fire poker beside her dagger and beginning to climb down the side of the tower. She took a slow, calming breath as the wind howled around her, ruffling the short hem of her skirt and pushing her around on the makeshift rope.

The rope jolted and she barely held back a scream of terror before it came to a stop with a loud sound. She looked up and saw the edge of the bed through the window. She let out a small sigh of relief. The rope hadn't broken or ripped, the bed had just moved closer to the window.

As she worked her way down, she considered the next course of action. Once she got to the parapet, how long would it be before she ran into someone? Would she be able to defend herself or would they just haul her back upstairs?

Eden said he expected her to escape. Why was he expecting it, counting on it? He didn't even seem concerned about her doing it. There had been some sort of resignation in his gaze that she couldn't place.

Her feet scraped the ledge as she reached the end of the rope and she sighed, wrapping the end of the rope around her arm and drawing her knife and the fire poker. She drove each of them into the stone to get a solid grip in the stone using them to adhere herself to the wall as she walked.

A piece of stone crunched and fell away beneath her foot. She slipped with a small yelp that devolved into panicked breathing as she swung around on the rope. She twirled around until she was staring down the canyon at the rushing water below, crying out through her panic as the world started to swim around her.

The rushing water was getting farther than closer. Darkness swarmed and swirled in her vision. She retched violently as the wind pushed her around and spun her back around to face the stone. She shuddered. Her eyes burned with fearful, panicked tears as she sobbed softly.

Her heart was racing with fear. She lifted her head slowly, shuddering. Evening was coming quickly. If she didn't hurry, it would be too dark to see and she would lose her chance to escape. The fading light glinted off the gold on her wrist and she felt herself sober up.

Adolph needed her. She shuddered, drawing a shuddering breath. She could do this. She could do this somehow. She just had to be brave. She pulled herself up a bit. Her hands trembled and felt a bit numb as she pulled herself back onto the ledge and inched along the ledge until she reached where her dagger and the fire poker remained lodged in the stone.

She took a firm grip of both of them and pressed close to the wall as the wind blew hard and violently past her. The silver chain connecting the cuffs seemed to glow with light. They were oddly warm. She didn't know what that meant, but she stepped over the break in the stone, carefully and continued around the tower, until the was above the battlement. No guards were walking the battlements. She unwound the sheets from her arm, pulled her dagger and the fire poker free from the wall, and jumped to the flat surface below with a soft thud as she rolled to soften the landing. She lay still for a moment, shuddering and murmuring a prayer of thanks to the moon goddess.

When her heart had calmed a bit, she got to her feet and hurried down the battlements until she reached a ladder that led to the lower floors. She landed on the ground quietly and snuck through the courtyard until she reached an open window and climbed in. She heard no guards, but there were people in the main hall, gathered for a meal.

Slowly, she slipped down the hall towards the side of the castle facing a thick forest of barren trees. Mists swirled in them in the distance beyond the lush green of the grass. Glancing around to make sure the coast was clear, she ran forward towards the forest. As she broke the treeline, she turned back to see a set of glowing eyes watching her from one of the towers. Her heart lurched in fear of the alarm being sounded, but the woman just watched her, almost indifferent and curious.

Laurel swallowed and turned, following the treeline towards the path that seemed the most familiar. The barren trees gave way to a stone and dust pathway that cut through two high walls of craggy rock. She needs to get far enough away to try and find a lookout point.

"Stop!"

She pulled her dagger and took a stance in the direction of the voice, but the scuffle of battle filled the canyon as she approached the sound. Sam, Lynn, and two other knights she didn't readily recognize were fighting with a small group of Eden's forces. Sam growled, shoving one of them back as Laurel ran forward.

"Stop!"

The group stopped. The group of vampires' eyes widened.

"How did you-"

"Luna!" Sam greeted and Laurel rushed at him, hugging him tightly.

"Sam! Lynn!" She hugged Lynn tightly, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you both! I-I knew-"

"Luna, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Laurel shook his head, "I'm fine, but we have to hurry."

"We have orders to take you back to the border camp."

"The hell you will!" One of the vampires hissed. Laurel dove between the two groups glaring at them both.

"Stop! We don't have time for this! We have to go to the vampire queen's castle!"

Sam shook his head, "Luna, the king said-"

"With these vampires?" Lynn growled.

"Why would we-"

"Quiet!" Laurel yelled, silencing the group as she glared at both sets of warriors. She looked at Sam, Lynn, and the other two knights. "I am the luna and you will listen to me! He's walking into a trap." She glared at him and lifted her hands, "You need to help me break these chains then we are going to go save our king."

She looked at the other group, "If we do not go, my husband will kill Eden without mercy, and maybe everyone else you care about who went to the castle. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

The vampires looked uncomfortable, glancing at Lynn and Sam. Lynn looked uncomfortable but Sam's gaze dropped to the cuffs. He drew his sword and nodded.

"As you wish, luna."

One of the vampires scoffed, "You can't break those chains like that."

He stepped forward. Sam growled with a warning.

"Sam," she said sternly and offered her hands to the vampire.

He eyed the chains and pulled out a pair of blades. He slipped the blades into the holes of the chains and pulled them away from each other. The blades snapped with a sharp metallic sound.

Sam frowned as the vampire stored his blades.

"I can't get the cuffs off. Only Eden can do that, but moonlight steel can only be broken with magically forged weapons." The vampire looked at Sam, "I'm pretty sure the werewolf kingdom doesn't have a good relationship with Wiccans."

Sam shook his head and the vampires turned down the path, "You'd be better off in your wolf forms. The barrier won't let you through in your human forms."

She shifted, "Lead the way!"