Page 20 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
Her father’s angry voice.
It had taken just a few minutes for her to get ready, but patience had never been her father’s thing... and he might be starting to realize she had fooled him. She hoped he would be unsure for a bit longer. Any second won would be precious, and possibly decisive.
Carefully, Alezya slowly got closer to the window. She pulled the cloth that was covering it, took one last glance at the place that had been their home for over a year, then slowly stepped out, cautious like never before. She had looked down so many times, she already had a rough idea how to start, but she still couldn’t go as fast as she wished she could. Falling to their death would put a tragically early end to their escape. Alezya began her descent carefully, keeping an ear out for any more of her father’s shouting or the sentinels.
Thankfully, it was still early in the day, so not many would be out yet; hopefully, less chances for them to be spotted. While climbing was something she’d done all her life and could do without thinking, Alezya’s mind was still busy weighing their chances, playing every possible scenario, doing the math over and over again in the hope of finding some miracle solution she wouldn’t have already thought about before.
But she just knew nothing would be easy. Easy was an option that had disappeared ever since she’d become a mother.
For a while, her hopes remained high as she was going down, quickly and still unnoticed, farther and farther away from their cave. Perhaps a few minutes passed while her descent was steady.
She couldn’t really tell, she was too focused on securing her grip, stepping on steady cliffs, and glancing back down once in a while to be sure they were headed in the right direction. Alezya had never felt so thankful for her experience in climbing, allowing her to move quickly despite this area being almost completely new to her.
“There! Catch her!”
Her blood went as cold as the snow around her. She didn’t even glance up; the voice’s echo gave her a rough idea of their position, way too close for her liking.
She kept moving, faster, but still careful. She couldn’t afford to slip, she couldn’t risk it with Lumie there... She took slow breaths and kept going, ignoring the ache in her body, the strain from so much effort, and the fear. How much longer? She couldn’t stop. She had to keep going.
The first arrow broke far above her head, but the sound made her panic. They were already shooting, and she was in a completely exposed area! If it had been just one second earlier, that arrow would have hit her right in the head. Alezya glanced down, with that feeling of urgency that completely redrew the risk rates. It was still too early to jump, too risky. Just a bit more though, and she would get down a familiar slope. She could do this.
She kept going, forcing herself to go fast and ignore the second arrow that hit a rock right above her hand. She had to pretend no one was aiming at her, or she’d lose her focus. Her heartbeat was like a battle drum in her chest, pressing her to keep going, take any risk that felt takeable. She could endure the pain, the cold. She could handle anything as long as Lumie survived this...
“Look out!”
For a second, Alezya lost her focus. It wasn’t the man’s scream, but the furious growl that had followed it, so loud, so sudden, and so close that she had loosened her grip in fright, just for a second. She fell.
She kept her hand up in the air, the other around Lumie, desperate to grab something; it was a reflex she’d mastered after falling several times on purpose, one she knew could save her life. Her arm got brutally grazed once, twice, three, four times before her fingers finally grabbed onto something. The violent strain of her whole weight pulling down her arm made her muscles ache, but she didn’t let go. Alezya caught her breath and glanced up. Her arm had caught on a tiny cliff, but thisthing wouldn’t be enough to support her for long. She looked at Lumie; her baby had woken up, but she seemed more shocked by the sudden situation, too shocked to cry yet. Alezya immediately smiled at her gently to calm her, pretending as if everything was alright. Luckily, that was enough.
Lumie was visibly confused, but without knowing what emotion to display, she simply stayed neutral, her big, curious eyes opened wide and staring at her mom for more clues.
Alezya didn’t have more than those few seconds to care for her though. She glanced up, and now that Lumie was fine, she used her other hand to grip on with both arms before assessing the situation. She had fallen far below her previous position, which was a good thing for now, at least. No sign of the archers anymore and to her relief, no dragon either. She let out a faint sigh. That dragon had scared the hell out of her... She glanced down. She wasn’t far from the slope! Almost right above it, to be exact. Her hopes came back.
She felt the pain before she heard the arrow crash. She winced and almost lost her grip. Her flank sent a wave of acute pain throughout her body. Alezya tried hard not to cry out from the pain, not to worry Lumie, but it was hard. She could feel exactly where the arrow had drawn a sharp line on her flank, ripping the clothing to get to her flesh. The arrow hadn’t stabbed her but flown by, but it had been sharp enough to cause damage. It stung, and she knew she had to be bleeding. She bit her lower lip. She had to get out of range.
Alezya glanced down at the slope. It was a bit too far on her left, but it was doable. It was one hell of a jump, but not too crazy. Perhaps crazy was the kind of action she needed to save herself and her child right now... It wasn’t just about the archers or her clan anymore, she now had a dragon to watch out for as well. She just had to take the risk. She took a deep breath, wrapped her arms around Lumie, and leaped off thecliff. She didn’t have the luxury to close her eyes and wait to see where she landed; she squinted as much as she could to protect her sight. Her body brutally hit the slope, and she started to tumble. She rolled down, as anticipated, following that long descent, the natural slope quickly taking her farther down the mountain. It wasn’t a smooth ride by any means. Her body was being battered by the rocks hitting her along the way, the uneven ground rocking her body and bruising her all over. She was doing nothing, but it was strenuous just to endure being jolted around and stay focused on protecting Lumie, so she gritted her teeth and waited.
She only realized she had closed her eyes when everything stopped moving. She had ended her fall much farther down the same slope in an area she had only been a handful of times. Luckily, this was one of the rare areas covered by a few pine trees; she’d be safe from that dragon, just for a bit.
Alezya caught her breath, and with difficulty, pulled herself back up. Lumie was fine, thankfully, but her eyes were opened wide. She probably wondered what the hell was going on after this wild ride... Alezya ignored the pain and forced herself to smile at her baby as if this had just all been some funny game. Lumie hesitated, but replied with the cutest smile, already reassured. This broke Alezya’s heart a bit more.
Her body was aching on all sides, but she had to keep going. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but carrying Lumie on top of the pain was getting really difficult. Alezya surveyed their surroundings, already nervous again.
It didn’t take long for her to hear her father’s men shouting. They were awfully close already! They weren’t fast climbers, but they also didn’t have a child to carry. She felt mad that all her risks had only bought her this little time. Still, she had to keep going.
She wasn’t too far from the area she had been aiming for since the beginning, one that several clans shared as a farming space and brought their livestock to. That was her best hope; another clan that would understand her father’s madness, that they couldn’t abandon a woman and her child. Anyone who could help them...
Putting her arms around Lumie, she resumed her course, running through the pine trees. She was heading farther south now, to an even lower ground. Alezya ran as fast as she could, thankfully this area was less snow-covered. Her feet were painful but steady, and she could almost run normally without sending waves of snow flying around her.
She kept an ear out, and she could hear them belt out about chasing her, who had just spotted her, where that wench was going. A horrible thought began creeping in her mind. They were too close. They knew where she was. She would soon reach the edge of the pine forest and be fully visible from above again. No matter how fast she ran, she wouldn’t make it to the common grounds without them catching up to her. At least, they’d get there before anybody else did.
They wouldn’t give up on catching her, and she and Lumie were going to get dragged back, or worse...
Tears began to stream down her cheeks at that painful realization. No, perhaps she already knew in her heart. She had entertained the thin hope that they would both possibly make it, but she just knew better. Perhaps hope had given her extra bravery for the first part of her journey, but now came the time to face reality. The cruel, painful reality.
The two of them weren’t going to make it. She couldn’t outrun her father’s people. They wouldn’t draw another clan’s attention soon enough to be rescued, and even if they miraculously did, another clan wouldn’t dare openly oppose herfather and risk a battle between clans. Not for a repudiated woman and her fatherless child.
Alezya kept running, her tears flying behind her. She hated herself for even thinking what she was thinking, but again, the truth was there, right in front of her eyes. She was no fool, and she wasn’t mad enough to risk the infinitesimal chance; she’d be taking them both to their deaths.
