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Chapter 13

“How are we going to do this?” Elise asked as she stood, wiping her tear-streaked cheeks.

Madelynn folded the letter into a little square and stuffed it in her back pocket. She stood and glanced around the room, wiping her sweaty palms on her shirt. She needed to make a plan, and quickly. There was nothing in her room that could help them escape, unless she wanted to tie some bedsheets together and scale down the side of the house. “Okay,” she breathed, blinking rapidly to clear her eyes as she came up with a plan. Her eyes landed on Elise’s bag—a burlap sack with two ropes for handles. “What’s in your bag?”

“Um…” Elise pulled the top of the bag to open it wide and stuffed a hand inside. “A change of clothes for each of us, a loaf of rye, a pair of your riding boots, a few potions of healing aid, sleep aid, and fullness, and some sewing supplies.

Madelynn raised her eyebrows, impressed at her forethought. “Wow, Elise. You really thought this through.

Elise chuckled nervously, pulling the bag closed again. “Once General Aldrich arrived, I started gathering things just in case.

“That’s incredible foresight,” Madelynn remarked, chewing on her thumbnail. “We do, however, need to find a way out. We can’t use the stairs or the servant’s quarters—I’m sure my parents have everyone on the lookout.

Elise paused, her eyes searching the room. “What if,” she drawled as she put her thoughts together, “we tied the bedsheets together into a rope?”

“I thought of that too, but the silk would be too slippery.”

Elise turned and scooped up a pillow, smashing it in her hands. “Okay, what if we just throw all the dressings out the window? The second floor isn’t that high up; we could create a cushion to land on.”

Just then, the house groaned, a telling sign someone was climbing the stairs. “Dammit,” Madelynn snapped in a hushed tone. She scraped her teeth across her bottom lip as her breathing grew uneven once again. “We don’t have time to figure this out. Grab everything.”

She did her best to steady her breathing and calm her racing heart as she ran to the closet and ripped four gowns from the hooks in one swift motion. When she turned, Elise already had the bed undressed, the sheets and pillows bunched in her arm as she pulled the window open. She stepped forward and held her arms out, dropping everything to the ground below them. Madelynn followed suit as Elise jogged back to the wardrobe as well.

Madelynn dropped her load, then turned around to grab more clothes when a voice echoed through the door. Her father had to have been at the top of the stairs, discussing something with either her mother or Casimir. She didn’t want to find out and couldn’t risk being caught mid-escape.

“We don’t have time for more,” she whispered, grabbing Elise’s arm and pulling her toward the window. “You go first. I’ll follow.”

Elise nodded. She stepped up onto the windowsill and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, her face scrunched tightly, then stepped forward. She dropped out of sight, and Madelynn rushed forward to find her crumpled on the ground.

Her stomach dropped at the sight, but she breathed a sigh of relief when Elise pushed herself up to sit and shot her a thumbs-up.

The sight of Elise’s awkward fall sent a wave of doubt crashing through Madelynn’s chest. The ground below wasn’t soft—patchy grass barely covered the packed dirt—but there was no time to second-guess.

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Madelynn nodded to herself, trying to steady her nerves. She grabbed Elise’s bag from the floor and tossed it out, then stepped up onto the ledge. Her father’s voice was growing louder. She didn’t have time to feel nervous.

She closed her eyes and took a step forward, keeping her knees loose as she plummeted. The urge to vomit hit her as soon as the cool, spring air rushed past her arms and lifted her hair.

She landed hard, her ankle twisting painfully as she collapsed onto the ground. Her shoulder scraped against the rough dirt, sending sharp jolts up her arm. She groaned as the earth knocked the wind from her body, her ribs grinding together as she gasped for air that wouldn’t come.

She pushed herself onto her back and stared up at the sky. It was a clear day, and the sun stung her eyes. She couldn’t even bring herself to squint as she grasped at her shirt, finally finding a shallow, wheezing breath.

“Maddie!” Elise ran to her, placing a hand on her arm. “Are you alright? You fell horribly.”

“I’m fine,” she bit out through gasps. “We need to go. Now.”

Elise held out a hand to help her to her feet, and Madelynn gratefully accepted it, her whole body screaming in protest as she stood. Her ankle throbbed painfully with each step, but it wasn’t enough to slow her.

“This way,” Elise commanded, pointing toward a cobblestone road just across the field from her house. “We should head into town and make sure we’re out of sight before we stop and deliberate any further.”

Madelynn nodded in agreement as Elise grabbed her bag. Then they were off. The field was open, perfect for being spotted, so they sprinted. Elise’s blue dress flew wildly behind her in the wind, her braided dirty blonde hair smacking the sides of her face.

Madelynn was winded and her legs burned once they reached the road. She couldn’t hear any shouts coming from the house and decided that meant no one had discovered their escape.

“This way,” Elise said between labored breaths, motioning for Madelynn to follow her. The road ahead was lined with trees, and they took to the woods, staying off the road in case any passerby would recognize them.

The ground squished beneath their shoes as they trekked on in silence, the only other sound their heavy breaths. Madelynn’s head spun as she dodged around a slim tree. This was inherently stupid of them. Incredibly stupid, really. Two young women—Elise still a girl, really, at only seventeen years—on their own. It was mid-morning, so the sun was out, but that didn’t change the fact that they’d never be able to fight off grown men if they chose to attack them. Elise could heal, apparently, but Madelynn was nowhere near proficient in Essence Bearing. She’d probably need to start training now that she was officially a runaway. Maybe Elise would be willing to train her.

“Oh,” Elise said suddenly, breaking their silence, “Callum’s address should be on the back of that letter. We should get an idea of where we’re going.”

“That would probably be helpful.” Madelynn reached into her back pocket and pulled out the parchment, flipping it over to find Callum’s address in frantic writing. “It looks like ten Marlington, here in Daam.”

“Perfect,” Elise responded cheerfully, though the grim look on her face contradicted her tone. “I know exactly where Marlington is.”

Elise’s disheveled appearance—the mud staining the bottom of her skirt, the dirt smeared on her hands and face, the hairs sticking savagely out of her braids—sent a ping of guilt through Madelynn’s belly. “Thank you,” she said softly, feeling embarrassed at the sentiment. “For coming with me, I mean. I don’t think I could do this without you.”

Elise shot her a closed smile, her plump cheeks crinkling the corners of her eyes. “I wouldn’t have stayed behind even if you’d asked me to,” she said with mirth. “You’re my only friend.”

Madelynn wrinkled her nose as she grinned back. “And you are mine.”

They shared a laugh as they continued on, passing carriages blissfully unaware of their presence.

The trek through Daam was grueling, every crunch of leaves beneath their feet amplified by the fear of pursuit. The city buzzed with life in the distance, faintly carrying the sound of a bell marking midday. Elise led them with unerring confidence, weaving through alleyways and backstreets until the towering silhouette of Callum’s modest townhouse came into view. Relief swelled in Madelynn’s chest, but it was quickly smothered as the gravity of the situation pressed down on her.

Her ankle throbbed with every step, but she forced herself forward. She had no idea what she was going to say to him, only that it had to be enough. Enough to keep him here. Enough to save her from th

e nightmare waiting for her at home.