Chapter 3 -Escape
It has been 10 years since I was captured. I am now 15 years old. In one month I will be 16. I am always reminded on the days before my birthday about my life in the forest, as it was at around this time I was captured. I can’t remember much of it anymore. So many things have happened in the years. Most of it very bad. There are one or two moments that I could say still made me smile, though they were few and far in between. I made some friends, I kept them a secret though. The prince would not have me talk to anyone but him. In the last two years he has become extremely possessive. I always feel eyes on me wherever I go. I made good friends with the apothecary, well its most likely due to me visiting her so often. I met her the first month I served with the prince, he hit me very hard leaving blue and green marks on my skin, then saying I am ugly with the marks on my skin sent me to her. A few months later he made me a horse hitting me with a stick while sitting on my back.
If I could drop him off the balcony I would do so in a heartbeat, but I cannot touch him without his permission. Luckily the king kept me away from him at night. The king would not have his successor sleep with anyone before he is at least 16 years of age, even if it is an elf. It was greatly Frowned upon by the people. The prince would however not be stopped from doing anything else. I was humiliated constantly for his and his friend’s pleasure. Sometimes I would be stripped naked and forced to run though the hallways while they chased me with whips. Most nights had me crying myself to sleep, wishing I could end my existence. I was however forced to live with another oath to my master.
My one friend was the advisor to the king, the one who was my previous master, He allowed me to call him Joshua. If not for him I would have gone crazy a long time ago. He always comforted me when I was down and gave me snacks whenever he could. I slept in the slave quarters. I did have my own room as I was considered a very expensive slave. The last two years however I received much more attention. Apparently, many nobles and their sons offered to buy me from the prince. I do not know why though, I am an elf and rare, but the prices they offered were ludicrous. Some even offered their daughters as concubines with regular payments and promises of military assets to own me. I heard why much later from Joshua. The men’s libido’s needed pleasing, it seems I underestimated how wanted an elf girl would be as well as the status owning one brings them. I shuddered at the thought. Ill protect you as far as I can Joshua promised. I knew it would be empty words, for he would not have any say in the matter if the king approved the transaction. But the thought warmed my heart.
I always felt better after visiting him, but it was always ruined when I got back to my master though, my master has a strong Libido as well and always said he can’t wait for me to become of age and that he could have all of me. It was extremely depressing and frightening hearing this. I do not want this cocky prince with his awful personality close to me! Yes, he is handsome, but he is an asshole and a sadist with absolutely no respect for anyone.
Today I woke up and went to the slave's bathes for my morning wash. We were distinguished between men and women at least. Buckets of cold water was provided by the male slaves that we could rinse ourselves. I took my time washing myself enjoying the feel of the water on my skin. Our baths were outside at the back of our quarters, there was a cliff stopping us from running, it was a 150-meter drop, scaling the cliff was impossible. Though we had a few slaves that made use of the cliff to escape this mortal word. Walls surrounded us with the top side of the wall making a half moon shape to the inside, so we could not scale it. The buckets of water stood to the left side of the wall and the water ran over the stone slabs down the cliff. I laid down on the stone slab soaking up the sun with my eyes closed, the slabs were cold, but not much colder than the water. It was amazing how much energy I pulled from the sun, it invigorated me and I felt stronger and healthier after bathing in its rays. It was saddening that I was mostly kept inside the palace.
After a while I stood up, I could feel the energy flowing through my veins and flowing into my heart. I put on my white slave's robe and fastened it around my body. The Robe itself was quite soft, I am not sure what it is made of but, it flowed around my body covering it completely at the top. My breasts however were accentuated under the tight-fitting robe. The robe went down to my feet. I have noticed many a man staring at my chest, a lot stared at my face as well but most of them immediately went to my chest. Master made full use of this touching me in front of the others. I always feel so humiliated!
I started walking to the kitchen. I need to pick up master's breakfast and take it to his chambers or I’ll get a whipping. I walk through the servant corridors, these are not as lavish as the corridors used by the nobles. It is sparsely decorated, there are one or two statues with Vases filled with flowers in their hands every now and then. The floor is made of cold stone, luckily, we were provided with shoes to slip on. I reached the end of the corridor I’m looking for and open the wooden door. I see many cooks busy scurrying around and various smells reach my nose.
Emi! One of the cooks exclaims rushing to me and picking me up in a bear hug. She was a big lady, always tasting her food (And other peoples I believe) before it gets sent out. She has a big smile on her face, it is infectious and I smile in return, and give her hug as well. “Hi Rita” I replied, happy to see my best friend. “You here for the brats food right?” She questioned me not letting me go. “I am here for Masters food.” She knew I could not badmouth my master, so she did it for me. One of the small things I love about her. After a short while she lets me go. The food for the brat is on the table there she said, pointing to the table. And yours is here, pointing to a really lavish breakfast, there was some pork sausages with bacon and eggs, bread and butter with Jam. “Rita!!!” I exclaimed giving the beaming woman another hug. “Someone needs to look after you.” she said grinning. I sat down and enjoyed my meal. 20 minutes later I was on my way to the Master’s chamber.
After a few minutes I was in front of his door. I sighed and mentally steeled myself, I hated this part of the day. I knocked 5 times in a slow rhythm. I was commanded to do so by the prince so he knows when it is me. Come in! He shouted, I opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind me. Morning Emilia the prince said grinning, “Disrobe now.” He ordered. I set the plate on his table and took of my clothes exposing everything. I could see the prince’s eyes wondering over my body hungrily. I shivered and saw the prince smile. “Get over here.” he ordered, I got closer to him and he cupped my breasts, I closed my eyes and tried to think of something else. I suddenly felt a very strange sensation on my breast, I opened my eyes and looked down, Master’s mouth was on my nipple! My vision went dark.
Ugh my head is spinning. I open my eyes, the roof I see is Joshua’s. I immediately feel my bady for my clothes, thank goodness I am dressed. I sit up and look around in the room. I am alone in the room, a sigh of relief escapes my mouth. I stand up and walk to the door. As I put my hand on the doorknob, I hear loud shouting, and not just from one person from many people. The sound of metal banging against metal echoes loudly through the castle. I open the door a fraction to spy on what is going on. I see guards battling with Rough looking men, the guards are putting up a valiant fight but there are too many men. The guards get overpowered and killed, I get an urge to check on Master, involuntarily I throw open the door and rush towards my Master’s room.
The men see me and two of them move to intercept me. “Don’t hurt her, the Duke wants her alive!” I hear one of the men shouts at the two blocking my path. Well, that makes it easier to escape and infinitely harder for the two guys to block me. I rush the two men and dodge their clumsy grabs, their swords were useless thanks to the order, I flowed like water evading them and slipped between them. They shouted in frustration and set off behind me to catch me. Their armour worked against them though and very soon I lost them in the passages criss-crossing the castle. I headed towards my master’s bedroom, the fighting could still be heard everywhere, screams filled the air. I see patches of blood and bodies of servants that I know lying lifeless in the corridors. I hope that Rita is ok.
At long last I reach my master’s door. The anxiousness caused by my oath starts to calm down as I get closer to my master. My master opens the door as I approach and demands, “What's going on Emilia?” “There are men attacking the castle master, they are on the way here.” I answer. The prince’s face goes white. The twerp was most likely the target I guessed. The Prince slammed the door closed in my face, he did not give me any orders, thus I ran down the passage towards the servant's corridors. These ones differ from the main ones in the sense that they are smaller and not furnished. They are only used by servants, which does not make them safer than the main corridors, but is a little trickier to navigate.
Just before I reach it, I see the attackers coming around the corner of the main corridor. It's the same guys that tried to grab me. They see me and start rushing towards me, I duck into the servant corridor and sprint towards the kitchen. There is a back-door in the kitchen used to dispose the waste. I reach the kitchen door, I can hear the Men rushing to catch up from around the corner, I throw open the kitchen door, rush in and bolt it behind me. A few seconds later crashing sounds sound from the door as they beat against it.
I turn around to speak to the chefs, and gasp, everyone was dead. Most had terrified expressions on their faces. No no no!! I scream, the friendly cook, Rita is lying on her back, eyes glazed over with a surprised expression frozen on her face. There is a hole in her chest where her heart should be. I go completely numb and collapse next to her. Another servant comes rushing in from the other side of the kitchen and also bolts the door. He turns and looks at me. Emilia! You made it, I look up at him, he must have seen that I do not register who he is and heads over. He smacks me through the face and my eyes clear up. I do however start sobbing. The crashing sounds on the door intensify. We need to get out of here! He shouts at me, I look at him and Nod, we both look around, the windows are high up on the wall, impossible to reach, he points toward the chimney, we need to go through there!
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There is still a fire burning in the fireplace, I look around for water to get rid of it, a bucket is close to the door and I run to grab it. Just as I am about to douse the flames the man stops me. We need that water for climbing up the chimney! The sides are hot! He shouted, I see he grabbed two brooms, handing me one he leads by example and starts pushing the wood with the live fire out of the fireplace. A second later I mimic him and also wildly fling pieces of burning wood over the floor. Meanwhile I could hear the door I came through start to splinter. They will break through very soon. When my focus returns I realise that the man grabbed towels and is dipping it in water, he fastens it around my feet and I fasten it around my hands the best I can, I also drape one over my back, after this I help him with his, we work quickly and the doors starts giving in. We rush over to the fireplace and I go in first, the sides of the chimney are black with suit and is incredibly hot combined with a burnt smell. I struggle to draw breath. I jump upwards and push my feet against the opposite side of the chimney, my back rests against the wall with my hands supporting me on the sides. I slowly start to shuffle upwards, I can feel the heat radiating from the walls, my towels are also getting hotter, my back also starts to sting as the water In the towel starts to heat. It is a very slow process to go up. The slave below me also jumps and starts his ascend. We hear the door crashing open and metal banging against the floor, someone fell through the door.
I increase my pace to climb ignoring the burns on my arms as they hit the sides, the slave below suddenly shouts in pain, I glance down and see blood on his belly , he gives me an agonising look and falls down the chimney. I franticly start climbing, I hear shouting from below and look down, a man is trying to throw a spear up the chimney! I am very close to the top now, I get a feeling to look down and do so just as the man throws the spear. I press my body to the side of the wall, luckily it is cooler at the top, the spear misses me by a few millimetres and starts to fall back down. Thank goodness that it is an awkward throwing position. I grab the top of the chimney and pull myself out, I fall on the tiled roof gasping in the fresh air, my hands and clothes are black from the suit and my arms are burned slightly. I start crying from relief.
A few seconds later I sit up and take a look at my surroundings. I can see the whole city spread around me. The Palace is in the middle of the city. There are guards in front of the palace but they are not Valerian guards. I look to the west side of the Palace and see a small group of people running towards the wall. I focus on my sight and my view zooms in on the small group. Some of the guards in the group are pressing on a certain stone slab on the wall. Before anything happens however some of the intruders burst out of the gardens around them surrounding them completely. I looked specifically at Master, he was crying while looking around him, my body tried to move towards him but I fell, not able to get up from the energy spent climbing the chimney. The attacking men said something but the noise of fighting drowned out my hearing, the guards made a rude gesture and was set upon by the men. Master was skewered very soon by a sword through his chest.
As soon as this happened, I felt a massive pain in my chest, I cried out and fell to the roof again, screaming and rolling around. I clawed at my chest scraping it with my nails. I felt myself slipping down the slope of the roof, my hands clawed for any hold it could find, but I soon started falling. I was weightless for a few seconds then felt a thud, pain shooting through my body. Then it was black.
I heard the cheerful chirping of birds and animals, my eyes flutter open. I am in the woods, How did I get here? I sit up and look around, there is nothing around me but trees and bushes. I try to stand up and stumble. I notice my hands and feet are bound with rope. Fear flares up inside me, I struggle with the ropes, what's this? The rope is coming loose? Obviously whoever tied me up is still new at it. I loosen the ropes and slip my hands out. I proceed to remove the rope around my legs. I hear talking coming closer. I push myself upwards and hide behind the tree. “We are so lucky to find the Elf!” I hear a man's voice. “Yea we can have her make an oath of servitude to us and use her forever hahahahaha.” Another voice replies. I feel an ache in my chest, I need a master! I cant live without one! I am shocked to realise this.
Not these men! I will not be taken by these men! Never again! I slowly slip away. I hear exclaims of surprise. “She is gone!” “Thundering Dungballs!” the man shouts. “I told you to tie her up properly! Can't you do anything right!?” I move away quickly making as little noise as possible. The only woods I know of is to the east of the city. It is the royal forest and is not accessible to the public at all. Penalty of death for trespassing if I remember correctly. I do not want to go back to the city, and run further to the South. After an hour of running I slow down. I sit with my back against the tree breathing heavily. It's been some time since I ran this much. I think on the events of the day and start crying, Rita was always very nice to me, she always had good food and a smile ready for me when I visited. I mourned her loss and cried myself to sleep.
I wake up, its morning, my body hurts and my throat is dry. I need to find water and sustenance. I start to walk further south. It's still very early in the morning and the sun is starting to creep through the canopy of trees. Every now and then I stop to listen. After almost 2 hours of walking I am rewarded with the gentle sound of flowing water. I rush towards it, not caring if I am heard. Luckily my brain took control before I just burst out of the underbrush. I slowed down before some bushes, behind the bushes was a small opening then I could see the river running gracefully towards the south. I looked at the perimeter of the forest trying to spot any animals or Humans. After a short while I see something move. I instantly focus on the spot with my eyes and see a face hidden beneath the bushes. Those bastards that caught me are not stupid, they knew that I would head south and that I would need water.
I fret about what to do, do I head downstream or upstream? I slowly backtrack my steps and head upstream, they will expect me to follow the river back to the Elven lands, which is downstream. So I will then head upstream and try to confuse them. Pretty soon I come across some ruins, they are magnificent, whoever built them had amazing skills. The walls are smooth and blue, almost like the water. I have never seen this colour stone before. My wonderment was short lived as I saw many humans rounding the corner. I dived into the nearby bushes. I cannot go upstream! I decided to go back to my earlier position. I will risk being seen by the sentry. I need water now. I check the bushes where I saw him last, he is not there anymore. I stay still for another minute scanning the bushes.
I then slowly creep down to the water, I lie down next to it drinking deeply. I feel so satisfied and lie with my face in the water. Then my ears pick up rustling behind me. I shot up and run across the river, not even taking a glance behind me, the deepest parts come up to my waist. I hear swearing behind me and take a quick peek. 4 men wearing leather armour are chasing me. One of them had a bow. One of them called out “Wait darling we just want to talk to you!” I ignored them and kept running. Soon I reached the forest, I crash through the brush surprising a weird looking animal, it rears up and balks at me. Jumping in fright I shot to the north running as fast as my legs can carry me. I hear the men crashing through the forest pursuing me.
I keep running, after a long time I cannot hear anyone following me. I calm down. Phew, I lost them at last! I look around me, I am now truly lost. I see some bushes with berry like things on them. I eat as fast as I can, the berries are sweet, they are a dark purple almost as big as an acorn. After many berries I feel totally stuffed. I need to look for a place to sleep. I take a look at the trees around me, they all are quite tall. The branches start at around 3 meters up and are quite thick. I would guess about a meter thick. I looked around me for something I could use to get up the tree, the only thing around me were bushes and various plants that would not be useful at all. I try scaling the tree but quickly give up.
I walk around for a while trying to find a tree with lower branches. What nonsense is this? Im walking for 30 minutes already but all the trees are freaking huge! I decide to take the chance and choose thick bushes and plants to hide myself in and sleep a while. It takes some time for me to make my little bed, I cannot see outside the bushes but neither can anyone see inside. I make my space as cosy as I can and at last fall asleep.
I slowly awaken when I hear muffled voices, which immediately made me wide awake, it sounds like the people that chased me earlier. “We should not be here Tom, this place is cursed!” “Shut up Dick!” Tom replied angrily, “If you took the shot with your bow we would not have to chase the silly girl.” “Lets just say she is dead! Right Harry?” Dick said. “They will want proof moron.” Tom Replied sarcastically.
“Hold up.” Tom says, he suddenly speaking softer. “It looks like she is in these bushes.” I could hear them draw their swords. I don’t have big ears for nothing. . . There is no way ill escape from these men if I try to get out quietly. They probably tracked me, I get ready to exit the other side of my sleeping place. After a second I gathered my courage and jumped up forcing myself through the plants. I could hear swearing behind me as the men gave chase. After 5 minutes I was still crashing through the plants, how big is this bush!? Suddenly I don’t feel anything under my feet and start falling, by reflex I grab a few plants for grip and swing to the side, my other hand grabs more plants. My feet is searching for grip on the rocky cliff. Holy Moly! I say out loud. That was extremely close, I look down, there is almost a 50-meter drop before the trees cover the cliff face. Falling here would not be fun.
I hear the men closing in, I need to move, I am still dangling, my feet do not find purchase, I start swinging from plant to plant, it is a slow process. The men reach the end and almost fall over, “CURSES!” one of them shouts. I think she went over the side! The bushes are in front of me blocking our view of each other. “We will need to get down there and find her body.” Someone said, the other 2 groaned. I could hear them going back the way they came. After some time, the sounds of the retreating men faded away.
I struggled to climb back up to my fortunate exit position and finally made it after a few tries. Immediately I started moving out from the brush, I need to get away before they realise I did not actually fall to my death. As I thought this I heard a footstep behind me. I shot forward and glanced over my shoulder. WHAT!? They are already here! I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.