It turned out, despite her sleepiness while being dragged here, Akna still couldn’t fall asleep.

They’d locked her in a stable of all places, in one of the stalls. The horse had been removed, but they hadn’t cleaned it out. The Knights had tried to force her to sit in the horse shit. She’d refused, so they’d punched her a couple times and left her cradling a bloody nose.

At least a palace guard had brought her some clothes a short time later. They weren’t her jerkin or skirt—just a shift and a kirtle—but they were something. The guard had actually turned out to be fairly nice. His name was Cantin and he had talked with her a little. In a different situation, she might have liked him.

“I’m really sorry you’re stuck in here,” Cantin said. “I can’t say I like what the new Lord is doing. These knights from outside the province. I mean, it’s just not proper, is it?”

Akna sighed. “No, it isn’t.” While he was kind of nice, if he really disapproved of Danel’s leadership, he could let her go. Though to be fair, what would she have done if the Ninifin queen had turned out to be like Danel? She had sworn an oath. Would she have broken it? She wasn’t entirely sure. Of course, she could always ask him. “I don’t suppose you could just...I don’t know...let me out?”

He stepped back from where he’d been leaning on the stall door, and groaned. “You know I can’t do that, Nin-Akna. Especially now. The new Lord is threatening all kinds of executions. I’m really sorry, but I just, well…”

“Pretend I broke out. Tell them I got the jump on you or something. I’d be willing to knock you out or maybe rough you up a little to make it look good. I’d go easy on you, of course. I wouldn’t do anything serious or permanent.”

He groaned some more. “I’m really sorry. I get the impression the new Lord Belone will be even more likely to execute people because of incompetence. I feel terrible, but I just can’t.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Akna said. “I had to ask, you understand.”

“I understand. I might be able to sneak some extra food in to you, though.”

Akna shrugged. “Sure. Great.”

He nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that.”

He didn’t talk to her again for the next couple of hours, so she spent the time plotting how she could overpower him and get out. This stable wasn’t designed to hold prisoners. She didn’t know why she was being kept here—probably because she was too low class for a real jail or some bullshit like that—but she could take advantage of it.

The real problem would be getting across the grounds and out of the complex. She had little doubt she could get past Cantin—he’d be easy—but without at least a spear, she wouldn’t stand much of a chance in a fight. She could take Cantin’s sword, she supposed, but swords had too little reach. She’d be giving up her main advantage over these Arnorin warriors.

The question became, could she sneak out? She supposed the answer was ultimately irrelevant. If she couldn’t, she’d die and it would all make no difference. But if she could… She just needed to wait for an opportunity to jump Cantin or whoever was put on duty to guard her overnight, as that was probably the better time to make her escape.

Yes, that would be her plan then. She would jump the night guard, make sure he went down silently. Then she’d sneak out. Piece of cake.

If she could just convince herself that was true.

The hours passed by slowly.

“Excuse me,” a voice eventually called out.

Cantin, who had been sitting on the floor across from Akna’s stall, jumped to his feet. “My Lady!” He bowed.

Anita’s mother came forward. “I’d like to speak to the prisoner, please.”

‘Of...of course, my Lady,” Cantin said.

“Thank you.” Lady Siba approached the door to Akna’s stall. “I don’t suppose we could have some privacy, could we?”

Cantin shuffled his feet. “I...um...I suppose, my Lady, but I can’t go far.”

Siba waved her hand. “I would never ask you to shirk your duties. Of course, you shouldn’t go far. Just over there. You’ll still be able to see everything we do.”

“Of course, my Lady. That will be fine.”

“Well, go on then.” She waved him away.

Cantin bowed again, and retreated to where Siba had indicated.

“I’ve spoken with Anita and Felitïa,” Siba said. “I’m working on a way to get you out of here.”

“They’ll know you’ve come to see me,” Akna said. “They’ll be watching you, and me.”

Siba nodded. “I know. I expect no less, but I have to do something. Danel is out of control, and Mitchal Plavin is a tyrant.”

“Mitchal Plavin?” Akna was certain she’d heard the name before, but couldn’t place it. Possibly someone Felitïa or Anita had mentioned.

“Commander of the Red Knights and uncle of Lady Lidda Plavin of Plavin-Tyl.”

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“Guy with a couple long scars on his face?”

“That would be him. He’s been trying to bring his Red Knights here for the last year. Feodor always refused, but somewhere along the line, Danel started hero-worshipping him. I’m not surprised he’s let them in, but I worry about the fact they were already here and ready for Feodor to die.”

“Yeah, I’d say they had advance notice,” Akna said.

“Princess Felitïa wants me to contact a man named Agernon. Do you know him?”

Akna nodded. “He’s the one I’ll go straight to if I get out of here.” It was primarily because of Corvin that she was planning to go there, but Siba didn’t need to know that.”

“Good.” Siba glanced over at Cantin. She nodded to him when he saw her. She turned back to Akna, reached into her fur coat, and pulled out a handful of tiny bottles—ones like the bottle the sleeping draught had been in.

“What’s going on here?”

“Damn,” Siba muttered.

A Red Knight had entered the stable and was marching towards Cantin. “What are you doing over here? You’re supposed to be watching the prisoner.”

“Lady Belone asked me to stand back,” Cantin stammered. “I can still see them. I’m watching.”

“Get back over there!” the Red Knight barked. “Lady Belone, his Lordship, your son orders you to attend to him.”

Siba turned calmly to face the Knight, moving her hands behind her back. “Of course. I will head there with you immediately. My business here is done.”

Akna snatched the bottles from Siba, and held them behind her own back.

The Red Knight waited while Siba walked towards and past him. Then he followed her out.

Akna quickly dropped the bottles into the feeding trough on the inside of the stall door.

Cantin returned to Akna’ stall. He leaned against the top of the gate. “I think I’m going to have to stay right here from now on.”

Akna nodded. “I understand, and let me say, I’m truly sorry.”

He looked at her blankly. “For what?”

She grabbed him by the ears and slammed his head down into the top of the stall door. She shoved him away and he toppled to the floor. “That.”

Waiting until night wasn’t going to cut it any longer. Akna wasn’t willing to risk Anita’s mother getting herself killed trying to break Akna out. Akna needed to do it now, and on her own.

She retrieved the sleeping draughts from the trough. Four bottles. She could use them to help in her escape. She’d have to find a way to get them into guards’ drinks, though. How she’d do that she had no idea, but she could figure that out along the way.

She climbed over the stall door and bent over Cantin. She unstrapped his sword belt and put it on herself. She didn’t like swords, but there wasn’t much other option. She considered taking his clothes and armour, and trying to blend in, but he was taller and thinner than she was. It would never work.

The sword belt secure, Akna hurried over to the stable doors. Cold blasted her as she opened them a crack. She’d forgotten how cold it was outside. It was cold inside too, but body heat from the horses made it more bearable. The greater cold outside was going to be much more difficult to ignore.

She glanced around. Surely Cantin had something warm. Sure enough, a heavy cloak hung from a hook on a nearby post. Akna grabbed the cloak and threw it over herself. It wasn’t a good fit, but it would help keep her warm, and with the hood up, it might help her avoid notice.

With the cloak tied as securely as she could get it, she peered through the crack in the stable door straight towards the side of the palace. She looked to either side, but there was no sign of anyone. However, the wall around the palace grounds was behind her and there were bound to be soldiers on it.

Akna took a deep breath and slipped outside. The biting wind made its way under her hood and hit her face. Some of it crept down her neck and through the thin fabric of her kirtle and shift. It wasn’t bad though, and she could handle it. On the other hand, her bare feet stung in the snow. She should have taken Cantin’s boots. No, the improper fit would have hampered her movement too much. She was going to have to bear the cold and risk frost-bitten feet. The quicker she got out of here, the better.

That was the problem, though. The cloak might stop people recognising her from a distance, but she still wouldn’t be able to just walk out the main gates.

She walked slowly along the side of the stable to the corner and peered round at the wall surrounding the palace grounds. The nearest guard patrolling it was quite some distance away, but moving in her direction. Akna estimated maybe a minute until he passed her. There was nobody out in the grounds that Akna could see from this location.

She turned around and went to the other corner of the stable. The main gate was in this direction, and there were a lot more guards there. Her best hope was the other way.

She returned to the other side again and waited for the guard on the wall to pass the stable. Then she waited awhile longer, while her feet went numb in the snow. She couldn’t stay like this for long, but she needed an idea how frequently the guards passed by on the wall. It was about five minutes until the next guard came in sight and another minute or so until he passed.

The wall didn’t look easy to climb. The sides were reasonably smooth with few handholds. However, the stable was bound to have rope and tools she could use. She could also take a moment to warm her feet in some straw.

Provided no one came to check on her in that time, but that was a risk no matter what.

She returned inside the stable and began looking for what she needed. As she’d predicted, rope was easy to find. There was no grapple, however, so she settled on improvising something. At bare minimum, she needed something that would hold long enough for her to climb up this side. If necessary, she could jump down the other side. It wouldn’t be a pleasant jump, but the wall wasn’t so high she was likely to kill herself.

It only took her a few minutes to put together a makeshift grapple from a couple of old horseshoes that she then tied to the end of the rope.

Cantin moaned and started to stir.

Akna hurried over to him. She didn’t want to seriously hurt him, so she took one of the sleeping draughts and poured the contents down his throat. He coughed and gurgled for a moment, tried to stand up, then collapsed again. He tried to prop himself up once more, but then fell fast asleep.

The stuff certainly worked fast, for which Akna was immensely grateful.

She returned to the stable door, and gritted her teeth for when her feet hit the cold snow again. Then she hurried out and to the corner.