From there she had a straight shot at the stairs down to the next floor. Once she'd descended the stairs she was similarly lacking in choice for directions, so she simply followed the corridor.

However, once she did start to see doors it quickly became apparently that this floor had an entirely new problem: people. She could hear voices from further down the winding corridor, and it didn't sound like they were just guards but rather ordinary members of the household; family, guests and staff. That complicated matters, she had weapons but she didn't really want to harm people who had nothing to do with her kidnapping.

Then again, had she come this far to fail now?

The first few doors she passed all looked like they had some kind of firelight behind them, so she took them to be occupied. She finally found one that was dark between the wooden cracks and through the keyhole, so she chanced trying the door. She pushed it open and no one screamed at her, so she slipped through the gap and closed it behind her.

As she took in her surroundings - as best she could in the darkness - she realised she was in an empty bedroom, and that she had found the first window since she woke up three floors ago. She hurried over to it, the glass was cool beneath her palm as she looked out over the grounds. It took her a moment to map them in the moonlight, but she realised she recognised them. The same gardens that belonged to the ballroom she had slipped away from with Cirro earlier that evening.

Did that mean that whatever they had used to knock her out had only lasted a couple of hours?

Orena frowned at herself. No, there was no they, Cirro had drugged her and she shouldn't let herself forget that even if he was still kind of helping her. Without him, she would not be in this mess. Maybe. Unless Sax found some other way of kidnapping people for whatever his experiments were.

She shook that thought from her mind just as quickly as it appeared, it didn't matter why right now, she just wanted out. Once she was safe she could take stock and investigate and try and eliminate any remaining threat, but not when she was isolated and alone and fighting for her life.

It didn't take her long to find the latch for the window, and opened it to a slightly too cold blast of fresh air. Even still, she gulped it down greedily, it weirdly tasted like freedom. She leant out far enough to try and work out if there was any good way to climb down from the first floor window she was at. She spotted a trellis that was within reach if she was careful, similar to the one that had sat outside her bedroom window as a little girl. Well, it still sat outside her window, only it was now full of roses since her parents issued different instructions to the gardeners. So she hitched her skirts up out of the way and put her hands on the sill to use as leverage.

Only for her injured elbow to complain and fold beneath the weight she just tried to put on it. She bit her lip to stop herself making a pained noise and dropped back to where she'd been standing as she took measured breaths to work through the pain that had flared. It turned out that climbing was definitely not an option.

Orena pulled the window shut again as she considered her very limited options. One way or another she was going to have to traverse this floor that was half bustling with people. It was unlikely that there were going to be many doors that would lead to obviously unoccupied rooms that she could duck into if she needed to hide, and even if there were, how was she to know if the person she was trying to avoid wanted the room she hypothetically had just escaped into.

She glanced down at her gown again, there were some tears, but probably nothing too obvious if she didn't let people linger on her. She raised her hands to her hair, that would definitely be more of an issue. With no brush and limited time, she started pulling out fastenings and pins until her brown hair tumbled freely around her shoulders, then ran her fingers through it in an attempt to both untangle and fluff it up so that it looked intentional.

She rolled her neck and tried to roll her shoulders loose, straightening her posture as she headed back to the door. If she could act like she belonged, that she had every right to be there, maybe everyone else wouldn't pay her any attention and take her for an invited guest.

It was either that or tear her dress more and pretend she was entertainment. That option appealed even less, and not just because she was still hoping she could salvage her dress.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

So pretend authorisation it was, as she closed the door behind her and set off down the corridor away from where she'd come from.

Having been taught the proper etiquette and acceptable social graces from an early age had it's advantages. Even as anxious and scared as she was, Orena was able to slip into her high society persona. In some weird way, it was almost comforting at this stage, this was familiar unlike the monsters and traps she'd already evaded.

She strolled down the passageway, gliding around the pair of guests coming the other way to whom she tilted her head politely before continuing onwards with as much purpose as she could muster. She had just thanked a maid for warning her about a recently mopped piece of floor - apparently one of the other guests had enjoyed themselves a little too much that evening - when a chill ran down her spine as she heard a familiar voice.

"Has a girl in a green dress been down here?"

"Not that I've noticed, sir, but -"

Whatever else the servant was going to say was cut off by a surprised shout as he tripped as Sax roughly pushed past him in irritation. Or at least, that's what it sounded like to Orena as she quickly looked around to see if she had any chance at hiding. She could try and work out his shortcut once she wasn't in danger. The first door she tried was locked, the second led to a bedroom that was thankfully unoccupied, but the lit fireplace suggested it had been made ready for someone.

"You!"

Orena didn't even turn at the sound of Sax's shout, but realising her time was up rushed into the room - vaguely remembering to slam the door shut as behind her - towards the window. Right now, taking her chances with her busted elbow was preferable to Sax recapturing her.

She had just got her knee onto the windowsill when a thick arm wrapped around her middle and yanked her backwards. She screamed and flailed instinctively, hoping to try and loosen the grip, but the guard held strong, managing to restrain her good arm and avoid the frantic headbutt she tried to land.

"Such dramatics," Sax observed, as Orena's struggles died down as it became perfectly clear that she was not breaking free. Instead she turned her attention to Sax and glared at him. "I'll have back what's mine," he said firmly. Orena set her jaw and continued to frown at him. Sax sighed and indicated to the guard.

Orena found herself tugged backwards a step to be snug against the guard's armour as he rearranged his arms so he could pin her effectively with one so the other was free to search. She squirmed away from him, but it was futile. He patted her down efficiently, before concluding her dress had no hidden pockets, before a whispered apology and he carefully ran his fingertip along the hem of her bodice, quickly locating the metal of the compact's case against her flesh and plucked it out. All things considered, Orena had to admit that was rather more respectful than she had expected. Never judge a guard by his crazy employer, she figured, eyes still narrowed on the mage.

The guard held out zerac towards Sax who took it gleefully, turning it over in his hands. "At least you have not damaged it," he muttered to himself.

As he held zerac in one hand, the other started glowing as he passed it underneath the compact as he murmured under his breath. Orena found herself swallowing at the visual proof that he was a mage, the first time she'd ever seen magic cast. "So that's where the mummy went," he said as he finished. "And one of my poor guards, but you don't seem to have added much to it."

Orena considered retorting it seemed stupid to use something that she didn't know how it worked more than she had to, but held her tongue because she didn't really want to engage in whatever it was Sax was up to.

He sighed dramatically. "Your silence benefits no one, and the sooner you accept your destiny the better for all of us."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "My destiny?"

"Yes, someone with your tenacity and intelligence has a lot of potential to unlock. I had thought to transform you into a powerful undead guardian, but after this little escape attempt, perhaps something more spectral would suit? Either way you would be a valuable addition to my horde."

"Since I doubt you'll tell me what you need a horde for, what's to stop me from turning on you if this ritual - or whatever the conversion is - is successful?"

Sax laughed. "Powerful binding spells, and they have not failed me yet," he said, before looking at his hands. "But if you do escape my control, then I guess I will just have to seal you away," he added, holding up zerac. "I'm curious, why didn't you use this to traverse the traps?"

"Seemed like a stupid idea to risk bringing the building down on top of me if I zapped something load-bearing," Orena lied as smoothly as she was able when she wished she'd actually considered that.

If he knew she was lying, Sax didn't give any indication of it as he just continued to study her.

A door shutting nearby broke him out of his reverie. "Our business does not concern the guests on this floor," he said before turning to shut the window that had been abandoned since her escape attempt. Then waved the guard after him as he strode towards the door. "Bring her."

Orena tried to dig her heels in and resist, but even if the guard wasn't far stronger than her, the cut on her leg hampered her efforts. Had it all really been for nothing? Has she really survived monsters and traps only to be cornered at the final hurdle?