Page 6

“Yes. You must leave now.”

There was no more time. I stood and looked down at my other self again. “Be safe,” I whispered, then followed Lysa.

The corridors of my family manor had never seemed so long. Lysa hurried me through a narrow servants’ passage behind the west rooms, catching my hand whenever I fell behind. Our footsteps struck the stone as we passed darkened doorways and narrow intersections. At every turn, I feared we would meet a guard, a servant or, worse, my family.

At the next corner, Lysa stopped so suddenly that I nearly collided with her. Footsteps approached from somewhere ahead, and she seized my wrist and pulled me through the nearest door. I stumbled after her, one shoulder brushing the frame before she drew the door almost closed behind us.

I stared at her in disbelief. Never in my life had anyone put me in a linen cupboard.

Shelves crowded both sides, leaving barely enough room to stand. Through the narrow gap beside the door, I caught a glimpse of one of Father’s night guards as he passed.

Lysa eased the door open again.

“Was that really necessary?” I whispered, disentangling the edge of my cloak from a shelf.

“Of course, my lady. We cannot be found,” she whispered back.

I wanted to argue, but there was no time to take offence; she was already hurrying me onwards.

We descended a narrow servants’ stair and reached the entrance below, where another maid was waiting. She bowed, opened the door and stood aside as warm night air swept across my face.

I stopped on the threshold and considered returning, but I could not bring myself to walk away from the freedom I had wanted for so long. I could only hope that, in time, my family would heal and find a way to move forward without me.

With my cloak pulled over my hair, I followed Lysa through streets I knew only from the windows of our transport. We hurried through alleys and narrow passages, the stones so uneven beneath my shoes that she had to catch my hand twice when I stumbled.

A Beta male waited beneath an archway when we reached the merchant quarter.

“This is where I leave you, my lady.”

I stared at her. “You’re not coming?”

“I cannot.”

If Father discovered her involvement, I did not know what would happen to her.

“Lysa…”

“You must go.”

I embraced her. She stiffened in surprise before her arms came around me, and I held her tightly, my cheek pressed against the side of her head.

“Thank you, Lysa. For everything you have done. I shall always remember you.”

“Be happy, my lady.”

The night air felt cool against the dampness beneath my eyes when I pulled away. “I will.”

The waiting Beta motioned for me to follow. We passed almost no one on our way to the city outskirts, and I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as we left the gates behind us.

Then I saw the dunes.

My guide barely glanced at me as he began climbing. “We need to hurry, my lady.”

“Do we have to go over that?”

He stopped and looked back over his shoulder, his brow drawing together as though the question made little sense.

“I’m not dressed for this.” I looked from him to the dune and back. “I’ll wait here for the transport instead.”