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He threw a flask her way without stepping down from the stairs, then left the room as quickly as he appeared, locking the door behind him and leaving Annalise in complete darkness once more.
Annalise slowly made her way toward the flask. She shuffled her feet, hoping she would stumble upon it easier that way. She wanted a drink. She hadn’t had a drop since before their carriage was stopped by the bandits.
The sound was deafening to her ears when she finally reached the flask and kicked it with the tip of her slipper. She picked it up and opened it, ready to gulp down the vitalizing elixir.
But the smell that hit her was not a pleasant one. It was some kind of alcohol. Annalise wasn’t versed enough to recognize it by smell, but it was foul to her senses. Nevertheless, she took a sip and grimaced as the fiery liquid passed down her throat, burning the path to her stomach.
Annalise closed the flask, dropped it into her pocket, and turned back to the dim, lone window. She carefully walked forward and squinted at it, trying to figure out what was blocking the view.
Ah, yes. It looked like leaves! If her addled brain wasn’t fooling her and it was indeed just leaves and dirt, she would be able to push the window open, and hopefully, crawl out of it.
The only problem was that it was high up. Even if she did open it, there was no way she would be able to pull herself up far enough to crawl through it.
Annalise looked around but found nothing she could stand on to help her reach the window better. She came closer to the wall again and ran her palm over it. It was a stony wall with indents, large enough that she could hook her toe in. She hiked up her skirts, raised her foot, and placed it on the wall.
Seemed sturdy enough. Annalise raised her arms and held onto the windowsill with all her might. She raised her second foot and… skittered down.
She hit the wall with her knee on the way down, and her hands felt raw from scratching them down the rugged wall. Dust and dirt flew around her, and she coughed into her sleeve.
Well, this wasn’t going to be as easy as she hoped.You have to fall to learn—her husband’s words rang in her mind. At the moment he’d said them, he hadn’t meant it literally. He had definitely fallen a few times in his life and had fallen hard. Had he learned, though? Would she live to find out? Would she ever see him again?
When she had left the townhouse, she was adamant about living on her own, but she had never thought that the moment her carriage jolted to a start, that view of her husband out the window would be the last time she’d ever see him.
Annalise wiped at her brow. There was no time to get maudlin. If she wanted to see him again, even if to scold him that it was all his fault, she needed to get out of this predicament alive.
Oh, Lord, help me get out of this alive.
Annalise hiked up her skirts again and put both feet on the indents in the wall before pulling herself up with both arms. She pushed at the window with one hand while holding on for dear life with the other. The window creaked and opened.
Annalise’s feet slipped, and she skittered down again.
Annalise wiped her hands on her skirts, took a deep breath, and tried again. Eventually, the window gave way, and the opening seemed to be enough for her to crawl through. She was tired and panting; her hands and face were sullied by the leaves and dirt that fell through the open window. A few tiny stones had hit her in the forehead, and her eyes were itching.
Annalise leaned her back against the wall and took a deep breath. She fumbled with her skirts and took out the flask with the vile drink. She whirled it in her hand before uncorking it and taking a big gulp. The burning liquid passed through her throat with an unpleasant sting. She closed the flask and put it back in her skirt’s pocket. Her breaths came in shallow gulps, her palms were burning, and her feet ached.
A strange sound came from outside the door. Annalise concentrated, trying to hear what was going on. Did it sound like a brawl?
Perhaps her gaolers had gotten foxed and were fighting. If this were true, they could be coming for her soon, and there’d be no telling what they’d do to her in that condition.
She turned sharply and reached for the windowsill one more time, pushed off the ground with a jump, and crammed herself through the window. Her head and torso made it through the window with no issue. But when the time came for her skirts to follow, she got stuck. The sounds got louder on the other side of the door, and panic hit her.
Blast it all!Annalise wriggled in haste, grabbing beyond the window, onto the ground, or anything she could reach. She heard the sound of fabric ripping as she fit her hips through the window.It’s all right; I’ll buy new skirts, just please, let me leave this place.
“Oy!” The door opened behind her, and a man yelled after her.
Annalise dug her fingers into the ground and pulled with all her might. The fabric ripped further, and one of her slippers fell from her foot, but she didn’t look back. She was free. Annalise jumped to her feet, picked up her skirts, and ran for her life.
