Majesty

Prologue

Left, right, another left. Pass two doorways and turn right. The girl's bare feet slapped against the clay floor as she ran through the rooms. It had taken nearly a year to learn her way around this maze of passageways. Of all the places to be held captive, ancient Native American cliff dwellings offered the most hiding places.

"Girl!" Trigger shouted, his voice infused with anger. "Get back here!"

Panic flooded through her and the blood pulsed faster in her veins. Without Rick here to protect her, there was no telling what Trigger would do. She swung around the corner and raced up the ladder two rungs at a time. She had to hide. Trigger usually only ventured into the first few rooms on the second floor. If she could just get far enough...

"I swear I'll beat the living daylights outa you if ya don't stop running!"

She slowed slightly as the wooden planks under her feet creaked. It took only a few steps to reach the next ladder and climb back down the other side of the loft. Two more doorways, one more ladder. Almost there. Her heart thudded in her chest as Trigger's voice got closer.

"C'mon sweetheart, I'll be quick about it. You really don't wanna stay on my bad side."

Up the ladder, straight, right, left, left... There were no windows on this level and the lamplight was fading quickly. Trigger hates the dark; I'll be okay if I can just hold him off long enough. The ground shook suddenly and she tripped, catching herself against one of the walls. The sharp intake of breath was enough to remind her how sore her ribs were from the beating this morning. She ignored the pain and pressed on, feeling her way along the walls through several more doorways and into deeper darkness.

She couldn't hear Trigger anymore, but she wasn't sure if that meant he had given up or was trying to sneak up on her instead. He enjoyed surprise attacks. She quickened her pace as she pushed farther along the passageway. By now she had lost track of which room she was in, but she hoped that meant Trigger would lose his bearings also.

"Hey Boss!" Triggers voice boomed suddenly from the floor below. "She went runnin' again! Should we send Clancy after her?"

Boss is back already!? She shut her eyes tightly and tried in vain to hold back the images in her mind of the last time Clancy tracked her down. She slipped around another corner and noticed a moment too late that sunlight was bursting through a hole in the floor right as she stepped into it. She sprawled her arms out as she fell but her head smashed against the side of the hole before she could catch herself. Searing pain coursed through her body a split second before her world went black.