Moments In Time

Chapter One

The longer she stared at the dress, the more her vision blurred with tears. Goodnight, my beautiful bride, his words echoed through her mind as an unwelcome reminder of her fate. The truth is, she knew this day was coming for years, but the reality of it was suffocating her with an unforgiving grip. The memory of his chapped lips grazing and nipping at the skin on her neck as he reminded her of her future sent repulsive shivers down her spine. She bit back on a sob as she examined the flowing white material that she was destined to wear tomorrow. She knew she had to leave tonight, and the realisation of that was even more terrifying than the last. She had never been further than the grounds of the palace, and even that was years ago - she could barely even remember the boundaries of the land she called home since she had been locked away in her room. The reality of her situation was too heavy to carry and crashed over her with a relentless fury as she broke into tears.

Standing on unsteady legs, she changed out of her nightgown and into jeans and a jumper. She shoved the few belongings she had into a bag before tossing it over her shoulder. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest as anxiety began to take a dangerous hold over her. She opened her window and slowly removed the metal bars that she had worked to detach over the past few weeks, carefully placing it on the floor below. She looked at the clock, 12:25am. She knew that the guards were about to change over which meant she only had a small period to make it out without getting caught. She pulled the rope she created out of lengths of material from bedsheets and clothing from beneath her bed and threw majority of it out the window, anchoring the end of the material to her bedpost. She could feel her heart beating in her throat as she waited for the clock to tick to 12:30am. Her mind was racing as she stepped over the ledge of her window, her sweaty hands gripping the fabric so tight that it made her knuckles white.

The second the clock hit twelve thirty, she held her breath and began her decent down the rope. Fear clawed at her as she struggled, but eventually her feet hit the gravel ground outside the palace. She knew she only had moments left and didn't let herself stop to think about the consequences if she failed, so she ran. Her nose and cheeks blushed from the crisp air outside, and her blonde hair tangled in the wind as she moved – the shifting rocks below alerting those near of her movements. The gravel transitioned into blades of grass as she weaved between tree branches, the distant echoes of shouting encouraging her to move faster. Tears welled in her eyes as her lungs ached for more air, but she continued to run to the boundary. After minutes she finally reached the barrier; she looked behind her and could see lights breaking through the darkness around her; the palace siren echoing in the midnight air. She grasped onto the cool, black metal bars and jumped – dragging herself up and over the fence. When she landed harshly on the ground on the other side, she inhaled sharply as the remnants of the beating her body endured days before ached with the impact. She took a quick moment to collect herself before making her way into the darkness of the forest outskirts. She had no idea where she was, or where she was going – but it didn't stop her. She knew that if they caught her, she would be worse off than she was before.

After what felt like an eternity of running, the shouting from behind finally ceased and she was able to stop. Her chest heaved in desperation for air, and her knees buckled – causing her to fall to the ground in a defeated heap. Her mind raced from adrenaline as fear and relief battled for attention. She couldn't believe she had actually made it – it felt surreal. She had dreamt about this for longer than she could remember but had a subconscious doubt that it would never work – that she would have been caught. That relief was quickly submerged by the fear of the unknown – where would she go? How could she hide from the palace guards? She had never invested in planning outside of her escape because she didn't want to fill her soul with false hope. Forcing herself onto her hands and knees, she continued to fight to catch her breath as she closed her eyes and tried to drown out her anxiety.