Falling (repeatedly)

36- Time to Run

Madeleine sits up, now awake.

He looks at his balcony and sees his mother. He gets up and walks closer, when he notices some blood on her fingernails.

He opens the door. "Mother..? Why are you on my balcony?"

"Oh, I heard a crash in your room, then when I came to investigate, there was an intruder!"

"Where is Espresso? Is he alright?"

On the ground, Espresso slowly gets up, coughing. His glasses were knocked off when he hit his head on one of the branches.

His clothes are a bit torn up as well.

Canelé feigns confusion. "Who?"

"Espresso! The one who came here with me! Is he safe?"

"Oh, the coffee mage? I haven't seen him."

"Did you push him off the balcony?"

Espresso is leaning on the tree, still in pain from hitting tree branches and the ground.

He did find his glasses, which now have some small cracks and scratches.

Madeleine is shaking. "Mother.. Did you push him off the balcony..."

"Why would I do that? All I know is there was an intruder. It wasn't the coffee mage."

Madeleine walks closer to her. "Why do you keep insisting it was an intruder? We have guards for a reason."

"Whoever they were, they got past the guards. We should go inside."

Espresso is shaking. "I can find somewhere else to stay for the night. Staying here would be too risky."

He stumbles while walking away from the house.

Madeleine moves closer to the railing. "I do not believe you. It was Espresso, wasn't it?"

Canelé does the spell again, but Madeleine counters it. She doesn't know that though.

He leans on the railing, holding his head.

When the stabbing pain leaves, Madeleine stands up. Then he spots movement.

He sees a person walking away from the house. He's close enough to tell that it's Espresso, but it's a little blurry.

Probably just a side effect of the headache, right?

Espresso hears metal boots against the walkway. Guards.

He starts to run, despite how much pain he's in.

Madeleine runs over to one side of the balcony, then grabs one of the supports for the balcony roof.

He slides down, then follows Espresso. Canelé shrieks "MADELEINE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Espresso winces from her painfully loud voice.

The guards see Espresso. They have ranged weapons.

Madeleine sprints to reach Espresso, who's slowing down.