The Maiden

Chapter 40

*Freya's P.O.V*

It seemed like everyone was against me as of late. I had sent letters to both Mother Miranda and Heisenberg to try and get their assistance. Mother Miranda had simply written back and said that she had no control over the Lycans. Heisenberg had said it would be too much of a hassle to gather all of the Lycans up and time. He said it would be more dangerous to round them all up at his factory because if any escaped then the village at the bottom of the hill would be the first to go.

Logically he did have a fair point but that didn't mean I liked it. To add insult to injury Lady Dimitrescu had Daniela, Cassandra, and Bela acting as babysitters for the last two weeks. It was clear she didn't trust me to behave so I was kind of glad that I hadn't told her the date of the wedding. I was also glad that they had finally left me alone after the last two weeks when they decided I wasn't going to run away.

Lady Dimitrescu was not on my good side right now. Whether regressed or not, I was still sulking over not being able to go to the wedding. I had been giving her the cold shoulder even when regressed and I could tell it was grating on her nerves. She could apparently deal with fits and tantrums but not being ignored.

Now it was time to put my plan into action. I had taken days to be just by myself as of late and I was going to use that as an excuse so that I could sneak out. I locked myself into one of the first floor sitting rooms, using the excuse that I was going to catch up on reading today. I changed out of my maid dress into a dark blue dress that went to my knees. Once I was dressed I checked the pockets in my dress to make sure that I still had my Lei in them.

I threw on a cloak of Daniela's that I had borrowed, heading to the window. I carefully opened the window, pushing it so that it swung open. I swung my leg out of the window, sighing in relief when my shoe touched the snow and sank into it. I hauled myself out the window quietly before turning and shutting it, feeling the lock click into place.

I took off across the courtyard, keeping my breath even as I ran. I slipped through the open gate and felt the fabric on my cloak get snagged slightly. I twisted the fabric free before I continued on my way. The snow was rather deep at the moment and I shivered as it went all the way to my knees. I bit my bottom lip and trudged down the familiar path to the Village, knowing that I could rent a horse there.

It took me half an hour to reach the Village which was about twice as long as it usually did. I arrived at the Village feeling extremely cold. I trudged through the snow to the horse stables, knowing that renting one of them would be my best bet to getting to the wedding.

"How can I help you, miss?" a man greeted me in the stables. I pulled out a bag with four hundred lei in it and handed it to him. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion until he opened it.

"I need to rent a horse to attend my brother's wedding, I hope that should be enough to cover it," I said with an innocent smile. I knew four hundred lei was probably twice as much as what was usually charged to borrow a horse from the stables. Money would ensure he didn't mention me which meant that it was less likely to get Lady Dimitrescu. Maybe I was a bit paranoid but it was better safe rather than sorry.

"Of course," the man nodded his head as he tucked the bag into his pocket. "I'll saddle it up for you," he stated as he went back into the stables. I wrapped my cloak tighter around myself as I waited until he brought out a large horse. "One of our best ones," he said.

"Thank you," I said as I tried to mount the horse, pulling myself up. He grabbed my foot and lifted me up so that I could actually get in the saddle. I clicked my tongue and the horse started off at a decent pace. The path from the Village to my village was rather straightforward so I kind of just let the horse carry me there at it's own pace.

It took me two hours to get there and my thighs were burning from how long I had been riding. I slid off the horse once the village came into sight and walked the rest of the way, leading the horse by the reins until I found the stable and paid the stable to set the horse up for the night. Once that was taken care of, I headed straight to the church where I noticed groups of people gathering.

I kind of stood off to the side, noticing several familiar faces when I was suddenly tackled into a hug. I squealed at the feeling of the cold snow pressing against my back and stared at my attacker with wide eyes. I relaxed slightly when I saw the familiar eyes of Alexandru who was smiling tat me with a soft smile.

"Oh Freya, I was afraid you wouldn't come," he said as squeezed me even tighter. I wheezed from how hard he was holding me but hugged him back although not quite as hard.

"Need to breathe," I whispered after a moment and he scrambled up, pulling me to my feet and allowing me to catch my breath.

"Sorry, I was just so excited to see you," he laughed as he ran his hand through hair with a sheepish smile. "You got here just in time, the wedding is about to start," he said.

"I wanted to see my brother get married, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity especially for you," I teased. The church bells rang and he looked at them with a small huff.

"Well it looks like it is starting," he stated. "We'll talk after the wedding okay," he promised to which I agreed rather quickly. He gave me one more hug before hurrying into the church. I shook my head as I dusted the snow off of my cloak.

I was absolutely freezing but at least I had made him happy. I heard a bird caw and a crow landed on the windowsill of the church, looking at me as I walked past it to enter the church. I frowned and looked at the crow, noticing the familiar eyes of the crow.

"That bitch really sent Mother Miranda after me," I whispered, watching the crows eyes narrow as it looked at me. I subtly flipped it off before hurrying into the church, hearing it caw angrily after me.