The Only Heir

How Not To Escape

My mind flowed in and out of consciousness.

I remember lying in the backseat of a car, trees passing outside the window at high speed before my eyes closed again.

The next time I opened them, I was being carried. Bright silver lights stung my eyes, and an ornate door opened.

"Careful, 'less you hurt her."

A man. The voice belonged to an old man.

I tried to ask him where I was and who he was. But my tongue was like lead in my mouth, my lips too heavy to open. But a whimper managed to slip from them.

"Shh shh, sweetheart. You're safe. You'll be fine. Just go back to sleep."

And strangely enough, I believed him.

My head was stuffy and my mouth was dry.

I was aware that I was in a bed, an extremely soft bed with a light cover drawn to my chin.

I had been awake for a few moments now but hadn't dared to open my eyes. Careful to not let them know that I was conscious.

Who they were? I didn't know, but I heard a rustle and then a patting sound just a moment ago. Definitely more than a single person.

Slowly, carefully, I opened my eyes to slits.

Weak morning light illuminated the room.

I was in a bed with cream coloured silk sheets. Large ornate windows lined the left wall.

A woman in a red and gold saree was placing flowers in a china vase atop a small cupboard which was set at the corner of the left wall.

To my right, another woman in a similar uniform, this one older than the first, was simply dozing off in a plush chair.

And at the corner of the right wall was a wooden double door with frosted glass. And squinting my eyes I could make out the silhouette of a person standing outside of it.

Who these people were I didn't know. What they wanted is something I didn't want to wait around to find out.

Plan. I needed a plan to get out of here.

Pots of plants outside the window proved that I was on the ground floor with no object in the path for at least some metres I could see.

The first woman was done with her work at the table and had moved towards the door. She noiselessly passed through the doors and started to talk to someone, it was a man, standing guard outside the doors.

Three people. One of them is old and asleep. The other two, are out of the direct line of sight.

First, I need to get out of the room then I'll see from there.

Holding my breath I raised my torso off the bed and slid my legs down the side.

I again scanned my surroundings. The elderly woman was still asleep. The room was getting brighter by the second. Twin bedside tables were on the sides of the bed with matching, tasteful metallic lamps on them.

Behind the woman was another door presumably leading to a bathroom. It was a beautiful room, ornately styled with the grandeur of a palace.

I tried to slide off the bed, but as soon as my bare feet landed on the carpet a wave of dizziness gripped me so hard that I felt my body going sideways.

And before I could try and hold out to something, I knocked into the bedside table making the lamp tumble.

I watched as the lamp tumbled to the floor with a loud clunk.