Not Your Princess

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Asch's footsteps are soft while she wanders the hall. Her eyes are mostly adjusted to the darkness, allowing her to see outlines of door frames several feet away. Though she knows that Henrick is following a distance behind her, Asch appreciates the fact that she is alone.

No one else wanders the halls of the palace. No guards or servants or any lingering royals. It makes the silence more comforting than it was before. The invisible hands guide her through the halls, gently pulling her toward the staircase.

Right after she had left her bedroom, Asch had developed a plan to separate herself from Henrick. Now that she is close enough to the location, the princess almost feels guilty. Henrick is only trying to do his job, which he has already failed at once before.

Asch does not blame Henrick for August's death. The man had entered the room through the second story window, which means that he had to scale the side of the building. There was no way for Henrick to know that there was someone inside of the bedroom until after Asch screamed.

The moment that she rounds the corner, Asch blows out the candle in her hands. She presses her spine against one of the large ground floor pillars and creates a small trail of fire to wander up the wall and move around the corner to create the illusion of a soft, distant glow.

At this time, Asch only knows how to create a fire when it's connected to her. She cannot make fire produce from afar nor can she control it for very long when it is no longer touching her body.

Once Henrick gets far enough, she can allow the fire to die off and she can slip away in the opposite direction.

Henrick's footsteps are loud and slow. He believes he still has a general sense for the direction that Asch had gone, so there's obviously no need for him to be concerned. The moment he is fully down the stairs, his footsteps come to an abrupt stop. "Asch?" He calls out quietly. His voice echoes through the hallway and bounce off the walls.

She edges the fire a little closer to the corner so that he can see the light. His footsteps grow quick and his strides are long. He is quick to reach her pillar, his breathing uneven and loud. In its cage, Asch's heart quickens. She presses her spine further into the pillar and prays that Henrick does not see her.

His blurred figure darts past Asch, trying to reach the phantom flame that is starting to die out. Only giving herself a few seconds of hesitation, Asch slowly wanders in the opposite direction that she sent the guard. The sound of him calling out her name is the only thing that fills the hallway.

Though she's only been to the dungeons once, Asch still knows the route to get there. It's in the far, secluded corner of the castle— far away from the royal family and their guests. August told Asch it was a safety precaution just in case a prisoner escaped. A poor design on their part since the dungeon is still very much connected to the palace.

When she is a few paces away from the hallway, Asch can hear several sets of footsteps walking toward her. Immediately, she ducks so that she is hidden around the corner. The girl hopes that the individuals do not walk in her direction, since she will simply be sent back to her room.

"Please," a man cries. His voice makes Asch's entire body tighten. She recognizes that voice. It belongs to the man who had killed her husband.

The man that she plans on killing.

"Shut up!" Someone barks. The sound of chains rattling fills the hall while the group gets closer to her hiding spot. "You are not to speak unless you are spoken to."

The man continues to beg while he is dragged down the hallway. As the group walks past Asch, she is able to make out a few features of the people holding the man. There's only two guards with him, practically carrying the scraggly man down the hallway. Neither one of them are paying attention enough to catch sight of Asch, who is a mere few feet away from them.