Lantana

Chapter 4: The Wizard

The next few weeks were filled with Lantana sneaking supplies and food into the secret room. Instead of feeling a place of safety and comfort, she could only feel an eerie atmosphere when she entered the room. It could have been because of the similarities between this escape and her last one, or the fact that the room looked creepy from years of neglect. Dust coated every surface of the room and had even inched under the crates Lantana had snuck in.

Her plan worked once, so it should work again. Right? Lantana's day fell into her typical schedule, impeded by hours in the early day or late at night when she would slink off the stock of her secret room. Soon, the room was stocked, and her plan was finalized.

Lantana would escape to her secret room and suit up. After emerging as a guard on patrol, then would come the hardest part. She needed a horse. She knew that the high-ranking members of the army were the ones who had enough wealth to own their horses, but the majority of them were shared between soldiers. If she entered the stables successfully, she hoped to convince the guards to let her in, playing by the fact that there was something she needed to address outside the castle gates.

Lantana had obtained an old, detailed map that listed major cities and kingdoms. It had monuments and forests labeled, and Hell was rumored to be at the end of the land. It would be a great asset for her quest.

To arrive at the Gates of Hell, she would have to cross the Thundering Heights. They were christened for a reason, as they were the most hazardous and difficult mountain range to traverse.

There would be no reason to continue stalling, and Lantana knew rest would benefit her. She had to escape during the night but didn't want to leave sleep-deprived. She flipped between asleep and awake, but her nerves kept her up most of the night. What if someone saw her entering the secret room? What if she couldn't bypass the guards well enough to escape? There were so many things that could go wrong.

When the church bells started ringing one time, Lantana understood it was a good time to go. She carefully crept out of her bed, approaching her door. Her heart was thumping, and she slowly raised her hand toward the doorknob. There was no reason she should be afraid, for she would hear it if a guard was on patrol outside her door. Hiding in rooms and blind spots would let her get to the secret room easily enough. She recollected herself there.

Grasping the doorknob, Lantana turned it, opening the doors. She was stopped by the flat side of a blade before she could even step outside.

    "What are ye' doing, Princess?" she heard a masculine voice ask her.

    "Erm, I- I needed to relieve myself," she lied. In her mind, she knew it was weak. Why would she need to leave the room for something like this with a washroom inside her quarters?

    "Sure thing, Princess. Back to bed now."

    Lantana shut the door, and once sheltered from the hallway, she sighed and crumpled against the door. Of course, there would be someone stationed outside her door. Her father wouldn't want to take the risk of her running off in the night again.

How can I bypass this? She thought, hopes of escaping washing away.

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The day passed apathetically. Lantana was annoyed at herself and didn't feel like doing anything. Her mind was focused on coming up with solutions to escape. Even if she snuck the supplies into the room, hiding it well enough that cleaning maids wouldn't find it, that wouldn't solve the problem of the guard. Any solution she came up with would be thwarted by the guard catching her. By late afternoon, Lantana finally concluded.