Surprise babe! I'm alive!
Did I write this at 3 am? Yes. Am I gonna proofread? No.
*****
Tossing her sword to the side, Adrienne sank to her knees in front of me and wrapped me in her embrace. For a minute, no one said anything, simply relished the familiar arms finally holding us again. Neither of us could find the words, but eventually Adrienne pulled away.
“Penelope! Where have you been? You just disappeared! You promised to take me with you and you just disappeared!” Adrienne’s words rushing out, tears springing at the corners of her eyes.
“I know, I'm sorry. The entire time I was gone, I was working to come back to you. So much has happened, I have so much to tell you, but we can't stay here.” Rising as I spoke, I reached out my hand to her. “We have to go, I'll explain once we get out of the city.”
Without taking my hand, Adrienne wiped her eyes and rose to face me.
“Okay. But you have a lot to explain, you owe me that much. Come with me, I know which routes the guards take this time of night and the servants will pay us no need. We can stay out of sight but we'll have to go through the castle.” Adrienne said, worriment was clear across her face.
“Thank you, Adrienne. I'll explain everything, I promise.”
Adrienne peeked out of our garden and signaled the coast was clear. We dashed across the courtyard and made it into a side corridor of the castle. A few maids passed us but paid no mind. Their baskets were so full of soiled table clothes and nobles clothing, they could hardly even see over the tops of the mounds.
“Come on, we can take the servants path. All the maids are preoccupied getting ready for the Fairnheim emissaries to arrive, they're all too busy preparing rooms and feasts to pay us any mind. We’re all trying to fix your– fix this mess.” Adrienne stated quietly, pulling me along with her.
She may not have expressly said it but I heard it. Fix your mess. Does she blame me for leaving? We had spent hours upon hours talking about running away together, starting a new life somewhere new, being whomever we wanted, doing whatever we wanted, together. I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way. She couldn't have.
Dragging me down hall after hall, I was starting to get lost in my own castle. I had thought I was familiar with every rock and every stone here but that evidently wasn’t the case. If I hadn’t known better, I could’ve sworn Adrienne doubled back at least twice.
“Damn it!”
Adrienne yanked me back in a side hall. Pushing against me, my back was to the wall and she was inches from me. She still had her hand around my wrist and it was pressed against my chest while the other was on the wall next to me, her palm flat against the wall making her arm cage me in, protecting me from any prying eyes that may pass. Her body inches from mine, her face was glued to mine but her eyes were darting around, listening for the footsteps in the corridor.
I could feel her body heat as we stood there, my heart pounding louder the longer we waited. I had been gone for only a few weeks but in that short time she had grown more beautiful than I ever thought possible.
The faint clang of armor growing louder by the second, we were sure to be discovered. Adrienne pushed further against me, all but pinning me to the wall. The torches in this hall had been lit hours ago and they were reduced to faint embers, hardly enough light to see our bodies against the wall.
The light danced in Adrienne's panicked eyes. Despite the fear and worry, I couldn't bring myself to look away. Even in this terrifying situation, all I could focus on was her beauty. My eyes traced her every feature, trying to commit them to memory. May the gods forbid we ever be separated again.
YOU ARE READING
Between Two Vines
Aventure(Formerly The Forest of Life) Saviors aren't always as expected. They're people too. They make mistakes. But how they choose to live with those mistakes is what matters.
