Blood Marriage

Nine: In Which Vines Climb Walls

Alice didn't really know where she was running. She passed only one person in the hallway, a maid carrying a stack of linens who seemed a little surprised when she ran past, but otherwise there was no one. She held Missy close to her chest, only slowing her pace when she was forced to lean against a wall and catch her breath.

"Let me down," Missy chirped, wiggling a little in Alice's arms. "That was a nice ride, but I can run."

"Sorry," Alice gasped, loosening her grip so her friend could jump down. "I didn't wanna leave ya back there."

"Good. You're stuck with me," Missy said firmly, even as she trotted a little farther down the hallway. "Did you mean to run to the gardens?"

She certainly had not meant to run anywhere specific.

Squinting into the shadows down the hallway, Alice could see a familiar wooden door. A large tree had been painted in silver on the wood, and though there was no window, she knew it led outside. Xavier had led her through that door several times in the last week since she arrived.

Hell, had it only been a week?

She counted the days on her fingers as she followed Missy down to the garden door, but she kept coming up with a total of seven. It seemed so much longer than that, and so much shorter at the same time. How had she managed to run from everything she'd ever known, marry a king, and develop a strange emotional attachment to his possibly nonexistent twin brother in a week?

Ellie always said she was too reckless. Now, Alice was starting to believe her friend was right. As a child, her mother had always controlled what she did, where she went, and who she associated with. She could barely get away with trying to play with other children from their witch community without questioning. Every step had to have a purpose, every movement had to be justified, or else she was wasting valuable time and resources that could be better used on her sisters.

The freedom that came with moving to Howard's Knob was glorious, but it was also unprecedented. Over the last year, Alice had become bolder, wilder, letting herself wander the woods and make decisions that she never could have made under her mother's roof. She'd gone to school, met new people, even allowed herself to flirt with some of the human boys in town... even if none of it had gone anywhere.

And, finally, she'd allowed herself to really fall for someone... or so she thought.

The longer she was at the Shadow Court, the more she realized that falling for Hartley had been less of a true emotional journey and more of a calculated decision. A careful decision. She'd picked someone who was kind and boring and safe, all the things she knew would help her survive.

Alice wasn't happy with just surviving any more. If anything, the rejection from Hartley had made her want to live, to truly experience the world... but what had gotten herself into because of that split second decision? She'd let her anger get the better of her, let herself be seduced by the promise of someone offering her more, just like Granny and Ellie warned her about, and now she was stuck in deep, deep trouble.

In any case, it was too late to back out now. She was stuck in the Shadow Court... but maybe not forever.

"Missy," she whispered. "I think it's time to try escaping."

"What did you have in mind?" Missy asked, skittering back over.

"Let's go outside," she said, pushing against the garden door.

The gardens might be one of the most obvious places to look for her, but there were also many places to hide among the foliage. Even better, right outside the high stone walls were the Appalachian woods that Alice knew well. If she could find a spot sheltered enough from view to climb her way over, she could make a run for it.