unattainable | solangelo royalty au

Chapter TwentySeven

NPOV:

Watching the sky change colours through the tiny window in my cell is the only entertainment I have for the next two days. Will doesn't even visit, but it's probably due to his controlling parents, so I'm forgiving. There are four cells. The first one contains me, then there's an empty one, then the last two hold a scrawny dude who cracks the worst jokes I've ever heard and a man who actually laughs at them all. Clearly, entertainment here is limited. The guards just sigh in annoyance, clearly used to it.

I think it's almost midnight when something finally happens. The room is dimly lit by a lamp, so I don't see what happens to the guards, I just hear the noise of what I presume is them falling to the floor, most likely unconscious. I stand up, hoping this is something Will planned and not a plot to hurt me.

A few more lamps are lit, illuminating the faces of two girls- women? It's hard to tell how old they are. They look older than me- taller and much more intimidating. They glance up and down the row of cells, then go to the third cell.
"Who are you?" I ask, standing by the call bars to see them better.
"You're Nico, right?" One of them asks as the other tries to pick the lock.
"Yes."
"We're here to help you escape."
"Then why are the picking the lock for his cell, not mine?" I ask, confused and indignant.

They finish in only a few seconds and let it swing open. The guy steps out and thanks them.
"Don't thank us." The taller girl says. "We're doing this so your girlfriend will help us. You're the distraction. If you don't get caught, you're free to go. If you do, too bad."
"Wait, what's the plan?" He asks, even more confused then me.
"No time." The other girl says. She tosses him a dagger. "Distract everyone. Don't kill the king or queen. Then you can see Annabeth." The guy still looks confused, but nods and leaves the cell with a look of determination on his face.

They turn to me and start trying to open my cell.
"Hey!" The guy at the end of the room says. "You gonna let me out?"
"Who are you?" The smaller girl asks.
"Leo Valdez."
"You're not on the list." She tells him.
"Oh, come on!" He says. "I can help! I'm a good distraction!"
"Waste of time. We've still gotta rob the place." The girl picking the lock mutters. There's silence for a moment, then the guy says
"I've seen your faces! I'll get you arrested!"
"Don't care."
"Please?" He begs. "I'll make it up to you! I'll do anything!"

The girls exchange a look.
"He's small." One of them whispers. "Smaller than us."
"He's a liability." The other argues.
"Come on, Hylla."
"I don't work with men." She says the word with venom. I frown.
"He's expendable. We'll just get him to do a few jobs, then dump his body somewhere."

My cell opens and one of them sighs.
"Fine, we've got time." The lock-picker moves onto Leo's cell as the smaller one takes my arm and starts leading me to the door.
"Move quickly." She tells me. We step out of the dungeon and I squint in the suddenly bright light, resisting the urge to hiss.
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Reyna. Back there is my sister Hylla."
"Thank you." I say.
"Don't thank me yet, we're still in the palace." We start to run, not encountering a single guard. The man- he may actually be younger than I originally thought- from earlier must be doing his job well.

Leo rushes past us suddenly, whooping, as Hylla arrives at our side, a small golden vase in her grasp. She shoves it into a bag on Reyna's hip.
"I've never seen so much gold before!" She exclaims, snagging an ornament from a table we run past. There's a lot of needless expensive decoration, even more than there is in my palace.

The girls suddenly stop in the middle of a corridor.
"What are we waiting for?" I ask. My answer arrives a moment later in the form of a girl. Annabeth, I remember. She starts to lead us through the palace at a leisurely jog. I realise why we needed to wait for her; we would get lost in this labyrinth of corridors without her.

We reach the exit and rush outside, then keep running without Annabeth, who waits behind, presumably for her boyfriend. I'm just following Reyna and Hylla blindly, hoping I can trust them. I nearly trip a few times in the dark.

We keep running until we reach a dirty area of the village. One of them pushes me through the door, and the mine the door slams closed I'm instantly tackled in a hug.