Over the Mountain (Book One)

Chapter Four: The Guard

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Olivia

"and so I fell, and the note was gone. That stupid son of a-"

"Language!"

"-guard must have taken it. I have to get out of the castle. They'll come looking for me when they figure out that the note wasn't delivered."

"I say it's karma for opening the note in the first place."

I punch Meg's shoulder. "This is not funny! I could be killed!"

We're sitting on my bed, supposed to be asleep. After the guard stole the letter, I'd run back to work, lying to the knights that the letter was delivered. Now when everyone was asleep, I'd finally had a chance to tell Meg my story.

"I know, I know." Says Meg with concern. "Sorry, I'm just nervous for you. How in the world will we be able to get out of the castle?"

"We?" I ask, puzzled.

"I'm coming with you. We stick together, sis."

"But-" It'll be too dangerous for her. If the mission is doomed, it's best for only one of us to get caught.

"No buts." She smiles.

Well, says a voice in the back of my head, you'll just have to bring her with you then. The truth is, I'm afraid, and don't want to go alone. But I don't think I'm ready to admit that to myself.

"Meg, I can't put you in danger like that. What if- what if something happens to you and it's all my fault. I can't live with that."

"And I won't be able to live with the worry that something terrible has happened to you." She says convincingly. "You can't change my mind."

I sigh with mixed emotions. One part of me is telling me not to take her, but the other part is relived that I won't be alone.

"Okay, fine. But you have to help me with a plan."

Cracking her knuckles, she starts to study the room. "Okay, so tomorrow morning we have kitchen duty right after an hour of stitching up uniforms. It's a busy place, so we can escape from the kitchens. But when we get out, how can we sneak past the guards?"

I wrack my brain for any secret tunnels or anything like that...

"So we have uniform duty before the kitchens?" I say, a reckless plan forming.

"Yeah. The knights watch a while, and then we have until noon to finish. Why?"

I grin. "How would you like to be a guard for a day?"

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The collar of my uniform scratches my neck, but I try to act as normal and guard like as possible. I look back to Meg. "Cmon."

She fidgets with her cap, probably tucking in a loose hair.

It wasn't very difficult for the plan to play out. We snuck the uniforms in our apron pockets when the maids weren't looking. Getting out of the kitchen was easy as well, as I just asked the head chef Lise to go to the lavatory. A little bit after, Meg was in there with me. We changed and started walking through the halls supposedly on patrol.

"I still can't believe the prince is missing though." Meg says quietly. We don't really know our way through the castle, but we'll have to manage.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot about that." I whisper back. "Why would that guard do that? Why was the note so important?"

"I don't know. Seems pretty suspicious. I've heard that spies are in the castle. Gossip, you know."

Suddenly, I hear running footsteps behind me. I start to panic. They've found us. We're going to die. In an attempt to escape, grab Meg's hand and wrench it with me where I crouch down in a small corner.

"Someone's coming!" Meg whispers in my ear, spitting on it in the process.

"No duh." I remark. I'm really crossing my fingers through. Meg's grip tightens on mine as the loud clanking of boots get closer.

My heart beat almost leaps out of my chest as a stampede of boots sprint past us, crouched on the floor. But what I see is a shocking sight. A guard is running from a group of knights chasing after him.

A thought pops into my head. "Meg, if that guard is trying to escape, then he must be heading towards the way out!"

Her eyes light up. "Well come on then. Hurry! They were running really fast."

And at that we take off, right behind the knights and their clanking armor.

After running through a foyer and a few twists and turns, Meg and I were breathing hard, and hoping that none of the knights would look back and see us. But they're too focused on their prey to notice.

"Look!" Meg huffs out. Two huge wooden doors are at the end of the hall. How will the guard be able to escape? I wonder if he'll have enough time to open the doors before the knights gain on him. It's going to be tight on Meg and I, but hopefully we'll be able to pull it off.

Finally, the guard reaches the doors. He expertly pulls up the board on the door. The knights are pounding in on him though. I make eye contact with Meg. As soon as the door is opened, we sprint for our lives around the group of knights. Flying out into the sunlight, we dart into the forest. My chest feels like it's about to explode. I don't bother looking back to see if the guard had escaped.

Everything seems like a blur, and I distantly hear a voice in the background. "Get them!" That only makes my legs pump faster.

I gasp and swivel to the right. I almost ran into a tree.

Clopping noises sound behind me.

Taking a quick second to glance back, I survey the scene behind me. Meg is right by my side, and the clopping sounds must have come from the horse in which the guard is riding. I guess he escaped then. Good for him I guess. Sadly, however, about a hundred knights are pursuing us. Not so good. Thinking fast, I grab Meg's hand.

"Horse!" I shout. She gets the message immediately. We both turn around and make a beeline for the guard's horse. It grunts as our weight sits on its back.

"Hey!" Shouts the guard, but he can't really do anything about us- hold on- I recognize that voice!

With the shock, my foot slips off the horse(It's a little small for three people anyway) and soon I'm only hanging on by the leather saddle.

"What are you guys freaking doing back there!" Yells the guard angrily.

Meanwhile my hands are slipping. Meg grips me by the shoulders and after a bit of struggle, pulls me up back on.

"Thanks." I grunt, still overwhelmed by everything.

"Tree!" Meg yells suddenly.

The guard grips the reigns of the poor horse and tugs. We barely miss the tree.

A weird feeling comes over me. I look ahead. No ground. "Wait!" Meg and I scream at the same time. But it's too late. The horse, the guard, Meg, and I go tumbling off a cliff.

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