Ever After

Chapter Twenty-Four

I could feel my heart thumping through my chest as we made our way up the stairs. After days and days of staying in the same prison, with a evil queen, a traitorous friend, and the countdown to doom until the other Queens would get here, we are finally getting out. Our feet pounded the stone steps, and my stomach twisted in knots, not knowing what lay ahead of us.

"We get out the same way we got in, but there will be more guards stationed everywhere." Jett said. He creaked open the door that was hidden in a corner, and peered outside. The courtyard had two guards at each corner, four marching in the middle, and one by the gate that led into the garden. There were two guards in front of us, but their backs were turned so they didn't see us. The door we used to get inside the palace, was on the far side northwest from us. If even one saw us, then we'd be surrounded and the Queen would show up before we even made it to the door.

I looked up at the guards walking along the open hallways above. Two were walking in the same direction that the same guards took me to see the Queen. I knew that there was a staircase on the left, even though I couldn't see it. But if I got upstairs, and into the Queen's room, I could open the vault she had behind the mirror, and use the book she had to made a portal out of here.

Hopefully she left it in there. I moved past Jett who was whisper-shouting for me to get back behind him. But I didn't listen, I crept slowly behind the bushes that were in a corner where two guards were talking. Making sure they didn't hear or see me, I crawled behind the row of bushes and stood up behind a pillar. I peeked over my hiding place and saw the staircase was past the gate, where one guard was looking around. I hid right back behind the wide pillar just to make sure he didn't see me.

When he looked away, I peered around the other direction to see if I could draw attention from the guard at the gate, into another direction. I noticed one of the guards was standing by a fire that lit up that dark corner where the sun didn't meet. I raised my hand in the direction of that guard, and imagined the fire near him to get closer to him. Magic is an emotion not a thought. Surprisingly the Evil Queen's words worked, and when I willed the fire to move closer to the guard, his clothes caught on fire, and some of the guards close to him tried helping him stomp it out.

The guard at the gate ran to help his coworker, and I bolted to the stairs and up them while they were busy trying to take out the fire that didn't want to get put out. I plastered myself against the wall so that they couldn't see me from below. I peered over the edge of the wall, and saw a guard doing patrol on this floor, I twisted back against the wall. When the guard came, he across straight and didn't see me against the wall. I breathed a sigh of relief, and ran in the direction I remembered as the way to the Queen's room.

I felt the breeze from outside blow on my face as I ran across the open hallway that looked over the garden. I stayed closer to the wall, just to be safe in case anyone patrolling down there looked up. Once I got into the giant room with the balcony, I hid behind a corner to the entrance. I looked over the corner and saw that there was two guards, one at the entrance standing so he looked into the room, and one at the balcony looking out.

If I could get the one at the entrance to come out here, so I could jump him from behind, then I could surprise the other one. I looked at the flowerpot that was on a stand on the other side of the entrance across from me. I lifted my hand, and willed it to move. It started to topple and then fell over the stand, crashing onto the floor. The guard turned around to see where the source of the noise came from, I moved farther around the edge so he couldn't see me.

When he bent down to look at the broken flowerpot, I crept behind him, and hit him with the hilt of my dagger. He grunted and fell over to the side. The guard at the balcony flinched and I grabbed the downed guard by the feet and pulled him to the side where the other guard couldn't see him.