My Choice

Chapter 9

"Princess?" Female? Impossible "Princess?!" I slowly open my eyes. A small women with brown hair and a maid outfit on stood next to me. She sighs. "Thank goodness! I thought we'd lost you." I stare confused at her. "Who are you?" She gives me a big grin and answers,"I am Victoria but my friends call me Vic!" I study her. She had green eyes that seemed to glow in the light. "You aren't from here, are you?" I ask. She shakes her head,"No. I come from the far north. Past your kingdom and near the sea." I nod. "I see. If I might ask, why are you here?" Victoria gives me another grin. "I'm your new servant. I will look after you while the master's away." I shake my head. "I mean why are you HERE? In this castle. Working for my uncle." Her smile fades and her eyes fill with emotion. "I had lost my family years ago. A few days after the incident, Henry came to my town. He must've thought I was pretty or something so he took me here. To tell the truth, I am grateful for the help but I hate it here. Henry is abusive and the king does nothing but plot his revenge on your father." I look at her apologetically. I pull her into a hug. "There, there. It'll be alright." Then it comes to me. "Listen. I have a plan. It'll be risky but if we pull this off, it'll get me, you, and my friends out safely. We'll all be free." She smiles. "Now, here's the plan. You will sneak me a disguise of an executioner." Victoria looks at me confused. "Why?" "I know Henry will want my friends executed as soon as possible,so we say that the king ordered them to be taken to an execution sight. Henry will hand them over to us and we all ride out of here at dawn." She claps her hands. "Splendid! Let's do it!" I go over the plan some more then we start to execute it. Victoria walks out of the room. I lay there smiling to myself. A knock comes from the door. "Come in." Henry walks in and closes the door behind him. "Good afternoon, my love." I groan. "Why did it have to be you?" He chuckles and moves towards me. I glare at him and get up. I walk to the other side of the room. He follows and wraps me in a hug. I push him off and move farther away. "Back off!" I snap. He raises his hands in surrender. "I have work to do so I won't be able to be at your side all the time. Victoria will help you with your daily activities. Be a good girl and you will be rewarded." He kisses me on the forehead and leaves. I smirk hearing his footsteps getting further and further away. I wait patiently for Victoria to return. A quiet knock comes from the door and Victoria walks in. I grab the pile of clothes she has in her hands and go change. I come back fully clothed and ready to go. Victoria smiles and says,"I have informed Henry of the execution and he gave me the keys to the dungeon. A carriage is waiting outside the castle for us. We must be swift about this. Follow me." I nod and follow her. We head down to the dungeon with ease. A few guards were standing outside of my friends' cell. "What are you doing down here, Vic?" One of them ask.
"I'm here with the executioner. We are here for the prisoners."
The guard looked at her then at me.
"Right. Hurry now." She thanked the guard before unlocking the cell. My heart aches at the sight of my bloodied and beaten friends. I wanted ever so badly to run over to them and embrace them. By now, the guards were no longer present. I sigh and take off the mask I was wearing. The men stare at me in bewilderment. I smile,"Hello. You have to keep quiet. Play along and all of us will escape." I put the mask back on and grab Asher's shackles. Victoria grabs Dain's and Berinon's and leads them towards the dungeon door. I follow her with Asher. After a long walk to the castle doors, we stop. Victoria looks at us, smiling insanely. "We are almost there." Her smile disappears as soldiers, followed by Henry and my uncle, rush toward us yelling. "Get them!" "They mustn't escape!" I quickly undo the shackles and my friends were free. Victoria hurries us to the carriage. "Hurry!"
Berinon stops and turns around. I pull on his arm,"What are you doing?! We have to go!" He shakes his head,"I'll hold them back so the four of you can escape." The soldiers  footsteps move closer. "No! I'm not leaving you behind! You are coming with us!" He looks at me and smiles. "Now you care for me? You've got some timing." He joked. Tears stream down my face. "I'm not leaving you!" He leans down and kisses my cheek. "You must. Farewell, Ryia." He runs towards the soldiers, taking a sword off the wall. "Berinon!" I go to run to him but am pulled into the carriage by Asher. The carriage takes off and the castle slowly fades from view. Dain looks out the window with a pained expression, trying to hide his emotions. I, on the other hand, cry into Asher's shirt. "You idiot! All of us could've made it!" I shout. Asher tries to calm me down. "He allowed us to get away by buying us time. It was a very noble thing to do." Then, the carriage was silent as it carried us back to my lonely kingdom leaving a trail of tears.