The Dark Princess

Mary/Milo

Mary

I had tried almost everything, but I guess my heart wasn't really in it. I had been welcomed into the castle, only to be locked in my tower bedroom. Still, I had a warm bed, a caring mother, and two-hundred guards to comfort me and keep me safe. Being a princess did have its upsides.

Anyway, I was kind of just laying on the bed. Figi was pacing the room, bored out of her mind, when, suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and moved to the window.

After a while, I asked: "What's wrong?"

"Just for a moment . . . I could have sworn I saw . . ."

She never got to finish her sentence. At that moment, a foot swung down out of nowhere and shattered the window, only just leaving time for Figi to dive out of the way.

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Milo

Darkness fell. It was time to put the plan into action. There was a fifty-foot wall that we had to traverse, a town to get through without being seen, and another fifty foot wall. The first wall, however, was the easier part.

Brooke and I slunk up to the base of the wall, black cloaks wrapped around us, the hoods hiding our faces. The guards looked unnaturally tired. Brooke read my thoughts.

'They're probably the same guards from earlier, pulling double-duty because Mary has returned.'

I couldn't think of much to say to that other than 'I didn't think the queen was that paranoid.'

Brooke smirked, and that was all that needed to be said.

We stalked around the wall, hiding in the underbrush at all times, until we found a particularly tired-looking guard. Within seconds, he was out, and the best part was, he had no idea it wasn't by accident. We climbed the wall as fast as we could, and crouched on top. To climb down the inside of the wall would mean completely exposing ourselves at the same time we would be turning our backs on our enemies. Not a good plan. So, we crept along the top, knocking out already-tired guards as we went. When we got to the stairway, we bolted down, still exposed, but not as badly.

Next step: get through the town without being seen. This step was a little more tricky.

We crept through the shadows at a painfully slow pace. Every once in a while a random villager would appear from around a corner and we'd have to dive out of the way. There were many close calls. Until we reached the tower, that is.

Brooke and I were preparing to climb up the more-hidden-than-not side of the tower, magically hammering stakes in at regular intervals, when the moon was blotted out by a cloud. Everything went pitch black. It became chaos. I had been in the middle of hammering a stake in near the window, so when the moon was blocked, it slipped. It plummeted towards us, and we were blind. I didn't see it coming, so when it scratched a long line from my elbow to my wrist, I cried out. There were footsteps.

"Who goes there?!"

I didn't answer, but I didn't need to. At that moment, the cloud moved. I'm pretty sure all the soldier saw was a couple of black-clad hooded figures anyway, but it was suspicious enough. He ran off to raise the alarm. I cursed and shot a stone towards him with magic, but it drained me enough to make me dizzy, and I missed. I leaned against the wall of the tower and examined my arm. The cut was deep, and I could see the brown spots where the rust had fallen off inside my arm. Blood was steadily dripping, and I mentally cursed the moon. There was little that could've been more inconvenient.