No Longer Heartless

Chapter 6: The Hairpins

Catherine kicked the wall in an angry rage and immediately regretted it. Pain shot up her foot and to her ankle. Still, she continued to rack her brain for a way to get out. There had to be a way. There had to be. "Just think," she said aloud to herself. "Sit and think."

She tried her best to stay optimistic, but at this point, what did she have to be optimistic about? She was locked inside a dungeon, inside the castle of a queen who had clearly gone mad. She was in a strange land that she knew nothing about and she was alone. Completely alone.

Cath sat on the bed and laid down. She wished that somehow Jest could be there to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything would be okay.

But that was impossible. He didn't even know that she knew he was alive. Moreover, he would be staying as far away from the White Queen as possible. Of that, Cath was certain.

She reached up and scratched at the nape of her neck, smoothing out her hair and adjusting the pins that kept her chignon in place.

The hairpins.

Upon sudden inspiration, Cath seized one of the pins and walked carefully to the door of iron bars that held her in the dungeon, held her from freedom...

Held her from Jest.

No. She wasn't going to let something as simple as iron bars keep her from her beloved.

Cath looked through the bars, and upon seeing that there wasn't anyone guarding the door, she reached through and seized the lock in her left hand. Carefully, she inserted the hairpin and fiddled with it until the lock came undone, clattering to the floor below.

Catherine stood back for a moment as she tensed all over, expecting someone to come and catch her trying to make her escape. But no one came. "Thank goodness," she thought as she squeaked open the door, hastily making her way down the dark hallway.

"Raven? Elsie?" Cath called out in a whispered tone. "Hello?"

"Cath?" A young voice whispered back.

"Elsie," Cath sighed in relief, still whispering, "thank God you're okay. You are okay, aren't you?"

"I'm fine and so is Raven."

No sooner had she said that did Cath find the door to the dungeon that held her friends. She immediately began to pick the lock.

"How did you manage to escape?" Raven frowned, having turned back into a bird.

"The same way I'm breaking you out," Catherine sighed as the lock fell, opening the door. "Hurry. We surely don't have much time before they realize we're gone."

Elsie and Raven nodded, and the two ran out the door.

Together, our group of three sprinted down the hallway, making sure that their steps made no sound on the stone. They exited through a door and found themselves in the courtyard. Oddly enough, it wasn't being guarded.

"The Queen must be making her morning speech," Raven scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You would think that one would become tired of the constant attention, but no. Not her. She feeds off of it. She-"

"Raven, that isn't important now," Cath sighed, cutting him off bluntly. "We have to hurry and get out if we want a chance at finding...him."