Escape the hold

Chapter 1

I stop my needlework and look out the window to hear yelling which seems to be coming from outside the castle walls. After staring out the window for several minutes, I hear a familiar voice behind me

"Get back to your work!" I jolt my head around to see my mother Reina, has crept up behind me to check on my stitching. She is impatiently tapping her foot on the cold stone floor, holding my needlework. "Now is not the time for staring out of the window," she says.

"But don't you hear the yelling?" I sputter.

"What yelling, I hear no yelling. Edith. You know I will not release you from your school work until you are done."

At that moment Father rushed in, blowing the door open while pulling several loose strands of his long, golden hair away from his round face. "Edith Reina, get to the stronghold!"

"But why!?" I cry.

"The time has come. Drake is ready for war."

My mother is adamant. "You know I won't let you fight while I am sitting in the stronghold feeling useless!"

My father sighes, knowing it is useless to get her to the safety of the stronghold. After all, she was a warrior of great valor in her younger days. "Are Milo and Godwin already in the stronghold?" My mother asks with a concerned face.

"Yes, I sent them down before I came here for you." Relief softens her features. My parents voices fade away down the hallway as I stand there dumbfounded, not knowing what an impact those two minutes would have on my life.

I pack my stitching in my bag before hurrying down to the stronghold with a crowd of servants all around me. Once in the safety of the castle, I push through the crowds of servants sent down here with me. Walking by, I hear small fragments of conversation.

"I didn't want to worry the Lord, but I could see this coming for a while."

"I remember when that little tyrant was a youngster, I served under his father you know."

"Too bad the annual cleaning for this dismal place was scheduled for the next week, I can't stand cobwebs."

I smile inwardly at the last one. I make my way to where I can find refuge from this nightmare.

Spotting two figures that look like my brothers, I sprint toward them with reneId energy. Upon arriving, I sit down next to what I thought was Milo, my older brother of sixteen, two years older than me.

"Well, this is a surprise," says a voice that seems to be coming from the hunched form I have just sat down next to. "What did I do to get in th' favor of Milady?" Definitely not Milo. After apologizing profusely, I ask the gangly young boy I had mistaken for Milo if he had seen him anywhere. "Yes, in fact. Saw 'im go to the very back." After thanking him, I speed off in the direction that the young servant has pointed at, silently reprimanding myself the whole time.

I get to where Milo and Godwin are sitting on the cold floor leaning on one of the stone walls. Godwin is swathed in a mass of blankets, but it seems like he has always been, after his fever. Milo is hugging a small parcel of food against his chest, slowly rocking back and forth. As I walk towards him, he notices my staggering figure and sets aside his parcel and holds his long arms out towards me. When I get near, the shock and terror of the current situation reaches my mind and numbs my limbs.

I collapse into Milos lap and he understands, he always understands even when no one else does. While we sit in the secret stronghold below the castle, I can hear the war being waged above. I pray for my father and mother as the sounds emanating from the stone ceiling do not cease to terrify all below. It sounds like the castle is being torn apart, stone by stone, wall by wall.

After what seems like too many hours to count, the incessant booming and unearthly roaring has died down. I can hear muffled shouts of deep voices coming from the hallway in which the secret trapdoor lay. Suddenly there is yelling. Milo and I realize at the same time that one of the men has pulled back the tapestry that hid the trapdoor and has found us.

We all freeze. I can hear Milos heavy breathing from his racing heart. Milo jumps up, and sweeps the meager provisions up into his arms along with my hand, and the bundle of Godwin. Hurriedly, with an air of panic, he pulls me along towards the back of the stronghold.

He lets go of my hand and gives me Godwin, and frantically runs his hands against the stone wall, all the while the sounds of the men are wafting down the long hallway as we are being pursued. After a minute of frantic searching he comes across a depression in the wall and pushes. Immediately there is a low rumble emanating from behind the wall, kicking up years of dust. When the dust settles, there appears a doorway with a long staircase leading us out.