Unbroken

Chapter 5

The only sound outside was the symphony of crickets as they chirped in the moonlight. I walked out onto the balcony and the darkness swallowed me. I avoided the light that was coming through the windows. As long as I stuck to the shadows nobody inside would be able to see me. I quickly descended the stairs down the balcony to the lawn and gardens below. I knew the gardens backwards and forwards making it easy for me to walk around undetected in the darkness. I tiptoed to prevent my shoes from making noise on the cobblestone path that wound around the trees.

The crunching footsteps of a guard sounded to my left and I hid myself behind a large bush. I held my breath as I waited for the guard who patrolled the grounds to walk past me. I waited a few seconds after he walked by and then I eased around the bush. I made my way to the edge of the garden quickly and quietly like a shadow. I pushed open the gate and it easily swung open on oiled hinges. I silently thanked Julianne again for thinking of everything. The gate was usually locked from the outside and it used to squeal like a banshee if it were ever opened.

I paused and patiently waited for Julianne's nephew that was supposed to meet me. The time stretched on and on for what seemed like forever making me even more anxious. I was excited to leave my life but nervous about getting caught. When I heard the approaching footsteps of the night guard I panicked and looked for a hiding spot. My large gown would glow like a beacon in the night and I cursed myself for not taking it off earlier.

I had just started to run when two arms reached out of the darkness and grabbed me. One went across my waist and the other clamped down on my mouth as an involuntary squeak escaped my lips. I was pulled backwards against a muscular chest. We backed up against a large tree with low branches that easily concealed us. He backed up against the trunk of the tree and sat down in the roots. The thick roots of the tree hid us if we laid down side by side. I looked up at the branches of the tree as the guard walked by. For a moment I wondered how many times I had looked at this tree from my window. I remembered climbing it as a child. The roots were so large that I could use them as a step to swing myself up into the branches. The guard walked by and I looked over at my captor. So this was Grant. He glanced over at me when he felt my eyes on him. He nodded and stood. He reached out and gave me a hand pulling me to my feet.

He held a finger to his lips indicating that I should be quiet. I did my best to conceal my unamused expression. Of course I would be quiet. Did he think I was stupid? Did he think that I would run away screaming? Julianne had hired him for this specific purpose. He was supposed to get me out and I wanted to leave. I would be quiet. I felt my anger bubble up as I looked at him leading me through the dark. My foot caught on a rock and I fell forward with a small squeak and crashed against his back. I knocked the both of us off balance and we fell sideways with a loud crunch into leaves.

Even without being able to see his face I could sense his anger. There was the sound of footsteps as the guard came back to inspect what he had heard. Grant grabbed me pulling me against his chest and rolled us up against a bush. I was pressed up against the thick twisted branches of the bush and he was in front of me hiding me and my dress from view. I tried not to focus on how tightly he held me against him. I could practically feel his heart beating against mine. I stared over his shoulder so we wouldn't have to make eye contact as I tried to ignore how close we were. I held my breath as the guard looked for the source of the noise. When he didn't find anything he left. Probably thought it was some sort of animal making noise. I made the mistake of glancing at Grant to find him staring at me. For a second I was startled by how blue his eyes were then I forced myself to pull my gaze away. He shook with laughter at my obvious discomfort of our closeness.

When he was confident that the guard was gone he let go of me and I embarrassed myself further by missing his warmth. Once he scrambled to his feet he extended a hand to pull me to my feet. Then he stood back and extended his arm in a large sweeping motion indicating that he wanted me to go first. Once I was in front of him he grabbed my shoulder and the back of my dress. Before I could even register what was going on there was a popping sound and the bodice of my gown hung loose on my shoulders I gasped and tried to pull away but I was kept in place as he kept cutting the buttons off. I tried to turn around but the hand on my shoulder kept me from moving and I was too afraid of the guard coming back to make a sound. The skirt of my dress was pulled free after he cut a long slit down it. The golden fabric pooled at my ankles and I whirled around to face him as he returned a large scary looking knife to his belt. I looked at the ground to see all the buttons that had once been on the back of my dress. I could imagine just how ridiculous I looked standing there with half a bodice hanging from my shoulders so I shrugged out of it and threw it down to join the rest of the dress at my feet. He gave a nod and we continued on our journey. This time he walked a few paces in front of me to make sure that I didn't land on him again.

Once we were a good distance away from the castle I dared whisper his name to get his attention.

"Princess." He said over his shoulder.

"Roslyn, please." I said before I continued with my question. "How did you know I had something on under that dress?" I demanded thinking of the way that he had confidently popped the buttons off without a second thought. "I could be running around in just my underclothes right now and I would have you to thank for that." I spat.

He glanced back at me and gave a smile that made my heart stop. "I would have me to thank for that as well." He said then he continued "I thought it was worth a chance." He smirked then continued walking.

I stopped dead in my tracks and started at him with an open mouth as his words sunk in. I had imagined him to be refined like his aunt Julianne. Instead he was some terrible ruffian who I didn't even know. I was letting him lead me through the forest at night and unaccompanied by a chaperone. Oh the gossip should we be caught. I hurried to catch up with him ready to give him a piece of my mind. When I finally did catch up with him a loud horn blasted through the silence of the forest and both of us froze. It was the castle. They had discovered something was wrong. Grant looked at me for a second then reached down to grab my hand.

Pulling me with him we raced off into the trees.

g'2