Day five, or maybe six. She wasn’t quite sure any more. It felt like weeks to Princess Bluharia since she was kidnapped by the evil king. Why do evil kings and monsters always kidnap beautiful princesses? Was Princess Bluharia even that attractive? That’s beside the point; the point is she was kidnapped and has no way of escape.
Or so she thought.
After dinner on the fifth or sixth night, the fair princess came to the realization that the guards watching over her had the intelligence of an average forest troll. She watched them fumble with the simplest tasks, such as preparing her food and making sure the cell door was properly locked. Did the king think this little of her or was he just that over-confident? Maybe she could manage to escape, that is if all of the guards are as stupid as the ones around her cell. But how could she break free? Looking around her cell, she noticed what appeared to be a blind spot in the corner of the ceiling. Maybe if she could manage to sneak up there…no, that’s preposterous. Princesses aren’t supposed to fight back, they’re just supposed to play the submissive role while their knights, hunters, and plumbers are supposed to come to their rescue. But it’s been days, maybe even weeks by now. She had to try something.
So the next day, at the scheduled time for the guards to collect the princess’ dinner dishes, Bluharia managed to climb up to the corner and wait for the guards. When they finally arrived, they behaved exactly as planned; they opened the door and rushed in, frantically looking around for the seemingly missing princess. Once they were far enough away from the door, the princess dropped down from her hiding place and managed to attack her guards, at least enough to steal their keys and lock them in the cell.
“Wait, no, stop!” cried one of the guards. “If the King hears about this he’ll kill us!”
“Good,” replied the princess, “maybe next time you’ll think twice before signing up to help someone kidnap a princess.” As she was about to make her escape, she realized that she wouldn’t be able to make it very far without being spotted and re-captured by more competent guards. Looking back into the cell, she noticed one of the guards was about her size. “Give me your uniform,” demanded the princess.
“What?” asked the guard. “First you beat us up and now you want our clothes?”
“That’s right,” said the princess. However, time was running out, and she was in no mood to explain her plans to someone with a single-digit IQ. Unlocking the cell door, she managed to pull off the uniform without letting the guards escape. They really were as dumb as they looked. And with that she was dashing down the hallway, searching for an exit. She came upon another guard, blocking what the princess assumed was the way out. “Excuse me,” said the princess, “do you happen to know the way outside? I’m new here and I, er, need to get some fresh air.”
“Oh, um, no, I don’t,” stammered the guard. She had a woman’s voice, maybe she wouldn’t be as easy to deceive. “I, erm, just started here too and I…um…don’t really know where anything is.” Looking closely at the guard, she could tell this one was different. Her skin appeared to be cleaner and more flesh-colored than that of the other guards, and she didn’t look like she was stricken with a case of Jaundice. Her posture was off too, she was slouching and appeared to be incredibly nervous.
“She’s over there!” Both of the ladies turned to see a group of guards, one stripped of his uniform, running towards them. But they were coming from the opposite direction Bluharia was coming. “That’s her! She’s the one that escaped!” Bluharia looked over at the faux guard, who started sprinting in the opposite direction. She ran after the woman, maybe they could both find an escape together.
“Wait for me,” cried Bluharia, “we can escape together!” She managed to catch up to the fleeing woman, who didn’t appear to be slowing down. They managed to lock themselves in what appeared to be a spare room, blocking the door with statues and other artifacts they found. “That should hold them off for a few minutes.”
“Now how are we supposed to get out of here?” asked the woman. Bluharia looked around and found a window. Running over, she looked out and saw that they were only about two stories up. There appeared to be an extensive line of hedges running along the castle wall.
“Look down there,” explained Bluharia, “we can use those to break our fall.
“You mean jump!?” cried the woman. “We’ll get ourselves killed!”
“If we stay here we won’t turn out much better,” said Bluharia. “If we’re going to have any chance of survival, our best bet is to jump out here and make a run for it. With the guards getting closer and closer to breaking down the door, the woman gave in.
“Alright, but you first,” agreed the woman. Bluharia climbed out onto the ledge and steadied herself. Closing her eyes, she jumped and landed in a surprisingly soft bush. Opening her eyes, she saw the nameless woman climbing out onto the ledge.
“Go ahead and jump! I’ll catch you!” Bluharia called. Hesitating, the woman closed her eyes and jumped. However, she was much heavier than Bluharia anticipated and she was crushed upon impact. “Okay…bad idea.”
“Sorry…” said the woman, looking embarrassed. She helped up Bluharia, and before they could thank each other, they heard a loud commotion from above. Looking up, they could see silhouettes of the guards entering the spare room. “Follow me,” commanded the girl, grabbing Bluharia’s hand and running off towards the nearby woods. They both ran for what seemed like hours, making sure to put enough distance between them and the castle—no small feat, considering the dusky light surrounding them. Once the two ladies couldn’t run any longer, they both collapsed in a pile of flowers and leaves. Catching her breath, Bluharia looked over at the woman.
“Thanks for all of your help back there; I never would have been able to escape without you”. The woman took off her helmet to reveal long, flowing locks and flawless makeup. Bluharia was shocked, this woman was held captive for who knows how long and still managed to look stunningly beautiful.
“Don’t mention it,” replied the girl with a smile, “you helped me just as much as I helped you. What’s your name?” Bluharia paused, she was always embarrassed with her name, it sounded like someone coughing up a lung.
“Oh, um, it’s…Bluharia”. She could tell she was turning a bright red; luckily, she still had her helmet on. “What’s yours?”
The girl giggled. “Armona”. Bluharia was getting jealous, this gorgeous woman has the prettiest name while Bluharia is stuck with something that sounds like a deadly disease. Regardless, Bluharia wanted to find out more about this girl.
“So, Armona, what were you doing in the castle? Were you kidnapped too?”
“Yes, about three weeks ago. I was out in my kingdom checking in on the animal shelter when I was hit over the head with something heavy. The next thing I remember is waking up in that awful cell with those stupid guards trying to watch over me. I finally got up the courage to escape tonight. And I’m glad I did,” she said with a smile.
“The same thing happened to me the other day,” said Bluharia, taking off her helmet. “I was walking back to my palace after a council meeting when I was brutally attacked.” She was starting to wonder if there was something bigger than her and her kingdom going on. “What’s more, I think I have an idea of who did it, too.” Armona looked at her, confused. “I think it was King Hodson. My father and he have been enemies for as long as I can remember. Kidnapping me would be just the kind of thing he would do to spite my father.”
“But, that couldn’t have been Hodson’s castle we were locked in, from what I’ve heard his kingdom is on the edge of a cliff surrounded by a field, not a forest.” Armona paused, staring off into the distance. “We need to figure out who did this and make sure they never do it to us or anyone else ever again.” Bluharia stopped and looked at Armona.
“You mean…together?”
Armona blushed. “Yeah…I guess so.” She stood up and reached for Bluharia’s hand. “But not tonight, we need to find somewhere to camp for the night.” Bluharia grabbed her hand and followed her in search of a camping spot. Bluharia wasn’t sure, but she had a feeling this was the start of something big.