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Chapter 4 - White Escape

Nereyda

"Hi," I squeaked.

He kept his expression perfectly stoic but I was sure I could see a teasing glint in his eye. "Shall we?" He asked, holding out his arm for me to take.

I blinked a few times before going to him and linking my arm in his. My floor length sleeves made it slightly awkward but I remembered my manners and allowed him to take the lead.

We walked through the spacious ground floor of the castle, making our way out towards the balcony that would lead us to the gardens. I was trying to take even, measured steps but Oscar's strides were huge and I found myself having to skip unevenly to keep up with him. This meeting was not going well so far.

We reached the back of the castle and went out through the sliding glass doors. Oscar hadn't said anything yet and I had no idea what we were actually supposed to do in our time alone together. If Oscar didn't want to speak, which I could completely understand because conversation was unfashionable, then I had no idea how we were going to occupy ourselves.

My family had never seemed to see anything wrong with long, unfilled silences but I for one found them incredibly uncomfortable. When I was on my own it was fine but when I was with other people I always felt the need to say something to fill the silence. It was stupid really.

"Wow," Oscar expressed his admiration as he looked out on the towering mountains the balcony faced.

The castle was built high into the side of a mountain which loomed over the rest of Paladu. You had to climb hundreds of stairs to reach the castle entrance because of its position. The majority of the palace rooms had been hollowed out of the mountain's insides, the foyer being one of them. We'd now walked the whole way through the mountain and come to look over a deep, narrow valley which stretched on for miles towards the Tainted Sea.

There was a freshwater river that ran through the basement of the castle and from where we stood on the balcony, we could see the water crash thousands of feet into the valley river below. The gentle hammer of the waterfall was calming and the sprawling expanse of vegetation on the other side of the valley was unfettering.

"It's beautiful isn't it," I agreed softly. Oscar leaned against the railing of the balcony now and I stepped forwards so I stood next to him.

He turned his face towards me and my mouth fell open in shock; he was smiling. "You fit right in." His short reddish brown hair flew around erratically in the vigorous mountain breeze.

I didn't pick up on his implication immediately but when I did I felt my face heat. I had never been very good at concealing my emotions and, despite hours of tutoring, when the time came for me to be cool and collected all my emotions just bubbled up and out.

I realised that I was still blushing and looking over his shoulder, not meeting his eye. That was rude. When someone of status addressed you, you had to respectfully lower your gaze and reply.

Why did I have to forget all of my drilled in etiquette now?

"Thank you," I stared fixedly at the floor.

A long finger on my chin raised my face to be parallel with his. My eyes widened and my lips parted slightly in surprise.

"You are probably surprised by my countenance Nereyda." He smiled wryly at me, his eyes sparkly with mischief. "I'm sorry if my behaviour is shocking to you but you must know that I am not native to this city."

I really hadn't known that but then, how could I have known when no one in my family spoke to me. I guessed that I probably should have been able to infer. He was a Tiger Lord and tigers were native to Annel. I simply nodded in response, my previous self doubts making themselves known. If he wasn't from the city then did he find my blank impression strange? If so then how was I supposed to act now?

He held his arm out and I took it, suddenly bewildered at what was expected of me.

We started down the spiraling staircase that led to various ledges down the side on the mountain and, eventually, to the valley below.

"You know," Oscar said, "You don't have to hide your emotions from me," He said the words very matter of factly although they were almost impossible for me to comprehend. He made it sound like discarding everything I had ever known was perfectly natural and easy.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," But now that I knew he wouldn't disapprove, I found my brows creasing slightly and I did nothing to even them out.

"Of course it is," He grinned boyishly. "It will allow us to get to know one another better." We were halfway down the first flight of stairs now, nearly at the first garden.

The vast gaping space of the valley made it feel like we were enclosed in our own bubble. I was careful with my steps. The narrow spiraling white staircase was precarious and I knew it wouldn't take much to trip and fall.

We walked in comfortable silence for a few more moments and I found myself relaxing further and further into Oscar's company. The knowledge that he was not judging me for my feelings took a weight off my shoulders and gave me a new perspective on my current situation.

I allowed myself to wonder and marvel at how lucky I was to be gifted with such a beautiful home amongst the mountains.

"Do you think," Oscar smiled cheekily, and I knew my thoughts of him would forever come with a mental image of that cheeky smile. "Do you think that if we shouted into the valley our voices would echo back at us?"

It was a stupidly absurd idea but I found myself charmed by his carefree way of thinking.

My lips pulled to the side slightly and my eyebrows raised in amusement. "Perhaps." Although I was more free in my emotions, I knew I would not be having long conversations for a while to come.

"Hello!" He shouted suddenly into the gorge. I jumped at the abrupt change in volume before finding my lips pulling up at both sides. Oscar's voice was repeated back at us several times.

He turned to me grinning, his smile widening when he saw my expression.

"Your turn." We had reached the first garden, it was one of the largest out of the ten that were stacked down the cliff. He playfully tugged me to the railing, leaning over it and yelling, "Nereyda!" It echoed back at him just like before.

His arm wrapped around my waist as he pulled me to his side. I went without complaint, inexplicably amused by the whole ordeal.

"You have a beautiful name," He said quietly, gazing at me. "Go on," He urged, "Let it all out."

For some reason I found myself seriously considering his proposal which was utterly irrational seeing as everyone in the castle could most likely hear us. There was just something so fascinating about how happy he looked as he grinned and shouted into the void.

My eyes flitted around the valley for a second before I looked back up at him. In my peripheral vision I saw a figure standing menacingly on the top castle balcony. I started tacitly, the feeling of safe openness evaporating in blue clouds.

I pulled away from Oscar and composed my face, keeping my eyes on my father the whole time. I couldn't make out his features at the distance but there was no mistaking the dash of white hair against blue sky and the bulk of his trademark wolf skin over his shoulders.

Oscar frowned at me, confused by my abrupt change of demeanor. He followed my gaze up and understanding dawned on his features. This was quickly followed by the tightening of his eyes and the clenching of his fists on the railing.

He glared out at the gorge for a few more seconds before he audibly took in a deep breath. As he released it his face was washed of emotion. He wordlessly held out his arm for me to take and the fifteen minutes of fantasy were over.

As we made our way up the stairs my father disappeared inside the house. He'd probably heard the shouting and come to investigate. I wondered what that meant for Oscar if the King now doubted his suitability to fit into our society.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. Dinner was a silent affair between just my mother, myself and Lord Oscar. My father scarcely ever ate with anyone. He was quite the recluse, always holed up in his study or bedroom. Oscar's brother was apparently visiting some friends in the city and sent his most humble apologies for being absent.

I somehow doubted his sincerity in that apology, from what I'd seen of Deacon, he was not the kind of man who apologised easily.

I retired early to my room, allowing my maids to dress me for bed. I flinched when one of them brushed against my shoulder, my nerves betraying me. She gave me a wary, somewhat suspicious look but, of course, said nothing. As they were leaving I called out.

"Amberly..." I knew my request would sound opaque but I needed someone to cover me in the event of an emergency. "Make sure no one checks on me tonight?" I cringed inwardly at my questioning tone. I was a princess and they were by servants, they had to follow my orders and I owed them no explanation. "I am incredibly tired," I tacked on, against my better judgement.

She curtseyed as she said, "No one will be disturbing you tonight." She bowed her head once more before letting the door click quietly behind her.

I huffed out a breath at her departure, blowing my fringe out of my face. I jumped up from where I sat perched on my bed and quickly wrapped a fur lined white cloak around me. I pulled the hood up, quietly sliding the glass door of my balcony open and making my way outside. I made sure to leave the door open a crack so I would be able to get back in at the end of the evening.

Once on the balcony I gingerly clambered over the railing and, with a racing heart, swung myself down onto the balcony directly below my own. I continued to do this until I had descended six floors and landed on the ground level of the castle. On the floor balcony I jumped over the railing before scampering across the rocky mountain with my back to the wall.

As a child, I had considered many different ways to escape the castle but, until recently, had never put any of them into practice. It was actually not as hard as one might think, provided you had the right information.

I carefully picked my way down the steeply sloping mountain, creeping around the side of the castle until I came to the small servant's door in the left wing. It led to the goods chamber and I ducked quickly inside, pressing against the wall and straining my ears to make certain that the room was empty. I was ninety percent sure that it would be; at this time there were never any deliveries scheduled.

I slipped into the cozy goods lift a second before the doors closed. The goods lift was designed to transport cargo up and down the mountain and it never stopped running, powered as it was by the movement of the waterfall. It consisted of several small boxes which hung from an elevated looped wire, each box being able to carry up to four hundred kilograms.

The box lurched as the wire swung us first up, then back on itself and down the mountain. I sat down in the small space, knowing that it would be a good few minutes before I reached the bottom. I wasn't sure why I'd become so rebellious but I did know that Braeden seemed to inspire something dark within me. My longing to see him was so intense that I was going to rather great measures to escape the castle, for only a few hours.

Plus, freedom was extremely addictive. Once I'd had a taste of what it was like to walk the streets alone with the ability to go anywhere my feet would take me, I was a complete goner. Having being controlled and carefully monitored my whole life, the feeling of independence and abandonment set my blood humming.

The grating sound of the hinges indicated that I had reached the end of my descent. Out here, so far from the castle, no one was so concerned about sounds. It was only in and around the palace that the king could hear every little ping. It was said that he always knew where everyone was because he could differentiate between the sound of people's footsteps. I wasn't sure if I believed it but if anyone had such an ability it would be my father.

The doors slid open allowing me to hop out easily. Now it was just a matter of finding my way into the centre of the city again.

The suburbs were absolutely deserted at night because of the general citizen curfew. There would only be guards on the street but I had taken a sneaky glance at the guards patrol timetable the day before. I remembered everything and the route into town was perfectly imprinted into my mind.

I ran along in the shadows, my hood being pushed off by the wind and my long hair flying out behind me. I didn't stop, knowing that I didn't have much time before a guard would be on the main road. The buildings blurred on both sides and my mouth curved in an irrepressible feral smile. Just as I was about to reach the cobbled floor of the city centre, a figure emerged from a side road. I slowed down suddenly, swerving to avoid hitting the man.

Suddenly stationary, dread bloomed as I realised who the figure was and quickly smoothed my face. Immediately my head started to split apart, a result of using my leopard abilities.

I cringed inwardly and although I was doing my best to keep my face clear, I could feel the tightness in my eyes and my lips were slightly pursed.

Guiltily, I met Simon's eyes. 

--- A/N ---

Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed, vote and comment if you did. This one's been edited! Did you see a difference? :/ All my love and thank you for reading! - Zoe :)