The net crashed down on top of me, pinning me to the gravel path. Why does he have that?! I guess it is an effective way of catching someone though.

I looked at Levy and saw him in the middle of a fight with Clark. Levy threw a right cross at Clark's nose, and blood rushed out of his nose, splattering on his name tag, which read, Imari.

Feeling woozy, I looked away from the blood and attempted to get out from under the net. I pulled at the thick ropes that was the net. As I pulled on the ropes, I just became more tired. I stopped to catch my breath. I've never gone this long without fainting, maybe I won't faint this... time...

I collapsed on the ground and though I fought to keep my eyes open, they closed.

. . .

I blinked my eyes open to rope splitting the night sky into pieces. Why am I in a rope cage? I thought back to what happened yesterday. Oh. Right. Where's Clark?

I heard the sound of something being cut and looked around to see Levy laying on his back with an arm bent in a way that didn't seem possible and Clark cutting the rope with a scary looking knife. His nose was bent to the right and there was dry blood below his nose and on his uniform. Beginning to feel queasy, I looked away and said, "Umm, Clark, I-I think your nose is broken."

"Yeah. Me too." He said, finally finished cutting a big enough hole for me to fit.

Climbing out of the net I tripped and fell into Clarks' rock hard chest. Steadying me, Clark gripped my shoulders and asked, "You okay? I know this doesn't usually happen everyday."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay." I replied.

"Let's go then." He said and led the way, walking towards the brick red barn.

When he quietly pushed open one of the barn's big red doors, the first thing I noticed was the smell. I had never smelled anything worse. I had also never been here.

Mum had never let go horseback riding, much less let me in here. I wish I had time to say goodbye to her.

Clark locked the door behind me as I gagged and looked around the barn. There were 20 stalls, 10 on each side. Each stall had a horse, a painted wooden sign on the stall's gate stating the horse's name, and a bridle hanging on a hook. Hay littered the dirt floor along with hoof and shoe prints. At the end of the barn were saddles. I looked up and saw a hayloft with stacks of hay and a tall ladder leading up to it.

"This Arabian beauty, is Bahadur." Clark said as he walked out of a stall, leading Bahadur who had a coat as black as night. He had long black mane that shone in the moonlight coming in through the hayloft window.

Ohh. So this is Bahadur. I'd forgotten that Clark said we'd take Bahadur. "He's gorgeous..." I said.

"And so are you, mon chiot." He said and placed the flower that he was looking at earlier behind my ear, kissing my forehead. I blushed and felt butterflies in my stomach. Even after all this time we've known each other, he still gives me butterflies and makes my stomach do flips.

"Wait. Why can't we drive?" I asked.

"Well... I guess we could", he said rubbing the back of his neck with hands which had some dry blood on them. "If you want to possibly crash, because I, uh, never learned how to drive." As he spoke he had gotten flustered from the fact that he never knew how, given he's 22 years old and you can get a license when your 16. "Do you know how to drive?" He asked.

I shook my head no. If I wanted to go somewhere I was disguised, had 4 guards with me, and a fifth guard to drive me.

"So neither of us can drive, so no car. But what I can do, is ride a horse."

"Me and some of the guards see him in the pastures sometimes. Some of the other guards call him pretty boy. I'd give him a carrot or an apple whenever I was on duty near the pastures." He paused as he pet Bahadur's forehead. "How about, I saddle up Bahadur while you keep lookout in the hayloft."

Clark's family is a horse breeder, so Clark knows a bunch of stuff about horses, and lucky for us, how to saddle one.

The dress I was wearing made it a challenge to climb up the wooden ladder and even more so when the ladder shook.

When I reached the top, there were too many hay bales to count and the window to my left that overlooked the entrance to the barn had a hay bale next to it, like a bench. Sitting down on the bench, I gazed out into the night sky. I could see the palace that I know as home - used to know - and the garden.

I thought back to events in the gardens and remembered leaving Levy there. Except now when I looked for him I couldn't find him. What happened to him?

Suddenly 10 guards ran out of the castle, charging toward through the garden and scattered into 5 groups all going different directions.

"Clark! Are you almost done? People are coming for us!!" I shouted to him. I looked down and saw that Bahadur had been all saddled up, but Clark was adjusting the straps.

"Hang on... And... Done!" He replied.

After I climbed down from the hay loft I spotted a step stool next to Bahadur, who had a Clark on top of him. I stood on the step stool and Clark helped pull me up, so I rode sidesaddle. Just as I sat down on top of Bahadur right behind Clark, since he was the only one who knew how to ride, we heard the barn doors attempted to open and a woman's voice yelled, "Open up! We are His majesty's Royal guards and we order you to open the door! You have 10 seconds before we knock it down ourselves! "10.."

"What do we do?" I whispered to Clark and wrapped my arms around his waist. I was a bit worried. I don't want to become arrested (again) and be charged with prison escape! I also can't let Clark be arrested. His life will be over and no one will ever trust his family, much less buy horses from them. I'll go down, but I can't him go down with me.

"7..."

"Hold on tight. The second they break open the doors we'll run out and towards my Aunt Karens' house." He whispered back and I hugged him tighter.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." when she got to 1, I hugged Clark impossibly tighter, snuggling my face against him. I heard the sound of something being banged against the barns' doors and I closed my eyes.

Suddenly I heard the doors burst open and felt Bahadur run forward. I opened my eyes and saw that we had almost ran into a male guard who had fallen over onto the wet grass.

"SORRY!!" I yelled to him as we galloped away in the bright green grass. I felt bad that we knocked her over, even if she is trying to capture us. But she and all the others are only following orders from Dad.

Plan:
Part 1: Escape ✔️
Part 2: Go to Clark's Aunt's house
Part 3: Prove my innocence

A woman in the same Royal guard uniform helped him up and then ran after us, followed by a big crowd of people all wearing the same ugly uniform. By then, everyone looked like dots as Bahadur galloped faster and faster. The woman rolled her eyes, pulled out her gun and aimed it. She hesitated a moment before firing 2 shots.

At me.