Chapter 175: Present
{ Present }
Evanna marched through the camp, calling to Sir Baldwin without stopping to see him follow. She wanted to run. The panic and rapid beating of her heart made her muscles tense, and her eyes darted to her surroundings for an escape. But she did not act on her impulse, no matter how much she wanted to put distance between her and the Demon Prince of Hatherland.
Evanna chewed the inside of her cheek as the tents blurred by her peripheral vision and began morphing into the colours of brown and green hues of the trees. She was getting further away from the camp; the path she took was thick with trees, the space between them narrow and would be troublesome for a larger man to get through. The Princess heard Sir Baldwin struggling to follow with his silver armour clinking causing her to suppress a smile.
After a while, the trees began to spread out into a small clearing. Evanna was pleasantly surprised to see the grass giving way to a rocky ground that led to a deep drop. Sir Baldwin rushed to stop her from walking further, but she silently held her hand up while peering over the edge of the cliffside. The fall was indeed deadly, but the view was still breathtaking, overlooking the vast area of Direwood forest and in the far distance was the river. It made her contemplate her location in the woods to the Flori palace, the cave and where she would be if she looked on Axel’s map.
The Princess inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, enjoying the breeze from the cliff’s height and trying to clear her mind from the letter she received from her father. Escape was not even a question; she had no intention of marrying Conrad. Until she heard from Killian and her mother, she would have to head further east to Lyvaria and hatch up a plan along the way. It was all a bit of a mess, and now it would only be her and Ronan unless they found Ger and Axel in Kuramji. But the chances of seeing them again on a whim were low.
Now, she just needed to work out how to escape from Conrad.
"Your highness.." Sir Baldwin called to her warily. Her eyes slid back to his worried features; he was looking between her and the cliff.
Evanna waved him off. "This is nothing. But so your hair does not turn grey early.." She stepped away from the cliffside and wandered to the right side of the cliff towards the trees. She feigned interest in the bark though her thoughts were still piecing together a plan for her and Ronan’s escape.
"Your highness-"