1x1: Kingdom of Ruin

"Follow me." Sasha flung open the door to the armoury and ran for the servants passage. They were the most direct routes to nearly anywhere in the castle so that there would be no excuse for servants to keep anyone waiting. As they neared the hall that lead to the ballroom however, smoke filled the hall, mixed with screaming and the tang of blood. "My prince, we can't keep going, we need to get you to safety." Whatever was happening in there it sounded like the castle guards were not winning, and if that was the case, neither would the prince. She had to keep him alive. ​

 

Sasha held her ground. She knew that if the guards weren't able to stand up to them, neither was the prince. "You will die along with your kingdom then. One of the royal family needs to make it out tonight." Sasha argued with him. At this point she wasn't thinking about how a servant should act, just about the survival of the kingdom. As she spoke she heard voices from in the ballroom.
"I think I heard something."
"Probably just some pesky servants."
"What if they are helping one of 'em escape? I don't see the princeling here. We could interrogate one since we kill'd all of em here."
Her breath caught in her throat. Sasha's parent were serving in there. "We have to go." She whispered again before she caught figures at the end of the hall.
"There, there is some down there. Ya better surrender and then maybe we will play nice." Sasha saw them level something in the smoke.
"Run!" One hand pushing the prince and the other flung out towards the assailants, what happened next Sasha was not prepared for. A small bold of lighting leaped from her fingers towards the figures, she heard the first cry out in pain and stood there frozen. She always knew that she had magic but never the extent of it. As she felt it roll through her blood in this moment of desperation, she was afraid, more afraid of her own magic than the attack on the castle. ​

 

"Uh.. um..." Sasha was still in a shock, but as Harry tugged her arm and she stumbled towards him, she cleared her head just in time to turn and run. As she did an arrow struck into her shoulder. She let out a small cry of pain as she heard the men at the end laugh and curse at her. Blinking back the tears, Sasha remained behind the prince but sort of pushed him forward as they ran. If these men were going to pursue them, then she would be hit before Harry. "Turn left up here. There is an exit to the back garbage disposal area a few more halls down. It is probably our best way out." She warned him as they rounded the corner and Sasha nearly stumbled, stars dancing in her eyes. "Right." She instructed approaching the next door. ​

 

She would slow them both down if she got on the Prince's back, but from the sound in his command she knew that there wasn't a choice in the matter. Climbing on Harry's back, she held on as tight as she could without hurting her shoulder too much. There were tears starting to flow from the pain and the loss of her parents, but she did her best to hold herself together. "Turn right again, then take the third door on your left. At the end of the hall should be the way out." Sasha instructed trying to keep the pain from her voice as she smelled the fires and heard the shouts of the men pursuing them, more now it sounded like. As they ran she tore a little bit of her dress to try and stop her bleeding that was slipping passed the arrow. She couldn't give them a trail to follow, it would get them both killed. ​

 

Steadying herself on her own two feet, Sasha walked ahead, listening at the door before opening it. It seemed quiet so she cracked the door open and peered out, not getting a good look before she could hear the people behind getting closer. Taking a chance she pushed the door fully open and dashed outside. This door took her to a tight corridor between buildings, the stables were to the right of her as she entered the narrow way. There was no way they could make it out on a horse, the main entrances would be guarded, so they would have to be fast but sneak around. Waving Harry to follow she crept through the narrow corridor until she could survey the area around them a bit better. It was hard to tell who was and wasn't an ally, but by the main entrance, she could just barely catch a commotion, and by the stables the horses didn't sound too happy either. Between them and the wall was nothing but open space. "Do you think we can run for it?" She tried to ask Harry, not knowing what other option they had anymore. ​

 

Sasha bit her lip so hard that a tang of blood could be tasted in her mouth, but it was better than letting anyone hear as her shoulder burned through the pain as Harry tried to stifle the bleeding the best he could before they had time to properly deal with the arrow that still protruded on either side of her shoulder. "There are back gates, but I am sure they are watched as well." She looked to the cobblestone work of the wall. "We climb, it is the best chance of slipping out while the infiltrators are too busy with the people trying to escape through the exits."​

 

If she went first then she could get them both killed, but Harry seemed like he was in no mood to argue. It just meant that she couldn't fall, no matter the pain. Taking a few deep breaths Sasha looked to Harry, gave him a nod, them sprinted for the wall as fast as she could manage, grabbing it with only her good arm at first. After finding places for her feet she realized that it was not possible to do this without her other arm, but lifting it above her head with the arrow in it was agonizing. Doing her best to use it to steady herself while she reached up with her other hand, she managed to start her way up, but not fast enough. She could hear everything around her but didn't know anymore who was still chasing them or noticed them.

As some shouts got closer she forced her injured arm up and started to climb faster, at this point she couldn't suppress the cry of pain, but it was covered by the sound of thunder. The entire sky suddenly clouded over and rain started to fall, lightning struck the ground around them, but never them, and always in unison with Sasha's cries of pain as she tried to hoist herself to the top of the wall. Barely making it before staring at the way down. The rain was making the wall slippery and her arm was in so much pain she didn't think she could even try and grab another rock with it. She looked at Harry offering him a her good arm to help him up, but felt defeat coming this far and not knowing how to continue. ​

 

Sasha cringed as she watched Harry slip off. Something deep down recognized this being her fault, this whole storm. She could feel the force churning within her as the storm raged around them. She didn't know how to control it though, she was never permitted to learn how, instead she had been taught how to control her emotions and keep everything calm in order to keep the magic calm as well. Now was not the time for calm thoughts and emotions however as she looked down and took a deep breath, finally lowering herself over the side, searching for foot holds and a place for her good hand. However as she steadied herself she wasn't able to do much else to get down. She tried to stretch her leg down to move down a bit, she couldn't reach another sturdy foot hold. Her hurt arm wasn't responding very well, weak from the climb up, and she was terrified to let go with the other hand. It was a fifteen foot drop down from where she was. It probably wouldn't kill her if she fell but it would certainly hurt like hell.

Leaning her entire body against the wall, she slid her hand down a bit so that she could then move down. The process was painfully slow, but she managed to get her next foot hold. If no one was coming after them maybe she could manage to get down, she just had to be careful and take her time, and pray to whatever got was out there to have mercy on her and let her get down safely. ​

 

What if she hurt him? What if she was heavier than he expected? But what if they were coming? What was she to do? After another moment of trying and struggling to descend just a little more she finally gave in, giving Harry a bit of a nod before looking down, trying to prepare herself for the drop. There was no preparing for it however, no stopping the fear that clenched her heart as she stared at the drop awaiting her. Finally she just couldn't hold on any longer and dropped into Harry's arms, where it was all too clear now the pain and fear written on her face, and the lines of tears between the raindrops. "I-I am sorry your majesty." She whispered quietly. Sorry that he was forced to look after some lowly servant girl who couldn't control her emotions at the moment. Sorry for the storm that was soaking their clothes and making the climb down so hard. From here however they had another problem, Sasha only knew how to get to a few places in town and she wasn't too clear on how to leave town. Besides the occasional errand she spent her life working in the castle and had rarely gone into town, never had she left the city before. ​

 

She didn't feel like the hero, not at all. She felt weak and not worth the attention of the prince at all, much less all this. "We can't get away from the storm. It comes from in me." She whispered admitting her mistakes with the powerful magic that was creating the storm. They could find shelter, but the storm would follow them until she figured out how to stop it. "No your majesty. I do not. I never got out the castle much." She was good at navigating the castle and it's grounds but beyond was not something that she could really help with. "We should try and get out of town I think." She suggested feeling that whoever took the castle would be storming the town soon after. If she had to guess they wanted to rule and to do that they would need to scare the people into submission. ​