Chapter 121

Chapter 121 A dreadful escape.

Doris couldn’t see Enzo, but his voice was all the confirmation she needed. Doris gripped the bars of his cell. “Enzo, are you alright?” Doris said quietly. They didn’t have much time before that boy alerted someone of the shift change. They were probably already on their way here and every breath was a waste.

“As well as I can be, I suppose.” Enzo said with a weak chuckle. William fumbled with the keys beside her as he tried to find the match in the complete darkness. Doris felt as if she could hear all of their breaths echo in her ears along with the beat of her heart. “I didn’t think you would come for me.”

“Of course we would. You’re in this mess because of us.” Doris said gently. William stiffened beside her.

A moment later, the lock sounded and the door creaked open slowly. “You never let us down when we needed you.”

“I appreciate your lies, they sound so sweet coming from your lips.” Enzo groaned as he must have forced himself to his feet and over to them. “You truly didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me. I expected you both to already be on your way back to the castle by now. I’m sure they would have realized their mistakes soon enough and let me go.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath about that.” William muttered and brushed past her.“ How are we supposed to get him out of here without them noticing? Everyone knows what he looks like, he’s their leader.”

“There’s a reason they keep the cells so dark down here.” Enzo said. William paused his steps. She couldn’t see either of them but she could sense William anywhere like he was a part of her. “They easily forget that I am the one who helped design this building. At the end of the hall there’s a cellar door that leads under ground. They were originally made for servants—“

“We don’t need a history lesson on your building, on with it.” William snapped. Enzo only laughed. Doris wanted to step on his foot but she knew she wouldn’t have been able to find it in the darkness.

Unfortunately.

“He’s delightful, glad to see that hasn’t changed a bit.” Enzo shifted his body and brushed by Doris. “It travels underground straight to the kitchens where we can slip out of the back door before they realize I’m gone. At least we have the keys.”

“We’d better hurry, then. I think the guard that watched the door was going straight to Mr. Hugh to ask about the sudden shift change.” Doris said. Enzo gripped her hand in the darkness, it almost startled her.

“Let’s go, then.”

Doris reluctantly reached out to grip William’s hand and forced him to follow them. Enzo led them down the long, dark hallway and stopped to steady Doris several times when she tripped over her own feet.

She was only glad it was dark enough to hide her blush from the two men who must have felt like she was a clumsy fool. 1 At the end of the hallway, he released her hand and tried to force open the door. William reached across to hand him the keys and a second later, they were inside. A blinding light made her eyes water. The hallway was brighter than day and looked like a stone cave that stretched far.

“Why do they keep it so bright down here?” Doris whispered and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She glanced back and saw some of the dirty cells lit up behind them. “The bright light is just enough to light up the servants path down the row of cells. It’s only on when they have someone in the cells. I suppose we should be lucky they wanted to light it just for me.” Enzo grumbled. She turned to get a good look at him and almost gasped at his state. He had two black eyes and cuts across his arm and neck. His clothes were tom in more than one place and he looked as if he could barely stand straight.

“Oh my… Enzo, I can’t believe they did this to you.” Doris reached out her hand to lightly touch the bruises under his eyes. He gripped her hand and held it against his chest. 2 “I have to admit, it was on me. I gave them one hell of a fight and I refused to stay down.” Enzo cleared his throat and tried to offer her a smile. He gestured for them to walk down the hall and he made sure the door was locked behind them. It might not keep the guards out, but it would certainly slow them down a bit.

“We have to turn this around and get them back on your side, Enzo. I think we might have a plan to try.”

Doris quickened her step to keep up with the men.

“It might end up getting us killed.” William grumbled.

Enzo glanced at both of them with raised brows. “Care to expand on this so called dangerous plan? My own plans have fallen flat for the time being.”

“I think if we can lead the rogues back to the camp, perhaps Sir Antony could calm them down and allow them to listen to a bit of reason.” Doris explained. “I know it will be complicated, but they’ll listen to him. I heard the guards call him untouchable so perhaps they’d be willing to listen to him if he says to listen to William and his idea. If they don’t want anything to do with William still, we’ll leave and never come back.

Maybe Sir Antony can restore their hope back in you, the very least.” 1 William snorted and shoved his hands into his pockets. They both ignored him.

Enzo looked thoughtful, and also in a bit of pain. “We won’t need to do anything to lead them back, they’ll know that’s where I went. I just need a night to regain a bit of strength before we attempt that.”

“I know it could backfire, but it’s worth a shot.”

“Doris is right, as usual.” Enzo offered her a smile while William rolled his eyes. “I can’t sit back and go into hiding forever, we have to try something and I don’t hear any better suggestions.”

“We can hide out with my guards for the night and go back to your camp by morning. I’m sure they will already be waiting for us by then.” William said. They reached the end of the hallway and Enzo gestured for them to stay still.

He unlocked the door with the set of keys and peered inside the kitchen. Doris was hit with a warm air of sweetness that made her realize how hungry she was. She gripped her stomach when it started to grumble. William eyed her suspiciously.

Enzo closed the door and turned back to them. “There’s several cooks at their stoves but no one is near the door. We can make it through if we hurry but we must be quiet. Their equipment is loud, but not that loud.”

They both nodded and Enzo opened the door slowly. William went in front of her and gripped her hand.

They all crouched and slowly crawled out of the door and into the kitchen. Trays of fresh bread and baked goods cooled on the edge of the counter Doris wished she could shove all of it in her pockets to eat later.

As if William had the same sort of idea, he reached up to grab one of the larger loafs to shove in his jacket before he continued after Enzo. Enzo gave him a quick glare over his shoulder before he made sure the cooks hadn’t seen William.

There was nothing but the sound of metal clinking together as the cooks moved around the kitchen. It was possibly the warmest place she had been in since she’d first came to the north. None of them turned towards them as Enzo lightly pulled open the door for them to slip out of and into the harsh cold once more.

They all stood once they closed the door behind them.

“Well, that was easier—“

“There they are!” A voice screamed across the clearing. A line of guards stood exactly where they needed to leave through. William stepped more in front of Doris as if he could block her entirely from their view. 2 “What do we do?” William hissed to Enzo.

Enzo looked over each of the guards and Doris couldn’t help but wonder if he recognized any of them as his own men. “Head left. We can lose them through the trees.”

“Should we shift?” Doris asked.

“No. I won’t be able to and it will only turn worse if we do.”

“My men are out there, they have horses for us. All we have to do is reach them—“ “Get them!” The guard roared.