CHAPTER 18: ESCAPE PLAN

The pale light of morning crept through the curtains, thin and cold, stretching over the floor like it had no right to touch me.

I lay still for a moment, staring at the way it painted faint shapes across the rug, letting the weight in my body keep me pressed against the bed.

My limbs felt leaden, my eyes sore and swollen from crying, but my mind refused to stay quiet.

I only had a few days left.

A few days before the Heirbind rite.

Once that day came, there would be no undoing it. I’d be bound to Finn in a way I could never break, trapped beneath his claim, his will, his power.

And then escape would be nothing more than a fantasy I’d never touch.

If justice is what you seek, escape that hell of a place.

It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. One I’d decided to follow.

The door creaked open.

I sat up slowly, my muscles aching with the movement. A maid I didn’t recognize slipped into the room, carrying a tray. Her face was blank, her eyes fixed somewhere over my shoulder as she crossed to the table and set the food down without a sound.

I studied her, every line of her posture, the way her hands didn’t fidget. Was she one of Esther’s? Was she here to watch me, to listen, to report back?

If she was, she hid it well.

She left without so much as a glance in my direction, closing the door with a soft click.

I stared at the tray for a while. Bread still warm, a small bowl of berries, a cup of tea sending up faint curls of steam.

My stomach gave a weak twist, but my hunger was gone. The thought of eating in this place, in this room, felt like a kind of surrender I wasn’t willing to give. Besides, who knew if it was poisoned again?

The maid might have been harmless. But here, harmless was an illusion I couldn’t afford to believe in. Trust had no place in this manor.

When I was certain I was alone again, I pushed myself off the bed and moved toward the window.

I kept my body angled away from it, making it look like I was simply standing nearby, my gaze unfocused. In truth, my eyes tracked every shadow below.

I needed to know which was the best way to go. I needed a plan.

First, the north-facing window. From here, I could see the gravel path that ran alongside the outer wall and curved toward the training grounds.

Two guards patrolled it, their steps so steady it was almost hypnotic. They didn’t speak to one another, didn’t even glance at the view beyond the walls, eyes forward.

Every few minutes, they passed the same gap in the hedges, their shadows lengthening in the slant of the sun.

I made note of the timing. And the blind spots.

The east-facing window offered a different angle, the front courtyard, the long sweep of cobblestone leading to the manor’s grand entrance.

There, the patrols were heavier. At least eight to ten guards, with others stationed at the high gate. The main road stretched beyond them, disappearing into the town in the distance.

By the second day of planning, I decided I needed more than a view from above. I needed to see how they moved up close, so I left my room.

When the head servant noticed me, he glanced at me with disdain but didn’t say anything, as if thinking I wasn’t stupid or smart enough to attempt anything silly.

I walked the inner corridors slowly, memorizing which ones brought me closest to the outer walls.

Through narrow windows, I caught flashes of movement, the guards changing shifts, others speaking in low tones before returning to their posts.

When I passed near the servants’ quarters on the southern side of the manor, I noticed something different. The guards here were fewer.

Only one stood at the back door, leaning against the wall, his attention drifting toward the kitchen windows whenever laughter spilled out.

It was nothing like the rigid, wordless patrols at the front.

Beyond that door lay the maze garden.

I knew every turn of it.

Back when my father was still Beta, I’d been in and out of the Alpha’s estate more times than I could count.

The garden had been my escape even then, a place where I could vanish between the hedges, my footsteps muffled by moss and soil, the world narrowed to winding green corridors and the smell of sun-warmed leaves.

I knew the dead ends, the false turns, and most importantly, the quickest path to the far edge where the hedges broke into open grass.

And beyond that grass, the forest waited.

If I could make it to that back door without being seen, the maze would hide me. The hedges would swallow my shadow, and the forest would take care of the rest.

The plan began to take shape in my mind. Not perfect, not without risks, but possible.

For the first time since I arrived in the manor, the thought sent a flicker of something through me.

Hope.

Though, I could imagine what would happen if I were caught.

Finn’s face came to mind first. That unyielding stare, the way he could look through me as if I were nothing more than a problem to solve. He wouldn’t hesitate.

He’d drag me back to the dungeon, maybe worse. And Esther...

I could see her, standing beside Finn, her lips curving into that satisfied smile.

She’d drink in the sight of me in chains. She’d whisper something sweet to Finn while knowing she was the one who made it happen.

And the Council... I didn’t even want to imagine it. Those cold, assessing eyes, their judgment disguised as law, their whispered discussions about what should be done with the disobedient breeder.

A shiver worked its way down my spine, but instead of freezing me in place, it only pushed me forward.

There was no life for me here. Not in this manor. Not in Finn’s grasp. Staying meant being trapped until there was nothing left of me.

So I’ve decided to leave that night.

I waited until it was midnight. When most people in the manor are asleep.

I crossed the room and began gathering what I could without drawing suspicion. My shawl, nothing remarkable, but warm enough for the nights ahead.

A hairpin I could tuck into my braid, it might be useful for more than my hair. And, hidden in the false lining of a drawer, the small pouch of coins I’d kept since before I came here. It wasn’t much, but it would have to be enough.

My hands moved quickly, but each motion was careful, urgent. No wasted movement. No noise that might carry through the door.

I returned to the window, watching the garden below. The guards passed again.

One pair disappeared around the far hedge, the other still at the gate.

This was it.

No turning back.

I crossed to the door.

Every step felt like it echoed, even though I moved silently. My pulse pounded so hard it almost drowned out my thoughts, except for one:

Escape that hell of a place.

I slipped through the door.