Leaving

Avaria took one last look around her room. The luscious pink cotton quilt lay delicately across her canopy bed. The shimmer pink curtains were drawn back, inviting her to crawl under the warm covers and drift into a peaceful sleep.

“Peace,” she snorted, “That is the last thing I will find here.” She tossed her pack over her shoulder and slipped into the secret passageway.

At the bend, the corridor grew darker and she had to feel with her hands along the wall. She chided herself for not thinking to bring a torch. She turned another corridor and began feeling along the walls for the switch that would open the door in the floor of the stables. Finding it, she pushed; up ahead she could hear the door sliding free of its latches. She tossed her pack through the opening and climbed the ladder. She slid the door back into place and grabbed her pack.

“Where do you think you are going?” Solamnic stepped from the shadows. Avaria nearly jumped out of her skin causing her to almost drop her pack.

“You scared me half to Dragon’s Peak ,” she breathed; willing her heart to stop racing. She was sure he could hear it where he stood. “I am leaving.” She marched forward through the stables, Solamic close on her heels.

“Not without me,” he answered.

“You aren’t going to stop me?” She spun to look at him, causing him to run into her. His hands rested softly on her waist. “No, Princess, I am not. What good would it do?”

“None,” she answered. She moved to the horse she had prepared for the journey swinging easily into the saddle. Solamnic moved to his own horse. They rode out of the stables under cover of darkness.