Mageia put her stealth skills to work. She descended the narrow stairway. Feet as pillows upon the marble floor, body relaxed, save her heart scratching against her ribcage, and head slightly down with her hair covering most of her face. At the bottom, she was greeted by a circular foyer, plain and dull yet possessed the strong smell of food and clashing sounds of voices and dishes.

Two doors and one hall. She chose the hall and scaled the wall with great urgency until she came to a main hall bright with windows. Another corridor, but the aura was dull, dimmed, and depressing telling her she was still in the slave quarters. One glance out the windows told her she had two floors to descend, although across the way the palace looked like she was on the first level.

Still, she did not stop. Every second, every minute counted when it came to an escape. She turned left, scaling the wall and windows, stopping short to glance down adjoined halls. Some slaves appeared here and there too occupied to give her any attention. She hid her face by turning away ever so calmly as if she was gazing out the windows to avoid eye contact and having her purple eyes spotted.

Down one hall, she heard double the sounds of clattering dishes, footsteps, people, and mixtures of smells churned the soup now swimming in her gut. She knew the kitchens had to have a few exits, but so many people were dangerous to be around.

Mageia continued, choosing random halls leading her away from the kitchens. She hoped she would run into a pair of stairs leading to the slave sleeping quarters somewhere below or outside the palace, but nothing arose. Heart thumping wild in her ears, she knew Limp and the girl had noticed her disappearance and had either raised the alarm or trying to figure out what to do.

Her only goal was to descend right now. Exiting the palace will come next then slipping off palace grounds afterwards. The highest concern was not getting caught.

Gods help me, she prayed winding her way through unknown halls aligned with doors. By the old and weathered appearances of the doors, she assumed these were some slave quarters. Trying the doors were not an option. It was known that the palace possessed ten times the number of slaves than any slave owner in the kingdom. They all were from different backgrounds and stories, once Fair or never Fair, which meant not all of them could be trusted.

Finally, she came to the end of one hall where a fancy stairway sat alone. She must've at some point exited the slave quarters. This only meant one thing, guards. She peeked around the corner down the only hall scaling an extended balcony. No guards, but if she descended, she could run smack into some on duty.

"What to do. What to do," she spoke aloud.

You could go back and try another hall.

A guard entered the new hall from somewhere, tugging on the front of his pants. He must've come from the privy because he looked very relaxed and vulnerable. Instead of him approaching the hall where she stood, he went the opposite direction. She gave an exhale, only to hear footsteps approach her from behind.

She spun around to face a guard on patrol who had strolled into her hall. His humming grew louder and the smirk on his face sloped as they caught eyes for a dragged out second.

He came too. "Hey," he shouted, hand going for his sword.

Mageia dashed to the stairway and descended, the guard's footsteps plummeting with the thumps of her heartbeat on her trail. He shouted at the top of his longs, voice echoing in every direction.

"Purple Thief! Purple Thief! Intruder! Stop!"

Two guards on post below flew around a corner to see what was going on. Seeing her, they drew their sword and raced to meet her at the bottom.

The lead guard sliced at her only to cut air. She had the upper hand by being above him. She dropped to the steps and kicked him in the groin. He yelped, hunching over, and stammering to the floor. The second guard was on her fast and tried to slice her in half with an overhead strike. She managed to roll to the right against the rail just in time and kicked him in the knee cap. She jumped up and punched him in the face. The guard behind her tried to slash at her head, but she slipped away causing him to lodge his blade into the rail.

Mageia ran as a few guards came from a hall behind the staircase. Their countenance was furious seeing who the intruder was and what she had done to their comrades. She kept running, eyes focused on the corridor ahead, blocking out their demands for her to surrender.

Not a chance, she thought.

A bell was rung somewhere outside on the estate. Everyone now knew an intruder was in the palace and must be on alert. She did a sharp turn to the right, hoping to come across another stairway, but the area looked as if she'd been here before. She hadn't, which made her worried that she was now lost and may never fully exit the palace.

Guards entered the corridor ahead of her, pointed, and picked up their speed. She ran into double doors propped slightly open, the only place to go, and gasped. Every wall possessed shelves of books that shot high up to the ceiling with long ladders and balconies connected to each. Books were everywhere as well, stacked professionally in a presenting manner on glass tables, showcases, and stands.

Seeing no one was around, she quickly slammed the doors closed and shoved one of the armchairs under the knobs. At the same time, the guards plunged into the doors on the other side. Mageia jumped and stumbled backwards and realized she was a bit out of breath. When it came to being chased, she had never found herself sucking in oxygen.

"Great gods," she muttered.

If this was like any other spotting, she would be laughing at the guards' failure. However, as of late, being spotted has only gotten her captured and condemned.

She stumbled her way through the library, passing a slave woman who was in the middle of cleaning but now was trembling afraid behind a bookstand.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," she said scanning the room. "Is there any way out of here?"

The woman shook her head and stepped out of her hiding space. She couldn't have been no more than in her mid-thirties with short, cropped hair. She signed something with her hands and pointed to the two tall windows at the back of the room.

"The windows? I can get out from there?"

She pointed her index to the floor. Mageia frowned in pity for the Strange slave with no voice. "Down? Down?"

She bopped her head. Mageia ran to one of the windows and grinned. Indeed, the woman was right. The glass window opened to a balcony that was connected to a stone ledge that trailed the side of the building, wide enough for a person to walk across.

"Thanks," Mageia shouted over her shoulder and climbed onto the ledge. The sun was at its highest point in the sky, being around noontime. It's razes were hot and direct upon this side of the palace, but it didn't bother her. She was a skilled climber and heights barely frightened her.

The doors to the library burst open and thunders of footsteps entered. Mageia gasped glancing back at the balcony knowing for sure some brave guard was going to follow. She picked up her pace and as expected three guards climbed onto the ledge.

She was on the second level and needed something sturdy to help her climb down. Time was of the essence. Any minute now, guards could appear below in the grassy courtyard from any direction. She then came to a dead end and could not open any of the windows.

"Damn it," she sputtered scanning for a new exit.

The guards were closing in and they were angry. Pounding on the window behind her were more guards, trying to find the latch.

Mageia trembled, until her eyes spotted a clutter of vines that had grown one length of the building beside the end of the ledge. Jumping to it was the only option, except the distance seemed far.

"Okay, now Strange," the lead guard said edging closer.

"Get away from me," she demanded.

"You best stop running now. There's nowhere for you to go except down to your death."

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you?"

He gave a sly smirk and flicked his white-blond hair from his eyes as blue as the sky. "Come now, Strange. Don't do anything stupid."

He then lunged for her. She pushed herself against the wall to keep them both from tumbling over. He punched her in the jaw, and she elbowed him in the chest, but he still fought to restrain her.

"Pass her to me, Royce," the next guard said.

Mageia squealed and struck the man a few times who was oddly good at keeping his balance on the ledge. Shackles were passed to the second guard who edged closer, reaching for an available body part.

The guard upon her, slammed his knee into her side. The pain shot through her groin, her pelvis, and to her belly. Before she could respond to the pain, the man used her as a sandbag. His huge fists dug deep into her sides, erupting unnatural sounds from her mouth. This put her at pause indefinitely, giving him the opportunity to plunge a forearm under her chin and pressed against her windpipe. She strained for air, slapping him silly, but the determination in his eyes were filled with merciless intent to kill.

"They didn't say they wanted you captured alive," he snarled.

She struggled against him and his body weight pressing her against the wall. Then the window glass finally popped open, revealing a league of guards with an open advantage of grabbing her all at once.

Sight blurring and lungs screaming for oxygen, Mageia's hand remembered something. She felt along the pocket of her skirt, found the seal opener, and pulled it out.

"Weapon," the guard watching shouted.

But it was too late, she plunged the sharp item into the guard's cheek. Blood squirted everywhere as he screamed, revealing the blade inside his mouth. He released her enough for her to push him off the ledge. The last thing she wanted was to kill someone, but he was trying to kill her. The man gave a nasty yelp before it cut short with a thump.

She wasted no time to see everyone's reactions or to see if the man was truly dead. She ran the remaining end of the ledge and jumped across the clearing. Hands outstretched; water flooded her eyes blinding the view of the vines that zoomed close to her vision. The vine needles and branches pierced her all over as she slid down until her hands finally clung on.

Mageia gave a great scream of agony.

I'm almost there, she thought and finished climbing the rest of the way down.

Blood drenched her from head to toe, and the dress she wore was torn and ruined. Still, she stumbled to the ground and fell on all fours. She coughed up blood and caressed her bruised midsection. That guard had cracked a few ribs. With all her might, she tried to stand, but the pain erupted like an active volcano. Every inch of her body was on fire. Her heart was beating in an unsteady way, causing her throat to clamp shut.

She tried crawling, hearing guards entering the courtyard.

No, gods, no, she cried, but her brain was being overworked by the pain. She slumped down to the ground, lied her head on the grass, and allowed her eyes to flutter close.