Night came swiftly, enveloping the land in a bleak and dreary darkness. Thicks clouds hid the stars and the moon. A single candle, placed on the nightstand, lit the small room with its flickering flame.

On the bed, Aliana lay half awake, half asleep. Her head was aching, as it had been for the past hour, and her arm and ribs were sore as usual. Though the room was relatively cool, her face felt hot. She also felt disgusting: she hadn’t bathed since her escape from the castle.

She was on the verge of drifting off completely when suddenly there came a crash from out in the hall. The door flew open and Hesse ran inside. She was breathing heavily and looked frightened. In her arms, she carried a cloak.

Aliana bolted upright. “What’s wrong?” Her heart began to race and her mind started processing all the horrible things that could’ve happened.

The words that came from Hesse’s lips were the worst of her fears: “Iora wanted me to tell that he is here.”

The princess instantly knew who she was referring to. She cried aloud and tried her best to rise from the bed. Her legs, weak from lack of use, collapsed underneath her. She did knew neither where to go nor where to hide. Her heart was beating rapidly and her headache had instantly tripled from stress. Looking around frantically, she knew every second counted but not how to use that precious time.

“Come now,” Hesse ordered, helping her up from the bed. “Sit over here.” She pulled her over to the chair and sat her down. Quickly, she put the cloak on Aliana and made sure that her head and face were covered.

“What are you doing?”

“Since you two showed up at my door in the middle o’ the night, I knew something was off. We were downstairs workin’ the tavern and a bloke comes in, wearing a cape all mysterious like, and Iora freaked out. Said to me he was followin’ you, wanted to hurt you. Said I needed to get you out of the building.”

Aliana, shaking, gripped Hesse’s arms. “Where is Iora? Is she okay?” Surely something was wrong if she herself was not here.

“She’s fine. She stayed down to make sure he didn’t come to get you.”

“How did he know we were here?” Aliana was trembling. Her heart was pounding so hard she was seeing spots. They had been so careful to stay hidden, to be out of the way of prying eyes. “We’re doomed,” she murmured.

“Only when I’m dead,” the old woman grumbled angrily.

Aliana looked up at her through her jagged bangs. “What?”

Hesse took Aliana by the arm and hefted her. “I’m gettin’ you outta here. Ain’t nobody hurtin’ no guest o’ mine, especially if that guest happens to be the princess. ”

Aliana reeled back in horror. “How did you know?”

“How stupid do you think I am? But it doesn’t matter; we’ve gotta hurry!”

Hesse helped Aliana to the door, then poked her head outside to be sure no one was there. When she was satisfied, the older woman grabbed Aliana and headed down the hall toward the tavern.

“Isn’t he--” Aliana wondered why they were headed in the same direction as the assassin, since the inn had one main exit through the tavern, but was cut off with the reply.

“If we wanna get outta here, we gotta go down the main staircase and into the tavern. I’ve gotta back door we can slip on through. Ain’t no chance o’ him seein’ us.” She lead the princess down the staircase, shoving past drunk men staggering up towards their rooms, then stopped once more to check the area they were about to answer. “When I give the signal, run right ‘long that back wall there until you get to the tiny door in back. Hunker down so no one’ll see ya’. When ya’ get to the door, go through it and outside. To the right of the building are the stables. Wait for me there,” she instructed.

Aliana nodded obediently and pressed herself up against the wall, trying her best to be invisible.

Hesse peered around the corner once more, her beady eyes searching the room thoroughly. She waved Aliana forward and together they stepped into the dimly lit, rancid-smelling bar full of sweaty, men who most likely hadn’t bathed in years.

The innkeeper walked towards the center of the room with confidence, most likely in an attempt to keep an eye out or the assassin. She was a small, weak woman in a sea of burly men and yet she showed no fear.

Aliana stayed close to the wall. Stealthily, she pulled the cape hood over her face with her good arm and kept the other arm close to her body. Her breathing was jagged, though whether it was from her rib injury or the adrenaline coursing through her veins, she didn’t know. The thick stench of alcohol was so thick throughout the room that she felt like gagging. The room was crowded and she had to squeeze past a few people. The only upside was that all the tavern’s occupants were a good foot taller than her, effectively keeping her concealed.

Ignoring the spots dancing before her eyes, she tried to stay focused on the task at hand. She walked straight, her eyes locked on the small, hidden door behind the bar on the other side of the room, and ignored the pain that was springing up in different parts of her body. She was too scared to look anywhere save for the door because she knew the assassin was nearby. He could have been five feet behind her and she would not have known. But still, she refused to stop.

It wasn’t long before she reached the door. A sigh of relief escaped from her lips and she grasped the knob tightly, like it was the one thing that could save her. Without looking back, she opened the door and slid through it.
The cool night wind instantly hit her face. The intoxicating scent of fresh air was a hundred times more pleasant than that of the stale liquor smell from inside the inn. She was so thrilled to be outside, to have escaped the assassin - even if only a tavern wall separated them - that not even her broken arm or damaged ribs could dampen her spirits. Neither could the fact that it was pitch black outside.

She followed Hesse’s instructions and made her way around the back of the inn towards the horse stables, a small, dingy structure containing the steeds of the inn’s patrons. She knew she was to wait for the innkeeper here, but where? Concealment was necessary, but so was being found easily by Iora or Hesse. There was no telling how long she would have to wait, and she did not want to be smelling like stable, either. Still thinking about where to wait, she entered the stable. Even in the pitch-black, it did not take long for her to realize that her father’s horses were not there. Panic coursed through her veins. Did the assassin set them free to limit the women’s escape? Those horses were the fastest in the kingdom, and riding anything less with an assassin on their tail was not something Aliana wanted to be doing. Then again, with her injuries as they were, riding very quickly wasn’t much of an option anyhow.

Finding an empty stall, Aliana entered, grabbed an old blanket and covered herself up in straw near the stall door, leaving just enough of an opening in her cover to peer out from beneath the stall wall. Laying on the hard ground in an awkward position only made her arm and ribs hurt all the more. She hoped she would not need to be there too long. From inside the tavern she could hear screaming, louder than they had been before.
What felt like an eternity later, but was in fact only minutes, a figure appeared in the doorway. Aliana held her breath, hoping it was friend not foe.

“Allan!” hissed a friendly voice, “are you in here?”

It was Hesse.

The princess sighed in relief. “I’m here,” she grunted as she slithered out from the empty stall.

Hesse stumbled forward in the darkness, her arms out in front of her. “Where?”

“Just outside one of the far stalls on your right.”

“Oh good. I was worried. I thought for a second ya’ hadn’t made it outside.”

Suddenly a soft light appeared. Aliana was able to make out Hesse’s face; in her hand, she held a candle. She made her way over to the innkeeper without running into or tripping over anything. “I’m here,” she said, “but the horses aren’t.”

Before Hesse could respond, there came a crash from outside. The women, startled, turned to the entrance of the stable, and Hesse held her candle up higher. There was another loud sound, but this one was followed by cursing.

Aliana sighed in relief. To Hesse, she said, “It’s just Iora.” She then called out loudly, “We’re in here, Iora!"

“I can’t see a single thing!” Seconds later her tall figure appeared in the doorway.

Hesse approached her, candle in hand. “Did the man see ya’?”

“I doubt it,” she smirked. “Not after that ruckus you started.” To back up her claims, there can a loud crashing sound from inside the tavern, followed by screaming.

“Iora,” Aliana said in a panicked voice, “the horses are gone! We have no way to get out of here!”

“We’re taking these two horses, and we need to hurry! No time to argue, come on!”

Aliana wasn’t too happy with being ordered about nor with taking any two horses that weren’t her father’s, but considering the circumstances, she did what she was told. Hesse helped her mount her horse, and stable herself before the two started to ride.

As they exited the stables, Hesse holding the reins of the two steeds, all three women heard a loud crash, startling them. They turned to see a broken first-floor window, barely twenty feet away from them, with the assassin sticking his head out and cursing. He started to climb out the window, but before he could get even one leg through, he was knocked over the head with both a chair and a lantern. As the man slumped down into an awkward heap, numerous hands reached out to pull him back in.

“The twins!” both Iora and Hesse said simultaneously, glad their plan was working so perfectly.

“What are you guys talking about?” Aliana asked, looking panickedly at both of them.

“I’ll tell you about it once we’re outta town!” Despite the dire circumstances, Iora seemed in rather good spirits.

Hesse did too. She smiled proudly before releasing the horse reins. “Now go, both of yas! I’ll be sure he gets plen’y distracted after he wakes, don’t be frettin’ ‘bout that! I’ll make sure he don’t follow ya’!”

With quick thanks, the two women steered their horses onto the main road and rode off into the night as quickly as Aliana’s aching body would allow.