The first sound out of Pretie's lips was a whispered stream of curse words. She had to tighten her grip on her escape rope as her hands shook with an involuntary tremble. The girl could barely keep up with the rush of thoughts flooding her head. Who is that person?  What are they up to? Did they see me? Gods, they definitely saw me. The realization made her stomach clench with dread.

A soft thump drew Pretie's attention back toward the mysterious figure. Her momentary distraction had been enough to allow them to finish their climb down from the window without her noticing. As soon as they landed on the roof below, they took off running. 

Shit. Biting her lip, Pretie sucked in a breath and finished the rappel down the castle's outer wall as quickly as she dared. As she reached the end of the rope, she only allowed herself a moment's hesitation before dropping the remaining few feet. A shudder rippled through her legs as she landed and she stumbled, nearly falling to her knees before she caught herself on the wall. 

As her heart rate settled and she lifted her gaze, her eyes landed on the figure standing only a few feet away. They seemed to be trying to decide on a way to get down to the roof of the bottom floor below.

"Hey," Pretie hissed as she approached, speaking just loudly enough for the figure to hear—or so she hoped. "Who the hells are you?"

As the figure turned, she was finally able to look them in the eye. Pretie wasn't sure what she was expecting to see, but it wasn't the young man standing before her. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than her, dark hair cropped close to his scalp. The stubble darkening his face was just thick enough to notice in the low light.

He quirked an eyebrow, grey eyes narrowed as he took her in. "What does it matter to you?"

Pretie scoffed, the question taking her by surprise. "What does it matter? It— Because—" She threw an exasperated hand in the air. "What are you even doing?"

"Sneaking out to grab a drink." The boy deadpanned. Pretie couldn't decide whether he was joking with her. When she attempted to prompt him into clarifying with a raise of her eyebrows, he just stared at her in silence before turning away. She managed to hold back the growing desire to punch him as she wandered over to the edge of the roof, following his gaze as she peered down.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me that I'd need to climb down another wall of the same size, Pretie thought to herself, internally facepalming at her ignorance. It should have been obvious that the drop from the second floor's roof to the first would be the same height she'd rappelled down from her rooms—except, this time, she had no makeshift rope to utilize. She gritted her teeth, biting back another line of cursing.

Meanwhile, the hesitance of the boy beside her seemed to have melted away, a hint of a smirk resting on his lips. Pretie stood speechless as he lifted the bottom of his shirt and began to undo his belt. She took a step back, her eyes going wide. 

"Woah, woah, woah," she muttered. "We, like, just met and, between you and me, I'm not all that interested in—"

The boy shot her a glare as he slipped the belt off and wandered not toward Pretie, but to the ledge. She continued to stare at him, stuck somewhere between confusion and curiosity, as he located a vertical stretch of metal piping lining the exterior wall. He slid his belt around it, latching it into a loop, and gripped it in both hands. Barely sparing Pretie a second glance, he hopped off the ledge. She gasped on instinct before stumbling closer to watch. Rather than falling, the boy slid somewhat gracefully down the pipe, the belt providing the handhold he needed for his smooth descent. He landed on the roof below and immediately unclasped the belt, returning it to his waist.

"What— How did you—" Pretie sputtered with wide eyes. It was only then that the boy glanced back up at her, his expression blank. She flung her arms to either side. "Hello? Can you not hear me or something?"

"I can hear you perfectly fine," she heard him answer in a low voice. "And I'm guessing everyone else can, too." He turned and raced off without another word.

Pretie snorted, watching his form recede into the distance as he threw himself onto the bordering wall of the castle and swung himself over it—and then he was gone, off to who-knew-where. Some pub somewhere, if he actually said what he meant before, she thought to herself with a grumble, pacing at the ledge as she tried to determine how to get herself down. Unfortunately, Pretie wasn't wearing a belt—not that she would have thought to use one to her advantage before now.

I guess I'll just have to try and climb down the piping with my bare hands, she eventually decided, hesitant. Her eyes drifted up to her window, where the rope remained dangling temptingly. Though it wouldn't be too late to climb back into my rooms now and forget this whole thing. 

Her indecision disappeared as soon as she remembered that the wedding was less than a day away. She wasn't partaking in this nighttime adventure for the fun of it.This is my only chance to control my own future. If I'm going out, I'll at least go out with a bang.

She shook the nervous tingling from her hands and stepped over to the edge of the roof. While the pipe the boy had slid down didn't appear especially stable and wasn't much wider than her thigh, it had ridges at regular intervals where each segment connected to the next. She would just have to hope they would be suitable handholds and footholds. 

Pretie lowered herself into a crouch on the edge of the roof, bringing one of her legs over the side and tentatively poking the pipe with her foot until she was able to locate one of the ridges. Taking a breath, she swung her other leg over—a mistake the girl recognized as she immediately started to topple backwards, tipping as she struggled to get a grip on the pipe with her feet alone. She flung her arms around it and managed to grab hold, her heart pounding in her ears as she hugged the pipe for dear life. That was way too close.

Shifting her position a bit, Pretie hesitantly inched her way down the pipe little by little, careful to only move one limb at a time. Just as she felt herself begin to relax, one of her feet fell loose as the pattern of ridges ended unexpectedly. She let out an involuntary yelp as she began to slide. Pretie desperately grabbed for the pipe, her life flashing before her eyes, just as her butt hit the roof below. 

Oh. That was... Uneventful. She straightened, eyeing the pipe. The ridges stopped only a few inches before the pipe ended. While it had felt like a near-death experience, she had only fallen a foot. Brushing herself off, Pretie felt an embarrassed blush heat her cheeks from her overreaction. Fortunately, there was no one around to witness her pitiful stunts.

Or so she assumed, until she turned to face the bordering wall.

A dozen guards stood just beyond it, staring up at her. Their weapons remained sheathed at their sides; they had no intention of harming their own princess. Still, they were lined up in an organized fashion. This was no casual gathering.

"What's, um... What's going on?" Pretie called down to them, swallowing.

The guards shifted, exchanging glances and low murmurs with each other. After a moment, one stepped forward. "The king sent us to collect you, Your Majesty. We don't want any harm to come to you. Would you like assistance getting down?"

The king. Pretie froze. So that's it, then. My father knows I'm trying to escape. 

Her mind flashed back to the last words the dark-haired boy had told her, "I can hear you perfectly fine. And I'm guessing everyone else can, too."

Well, shit. That bastard was right. 

"I can do it on my own, thank you." She eventually responded, clenching her hands into fists. The thought of the guards climbing up and carrying her down made her want to gag. If this was where her escape attempt ended, she preferred it to end with her pride still intact.

The bordering wall was only a couple of feet away from the castle here—one benefit of escaping from the structure's backside, as opposed to its more elegant front. The boy had leapt to it with ease. If he can do it, so can I. Pretie took a few steps back before breaking into a sprint, leaping from the roof. Her stomach lurched as she felt the drop, but she somehow managed to land on the wall—on her feet, nonetheless. 

The guards were still watching her with a mix of concern and amusement as she swung her legs over the wall and slid down. Her knees buckled as she landed, making her sway on her feet. One of the guards stepped forward as if to support her, but she took a purposeful step backward. 

Her hazel eyes flitted across the guards and to the street beyond them. I'm so close. Desperation and reason warred inside her, leaving her torn between following the guards back inside and making a run for it. On a whim, she went with the latter.

Pretie somehow managed to dodge the guards—if only because she had the element of surprise—and ran down the street as quickly as she could manage. The soles of her feet started to ache almost immediately and she wished she weren't wearing such flat shoes—though her only other option would have been something with heels or wedges. While the princess didn't have a whole lot of experience with outdoorsy activities, she had figured those wouldn't be the smartest choice for an escape that involved so much climbing. 

As they realized what she was up to, a few of the guards let out surprised shouts. Footsteps rang out behind her as they took chase. Pretie cringed as she continued to run, a cramp quickly developing in her side. While she was too breathless to say anything aloud, a steady stream of curse words filled her head.

The girl had no idea where she was going, which finally sank in as she turned a corner and wound up facing a dead end. She stumbled to a stop, bending at the waist as she struggled to catch her breath. The sound of footsteps slowed behind her.

"C'mon now, Your Highness," a gentle voice called out, as if coaxing a wild animal into submission. "There's no need to run. We're only here to escort you back to the castle."

Pretie shut her eyes, refusing to cry, before turning around to face the guards. She pasted a polite smile onto her face. "Very well. Let's head back."