The cooks stood in stunned silence, watching the pair hold a weapon over them.
"Block the door," Andrea ordered.
Adonis placed Doris down on a chair by the wall and breathed heavily.
"Now!" She grumbled.
They scattered all over, trying to find sothing sturdy. A cook grabbed a crate, and the others imdiately followed suit.
"What do we do, Adonis?" Andrea asked.
"I have no idea," Adonis responded despondently.
This was the second ti their plan had gone awry. Nothing seed to work for him anymore.
Adonis brushed a hand over his face and stared at the ceiling.
"Is there a way out of the palace through the kitchen?" Andrea asked.
They all still stared at them like they’d grown extra pairs of heads.
"Answer the question," Adonis growled. He had begun to pace.
"Yes," one of the cooks stuttered. "Through this way."
Adonis and Andrea exchanged glances with each other and almost imdiately looked at Doris, who sent back a weak smile. They would live.
Almost imdiately, loud, incessant banging began at the door.
"We know you are in there. You can co out on your own free will, or we will break down this door, and that will be the last thing you see." The voice was dreadfully calm.
Adonis imdiately turned to the cooks. "Show us the way, now. And rember, if any of you try anything funny, I’ll cut you down. Lead the way."
Their eyes bulged so much that they looked like they would fall out any mont. One of them looked visibly shaken, and another wet himself. All the while, the pounding beca more aggressive. They’d started trying to break the door down.
Adonis groaned. "Just show us the way." He tried to soften his voice, but it ca out harsher than he had wanted.
The four turned imdiately, scrambling to get to the back. They passed the clay hearth, the storage room, and even the little rooms they slept in, and then ca in front of a narrow-looking door.
There was a lock on it, covered with soot and dust. Adonis used the butt of his dagger to break open the lock. Then he turned around and smiled at Andrea, who’d helped Doris walk.
"Go on," Adonis said. "Lead the way."
When all the cooks and the girls passed through the door, he looked around for sothing to block the door. He spotted a large mortar, rolled it behind the door, got a crate, and held the door firm with it.
Then they ran, rounded a bend, and burst out into an open space. Fresh air had never seed better.
"Thank you," Adonis said to the cooks. "I will not forget your service. You may go." He did not need to say more. They ran back so quickly that anyone would think they’d seen a ghost.
Doris laughed weakly on Adonis’ back. "You scared the wits out of them, you two."
"Aren’t you supposed to be dying?" Andrea said. "How can you still talk?"
Doris smiled. "Tough luck."
Andrea grunted with a smile. "Which way do we go now?" She asked.
"I have no idea, but we’d better start moving," Adonis said.
They currently stood near another large residence. They ran towards it as fast as they could, dodging patrolling soldiers by staying in the dark. Until they reached.
Unfortunately, just as they were about to enter, an arrow flew by and hit the ground in front of them.
"Don’t turn back, " Adonis shouted. "Keep running. "
More arrows poured down on them. Andrea was hit on the shoulder, but they were able to get to the building.
They rushed past a few female servants and entered the inner quarters into one of the rooms and locked the door behind them.
Adonis lay Doris on a bed and let out a deep sigh.
"We’re dood, aren’t we? " Doris asked quietly. Her wound had bled all over. "We’re going to die here, aren’t we?"
No one responded. There did not seem to be a possibility that they escaped here alive. They all could hear the soldiers running into the building.
The three simply waited now for the end.
A few minutes passed, no one ca in, more ti passed, and still nothing. Andrea opens the door slightly. But no one was around.
No servants or soldiers. They were riddled with confusion. They threaded carefully outside the door; Andrea held her dagger at high alert in front of Adonis and Doris.
There was still no one in front when they ca out. It was truly strange. As they moved forward towards the gated area, no soldier in sight, they understood why they hadn’t attacked.
Their soldiers had co for them, and every soldier who had co after them had gone back to defend against them, but it was a losing battle.
Adonis put Doris down, "The two of you, go to the front, don’t co back in until you hear from . I’ll go back in and see how things are."
"Please," Doris said, "be careful."
"I will. Now go."
Adonis runs back through the path they had previously followed, entered back into the kitchen to et the cooks cowering in fear in the storage room.
He smiled as he passed them, but they stared back at him, obviously not sharing the sentints. The door was broken, he peered around the corridors, and no one was there to stop him.
He walked out of the kitchen slowly, dagger in front, ready to attack. As he passed empty hallways, empty rooms, and climbed the stairs that led to the second floor.
"My prince," soone said behind Adonis, startling him. "Thank the heavens, you’re alive."
Adonis turned around to see one of his soldiers. He didn’t recognize the face, but he knew the uniform. He felt relieved knowing he was among people who wouldn’t kill him.
"Where are the lieutenant and the princess, the woman who rode with on the ship?" Adonis asked.
"Please, my lord, let take you to them."
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