“The enemy forces have breeched the east wall my lady!” Jacinta practically cried, wringing her hands in terror.
The colour drained from Amelia’s face, those walls were the first and last line of defense and once they had fallen, the castles defenders would be overrun in a matter of hours. “How could this happen?” She asked her frightened lady-in-waiting.
“I wasn’t told how my Lady, only that I should escort you to the catacombs beneath the castle immediately…” She was cut short by sounds of fighting coming from within the castle, “My Lady we must leave now.”
With tears rolling down her eyes, Lady Amelia, followed closely by Jacinta, left her chambers and hurried down the twisting corridors of Castle Arrowthorn. They arrived at the entrance to the catacombs seconds before they tunnel behind them filled with the clash of steel on steel and the strained voices of men locked in mortal combat. Had they waited a moment longer, Amelia was sure she would be dead or worse. She shuddered at the disgusting implications that came to mind when she pondered the ‘and worse’. Though she had never been with a man, Jacinta had described in horrible detail what these men did to female prisoners, regardless of their status.
In her youth the catacombs had always frightened Amelia; it appeared that now they were her only chance at escape. With a quick glance behind her, she hurried down the long winding staircase into the ancient crypts of Arrowthorn Castle. When she finally reached the bottom, her heart nearly missed a beat when she was greeted by her father and a dozen of his best guards.
“Thank god you’re alright,” Lord Arrowthorn exclaimed, embracing his daughter lovingly. “I had feared that my message had not reached you in time and that you had been captured.”
“Father how did this happen,” Amelia asked enjoying the safety of his fatherly embrace for a few moments.
“I can’t be certain, but as far as I can tell they dug beneath the weakened the foundations such that they were able to pull it down.” No sooner had he said that then we heard footsteps on the stairs. “We must away from this place daughter, it is no longer safe.”
Resolutely the guards closed on the staircase, ready to halt the advance of any enemy solider that attempted to get through. Following her father, Amelia and Jacinta made their way down the dimly lit passage that lead through the mountain to River Abalis, where a boat was waiting to carry them to safety.
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