"Lotus!" He exclaimed, realising she was the only one bold enough to pull something like that.
"Who else?" She winked at him as her powers blasted out in the form of thick dark brown branches and wrapped themselves around the iron bars. They began to pull them wide so he could escape.
"What are you doing?" He asked slightly horrified.
"Bursting you out of here, genius. What else? Or do you want to get whipped so desperately?"
The bars made slow squeaking sounds as they bent enough for him to leave his cell. She gestured the obvious with an annoyed look.
Razial squeezed past the bars, placing his body diagonally to fit through, and came to stand in front of her with his forehead creased with worries. But his eyes shone with admiration for this woman who continued to amaze him at every step.
"Have you thought this through? It will have consequences."
Lotus narrowed her eyes.
"Staying here will have the worst consequences, we are leaving. I have everything, just need to steal horses from the stable," she said, patting the satchel she was wearing.
"And going where?" Razial questioned, he knew they had spoken about leaving before but they never discussed where they would actually go.
"To follow our destiny, it’s clearly not here. For having the title of Commander, you act rather dense at times." Lotus grabbed his sleeve and began to drag him behind her. He willingly followed, throwing a tentative glance at the bound guard on the hard floor.
"What did I do?" He asked in exasperation as they began to climb the stairs.
"Why did you have to beg my father on my behalf? Now they will believe for sure that something is going on between the two of us. Couldn’t you keep your mouth shut and let me formulate a plan?"
Lotus shook her head as they emerged outside. The guards had scattered so Lotus locked the dungeon door again and placed the keys on the floor so they could easily find them on their return.
"Oh! That. I didn’t want you to be imprisoned like that." He scanned the surroundings to find any danger that might lurk but found none.
"No one can imprison me Commander Razial, not in this lifetime, anyways," Lotus promptly told him as they sneakily made their way towards the stables.
Razial smiled proudly at her spirit and couldn’t help but wistfully stare at her petite figure. His undying love was flourishing at a cheetah’s speed with every passing day. She had completely occupied his heart.
They went ahead to steal two horses. Using Lotus’s sturdy vines they transported them out of the castle walls after choosing an extremely dark point, where there was no light.
Once the horses were outside, Razial helped Lotus to climb the wall, positioning his hands against the hard surface so she could step on them to climb out.
She placed her foot on his palms and hoisted herself up. The helm of her cloak brushed past his face and he couldn’t help but inhale her flowery scent. His nose rested on the fabric as Lotus climbed the wall and jumped to the other side. Landing safely, cushioned by the flowering bushes which sprouted out. She steadied herself.
"You alright?" Razial called her out.
"Yes, I am sending some help. Climb out," Lotus softly called out. Letting her vines grow and writhe from the flowering bushes, they thickened and coiled on the wall and crawled to the other side.
Razial grabbed them and hoisted himself up using them as ropes. Soon Razial joined Lotus on the ground outside the castle.
"Let’s go," Lotus cheered, letting her powers retreat and throwing a wistful glance at her castle, which was her home.
Razial noticed the gloomy look in her eyes and assured her.
"We will return someday."
Lotus nodded, trying to hide the emotional turmoil ripping through her, but she needed to leave this behind. Leave everything behind for now.
They climbed on their horses and galloped away into the darkness. The frigid wind whipped past them but none of them cared.
"Where to?" Razial shouted over the loud noise of the horses’ hooves beating against the ground.
"Dusartine," she answered without hesitation. A resolute belief had germinated in her heart that Cassandra would already be there when they would arrive.
So off they went.
***
Fownso prepared a potion for Cassandra, it would speed up the blood production. Taking the drink she rested in Siroos’s chamber, nestled in his arms so she could recuperate.
He had bathed her and helped her put on a soft chemise.
The news of her return had lifted the spirits of the whole pack and they couldn’t wait to meet her. Most of the pack members knew she was just visiting her family, but they had missed her, and seeing her return in a dilapidated state had them slightly on the edge.
Haylia addressed the whole pack and explained that Cassandra had met with an accident, the very reason Siroos went to fetch her and she was healing now. They had nothing to worry about. She also explained that Aiko and her family were the guests of the Alpha and should be made to feel welcome. They withheld the information that Aiko was Faris’s mate.
Until Faris was ready to share this truth, it was to be kept a secret from the pack. Only Faris’s inner circle was made aware of the hurting truth.
He was still struggling with the gravity of it.
The pack members rejoiced and returned to their daily tasks while Ranon settled beside Faris in the men’s chamber where the males of the pack sat and got drunk.
He had his wineskin and was taking big gulps from it.
Ranon placed his arm around Faris’s shoulder and pulled him closer.
"Speak to me," he casually asked, seeing the sunken eyes of his friend and his slumped shoulders.
"I can’t even look at her without drowning in guilt. Ara’s ma sat with me yesterday and I didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. I hate myself right now, acting all double-faced," Faris lamented while placing the wineskin against his mouth and chugging down more of the bitter alcohol, hoping it would drown out some of the regrets that clung to him like mildew.
Ranon squeezed his forearm and wisely said.
"I wish I could say I completely understand what you are going through. But I feel your pain, Faris. You are my best pal and comrade. We grew up together. If there is something I know about you, it’s your resilience to overcome any obstacle that stands in your way. You will get through this over time."