"I've never done anything like this in my entire life." Dani and Alice had talked about tying together bedsheets and attaching them to one of the many heavy pieces of furniture in the room to climb down to the ground to begin the first step in their journey to rescue Emery. But after peering out each window in the suite, they'd come to the conclusion that the narrow window in the bathroom, just past the shower, was really the only choice. It just happened to be next to a very conveniently located fir tree, with branches that were perfect for climbing.

The branches didn't go all the way to the ground, but they went far enough that any seasoned tree climber worth their salt would be able to make it the rest of the way to the ground unscathed.

Dani insisted that she lead the way. After all, she pointed out, the guards wouldn't lay a hand on her. After a long pause in which Alice's eyebrows had risen in disbelief, she clarified. The guards did, in fact, have firm orders to keep her in line, even if that meant using physical force. But they couldn't hurt her. And that, obviously, gave her a clear advantage. And while Luca had spent years encouraging her to take time off from training, pointing out that she had an entire species of supernatural creatures guarding her, she had never for a second actually considered letting the skills she'd worked so hard to sharpen, rust. Once upon a time, she had been vulnerable and she never wanted to feel that way again.

While Alice couldn't really relate she felt a renewed interest in following in her mother's footsteps and taking up warrior training more seriously again. It had been something she'd been seriously interested in when she'd been younger, but after she'd become so depressed and anxious, and then so swept up in boys and acting out, it had sort of fallen by the wayside. She was still definitely one of the best female fighters in Amber Moon. But watching how Dani moved, so graceful and confident, she was reminded of her own mother all those years ago, and she knew exactly what she wanted to work towards if she and Fin ever managed to get out of the situation that they found themselves in.

"Let's hope this thing isn't noisy." Dani whispered the words as she slowly slipped open the window. Alice breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't make a sound.

"Okay." Alice stood to the side as the Queen slipped a leg through the window before looking back over her shoulder. "Try not to think of me as the Queen. It will probably make it less weird." Her words were only a whisper now that the window was open. She paused then, half in and half out of the room, her eyes focused at the forest below as she listened.

Alice finally sat down on the edge of the enormous bathtub as she waited for Dani to tell her that it was time to go and her eyes were almost beginning to close when the other woman's voice brought her immediately back to full wakefulness.

"That's odd." Dani was still whispering, but she immediately had the younger woman's attention. Alice was on her feet and at the window, trying to see exactly what was odd, but whatever it was Alice couldn't see any side from where she stood.

"I don't see anything," she whispered in reply.

"That's just it. There's nothing. I haven't seen a single guard pass by. And I should be able to. Our guards are good, but they aren't invisible. And they certainly wouldn't try to be invisible to me. If Luca left a half dozen men guarding me on the ground he would want me to know they were there, even if he played his little game of saying there were less than there were. If I tried to leave, he would want me to see them, to discourage me trying to go out. But I haven't seen a single guard here."

Alice bit her bottom lip.

"What do you think? Is that a reason not to go out?" Alice hoped that it wasn't. Staying inside while everyone else was out there either in trouble or doing something to at least try to find Cadman and Emery, sounded like the worst fate, apart from those who were being held captive by far crueler captors than the ones keeping her and Dani inside this room.

"Absolutely not. I guess it's just our lucky day. Or someone else's unlucky day. Luca's not going to be happy if we're just able to walk right out. But that isn't my problem. Let's go. Be on your guard. Because our guards may have met with someone they couldn't take on." Alice's eyes widened and she shivered at the thought. Who could take out a half dozen Royal Guards?

A beast? A monster? Was that something that Alpha Cadman was capable of? It wasn't really a possibility that she wanted to consider. Especially not when she was going out, with only the Queen by her side, to confront him.

They climbed easily down the tree in the darkness, landing silently in the soft earth at its base. Alice took a deep breath and while she didn't hear anyone, she could faintly smell more than one male, although she still didn't see anyone, and no one had called out to them to stop.

"Dani?" her voice was a whisper and she saw the Queen nod and knew that she had caught the scent too. They moved silently, staying close to the side of the house, and it was only when Dani's boot nudged the first body on the ground and Alice had to clamp her hand over her own mouth to keep from screaming that they realized that the guards were still there, they just weren't on their feet, and in the darkness of the forest that crept all the way up to that side of the packhouse, with a thick cover of trees, they hadn't been able to see the bodies that had been dragged out of sight and lined up, side by side.

"Are they dead?" Alice's voice trembled as she asked the question. Now that she knew where to look she could barely make out their dim silhouettes in the darkness. There were eight of them there, at least.

"No. They aren't. If you listen very carefully, over the pounding of your own heart, you can hear them breathing." Dani bent lower and picked something up. "This cookie smells like one of the sedatives I've seen one of our chemists use. Some of our warriors carry it in case it's needed in sticky situations. And this is why you don't eat when you're on duty. Luca's going to be so furious. I bet it was his mother. Or maybe his youngest sister. I don't think anyone would have taken anything from Isolde." Her voice dripped with contempt when she said the name. "You never suspect the sweet grandmotherly figures, although honestly, she hardly looks like a grandmother. Any of our guards would probably hit that if they had the chance."

Alice snorted and then clasped her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

"I knew I was going to like you." Dani laughed quietly. "Now let's get out of here, before one of your future in-laws shows up and plies us with some sedative that puts us to sleep too. Whatever whoever it is, is up to, they cleared the way for us to escape. I hope you aren't disappointed. Strolling out of here is hardly the adventure I promised you."

Alice rolled her eyes, thankful for the darkness. "I think I've had enough adventure for one lifetime. Besides, we still have to get past the border guards."

"I'll admit that that will be good practice." Dani led the way as they began to move again, away from the pack house, "however it won't be nearly the challenge that you're expecting. Chances are that Luca didn't give them any orders to stop me from leaving because he lacks imagination. He thought that twelve guards would be enough to keep me in the house and he wouldn't want Obsidian Moon warriors even thinking about laying a hand on me. He isn't going to want to even put the idea in their head, you know how men are, but especially Alphas. And honestly he's just a typical Alpha in every way as a mate."

Alice laughed. It felt so good to be talking to Dani like this, about normal things, since finding Fin. Even if the rest of the world was falling apart. At least they were trying to fix it. She understood more and more why these two leaders had been made Royal unanimously by the Council after years without Royalty.

"You know, you aren't really anything like I expected." Even though they were still a good way from the border, they kept their voices low as they continued their conversation.

"I get that a lot." Dani smiled slightly and then shrugged. "Luca and I came from really different places. I don't know how much the history books say or get right." She paused and looked up at the sky. "And it's really weird to think that we're in history books. Bizarre even." She shook her head and let out a breath before continuing, "I guess I should pay more attention when our kids talk about what they're learning. But I like to hope at least that the places we both came from before help give us a little perspective with the job that we have now. And I hope we can pass some of that on to our kids."

"I know they're going to have massively different childhoods than either of us had. Which is good in a lot of ways. But it's also hard not to completely spoil them sometimes for some of the same reasons. Anyways. Obviously by the way I just went on and on that it's something that's on my mind a lot." A branch broke in front of them and both Dani and Alice froze.

But it was too late. The border guard had already seen the two women, whose faces were clearly lit out here, where the forest was thinner, by the bright light of the moon. It only took Alice a moment to recognize Roric, the guard who she and Fin had stumbled into earlier in the night. And as he began to speak her heart sank in her chest.

"Your majesty. Luna. No one is supposed to be out here tonight. The King ordered it. Please, tell me you two didn't sneak out?" 

A/N- I hope you are enjoying this story! If you are I'd love it if you'd comment and click that little star button to vote for it.

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