Annador chapter six

An awkward silence enveloped the two prisoners. Frowning, Lana observed Willow. When she first saw her, she immediately recognized her, but she didn’t know from where. At hearing her name, it all clicked. The tattered, yet still recognizable silk dress, the proud stare, the striking familiarity. She was Willow Rose Blackwood, heir to Annador.  The realization had been jarring. Until then, Lana had firmly clutched at the hope that her kingdom could somehow be mended. Seeing Willow imprisoned had crushed her fragile faith. Suppressing a disheartened sigh, Lana slid to the ground, pulling her long, mousey hair back into a braid.

Lana was so tired, it felt as if her eyelids were made of lead, slowly being dragged shut. She kept her eyes open, though, trying to seem cool and collected for the princess of her realm. Willow returned Lana’s stare, her bruised face emotionless. Her eyes, though, were questioning, and their gaze made Lana uncomfortable. Shifting her weight from her left side, she watched, noticing the spattering of bruises that colored the princess’s arms and face a variety of yellows and purples. The more she saw, the angrier she became.

Her brown eyes snapping open, Lana looked wildly around at the monotonous, stern room. Wincing, she closed her eyes, remembering the guard, and Willow. Willow! She looked back at a battered form on the floor, and caught her breath. Scrutinizing the body, she barely made out the small rising and falling of her chest. With a relieved sigh, she sat back, watching the princess sleep. Mindlessly, she gazed at the girl, her thoughts drifting outside the cell, and farther away, to Annador, and the night she was taken. She remembered the fires, the terrified scream of a mother being dragged from her child. That night, she had woken to a room full of smoke, which stung her eyes and burned her throat with every breath. The thundering crash as her door broke down had terrified her, sending her numb with fear. She ran, of course, clutching her daughter, December’s, hand and crawling out the window. They had just made it out of the city before Lana saw the soldiers.

A groan brought Lana back to reality, and she quickly noticed the tear slipping down her cheek. Miserably, she wiped it away, and turned her gaze back to Willow. She was slowly rising to a sitting position, her face to the wall. Lana watched her, admiring the beautiful blue of her dress.

“How long have you been here?”  At the sound of Lana’s voice, Willow, stiffened, and turned to face her, clearly in pain. When she saw Lana, she relaxed, but her voice was cold when she spoke.

“A few days.” Lana nodded, and looked away, noticing the shadows cast from the grate overhead. They shifted, sending lines cascading across the pale wall. With a sigh, she shifted her sore legs, brushing matted hair out of her eyes. Not wanting to press the girl, she stayed silent, waiting for Willow to break the silence. Finally, Willow looked at Lana, her gaze empty.

“Why are you here?” She asked, her arms crossed.

“Same reason as you, I guess. Soldiers? The fact that our kingdom was taken over by the King of Ondalinia?” Willow’s eyes widened.

“I, I hadn’t realized. How many others were taken?”

“Thousands. Few escaped.” Lana felt her throat begin to close up, and clamped her mouth shut. Willow, however, paid no attention, instead, she asked,

“How many soldiers were there?”

“Too many to count,” Lana said, her thoughts drifting back to December. Willow pursed her lip, her gaze fixed on Lana. Finally, she murmured,

“We need to get out of here.” Lana’s eyes snapped to her.

“Yeah, we do. Any ideas?” Willow furrowed her brow, then replied,

“Well… I guess.” Lana thought back to the way the had been brought to this cell, the stairway, the coded door, the grate over the huge fireplace. It was so carefully planned, so inescapable.

 “But it would be risky.”

“Riskier than sitting in here waiting for a death sentence?” Lana snapped back. Willow groaned.

“Yeah. Ok. It might take a while, though.” Lana nodded, and leaned back, watching leaves flick over the grate above her head. She peered through them, and noticed something unnaturally black through the foliage. Straining her eyes, she staggered to her feet, struggling to make out what it was.

“Willow,” She muttered. “Come look at this?” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the princess stand, and limp towards her.

“What?”

“Look…” Lana pointed, “at that.” As Willow walked towards her, the thing moved, pointing at her. A tiny spot of blue reflected on its lense. Willow gasped.

“It’s a security camera! Of course. Do you think it can hear us?”

“No, that looks like glass behind the bars. Plus, they don’t need to hear us, they just need to know where we are and what we’re doing.” Lana explained, tearing her eyes from the camera to look at the girl. Willow nodded. “But, if we talk about anything, like, escaping, we need to face away from the camera, to make sure they don’t try to read our lips.” Willow nodded quickly, then sat down, still watching the camera.

“You know, this could be useful.” Willow remarked, glancing at Lana.

“How so?”

Lana lay on the hard floor, looking up at the leaves, and eventually glancing at the camera, which was concealed behind them. Suppressing a small grin, she whispered, “We’re coming. Don’t worry, December. We’re coming.”

This story will be continued in chapter seven of Annador. Thanks for reading!!

*Author's note; For those of you who actually care, I am planning on continuing to post Annador over the summer. Also, I have created a new blog called Annador, where I will be publishing more chapters once I write them. You can find it at http://annadorerw.blogspot.com. I will be publishing chapter 1-6 first so bear with me please! Thanks!*