Leah couldn't believe that Chase had been behind all of this. She thought that maybe he would have given up but that clearly wasn't the case. It seemed like he wasn't going to give up on his plan to take over her kingdom. She just needed to find a way to escape, but how?
In Drastos, the castle was silent as almost all of the guards had set off on a mission to find Leah. Leonidas knew that there was only really one person who could be behind all of this. As a result, he had gathered his men and rushed to Hydreas.
He was going to get Leah back. Leonidas had been riding for quite some time when he came across a path that diverged. One path was covered in thick grass, while the other was paved with dirt. He and his men decided to take the dirt path as they thought that it would have been easier for a carriage to travel over.
Little did they know, their choice could determine life and death.
After traveling on the dirt path for some time, Leonidas and his men found an abandoned village. It seemed recently deserted so they decided that this would be where they stay for the night.
As Leonidas finished eating, he couldn't but worry over Leah's safety. Surely Chase wouldn't harm her. After all, he needed her if he was going to follow through on his original plan. What if he wasn't following his original plan though? What if he wanted revenge?
Leonidas knew that he had to go help her. Leah was his world, his pride, and joy. There was no way he would leave her in the arms of the enemy, especially Chase Wilder. He soon drifted off to sleep, dreaming only of how to save his princess.
Meanwhile, in Alriya, Leah was taking a short nap. When she opened her eyes and yawned, she saw something that looked like a person. She rubbed her eyes and when she opened them again, she saw Chase.
"Hello, Princess. It's so nice to see you again"
"I wish I could say the same"
"What's troubling you? I remember you telling me that you were falling in love with me"
"I don't remember that"
"Well, I do. Perhaps you may not recall princess but we were supposed to get married"
"I do recall. I also remember you trying to carry out a plot to kill me after we wed. So please do tell me who is really in the wrong here"
"Now, now. Don't be like this, Leah. I loved you"
"As if I could believe that"
Chase then walked towards Leah, cornering her against the wall. He then slowly whispered in her ear.
"You shall see. For now, I will be taking my leave"
"Leonidas will come to save me. In fact, he should be on his way now"
"That is if he doesn't get lost"
"What do you mean?"
"Bye, Princess"
When Chase left the room, Leah was left speechless. What was she to do now? For starters, she would have to try and take matters into her own hands.
While Leah was getting dressed the next morning, she noticed that the window in her room could open fully. She supposed that Chase thought that since her room was so high up in the castle, she didn't have a way to get down. Consequently, he also didn't pay too much attention to the fact that she would think of escaping through it. He had clearly underestimated her.
Leah, being as quick-witted as she was, ended up tying up some of the dresses together in order to make some type of rope that she could use to scale down the side of the castle. She then started tying the end of her makeshift rope to the headboard of her bed. After that, she began to carefully descend down the rope until she made it to the ground.
Leah then started to look around in order to potentially find a way out of the gardens. While she was thinking and mentally scanning the area, she heard someone chucking behind her.
"That was quite impressive, Princess"
"How did you know I was here, Chase? Have you been spying on me through my window?"
"On the contrary, I was actually just taking a brief morning stroll and I happened to see out of the corner of my eye, a young woman climbing down the side of the castle. Nothing out the ordinary of course"
"What are you going to do now?"
"Well, for starters, we need to situate you in a different room because clearly you are much too clever for your current accommodations"
"Where in this castle could you possibly put me? I will find a way out of here no matter where I reside"
"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Princess. For now, you will be staying in the room across from me. It seems like I'll have to keep a more careful eye on you in the future and this arrangement will be most convenient for me to do so.
"Why do I feel like there is something more behind your idea of where to relocate me?"
"You seem to always ask the right questions, Princess. I find it quite the shame that I won't be able to answer them at the moment"
"Chase!"
"Yes, Princess. Would you like to say something?"
"No, I just wanted to inform you of how absolutely annoying you are at the moment. In fact, why don't you just take me back to my old room and install some metal bars on the windows? That way, I can avoid talking to you right now"
"I'm afraid that just will not do. I'm sure you'll find your new living quarters agreeable enough"
With one last smirk, Chase left Leah waiting in the garden.
Meanwhile, Leonidas and his men were continuing their journey to find Leah. Leonidas had woken up to a small puppy licking his face. He begrudgingly woke up and rubbed his eyes to find that it was the same puppy from the stables.
When it noticed that he was awake it started whimpering. Leonidas believed that it was just hungry so he gave him a piece of leftover meat from his satchel. It stayed quiet for sometime after that but as soon as Leonidas finished his lunch and started riding down the path with his soldiers, it started whimpering again.
Leonidas was confused by the puppy's odd behavior but continued on the path, determined to find Leah as soon as possible. What if the puppy was trying to help Leonidas find Leah? What if it was also trying to save him from some unforeseeable danger?
Back in Hydreas, Leah had been shown her new room. Although a better way to describe what happened was that she was dragged there by the guards unwillingly. She looked timidly at the grand, golden doors and realized that there wasn't a room across from it.
"Chase, what is the meaning of this?
"I don't know what you are referring to, Princess"
"Why did you say that I was going to stay across from you when there is clearly only one room close by"
"I did say that we were going to be staying in rooms across from each other"
With that declaration, Chase opened up the doors to the room and Leah was shocked.
"There is no way that I am staying in here with you..."