Later that night, Richard who had been out of the palace came back. Hours had long passed since everyone headed to bed and it was evident due to the fire torches that were burning lowly in the corridors.
Before making it to his room, he turned to look at her chamber. It was a small habit that he had developed for those three days that he had stayed in the palace. The curtains had not been drawn properly which left a small gap.
One thing that he had come to know about princess Lilith was that she never left her lights off but now by the look of it, the room was unusually dark which aroused his curiosity and he quickly took long strands towards her room. He knocked on the door twice without any response and listening closely, he could not hear her heartbeat and he quickly apparated into her room.
His eyes swept the room to which everything was in place except that she was not there and his eyes narrowed in anger. Did she sneak out of the palace?! One of his hand moved to his pocket where he removed a watch and flipped it. It was twelve midnight.
Heading to the horse sheds, he mounted on of the horses and disappeared through the back gates. The sky was covered by the cumulus clouds but the moon that tried to pave way from the clouds gave little to no light in the area. "You really don't have any idea on how this world operates princess." He thought as the horse continued to gallop on the hard ground.
It did not take him long to get to the town that was closest to the palace. "Hello sir." He greated an old man who was about to close his shop. "Hello, how can I be of help to you?"
"I'm looking for a young woman. She's of average height, brown hair and eyes. Maybe you have seen her?" Richard had looked for her in all possible places he would think of in the palace but there was no trace of her which brought up a possibility of her sneaking out, or maybe running away. He knew how much she craved for freedom but he was not ready to lose her.
He was still on the horse while looking down at the man who seemed to be contemplating on what to say. "I'd advise you not to lie to me sir. Have you seen her?"
"No, I haven't seen her." He had taken a long time to answer which was enough to raise suspicion and Richard who never ignored things dismounted from the horse and went over to the man who had just locked the door of his shop. " She is very beautiful. You wouldn't have missed her." Richard was now tossing a gold coin while boring his eyes into the old man whose focus was on the coin in Richard's hand.
"I think I have. She was in company of one of the women who owns a hotel over there." He was pointing towards a small hotel that was in the dark corner.
"Where does the woman live." He didn't seem to have any ounce of curiosity as he continued to play with the coin.
★★★★★. ★★★. ★★★★★
Earlier that evening after supper, princess Lilith was heading to the kitchen when she heard a conversation between the king and someone else in one of the rooms. She was not a type who liked to eavesdrop but upon hearing her name being mentioned by the other man, he leant closer to the door.
"Her abilities have not manifested yet." It was the king who replied to something that the other person. " We need her essence more than anything else if we are going to wake them. I hope you are still feeding her linex, it will accelerate the speed at which her abilities will come out."
"I am. I know what needs to be done. You don't have to keep on reminding me." The king said. "Then we should wait for a few days. If she dies, you know what to do."
Lilith could not stay there any longer due to the guard who was heading towards her in an opposite direction and she stealthily walked away and once she had covered a safe distance, she ran back to her chamber.
"Were they planning to kill her?" There was fear in those brown eyes and she was breathless due to the way she ran back to her room. She would have written a letter to her parents but she was not foolish enough to know that her letter would be intercepted. Maybe fleeing would be a wise decision. She thought with a long sigh. After all she had planned to run away anyway.
Changing into the blue dress that had been given to her by Richard, she took the five gold coins that she had put in the pocket of one of her gowns and also took her jewelry before stepping out of her room whereby she walked towards the dungeons. During her stay here, she had toured around the palace in which she had come to discover the secret passageway that led her out of the palace.
She was careful with her movements to which she hid behind the pillars until she made it to the dungeons. With the help of the lantern, she came to stand in front of the small door that was concealed by a large portrait. Removing the portrait, she opened the door and walked inside the dark empty space.