Free Unyielding (The Ashborne Trilogy Book 2) by Kat Lilynette Page A

love. Be careful.”

Unlikely Inspiration
     
    As I walked back toward my chamber, twilight was beginning to take hold of the sky, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before Penelope would arrive to have dinner with me. Once I reached my room, I stopped and stared at the door handle. With everything that had happened and the constant surveillance I was under, this room felt more like a prison than a place of refuge. I didn’t want to go in.
    As the two guards took up their usual posts outside my door, I sat myself down on the sill of one of the corridor windows and stared out at the courtyard below. Sitting there, watching the sun leave the sky as I waited for Penelope, I felt better than I had in a long time. There was an immense amount of comfort and relief in knowing that no matter what happened to me now, Emoren was going to escape to safety, and it felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
    I promised him that I would meet him there, so I still needed to figure out a way to keep that promise. Despite all the thinking and analyzing I had already done, I was still no closer to figuring out how to elude my armed escort and sneak outside the castle. If I could come up with some way to ditch the ever-watchful eyes surrounding me, I was sure I could manage to get outside these walls, but aside from using some kind of magic that didn’t seem to exist, I couldn’t come up with a way to travel the castle grounds unnoticed.
    “About time,” one of the guards said.
    Out of the corner of my eye I could see two guards coming up to replace the ones that had been watching me all day. Given the time of day it was, I could only assume they were taking turns watching me in half-day shifts. As the royal guards exchanged positions and greetings I wasn’t paying attention to, I could see Penelope far down the corridor. Even from this distance I could make out the bright smile on her face as she walked toward us carrying a large tray of food for our meal together.
    As she got a little closer, I waved to her. With my mind and heart now freed of everything that was weighing me down, I was looking forward to enjoying some time with her before getting back to planning my escape. Our dinner would give me the opportunity I needed to be honest with her, as well as give her the gift I had already prepared. No matter how this story came to its end, I was certainly going to miss her.
    Just as my mind began returning to trying to figuring out how to elude my captors, I watched as Penelope’s foot got caught in her gown, causing her and the large tray she was carrying to come crashing to the ground. I smiled sympathetically at her endearing misfortune and began walking over to help her.
    “No, no, no!” she said as she tried to salvage the mess of food that was now covered in dust and dirt from the stone floor it was scattered upon.
    As I continued walking over to her, I watched as the two guards who had just been relieved of duty continued talking and walked right by Penelope, as if she didn’t even exist. Not only did they not stop to help pick her up, they didn’t even bother to watch their step as they passed her. Seeing this, at first, I began to get angry, but then it hit me; suddenly, everything became clear. I had found the solution I had been desperately searching for. Invigorated with brilliance, I raced over to Penelope’s side and began helping her clean up.
    “Penelope, you’re a genius!”
    “ What? I’m sorry!” she frowned.
    “ No- That’s not what I meant. You’ve given me a great idea. You’re wonderful!”
    “ Look at it! I spent all day preparing this for us and now it’s ruined! I can’t even walk right. How am I wonderful?”
    I took her hand and showed her the uncontrollable grin I was wearing. “It’s fine. I promise.”
    All she had seen from me lately was the darkness I had been trying to contain, and when she finally looked up at me, I could see relief and surprise stretch across