Lena and Roy approached the border, hidden in the lengthy shadows cast by the moon's rays. They were crouched in the long grass, inching ever closer to this difficult obstacle. She and Roy had discussed this plan days before and were now equipped for the escape. Luckily, all of the supplies they needed were not purchased from a shop, nor were they supplied in a shop. The townspeople would begin to wonder who these newcomers were and why they were buying these peculiar items if they had gone the other route. Now, each of them carried a small pack that contained their supplies.

They were around twenty feet from the wall. This was the difficult part. Here, the trees and bushes had been cleared, so every escapee would be seen approaching the wall.

Roy led the way into the open ground, Lena close behind him. They would inch forward slowly, and if a guard happened to pass on the segment of the wall they were approaching, they would freeze in their tracks and hope that they had gone unnoticed. No sudden movements, Roy had told Lena earlier. They attract unwanted attention.

They continued using this pattern until they could touch the mortar walls of the border. On their way, one guard, in particular, seemed to stare at them continuously while they remained as still as possible. We've been spotted, Lena thought. This is it. We're done for. Surprisingly, the guard rubbed his eyes, yawned, and continued along the wall, as if he had seen nothing. Lena heaved a huge sigh of relief, then suddenly went quiet as Roy's head whipped around at her. 

"Do you want to get us both killed?" he whispered, though the anger was evident in his tone.

"Sorry," Lena replied.

Roy turned his head back around, mumbling to himself. 

Here, now safely against the wall, they stood and opened their packs. Inside were two red surcoats. These were guard uniforms. They had stolen them off of two village guards a few days prior. The two guards didn't know that, though. They were hit so hard, they couldn't even remember who they were. Served them right, Lena thought angrily. Both of them received a helmet as well. They didn't want their identity's discovered before they escaped. Roy advised Lena to tie her hair up. There are no female guards, he told her. And I doubt that anyone will believe that you're just a guy who hates the chill on his neck.

After the uniforms were donned, Lena and Roy made their way along the wall to the nearest entryway. Once there, they turned the corner and strutted into the open gateway. There were two guards posted there, and they nodded to them as they went passed. Lena didn't like this idea one bit, but it seemed to be working. 

They rounded the corner and walked into the wall itself. They could hardly just waltz out of the gateway and walk away. Guards didn't do that. They needed to play their part. They found a stairway, and they followed it up to the top of the wall. This was exactly what they were planning on. 

 They strutted over to the nearest tower and quickly hid inside of it. They quickly discarded their guard uniforms here. They found a ladder and followed it up to the top of the tower. Now, obviously, these towers did not have turrets. This was a watchtower, and it was exactly what they needed. 

There was a small pole attached to the exterior side of the tower. Attached to this was a long rope that was connected to a small building below. This building was used for many things, mainly for food and water supply. The rope was attached to it because, in the event of an attack, an attacker might try to burn this building down, draining the militia of their month's supply of provisions. If the rope was to catch fire, it would alert the main walls of the attack. It might not have been the smartest idea, mostly because nobody was stationed at this tower, but it was an idea nonetheless. An idea that Lena and Roy would take advantage of.

 They were going to walk on this rope. The rope was angled slightly downward towards the ground, but not so steeply that one could not walk across it. The hard part about this plan would be going unnoticed and maintaining balance. One false move and they could plummet to the ground, where they would be injured and, most certainly, captured. And, if they were spotted, the guards would cut the rope before they could reach the end. It was a risky option.

Roy bowed to Lena and gestured toward the rope. "Ladies first," he said quietly.

Lena sighed. "You really are annoying, aren't you?"

"I try," he replied. "Now go!"

Lena stepped carefully onto the rope, her eyes fixed on her feet. One false move and she'd be done for. She carefully moved her right foot off of the rope and placed it in front of her left. Then her left foot repeated the action. Don't look down, she told herself. DO NOT look down.

When Lena had managed to walk a quarter of the way across, Roy began to walk, though he was less careful. It seemed like he did this every day. He was careful to stay the same distance from Lena. If they were to close, it would be even harder to balance.

One foot after the other, they gradually made their way across the rope. Lena was three-quarters of the way across, and Roy was halfway there.

Suddenly, there was a shout from the walls. "Hey! Look! Up there! Someone's trying to escape!" 

They had been discovered. Lena picked up the pace, walking faster and faster. She did not want to be on the rope when it was cut.

About a minute later, she reached the roof of the supply building. She looked back and saw Roy, three-quarters of the way across, desperately trying to reach the end. She could see torches moving up and down the wall, making their way to the tower. She saw a figure emerge on the tower, then heard the shiiiiing of a sword being drawn. They were cutting the rope.

"Roy, look out!" she screamed. That moment, the sword swung in a deadly arc and came down on the rope, splitting it in two. Roy, nearly to the building, fell to the distant ground.

"Roy!" Lena screamed. What would she do? She looked down at the ground. Roy lay there, clutching his left leg. The fall might have not been as deadly as it would have been closer to the wall, but it was still deadly. She could climb down and make a run for it, or she could attempt to save Roy.

She made her decision: she was going to try to save him. It was risky, but he had saved her from the torment of her life, and she needed to repay him for that.

She quickly climbed down from the roof and tried to lift Roy, with little success. Roy, after a few seconds, used his other uninjured limbs to help her. 

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Why aren't you running?"

"Because I can't leave you here," she replied.

She could hear the shouts of the militia getting closer. She looked around for means of escape. Then, she saw it. Horses! They were tied to the supply building with provisions of food and water already tied to their backs on their saddles. This was so that any watchmen nearby could warn the nearest village of an attack without delay. Lena helped Roy mount one, then quickly mounted another. Seconds later, they urged their horses into a gallop, and they thudded away from the wall. 

Lena looked back. She could see the militia, who were nearly upon them, stop their pursuit and gaze at the rapidly fading escapees. She did it. She had finally escaped the kingdom she had loathed so. Now, she could begin a new life in an entirely new land.

She smiled, then started laughing. Roy replied in kind. Within seconds, they were bursting with laughter. They did it.

Seconds later, Roy gasped, and both of them stopped laughing. He looked down at his stomach. There was an arrow buried in it. Lena turned her head again. She could see several archers among the militia. Turns out, one of them hit their target.

Roy began to cough up blood. 

"Roy!" Lena screamed. 

Then, Roy fell off his horse. Lena pulled hard on her reigns, and her horse stopped reluctantly. She jumped off of it and ran to Roy. He was still conscious but was still coughing up blood and clutching his stomach.

"Roy! What can I do?" Lena asked.

Between coughs, Roy replied, "I... don't know... but... if I die... I'm going to kill you."

TO BE CONTINUED.....