Whatever Vulko's trick had been, it was still working.

True to his word the Adept had come the next day and Vulko had followed not long after he left. Vulko had been able to talk privately with her again, detailing more of what had been going on in her... absence. The more she thought about what had been done to her, the angrier she got. Soon, she realized, she would no longer be able to hide her resistance to the mind-numbing spells. She would need to act now.

Under Vulko's careful manipulations the guards had begun stationing outside Alanna's room at night, "so as to be less likely to disturb her much-needed rest," he had explained. Once the guard left the room, Alanna made her move.

When they were growing up she and Orvax had spent many a day playing throughout the royal chambers. The castle itself had been one of the first buildings built after The Cataclysm, and as such had undergone many expansions and renovations over the millennia.

What many outside the royal family and servants did not realize was that there were hidden passages connecting every room, these had been built early on for the servants to get around more easily and without disturbing the royal family. Few servants who new of these passages remained, Orvus had been slowly weeding out Fen loyalists. Alanna knew the tunnels well for while she enjoyed the adventure of sneaking through them, Orvax felt them beneath their royal station.

Her lone wanderings through them had long ago caused her to stumble onto something lost to time and now known only to her. There were other tunnels, secret tunnels that attached only to the servant tunnels but had hidden entrances that could take her to places within the city and even one place well outside.

Alanna silently slipped from her dresser and drifted to her oversized armoire. She opened the armoire, climbed in, then closed the doors behind her. In the dark she felt for what would look to be an ordinary decorative ring. She pushed the center of that ring and the back of the armoire quietly opened before her.

She felt certain none of the current servants were using the tunnels but she still stayed vigilant as she crept through. It took time but she finally found the place she was looking for, an unassuming nook with some decorative shells built onto the walls. Touching the shells in the correct pattern caused a section of floor to unseal. She slipped below it and closed the opening after.

Alanna felt her way along the old, familiar passage. It had never had the benefit of light but there had also never been any obstacles for her to worry over. There would be plenty of light from the lichen at the end of the tunnel and just outside of it. Part of the tunnel's camouflage was that the exit was nestled into the end of a small, natural cave. The other part of the tunnel's camouflage was that the exit within the cave was covered by rocks which seemed large and heavy but were actually light and flattened to fit together over the opening.

The rocks covering the tunnel opening were covered by the same glowing lichen as just inside it. The light helped her with removing then replacing the rocks although she really didn't need it. She had long ago memorized their pattern and could put them back in the exact same places even in her sleep.

She was pleased with herself as she looked at her finished work.

A voice grumbled to her from behind, "Halt and identify yourself in the name of King Orus!" She had thought the danger of discovery lie in the tunnels, that the opening was too far outside the city to be of concern and that the shallow cave would further hide her activities. She had let her guard down while she focused on precisely replacing the rocks covering the tunnel opening. Foolish Alanna!

She turned slowly to face the speaker and his two companions. Her spirits fell upon first hearing those words, knowing she had been caught and her efforts had been in vain. They fell even deeper when she saw the trio.

She could see the two in front the clearest as they were covered in the soft glow. The nearest to her, the speaker, seemed to be no different from the many guards she had seen over her life but his nearest companion was a different story. He was build was that of a racer, his muscles were the tight, sleek variety which spoke of shocking speed. His quick but subtle movements were fluid enough for Alanna to realize she would never outpace him.

If she did manage to somehow slip by these two there was still the third one who waited just outside the glow of the lichen. She could see his frame outlined against the lighter water outside the cave and he was a behemoth. Where the other two could float almost beside one another within the cave's walls, the third guard was much too broad for that.

The last time she had been in this situation she had gone along with feigned meekness then ended up put into a mental fog for close to a decade. That would not happen again, she decided, so she took a different route.

"I am Alanna Fen Rath, Queen of Atlantis! Who are you to question me!"

The two guards nearest her shifted uncomfortably, the giant behind them made no discernable movements. "You should return to the castle with us," the lead guard finally responded. "His Highness has made no mention of your being allowed outside the city."

Allowed?!? Alanna seethed.

Again the lead guard spoke, "I'm afraid we must insist" meanwhile the guard behind locked his eyes on her as he slightly lowered his spear. She had seen his type before, he had killed before and found he liked it. He would not hesitate to kill her if his orders allowed it.

She saw she had no other choice but to go with them. Again.