If darkness had an expression, William was wearing it. He moved off of Doris and made sure she was fully dressed before he let in a desperate Patrick. His face was bright red and she'd never seen his eyes so wide with terror. He moved through the room like a tornado had struck and he had to grab the good stuff before it was ruined.
"We need to go. Now." Patrick started throwing their things into bags, she noticed his own was already packed by the door.
"What happened?" William grabbed Patrick's arm to stop his haste.
"I was at the tavern again trying to get some of the folk drunk for information and I overheard someone mention your name. They said they're about to pull all of the men in this place to put on a bunch of carriages to ambush Enzo's camp because they think you're there! I already saw some of the guards start to round up every man they came across, we have to go before they get here."
William glanced at Doris and she tried not to feel shame at what they did. Instead of getting out of here, they wasted precious time on themselves. Doris quickly helped Patrick shove everything into bags before she pulled on her shoes. They had all the time in the world to be selfish, why did they have to start now?
"Is our carriage even still here?" Doris asked.
"No, the driver took it back. We were supposed to write for it if we needed it."
"We're going to have to steal some of their horses before they take them all." William said as he pulled on his coat. He gripped Doris's arm and hurried out of the door with their bags in his other hand. "We can't leave a trace of us behind. If they find out I was here, they'll know exactly what I found out and report it back to Luna Queen. We have to stay one step ahead of her."
Doris was practically running to keep up with the men. One step with their long legs was three of her own. William looked down every hallway before they turned. Once or twice they had to wait for it to empty before they hurried to the stables. "How did you know where they were?" Doris asked in a breath. Her shoes lightly clicked against the stone floors and she cursed them for making any sort of sound.
"I unloaded a lot of their drugs and pills out here. There should be at least two on the outside that some idiots left earlier." He whispered. She gripped his arm as they crouched to hide along the walls. He led them across the grounds and kept his eyes sharp on the guards that walked lazily around the fences.
"How will we get out of this one, cousin?" Patrick hissed. William glared at him.
"Since no one talked much where I worked, I watched the grounds. The guards never patrol all the areas at once. We'll wait for the back to be cleared and lead the horses out quietly before we get on them."
Patrick nodded once and followed William's lead. They crouched near a tall bush and watched as the guards pace the same area back and forth for about twenty minutes. She felt her legs start to give out until William gripped her without even looking at her. As if he could sense her own pain.
Ten more minutes passed and finally both guards nodded to each other and went around the building towards the front. The second they were out of sight, William pulled her up and hurried towards the horses.
Just as William said, there were two brown ones tethered to the fence as if they were waiting for their owners to put them away. Doris frowned, it was the middle of the night. She doubted anyone was coming for them but it was better for them that they didn't.
William and Patrick quickly undid their ropes and led them out of the back gates and into the woods beyond. She almost fainted when the metal squeaked loud enough to wake the dead as she closed it. She hurried behind William and allowed him to lift her onto the horse the second they were far enough away from the place.
"That was all an awful idea, we should have never went." Patrick spat at the ground. He pulled himself up on his own horse just as William did the same to hers. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on for her life. Her hands trembled, he squeezed her once before he gripped the reigns.
"It gave me confirmation and now we have a warning for Enzo. If we didn't go, we would have been killed in our sleep."
He kicked his heel and the horse was off in a run. Patrick's was close behind. It was so dark, she couldn't see an inch in front of them but William let the moonlight guide him. It would probably take hours to get back, she only hoped they had enough of a start to prepare them for what was to come.
She clenched her eyes tightly as the harsh winds burned her gaze. More danger, more things to run from and be afraid of. Not this time, she was strong enough to help the people that helped her when she needed it. She wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for Enzo. She prayed the horses would get them there in no time at all. The carriages were slow because of the weight they pulled, but these horses had nothing but them to carry. She had to believe they would make it.
They came tearing through the camp in a fraction of the time it took them to get to Life Pharmacy. It was completely empty, she guessed everyone was asleep already. William slid off his horse the moment it came to a stop and helped Doris down before he hurried to Enzo's cabin to bang on his door as hard as he could.
Doris and Patrick went around to every other cabin to wake those inside and gather them in the courtyard. They shouted at her to tell them what was happening but all she could do was keep moving. She didn't have time to explain to each person, she had to just get them up and out to the courtyard.
Enzo looked as if he hadn't even gone to sleep with how he well was dressed as if it were daytime. William must have already told him because his face was dead serious and it was like no hint of a smile had ever creased it.
"Everyone!" He shouted over the murmuring. They silenced at once and crowded around him as he stood up on one of the logs around the fire that had long since gone out. "We don't have much time. It seems we have a traitor in our mix and I don't have time to sniff him or her out yet. Some of our own pack from Life Pharmacy is coming here to ambush us for allowing the royals to stay here-"
"What?!" Several people shouted. William appeared at her side and she suddenly felt a little less nervous when he was next to her. As crazy as that sounded.
"I'm giving you all the option to leave and save yourselves, but I would appreciate if you stayed by my side while I try to sort this out."
"Sort this out? How many are coming?" Someone asked near the front. Panic was loud in their tones.
"I'm not sure, it could be dozens or hundreds. I can't guarantee this won't turn messy but I don't want a war to start in my own pack over this, I swear to try and sort this out before it turns into one.."
"What are you going to do? Give them up?" Someone else asked him. William tensed at her side, she gripped his arm.
"No. That's not what we stand for. We stand for freedom and choices, not for torture and games. They're chasing old shadows and I won't have any part of it. I won't let them take good people just to torture them."
Doris glanced through the crowd and saw more of William's guards surround where they stood. They inched themselves closer and closer to the prince as if they were afraid he would be taken right then and there.
"They're coming for a fight, how do we stop this?"
"We'll be ready for them. I'll wait here all night if I have to and I will get them to talk." His eyes flickered to William. "If you would prefer to leave before this gets out of hand, I wouldn't blame you. This is not your matter."
William lifted his chin a little. "Perhaps it would be better if my party left. I don't think it would be wise for us to stick around, it might only make things worse."
Doris couldn't believe what she was hearing. She parted her lips to object, but he silenced her with a glare. Enzo nodded once.
"I respect your choice. I hope we cross paths again in the future."