103. A Run For Her Life
Rosella crawled down the left hand tunnel internally grumbling to herself over the cramped space. Upon reaching the
end, she peaked her head out into an open room. With nobody in sight, she glanced down to the floor. It would be a bit
of a drop, and she did not wish to twist her ankle, so she awkwardly maneuvered until she was able to pop her heels off.
“There,” Rosella said with success as she dropped down the floor with a girlish grunt. Dusting herself off, she got ready
to inspect the room, when she heard voices coming from the outside hall beyond the door.
Eyes wide with panic, the princess quickly scanned the room for any possible place to hide. With time not on her side,
she arbitrarily decided upon a curtain hanging from the wall. Pulling aside the tall curtain, Rosella took a step forward
when she felt a tug at her foot. Looking down in irritation to see what the hold up was, she discovered the toe seam of
her stockings had snagged on a jagged stone floor slab! Unbelievable! Thought the princess to herself of her
wretched luck. Looking the door, she could tell that the voices were getting close. She had time to do one of two
things. Either peel off the troublesome undergarment, or try to work the snag free in time. Once again, vanity won out
on Rosella’s better judgment, and she went to work on the snag. Unfortunately, the pressure of time made her hands
shaky and uncoordinated, and not only was she unsuccessful with un-snagging her toe, she managed to work a run up
the side of her foot and halfway up her calf! “Oh, I could just die of embarrassment!” pouted Rosella at the damage her
handiwork had caused. She thought about removing the destroyed garment now, but she had already wasted too much
time. She would only make it down to her knees before she was burst in upon. With a whimper she said, “This run is
going to be the death of me,” before jumping behind the curtain and pulling it around her in a flurry. Not a moment too
soon. The door flew open as she disappeared from view; all save for a six-inch stretch of nylon held fast to a snag on
the floor. She pulled back with her foot desperately from behind the curtain, but the garment just stretched defiantly.
Lolotte stormed into the room followed by a worried looking goon. “What do you mean the maps are gone!?” she yelled
with authority. Her red eyes swept the room.
“We’re not sure what happened,” stammered the guard.
“Well, I want the entire castle turned upside down!” she growled with flaring red eyes and snap of her fingers.
“Yes milady,” saluted the nervous goon. With a sweeping scan of the room he noticed a crumpled pile of a white
gosamer fabric covered in a fine white ash. “What’s this?” he asked aloud.
Stopping just as she left the room, Lolotte replied, “nothing, just a bit of trash.”
-The End
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