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"Oh, it's...it's nothing," he said, deciding that whatever random thoughts entered his head shouldn't interrupt their business. "You'd have to see it, any way."

He took the drawing tool. "I'm most familar with the top floor, so we'll start there," he said as he drew deliberate lines. He drew Marean's rooms first, then branched out from there to the secret passage ways, his room, and the open hallways. He talked as he drew, but slowly, since he was distracted. "Marean has a flexible schedule, except for when she wakes up each morning. I would have until then before a guard came to check on her."

"The guards are here." He made dots in the sand at the hall way junctions and in rooms like Marean's where there was enough room for them to stand watch without bothering any one.

"They are here," he agreed, tracing the borders between rooms. "I keep thinking it should be at night, not just because it is dark, but because if I am with Marean at that time no one else will come to fetch me and discover me missing. They won't notice until morning."

Cedric rubbed his temples. "Getting past the first floor is possible, especially since they are looking for intruders, not escapees. But the stairs are gaurded all the way down, and it's the only way I've found between the floors. If I climbed down the outside wall-- all five stories, I could do that-- I might wake up any one living near the wall. Or I might be spotted by the outside guards, who are looking for wild animals and slaves raiding the pantry or the gardens. They might have an ear for something climbing the walls of the House."


(I would upload the map but I need some one to help me set it up like I had it before my computer fried crying But you saw it at least!)

"If they didn't believe me, they would knock on her door to ask her, and then I would be caught." He grit his teeth. "Just think on it tonight, and the next night... I don't think this plan will be ready soon. It's not any where near workable."

He sighed and glared at the door. "And the less talking we do, the better."

Cedric nodded and stood up. "We will talk later," he promised before leaving the room unceremoniously.

It seemed that whenever they would get close to solidifying their plans, something about the guard's ruitine would change or something else would screw them over. After a long time, it got to where Cedric never brought up their escape plans himself any more. He prefered to discuss Ross' accomplishments and how many men they thought the women would let him control.

Then, seven years after his original capture, Cedric knocked on Ross' door late at night.

Cedric's breath caught like he'd been running, or like he was excited. He let himself the rest of the way into the room, took Ross' papers, and shoved them all into the drawer in the desk. "I'm going away tomorrow!" he said excitedly, but in a whisper.

"Marean is leaving tomorrow," he said, making a mess of the drawer as he looked for blank paper. There wasn't any because paper was precious enough as it is. He left the paperwork out of order turned to Ross instead. "She's going to a birthing compound, and I'm to stay with her a month or two before coming back here." But Ross' question had given strength to an idea lurking in the background. "I could escape, on the way there. We'll be traveling up the mountain side, visiting a compound or two on our way."

"She's taking your entire team." He sat on the floor and laughed. "I asked her, concerned for her safety of course. She said she was taking the best team...then she said one of the smallest, then she finally decided on you. It's just that she hasn't told any one yet."

Cedric laughed. He had a lot of those same ideas racing through his head, the problem was picking one. "Which makes you look the best? A stretched sentry, I suppose. Poison the whole pot one night, have every one fall asleep."