Read Online Slave to the Empire (Historical Erotic Romance Novella Book 1) by Lilly Fey - Free Book Online Page B

towards a closet, “Good to see that you’re capable of being more cooperative”
    The Captain pulled out a plain dress out of the closet and handed it to Lucilla.
    “Here, put this on quickly”
    “Who does this belong to?”
    “Does it matter? Just put it on”
    “It doesn’t matter, but I’d like to know whose dress I’m stealing”
    “You’re not stealing and it belonged to one of the maids who no longer works here”
    Lucilla nodded and took the dress.  As she started to quickly untie her robe she noticed the Captain casually turn the opposite direction. She chuckled to herself at the ridiculous show of chivalry after what happened to her. But a part of her still appreciated it.
    Once fully dressed in the maid attire and ready to go, the Captain led her down the dark hallway.
    “This section is the servants quarters, so we won’t be running into anyone who will ask us questions, but we need to be quick before any of my men notice you missing”, the Captain said cautiously.
    Lucilla nodded and walked quickly in step with him.  The Captain then stopped and glanced down at her, “To be safe, make sure you walk two steps behind me and with your head down.  Maids would never walk with an officer of the Empire.”
    She responded by pulling back two steps and lowering her head.  She would not be putting up any fights at the moment. The Captain continued to walk briskly through the halls.
    It wasn’t long before they reached a door that led to a s ide courtyard. It was less groomed and appeared to be for the servants and service workers of the palace. 
    Lucilla paused for only a moment to take in t he slightly cool night air.  Since her captivity, she wasn’t sure when or if she would get to step freely outside ever again, so feeling the chill of the night on her skin felt perfect.
    “Hey! You can stargaze later . We need to move!”
    She snapped back to reality and scurried up to the Captain and maintained a distance behind him.
    “You can come up and walk with me now.  It’s dark and people won’t even notice”
    Eager to not be walking openly by herself on palace property, Lucilla happily walked next to him and kept up with the Captain’s pace.
    “I don’t want to risk walking through the main gate and have any of the men recognize me, so we’ll have to use the service entrance, which will dump us into a less desirable part of the city .”
    Lucilla nodded her acknowledgement quietly. She didn’t care if she was dropped into the middle of Saxon territory; at this point she just wanted to get as far away from the palace as she could.
    The Captain kept a brisk pace, but Lucilla managed to keep up without a problem.  It wasn’t long before they reached the service gate. Before they reached the gate the Captain whispered, “Just act as if you are a maid heading home and I’m a soldier flirting with you and hoping that I might be able to join you.”
    Lucilla snorted at that, “That’s the best you got?”
    “It’s the only thing we got and the only thing keeping you out of a barracks cell.”
    At that, Lucilla quieted down and casually looped her arm through his, trying to play the part of a flirty lover as much as possible. The Captain chuckled and then wrapped his arm around her waist.
    As they got closer to the gate, Lucilla could see more activity stirring. There were some delivery wagons waiting to be processed as well more than a handful of guards.  Without even realizing it, Lucilla held her breath as they got closer.
    “Don’t say anything and keep your head down and close to mine. When we’re only a few steps away, laugh like I said a joke and then I’ll take it fro m there”, the Captain whispered as he casually threw his cloak over his body to cover his officer’s uniform. 
    Lucilla nodded and gripped onto the Captain’s arm tighter.
    “Okay, laugh now – “
    And before she even realized it, Lucilla let out the loudest and most manic laugh she ever heard.  She