"A runaway and an unexpected ally" is the title of the 2nd episode of Alecto's story reboot!
10 yo Alecto is fed up of punishment and bullies, so she has decided to run away as she previously did from the orphanage. Or, at least, so she thought, until a certain someone caught her.
Snippet after the cut, read it in AO3!
She had been patient. More or less. But now, after almost a year, Alecto had come to the conclusion that there was nothing she could do to improve her situation. If she was docile, things would go badly, but fighting back hadn’t exactly improved matters. Consumed by rage most of the time, she was terrified by the mere idea that, in a moment of weakness, some demon might take hold of her, turning her into an abomination. The whispers were tempting, of course, and promised her a revenge that would exceed her expectations. Almost ten years old, and with no proper training in any of the Circles, Alecto knew she was easy prey. She could think of only one way out, and it was the least honourable: to escape.
She might have been a child, but she was fully aware that if she were caught—whether in the midst of her escape or afterwards—she would not live to see adulthood. She also knew she could trust no one; she’d never deluded herself on that point. That was why, despite the anxiety that filled her, Alecto had spent weeks observing the place and its potential weak points, the patrol routines, everything that came to mind. And, above all, waiting.
The opportunity came on a day when the weather was particularly foul, with a downpour so heavy that not even the guards at the entrance wanted to patrol the gardens. Having not slept a wink, upon hearing the fourth chime after midnight, Alecto decided that her moment had come. She made her way through the great hall in complete silence, as quickly as she could, using chairs and tables to hide behind whenever she heard a noise. She was wearing nothing but the clothes on her back, but she would manage. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought she’d be discovered, so she quickened her pace even more. Going out through the front door would be suicide – besides, she wasn’t sure she could even open it – so stealing a key from the servants was quite simple. Her hands were shaking so much she couldn’t manage to slot it into the keyhole.
“Come on, come on,” she urged herself in a low voice, trying to calm down. “You just have to open this bloody door.”
“And stop making such a racket, don’t you think?” The voice startled her so much that she had to stifle a scream, all the more so when a pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to turn round, pressing her hard against the door.
