Susan has an idea

Susan sat back for a moment, the world closing back in around her. What Sarah had said before plagued her, and wouldn't leave her mind. Slowly, she felt despair tearing at the edges of her being, but she refused to buckle even now, seeking something she could to do to hold her own. The collar against her neck was cold and tight, she felt like it was slowly chocking the life out of her. Her hand rose to it, but it was solid against her skin, and she knew that she couldn't break it or escape. She scowled to herself, hating the fact that she was so trapped. She couldn't even move about the room!

Then, as if it had lanced down from on-high, she was struck with an idea. She froze, almost terrified by it. She wanted to ask, but her mouth felt dry. As if the very thought of denial could collapse the fragile web of hope that it had spawned.

"S-say, Sarah..." She said slowly. "You're allowed to roam about during the day, aren't you? W-when they're busy tormenting me, I mean. Y-you're just a servant, right?"

"Something like that." Sarah scowled. "Though I get plenty of **** as well, it's not as organised as what they do to you. I guess I don't matter as much as a princess."

"T-then maybe we can use that..." Susan said. "I have an idea....it may not work, but it's all we have right now. These chains around our necks, how would you like to get rid of them?"

"It'd be a start." Sarah admitted. "But how could we do that? We're not exactly going to be breaking them wide open, you know."

"I know, I know." Susan said. "But....um, I have an idea. And maybe...maybe it's a very bad idea, but... well, it might work. The guards have the key to our collars, right? Guards as in plural. I've seen several different ones with the key at the same time, so it's a generic key of some sort."

"Right." Sarah said. "I think the same key undoes all the collars."

"So if we got that key, we could use it to unlock the chains." Susan said, almost giddy with the thought. "It wouldn't help with the door, but it might be a good first step. At the very least, we'd be able to talk around. That'd be good, right?"

"To say the least." Sarah muttered. "But how would we get the key? In a castle full of men, two naked women in chains tend to be watched, you know."

"I noticed." Susan scowled. She hesitated now, and a look of unease swam across her face. She felt nervous, but she had come so far, too far to back down now. "If....if during my next punishment, I am able to create a scene... could you maybe use that to escape any watchers?"

"They'd find me again quickly." Sarah said. "But maybe I could, for a little bit."

"Just enough time to get the key." "Susan said. "If we try to memorize the face of the guard who has it. So long as no one sees us with it, they won't know it was stolen and not just lost. If there are a lot of the same key, they may not care too much."

"That could work." Sarah said slowly. "Susan, that could work! During my training, I spent a lot of time with the guards, I know their barracks. I could probably get in and out quickly and unseen if you were able to make a big scene and bring the wandering patrols to you. But it's dangerous. if Kanor figured out what we were doing..."

"He would punish us both harshly." Susan nodded, her mouth dry. "It's terrifying to think what he would do. But Sarah, we can't do nothing! We have to fight on, we have to find some way to resist. or else he'll break us both. You know he will. If we stay here, we lose. We have to escape, and this is the first step. Believe in me, Sarah. Believe that I can pull this off. I already believe that about you."