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Book 1 - Chapter 2 - Part 2
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Alexandros heads back to the castle and straight to the front gates before he can lose his nerve. He tries to say something to the guard, only to realize someone is already standing there. It took him a moment, but he recognized her. “Evera?” he asks as he takes a few steps closer. “What are you doing here?”
Evera scowls as she turns to face Alexandros. “I am trying to care for something here, and I think you should go. Why are you asking me what I’m doing here? Why are you here?”
He is caught off guard by her response and isn’t entirely sure how to respond. Evera turns her attention back to the guards when he doesn’t answer. “Are you going to let me through or not? The king owes me for the death of my parents.”
One of the guards tightens his grip on his weapon. “Are you insinuating that our king has done something unjust? You know such words can be seen as treason.”
Alexandros decides to cut in before Evera can make things worse. “I apologize if you’ve been offended, but I am not with this girl and simply wish to speak with the king. It won’t take long, and once I’m finished, I will be out of your hair.”
Evera speaks up this time, not allowing the guard a chance to respond. “I would never commit treason, but seeing as he is the king, he is supposed to care for his subjects. By turning me away, you are not allowing him the chance to help me.”
The guards exchanged a look between them before looking back at Evera and Alexandros. “You are not welcome to see the king. You are nothing but children, and the king has far more important things to worry about. If I were you, I would try to avoid trouble.”
Alexandros opens his mouth to argue when Evera grabs his arm and drags him away. She gets him a few feet before he breaks her grip, and heat rises to his cheeks. “What was that all about?” he demands. “I had a good shot at getting to see the king, and you just had to go and ruin it. Just because you didn’t want to travel with me doesn’t mean you have to sabotage me.”
“You think that was sabotage? I need to speak to the king just as much as you do. In case you’ve forgotten, we both lost our homes, and your reason is no more important than mine.”
“Well, it looks like neither of us is going to get the chance now, so I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore.” He shakes his head and begins walking away from her, only to have her pull him back and nearly knock him to the ground.
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“Don’t you dare walk away from me? I said I didn’t want to work with you before, but the circumstances have changed. We are both here with the same goal, so it makes sense that we help each other.”
He frowns, not sure how he feels about her plan. Alexandros isn’t sure who he can trust, which makes things a lot more complicated. “What if I don’t want your help?” He crosses his arms over his chest for dramatic effect.
“Do you want to speak with the king or not? What do you want to speak with him about anyway?”
“It doesn’t matter why I need to speak with him. It’s not like you will tell me why you’re here.”
Evera scoffs. “I’m here because I have nowhere else to go, and I was hoping the king could help me somehow since our entire village is gone. Is that such a bad thing?”
Alexandros slumps his shoulders. “I am more or less here for the same reason. Except I want to know what happened and why. Our village was always peaceful, and the people there were always happy. I don’t understand why someone would just come and tear it apart like they did.”
Evera chuckles in response. “Do you think he will help you with any of that? As you said, our village was peaceful, and the people were happy. Since there was nothing to gain from us, there was also nothing to lose.”
“You can’t believe the king would be so heartless. And why are you here to try if you don’t expect him to help?”
“Because even though I don’t think it will work, I will hate myself forever if I don’t even try.”
Alexandros frowns as he sees Evera in a new light. He had been so caught up in his grief that he never considered what she was going through. “Well, alright then. Since we both want the same thing, I suppose we may as well work together for now. The guards aren’t letting us in, so I’m unsure how we will figure this out.”
Evera cracks a slight smile. “Don’t worry about all that. There are plenty of other ways to get into the castle that doesn’t require walking through the front gates.”
He wonders how she knows this but decides not to question it as he isn’t sure he will like the answer. “So, does this mean you have a plan to get inside? Because to me, it seems like you already have this figured out.”
“I don’t have all of it figured out,” she replies. “Though I have a pretty good idea about how to get inside.”
“Have you done this before?” he asks, wondering if he is making a mistake.
She shakes her head. “No, but there’s a first time for everything, so follow me.” Before he can respond, Evera turns and begins going to the back of the castle.
Deciding there is no point in arguing, he follows behind her. Breaking into the castle to speak to the king isn’t something he was planning for, but he is desperate to see the king, so he figures this is what he has to do.