The cells of the Capital were dark and gloomy.
“If you have to choose,” asked one of the guards. “Would you marry a rat or a pig?”
His counterpart tapped their chin. “A rat,” he decided.
“Why?” asked the guard. “At least with a pig, you could roast it if the winter’s too cold.”
The other guard placed a hand on their buddy’s shoulders. “Trust me, I’m already married to a pig.” She lowered her voice. “If you get a choice, take the rat… at least they don’t eat you out of your dowry!”
The two burst into raucous laughter.
A groan came from one of the cells. The guard scowled. He banged on the metal poles. “Shut up in there! Can’t you tell we’re having a conversation?”
“Are you going to take responsibility if he marries a pig too?” taunted the other guard.
“Ahem,” coughed a voice behind them.
The two spun, weapons held out in front of them. “Who dares to- My lady!” Their weapons clattered to the floor.
The guards fell to their knees, eyes wide with shock as their whole body shook. They just turned their swords on the… If they were unlucky, it would be their turns to sit in the cells.
“My lady, what are you doing here?” asked the first guard, words trembling.
A blade flashed as it aimed at their pale necks. “No one is to know we are here.”
We? The guards glanced at the figure behind the lady and gasped. “Your-!”
“Shut up!” snapped Lady Marcel as she knocked out the two guards.
The figure behind her snorted.
The two approached the farthest cell in the jail. A skinny figure whose rib bones protruded out of his skin sat inside. Their hair was a mess, greasy and long. Flies flew around their head. They raised their haunting blue eyes to meet those outside his cell. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
A key and blade were tossed into the cell. The objects landed noisily on the stone ground.
The man’s brows furrowed. “What is this? Freeing me after all the trouble you went through to capture me?” His smile was all teeth as he laughed maniacally. “NEVER WOULD I HAVE EXPECTED THIS! HAHA!”
One of the figures scoffed. They turned away, heading back the way they came. Lady Marcel glared darkly at the prisoner but followed the other.
“Lady Rex!” called the man in a sing-song voice. “Oh, Lady Rex!”
The other prisoners rose their heads at the sound of that name. Rex was here? The queen in the dungeons? Low murmurings filled the cells as hundreds of hands reached out past the bars toward the woman.
The instigator smirked when the Rex froze.
“Insolent piece of trash,” snapped Lady Marcel. She held up her sword threateningly. The hands near them shied back.
Rex held up a hand.
The man tilted his head, his haunting eyes stared at the most powerful woman in Milror. “What is the price of this… gift?”
“Do what you do best, Sea King.” Rex’s eyes hardened. “I want you to burn Oceanport to the ground.”
—
Blaze’s grip tightened as he crushed the letter in his hands. His knuckled whitened with the force of his emotions.
Timmy and Tom shared an uneasy look. Their expressions mirrored the weight of the situation.
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Tom gulped, “Is it true, boss? The underground lord… is he really…?”
A heavy sigh escaped Blaze’s lips. His words tinged with exhaustion and a hint of sorrow. “He’s gone,” uttered Blaze wearily.
Timmy removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose. There was a question none of them wanted to face. “What’s going to happen to us?”
Blaze folded his arms, gaze calculating. “We’re not the only ones in danger. War is brewing in the underworld, and if we’re not careful, Oceanport is going to become their battleground.”
His eyes shifted to the window, fixated on the silhouette of the distant castle.
“I hope you’re ready, Trouble,” he murmured, a sense of foreboding clinging thickly to his words.
—
Finn collapsed on the ground. He stared at the red fabric on his desk.
The cursed color- a dark scarlet that held too many memories of the past- and a material he would recognize anywhere.
A chill ran down his spine, as cold sweat ran down his back.
They had returned.
—
There was a cottage deep in the heart of the woods. A woman with eyes that looked like pools of honey looked up from her meticulous needlework.
Figures in dark cloaks surrounded the house. Their silent presence was like the lingering mist, shrouded in mystery and inevitable.
She sighed. Their exile was short lived.
Who was it, she wondered faintly. The imposing Capital? Eres? Or perhaps it was another betrayal by their very own Court of Farmers?
Sica delicately set aside her needle. She turned and called to the other occupants of the room. Their time of hiding was over.
—
Eres laughed viciously. “She thinks she has the power to do whatever she wants now? Hah!” Her grin widened with sinister glee. “Let’s see how the almighty Four will fare when her own people turn on her!”
Crazed laughter filled the mountain castle. Varae, driven by their master’s unbridled rage, joined in with a chilling howl, the noise echoing in a twisted symphony.
The Citadel would get their revenge.
—
“Just tell me what’s going on with you!” pleaded Mrs. Regina, her voice was exhausted. “It’s like I don’t know you anymore.”
“That’s right,” her daughter snapped. “Maybe you don’t.”
Exhaustion settled on her shoulders as Mrs. Regina sighed tiredly. “I am tired of coming home exhausted and having to argue with you.”
“No one is asking you to keep berating me each time you see me!” said Ria brokenly. Her voice trembled. “Just let me deal with this in my own way.”
The sentiment cut deep.
Mrs. Regina’s sigh was laced with disappointment. “It’s like I’m living with a stranger,” the woman rubbed her forehead tiredly. “Where did I go wrong? I’m sorry that I’m not enough for you, but-”
A sudden warmth, a weight she hadn’t been expecting crashed into her, cutting off her words.
Mrs. Regina’s eyes widened as arms wrapped tightly around her.
Ria’s eyes glistened. “I’m sorry” her voice was muffled. “But please, trust that I know what I’m doing.”
—
“Four, you’ll get what’s coming to you!”
“I swear my fealty to you, Your Highness.”
“Mark my words! I will destroy everything that you hold dear…”
“I am the queen of Oceanport, and I won’t let anyone hurt this kingdom…over my dead body!”
—
The hard eyes softened. A hand brushed her cheeks, tilting it up.
“The truth is, I love you, Ria.”
—
Ria ran as fast as her legs could take her. Her vision blurred but she ignored it.
The girl crashed to her knees in front of the statue. Her scratched knees stung painfully but she choked on the relief coursing through her.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” sobbed the girl. She felt so small.
Daisy’s kind smile shined down on her, precious and untouched, eternal within the stone. It was a small sanctuary.
Ria sighed as she sat against the statue, leaning her head against the cool rock. Everything was so confusing. She thought she knew what she was getting into.
Everyone was counting on her, but Ria had never felt more alone. The girl felt her eyes flutter shut.
CLANG!
Ria’s eyes snapped open.
An arrow was embedded into the cobblestone in front of her. On its shaft was a letter.
The girl lifted her eyes to the roofs of the building. A small figure holding a bow stared back at her. It… looked like a child?
Ria tore open the letter, quickly scanning through its contents.
“Prepare yourself, Four. Soon, I will claim your life in revenge for my sister.”
Her eyes studied the familiar pattern on the side of the paper. She stiffened. It was the same pattern as her handkerchief!
Ria hurriedly got to her feet. She reached a hand out to the figure on the roof, but they were gone.
“Who are you?” she asked the empty space. A relative of Daisy? Her… sibling?
The wind whipped her hair against her face as Four looked around the empty square. She lifted her gaze. Her grip loosened and the letter fell out of her grasp. Ria’s jaws dropped.
A massive mast towered over the buildings. Approaching Oceanport was a giant ship. Its sails were decorated with a skull-and-crossbones pattern and a dark crown adorned its top.
What in Niamh’s name was going on?
--
To be continued in BOOK 2…