After resolving some pending questions on logistics, it was finally time to travel to Argenis. It took us several hours of horseback riding, and my thighs were starting to hurt from scratching against the saddle. This time, I rode with Drys. I sat behind him, clinging close to the spy. He seemed not to mind my presence at all, sometimes looking back to check on me.
Moon has gone up since we left. It was near midnight when we arrived. It will be a long night. Infiltrate the castle, avoid detection and kidnap Rigel. It was an easy plan - brother would never suspect such a turn of events. Father probably heard about the cabin being burned down. Sir Christian and his troupe had to report to the palace and suggest sending a search party. Would the king consider it worthwhile? I don’t think so. He still doesn’t see me as a threat, exiling me was a desperate act to push me away from the secret. Nothing more. He is scared of me, but of the truth getting out. He will be scared soon enough.
We arrive at the lower levels of the city. I can see the palace from down here, towering above us, like a prophecy you can’t escape from. Drys helps me off the horse, while Kaytus brings our steeds to the stables. There are many stables in the city, and the horses are well tended there. I’m glad there is still some semblance of peaceful living out here. Even with the executions, workers smile at us, when we pay. I’m sure they don’t recognize me with this dress and the hooded cloak. Would they have attacked me, if they knew I was royalty?
We stand at the hill, leading to my home. I stop, gazing at the towers, tall trees and the peaceful night sky. No sign of the previous storm.
“Hurry,” Kaytus orders, not waiting for me. Drys follows him, looking extremely unwell. His face is distorted with worry, he must sense something is amiss. August is silent.
“Wait.” I say, stopping again. “Can’t I just go to the gates, saying that I’m a prisoner of the revolution? Act like a hostage, so they bring me directly to the king to speak on your behalf? And we work from there?”
“Won’t work. I stated clearly not to change the plans, plus, they won’t believe you.” August grunts, taking out a dagger from a leather bag at his thigh.
“Why do you need a knife?”
“If something goes wrong, if we’re detected, we won’t run away empty handed. We need Rigel, and we need him tonight.”
Drys agrees. Kaytus nods quietly. We won’t be caught, not with my knowledge of knights and magic. I calm down my breathing and follow through. Right. Not changing the plan last minute because of a hunch.
When the main gate is in our view, I create a bubble of air, it hugs us close and I feel the energy slowly doing its job. “We are now invisible.”
Back at their base, before we set out, I went through the book Christian acquired for me. Sentences here and there, and I was reminded of the invisibility spell. I had fifteen minutes to train before setting off. Let’s hope the bubble lasts.
Drys taps me on the shoulder. We walk towards the main gate. “Okay, the greenhouse is always empty, let’s get there.”
We prance against the main wall, towards the gardens and I breathe out. “Now, help me up.”
Kaytus, the tallest out of the three, grabs me by the waist and effortlessly throws me up, so I can grab a branch. It swings, and I with it. There is no one, and the noise could be wind rustling the dead branches. Nobody will suspect such a natural phenomenon.
I jump on the ground, landing softly. Kaytus and Drys follow me, landing softer than I. Spies. I look at them with apparent jealousy and Drys stifles a laugh. Kaytus hits him on the head and looks straight ahead. August is last to come down, his weapons shining under the moonlight.
“Now… We’ll use the south entrance, that will lead to the kitchen. Then, we’ll find ourselves at the west’s arch, leading to the courtyard. We hied behind the pillars of the foyer and go up the stairs, leading to the chambers. I suppose he is sleeping.”
“And if he’s not?” The black haired spy asks.
“Then he’s in the office. Father might or not be there. We’ll have to improvise.” I answer snarkily.
We avoid detection easily. It’s not as difficult as I thought. My knowledge of the castle does indeed help. And my magic seems to hold on. I try to repeat this to calm the rising anxiety. I can’t fail myself now, can’t fail Drys either. He truly believes there’s a peaceful solution, just like me. I can’t let this chance go to waste. The clock is ticking, the Academy won’t wait forever.
The palace is asleep. August and Kaytus share glances, as Drys walks by my side, close enough to hear each other’s breathing.
“It’s here.” I point to a closed door in a hallway, barely noticeable with barely no light. There are two guards, spears at the ready. I bite my lip. Shit.
We hear footsteps coming from behind and turn in unison. I recognize the mahogany hair, it is Auretta! I barely stop myself from calling out to her. Drys notices me flinching, and he grabs my wrist, putting his finger on his lips. I nod. He was in the palace the same amount of time as Kaytus. He knows probably as much about our lives. He must know how Auretta was my only semblance of company.
She walks up to the guards. One of the guards tells her the crown prince is gone before she can knock. The maid is holding a basket of fresh laundry. Could it be our chance? I’ve never been in his room before. He might hide something of value to us. I look at the men behind me and think. Think, think, think, Norella. Is something worth putting the whole operation at risk? Even if we killed those guards, we’ll have to kill Auretta too, because she is a witness. And others would soon take over the shift, and see the bodies. I look through the ornate window. The moon is high. This is the old patrol, the new one comes in less than a quarter.
I take a step back. Then another, my eyes glued to the guards. Auretta turns around and starts walking towards us. The spies follow me, not daring to speak so close to the guards. Auretta is just beside me. I follow her, like a shadow. She turns around quickly, but when she sees nothing, continues through the hall, towards the stairs.
I hold my breath and follow her. Only where the stairs meet third floor do I point at her and show on myself what I want. Kaytus strikes in the dark of night, unseen and unheard. His body is against hers as his hand blocks her mouth and nose. She looks terrified, and that’s when I stand in front of her and dissipate my magic. I hope this didn’t suppress the others’ cloaks. Otherwise our mission will be very quick.
“Mhm?” Auretta’s eyes widen and eyebrows lift. I put my hand over Kaytus’s, signaling him to stop. She gasps, breathing hard. Out of fear, mostly. “Your Highness…”
“Auretta. I need your help.” I whisper, seeing the spies’ reading their weapons. No, I’m not going to betray you. “Go to Rigel’s room. Open the door and let me pass. I will be invisible.”
“What’s going on? Why are you here? I thought you left on vacation!” She whispers, awfully distressed, but happy to see me nonetheless.
“Vacation?” I laugh at the idiocy of it. “No, I was exiled for trying to set things right. Now, did Rigel kill servants?”
She hesitates, looking around. “Yes.” One more reason to give him a good old scare.
“Alright. Did he hurt you?” I must ask. She shakes her head. “Good. Now, will you help me?”
She nods, swallowing. I smile dispassionately and let her return to the chambers’ door. I put the veil back on, feeling the tingling on my skin. It’s working. Beginner’s luck.
She notifies the guards that she’ll put the laundry as it is, because she is tired. They seem to know each other, because the men don’t suspect a thing. They let her enter, and as she opens the door, the four of us are at her heels, ready to run into the room before it closes. We do so quickly, and find ourselves in his bedroom. It’s desolate, as if nobody came here for months. I don’t have time to inspect as Auretta looks around, searching for me. This time, I keep on the veil. I take her hand and she jumps in terror. I put the other hand on her cheek and whisper, “Thank you. Now you will let the door slightly open. You will go to sleep.”
Her eyes dart from left to right, searching for the source of my voice. I tap her cheek lightly. “I was not here, understood?”
“Yes, Your Highness…” And she leaves.
I sigh and start to look around. August comes up to me and pulls on my shoulder. “Why are we here?”
“He might have hidden some clues. Something we can use to incriminate the monarchy with. If push comes to shove and Father doesn’t care if Rigel is kidnapped or killed.”
“This is a possibility?” Drys slowly asks, clearly surprised.
“Everything is possible.” Kaytus speaks in my stead. I nod.
“Come on, let’s search for anything remotely useful. We have fifteen minutes until the change of patrol. If we’re lucky, we’ll have a minute before the other patrol arrives, as Rigel isn’t here.”
“If there is no one to protect, why are they here?”
“That’s exactly why we’re here.” I smirk.
“If we’re unlucky and the guards come the moment the others leave, what do we do?” August asks. Kaytus looks outside and I nod. I have a feeling the commander never learned how to spy properly.
“We go through the window.” As long as my cloak holds…
I lift our magic. Nobody will see us through the window. I make sure of it by closing the curtains.
“We are visible. Don’t worry, I’ll put it back on when I recover some of the energy.”
And we start searching.
There are clothes everywhere, papers and drawings of weapons. Auretta comes with folded laundry, but is not permitted to clean. Or is she not truly allowed to enter, but did so because she knows the guards personally?
I keep looking, stumbling upon letters from women I have never heard of. Must be his lovers. I stick out my tongue and let out a guttural sound. Drys comes up to see and does the same. We share a look of complicity. Kaytus glares at us, and we keep looking.
“Here,” August pulls out a notebook. It looks like a diary. Oh, this is going to be good.
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He starts looking through it, skipping most pages. He goes to the recent entries. His eyes glow with ill concealed happiness.
“He wrote that Father will show him where the box is buried. He hasn’t yet. But he trusts Rigel enough, more than he ever trusted Norella.”
Everyone looks at me and I look to the side. He continues mumbling until something else of value comes out. “He says Norella is exiled until he manages to convince the Academy to work with him. I believe this will work. Only with their magic can we burn their headquarters down. We don’t have enough knights, no army, no spies. We are weak. But the first thing I’ll do once it’s over, is to create covert ops like in Kammer.”
Drys and Kaytus share a perplexed look. I lightly tap my foot against the floor and clasp my hands together. “The Academy was clear. They won’t help either sides. They’re their own government.”
“How long has seen been going on?”
“I don’t know. But now, I recall some weird things back from my degree days. The Fulminare are humans, but there were Fae too. They looked perfectly human, though. Never showed any sign of being Fae. But I always felt their power, just ignored it.”
“So the Academy is run by Fae. It’s all connected then,” Drys says. “They don’t want to take part in the civil war, because it is not their war.”
“And Astral is notorious for keeping her people away from danger.” I put a finger on my lips. “Father’s plan will fail. I will be in exile forever.”
“Speaking frankly, yes, just as they will be exiled.” August closes the notebook and puts it back.
I ignore his statement and put the veil back on. “Let’s go to the office. He must be there.”
I lead the group through the darkest hallways, avoiding the circling guards on the second and first floors. The glass and marble floors do not make a sound as we walk, unlike the wooden planks everywhere else I’ve been to recently.
The office is right in front of us and I see a light coming from there. Spirits be blessed, I might have just pulled this off. I open the door fast, the four of us standing in the doorway only to see Rigel and Father standing at the desk, concentrating on the papers. Rigel groans and comes up to close the door.
“This place is haunted. Might be your Fae friends.” he snarls at Father. The king shakes his head.
“Stop calling them my friends. They’ve disgraced themselves long ago. And they would never enter the castle. We’ll have to go to them and beg for their help.”
I watch Kaytus, Drys and August stiffen. I exhale, calming my nerves, and wait for orders. August unsheathes his blade and runs up to the king, putting the blade at his neck. I gasp, dissipating my magic immediately. Rigel staggers back and stumbles on a chair. Drys and Kaytus stay by my side.
“Hello, your Majesty.” The commander smiles sardonically.
“What… August?” Father recognizes the voice, his eyes full of terror.
“Now that we’re all here, I have something I’d like to say,” August pushes the blade harder and a trail of blood appears on Father’s neck.
“What do you want?” Rigel asks me, fists ready to punch everything in his way.
“Yeah, what do we want?” I ask August. “The plan was to kidnap Rigel not attack the king!”
Drys nods slowly, seeking approval from Kaytus. But the gray haired spy is stoic. He doesn’t talk and doesn’t seem surprised either. He knew.
I bite my lip and take a step forward.
“I suggest a change of plan,” The commander smiles at the king’s vulnerability. “You tell me where your secret is buried, and I’ll let you live.”
Father gasps for air, trying to get farther from the sharp blade. Pointless, August is stronger, a bit younger, too. He has all the advantages here. It’s too risky to do anything reckless right now.
“I’ll never do it. The secret will die with me, if it must.” Stubborn, even when cornered. August grunts and looks at me.
“You never knew why I was stripped of my life? I got too close to the truth, just like you did, princess. The truth that is buried somewhere underneath us.” The commander snaps.
“Father, please,” I beg. “He will kill you if you don’t tell him.”
“I’d rather die, daughter.”
I grab my skull and dig my fingers into the skin.
“And you, crown prince,” August takes his attention to my brother, who cowers in a corner. “You will give up the crown, right this moment.”
Rigel huffs. “Never. I won’t give it to you, savages.”
I flinch and then, with a quick slice, Father’s cheek is bleeding.
“I won’t repeat myself. Kaytus, show the crown prince the true power of an undisciplined mob.”
The spy runs to Rigel and after pushing him to the ground, holds a knife to his throat. He traces it, drawing a little blood. I feel sick watching this. Drys, unmoving, doesn’t understand what’s happening any more than me.
“I won’t say a thing.”
“Father!” Rigel shouts, realizing the revolution isn't playing around anymore. I attempt to take a step but Drys stops me. His hand is on my arm, holding lightly. I could push him away, but what would I do next?
August yanks the knife into Father’s chest. My scream is swallowed by the air leaving my lungs. I fall on my knees, as August lets Father go. Kaytus puts his knife into the sheath, as August gazes at me, his eyes burn with clear determination to destroy us all.
“We will be back. The crown must be subjugated and the secret laid bare. No more games.”
I scream, turning around, and by pure instinct I summon a blade.
“Guards!” Rigel shouts, running to Father’s body.
My feet glide, and I strike Kaytus’s face. I slice his cheek and lip, blood painting his features. Drys stands back, mouth agape. August is already out of the office, and I hear stomps of guards’ boots.
Kaytus blocks my strike with his arm, the blade cutting through the leather. With his free hand, he grabs a blade, but Drys grabs his arm. I use this to punch Kaytus. I jump to Drys, stabbing him in the gut several times, my scream a crazed mix of horror and blind rage. Kaytus shouts, pushing me with all his strength. I fly to the desk, my spine hitting the edge. I breathe hard, my eyes burning from tears. The spies leave, but I follow.
They run fast, even with blood dripping on the marble floors. A group of guards arrive from the left, blocking their path. On my right, Auretta appears with another set of guards. She did not go to sleep, she got help!
“Kill them!” I order, my hands slick with Drys’s blood.
Kaytus holds Drys tighter and pushes through Rigel’s guards. Behind me, I hear Auretta’s scream. A blade pierces her stomach, I see its bloodied tip. Her body falls on the ground, and behind her, August, holding a sword.
The knights Auretta brought lie on the ground, their heads smashed in. The commander throws a knife into a guard’s head, as he runs after the spies. He falls on the ground, the knife touching his nape, the only vulnerable place in the armor.
I summon a fire and throw a ball into August. His clothes burn, as he screams. I let out a guttural cry, as I struck, stabbing his shoulder. The man pushes me away and jumps over the fence, landing in the middle of the courtyard underneath.
Kaytus and Drys are nowhere to be seen. Rigel comes out of the office, gritting his teeth. He pushes me against the wall, punching me right in the nose. It stings so bad I nearly pass out.
“What have you done?!”
I hear blades clank outside. I try to get Rigel off me, but his grip is strong. He looks at me with a desire to kill. If only he redirected it to the revolution right then. He would have killed them like an animal. I lack this rage. I lack the strength to kill them all, even when they’re in my territory.
----------------------------------------
I was put in a cell, underneath the castle. I was sure it was a bad joke when Rigel ordered the guards to bring me there. He had called me a traitor. When I was about to summon fire to burn the guards, I felt a horrible pain, like spiky chains enveloping me.
I asked someone to make sure you were incapacitated. He had said.
Those were his final words before he shut me behind metal bars. There was no sunlight, no bed, nothing but mossy stone and humid air.
I screamed, calling them names, but nobody came down here. I didn't even have guards at the cell. I was utterly alone.
For the first hour, I violently hit the bars, my finger bones screeching from pain. I pushed my body on the bars, desperately trying to bend them. I hit my body hard, bruises forming on my shoulders and arms. I went to the wall and used the distance to be faster, stronger, hitting the metal. It didn’t move and I fell on the ground, again and again.
I screamed for hours, barely stopping to take a breath. My lungs and head hurt, I felt dizzy. So, I fell on my knees and fought nausea. Nothing could stop me from trying to break metal with bare hands.
I sat on the ground, breathing, thinking, and breathing again. After five minutes, I repeated the process. After some time it became unbearable to listen to the echoes of my screams, so I stopped. It felt like someone else was screaming - it made me feel sick in my stomach.
I tried summoning fire, again and again, to melt the metal, to break stone with explosions. I received only paralyzing pain. I tried digging a stone out of a wall, out of the floor, to break the bars. To no avail, I ended up breaking my nails, one of them dangerously close to falling off entirely. Dried and fresh blood mixed on my hands. I thought I could make a ritual, contact Mother, but my magic has been completely shut off. How did he do it? The Academy is no friend of theirs!
My voice became hoarse by the morning. I caught a ray of sun creeping from another cell, way down the hallway. It was so slim, I thought I was hallucinating.
Nobody came to bring me water, nor food. I was famished, tired from not sleeping all night. I couldn’t close my eyes without seeing Father’s bloody chest. I don’t even know if he survived such a blow. I have no clue what’s happening outside. Maybe the castle has already been besieged, and I am left here, forgotten forever, as no one remembers. No one but Rigel and the guards escorting me here knew I had been imprisoned.
I lied on the hard ground, my back aching in protest. Somebody has to help. Somebody has to come. I can’t do it alone. I can’t dig a tunnel, there’s only stone, no dirt. I’m too far underground, it seems. In the hill, on top of which stands the royal palace.
Without anything else to do, I screamed again, calling Rigel, calling Mother, calling Spica. Nobody came, nobody even heard me, probably. I cried out that the Academy would attack at any moment, if they learned my plan failed. That everything failed.
August and his spies betrayed me, they used me to get close to the king and hurt him as a warning. But that was no warning, that was the beginning of the end. I remember Drys’s wide eyes as he saw the scene - but I can’t bring myself to believe he didn’t know. He knew, just like Kaytus knew. They knew from the very start, and I, again, was left unaware, betrayed once more, nearly killed again. Why did Drys stop Kaytus from striking me, I had no clue. Maybe he felt guilt, but that makes my guilt only worse.
So, I struck him down. Cut his guts like the traitor he was.
“Do you hear me Rigel?!” I close my eyes and open my mouth wide, trying to sound louder. I push the words from my throat as if they were bile. “I stabbed a man through his gut! I killed him! I’ll do the same to you if you don’t free me right now!”
I closed my eyes, feeling wrath burn my face, burn my fingers and chest. It was heavy to breathe, thousands of memories and emotions weighing down on my chest.
Then I opened them, staring at the mossy ceiling. With a raspy voice, I screamed Rigel’s name, but it came out in shreds. I was losing my voice completely. It hurt to speak, so I coughed. It hurt even more.
Rigel, that bastard. I couldn’t hate him more. It was all his fault. The unrest in Malachite, the servants he killed, who were most likely innocent. I should hate him more for ignoring the Academy’s warning, for ignoring my warnings. He is like Father, he is proud and a man - those things are always their downfall. Many tragedies were written in the past, and every single one of them insulted hubris. A tragic ending awaited the heroes who were too focused on being heroes, and not righteous… I lost the trail of thought, as hunger overwhelmed me.
I never skipped my meals, I never felt truly hungry. I shouldn’t be hungry with everything happening, it should have cut my appetite, but no. I needed strength, I needed energy to get up and continue to call for help.
Instead, I laid on the ground, staring at the ceiling. The crown can melt in volcanoes of Hanwi, or drown in the arctic ocean. The Seagrave bloodline can be beheaded at the grand market square. May their blood spill onto the ground, and trail deep into the bones of the earth. May every peasant, every noble choke on fish bones tonight and die in agony, slowly losing oxygen. May all horses run free, leaving stable boys without a job. May the forests overgrow Argenis, Solen, Mar, and every town and village there is in Malachite. No. May the whole world’s cities burn in the fires of hell, struck by old gods’ thunderous rage. May Nature conquer what was stolen from Her. This is the curse I lay on this world. May it all die, and let me die with it too.