A Week Later

The group traveled back through the forest, taking a break every night to rest. Rowan and Kronos started to recover from their injuries as the week went by, but Jesika’s burns remained mostly the same, with only slight improvement.

After a little over a week, they neared the kingdom’s outer walls, but when they reached the gates, the knights didn’t open up for them. Jesika frowned from where she sat behind Darryn on Rocky.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t they opening the gates? Don’t they recognize me?” Jesika asked, mostly to herself. She rose her voice, shouting to the knights: “It’s your queen, Queen Jesika Ivory Snow Binet. I order you to open the gates!”

The knights only glanced at one another. After a couple minutes, they opened up the gates. They slowly walked in, a frown rising to Jesika’s face. When they arrived in the kingdom, their hearts skipped a beat.

The kingdom was in ruins. Peasant homes were vandalized and burnt, stores and markets broken into and stolen from, people lying dead in the streets. An ominous feeling fell over the group.

Something terrible had happened in their absence.

They walked through the kingdom a little more, assessing the damage. Soon they found the first civilian wandering around, a middle-aged woman with a terrified look on her face. They stopped beside the woman and Darryn dismounted Rocky to stand before her.

“Ma’am, can you please explain what has happened to the kingdom?”

The woman was trembling viciously, glancing around nervously. “Not... here... They’re listening... Follow me,” she replied, still glancing around.

Darryn glanced back at the group, shrugging. They nodded in agreement with his silent question. Yes, they would follow. Darryn hopped back on Rocky and followed the woman into an alleyway, hidden away. The group dismounted except for Jesika.

“What happened to my kingdom?” Jesika asked forcefully.

The woman still continued to glance around, almost as if it was a nervous tick. “A rival kingdom attacked, Grumor. Stormed in late in the night with their army, mighty beasts tearing through everything, rival knights imprisoning or enslaving everyone and killing them if they didn’t listen to orders.”

“What?! Rival kingdom?! How in the world did they get past our guards?! How were they not stopped?!” Jesika asked, her voice rising.

The woman finally stopped glancing around, glaring straight at Jesika. She slowly rose her hand, pointing a trembling finger at her. “It’s all your fault, Your Majesty."

“Mine?!”

“Your trusted friend, Sir Audric, is the king of this rival kingdom. Your absence allowed him to overthrow the kingdom. And now us civilians must pay for your mistakes!” she yelled, her eyes fiery with accusation.

Jesika felt her heart start to race. “What do you mean? Audric isn’t king of a rival kingdom! He’s loyal to Querencia! He wouldn’t do this!!”

The woman shook her head. “Turns out your friend was fooling all of us, playing the part of a loyal councilmember until the moment you slipped up and left the kingdom vulnerable. He appointed knights from the rival kingdom in our own army to overthrow us and opened up the gates to his army without our knowing. I suggest that you hide, Your Majesty. If he knows you’re back and alive, he will enslave you and later kill you, of this I have no doubt!”

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“You’re lying!” Jesika yelled, tears rushing from her eyes. Why would the woman say this? Why did she hate Audric? Audric, the last man she looked up to, the last semblance of family she had. Surely, he wouldn’t do this. There was no way.

Her thoughts and questions were cut short by the sound of approaching horses. The woman’s eyes grew wide.

“Regardless of whether or not what you think I say is true, the fact remains the same. We are now in enemy territory, and here comes the enemy. Get out of here! Now!” the woman warned.

The group wasted no time, mounting their beasts and riding out of the alley. As they exited, they saw Grumor’s knights running their way.

“There’s an underground bunker only known by the royals! We can hide there! Follow me!” Jesika yelled to the group as they began running. She then leaned over, whispering instructions to Darryn on where to go.

Frankie and Kronos flew into the sky, their riders watching Rocky on the ground for guidance. Darryn focused on losing the knights first, weaving in and out of alleyways until they were far behind. He then ran to the farthest point of the kingdom, where the farmlands were. As they passed by the large farmlands, Jesika looked out to see civilians, some of them even royal knights or councilmembers, slaving away in the fields that were climate controlled by beasts, being whipped or even killed for disobeying orders or working too slow. The beasts too were whipped if they attempted to misbehave or refuse working. Jesika looked away, not able to watch anymore of how they had ruined her kingdom. No matter who was the cause of this, she decided she was going to make them regret it.

They came to the end of a road where a measly barn stood. Jesika dismounted Rocky, going to the barn doors. She said the passcode, which was her mother’s name, making the barn doors open to reveal a stairwell that led under the earth. They walked in and the door closed behind them. They quickly descended the long stairwell, arriving in a huge, concrete underground shelter. The group dismounted and went to sit on the several bunkbeds that were placed against the walls.

Jesika sat next to Darryn on one, Rowan and Aquila across from them. Aquila’s head fell into her hands, and she wept, the emotions from seeing the destroyed kingdom just now being released. Jesika wanted to cry with her, but her anger wouldn’t let her.

“You guys don’t think it was Audric, do you? The very thought is insane,” Jesika said.

Darryn shook his head next to her. “I seriously doubt it. After all, trauma can do some crazy things to your mind. And it’s obvious that woman wasn’t exactly stable,” he said.

Jesika nodded, her heartbeat slowing just a bit at his reassurance. Aquila rose her head, wiping away some tears.

“Where does this even leave us? What the hell do we do? Just hide here for the rest of our lives?!” Aquila asked, her voice shaky.

Jesika shook her head, her eyes hardening. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not leaving my kingdom like this. I’m driving them out and killing whoever is responsible. No matter how long it takes.”

Darryn glanced at her, then at the group. “We have to be careful not to be captured or split apart. All we have is each other for now,” he reminded them. They nodded.

Rowan had been silent the whole time, studying the ground. He looked up, speaking hesitantly. “I have to know where my parents are. If they’re even...” he closed his eyes, swallowing, “alive,” he forced out.

Aquila let out a sob at his words, laying her head on his shoulder. “Same goes for me. I need to find mine too,” she said.

Jesika worried her lip, looking at the distraught looks on their faces. “As much as I understand, I don’t want you two to be captured,” Jesika said with concern.

Rowan shook his head. “For my family, that’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’d rather be dead than not know.”

Aquila nodded, her head still on his shoulder. “Besides, I’ll go with him. We’ll look out for each other.”

Jesika sighed. “Alright. But Darryn and I are going with you too.”

“Jes, no offense, but you two don’t have families to search for. And I don’t want you two to be needlessly put in danger. Stay here, so that if something happens to us, we have someone to get us out of trouble. Alright? We’ll be okay,” Rowan said.

Jesika shared a look with Darryn, and they both reluctantly agreed. “Make sure to take your beasts with you for protection. And lay low. And if the search is proving to be difficult, please come back home... We can’t lose you too,” Jesika said, her voice rasping a bit from emotion at her last few words.

They nodded, the same solemn look on their faces. With that, they left the shelter, mounting their beasts and disappearing up the stairwell and through the barn doors. Jesika felt the heaviness of the situation surround her, threatening to steal the breath from her lungs. She slowly reached over and took Darryn’s hand. He allowed her to hold his, gently squeezing it without looking at her. They both were all they had left.