The panic room was larger than Quilla had expected, though she should have realised. This was the Royal Palace, after all. They didn’t do anything small here. Compared to other parts of the Palace, though, it was small.

The room was split up into several smaller parts, almost rooms themselves, only the lack of doors between them making them all part of one big room. There was the main section which was furnished with several chairs and a dining table. Further back was a kitchen area and past that was the storage area. At the very back was the sleeping area with half a dozen double bunks. Off to the side, across from the storage area was a lavatory area with only a curtain for privacy.

Hang and one of the Kingsguard—Greminy if Quilla remembered his name right—stood by the main door. The other two Kingsguard stood by the kitchen. The Queen and Annai sat beside each other at the table, sobbing into one another’s arms. Pastrin and Ned sat side by side in two of the chairs along the wall. Pastrin was slumped over, his head in Ned’s lap. Quilla, herself, sat near those two.

They had all spoken almost nothing since arriving what seemed like hours ago. Quilla was sure it hadn’t actually been that long, but it might as well have been. They weren’t likely to be leaving here any time soon.

A short while earlier, the sounds of crashes had come from above. It had been like the Palace had been collapsing on top of them. Maybe it had. Quilla had been certain there had been screams mixed in with the crashes as well.

How many people were dying while they hid away here?

They should have killed Lidda Plavin a week ago. To hell with rules and bureaucracy. Sometimes, faster action was needed, and this had been one of those times. The decision to wait had cost so many lives.

Including the King’s.

The sight of his burnt corpse was etched in Quilla’s mind. Watching him blister and burn away had been almost as bad as watching Tianna and all those horses die under the dragon’s flames. She had always found him a kind man, and she would miss him. She even felt a little bad for the Queen.

With the King dead, Cerus was the new king. But Cerus wasn’t here. Quilla wasn’t sure who would be in charge here until Cerus returned, but she suspected the Queen would maintain control once she’d gotten over her initial shock. Whether that would be a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

Of course, they had to survive first, and that didn’t seem very likely.

Hours or minutes later—or more likely somewhere in between—there was a knock at the door. The Kingsguard sprang to attention.

Hang held up his hand while the other three gripped the hilts of their sword. “Identify yourself.”

“Princess Gabriella.”

“Your Highness!” Hang retrieved a key from his belt.

The other three did not remove their hands from their sword hilts.

Hang nodded to Greminy, then unlocked and opened the door. Gabriella stood there.

The Kingsguard all relaxed.

Gabriella stepped into the room and looked around.

Pastrin sat up, then hopped to his feet. “Gabby, what’s happening?”

“Yes,” Annai said, wiping away her tears. “Is that horrid woman dead?”

Gabby held up her hand. “One moment. Sergeant Merrin, report.”

“Not much to report, your Highness. We came straight here. No casualties or injuries.”

“I thought I told you to get them off Palace grounds.”

“Yes, your Highness. The Queen wanted to come here, and with the dragon flying above, I deemed this the safer option.”

Gabby glanced at the Queen with a frown. “I see.”

The Queen dabbed at her eyes with handkerchief. “Now, Gabriella, will you tell us what is happening upstairs?”

“It’s not good,” Gabby said. “Not good at all. Lidda Plavin is riding the dragon and together, they’re burning the Palace and the grounds. You shouldn’t have come here. You should have done as I said and got the hell off Palace grounds. You would have stood a better chance.”

“Orders now, your Highness?” Hang asked.

“We get the hell out of here.”

“But surely if we go out there, the dragon will burn us, too,” Annai said.

“Would you rather be buried under the rubble of the Palace?” Gabby said. “We might survive a few days if we’re lucky, but they won’t be comfortable days. This room was designed for hiding from human invaders, not dragons.”

“Going outside doesn’t seem a very good option either,” Pastrin said.

Gabby shrugged. “You’re right, it isn’t, but if we leave, we have a chance. Rudiger’s sword seems to have an ability to protect against the dragon’s fire. If we can get back to him…”

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The Queen stood up. “Agreed. We will leave here and head to Lord Fonivan. Is Thilin with him?”

Gabby stiffened. “Thilin? No, he’s...to tell the truth, I’m not entirely certain where Thilin is. I think he was on the roof with the archers when the dragon breathed on them.”

The Queen fell back into her seat with a wail. Another wail escaped Annai’s lips.

“I’m...sorry.” Gabby’s face scrunched, and she sniffled.

Quilla put a hand to her face. Gods, Thilin too? He was so young.

Gabby straightened up. “I’m sorry, your Majesty, but we have to leave now. I loved Thilin, too. And Father. But the building could come down on us at any moment. We must leave.”

The Queen nodded slowly.

Gabby motioned to Ned. “Ned? Your help please.”

Ned jumped to his feet. “Of course, your Highness.”

“Gather swords for everyone. There should be some in storage. Pastrin, help him.”

Ned nodded and hurried to the storage area. Pastrin followed.

“Quilla, how are you doing?”

Terrible. Scared to death. Expecting to die any moment. Those would have all been true responses, but they wouldn’t do any good. Quilla stood up and took a deep breath. “Fine. Ready to go.”

Ned and Pastrin returned a moment later. Ned hugged several sheathed swords against his chest, while Pastrin carried several sword belts. They handed swords and belts to the Queen and Annai.

Ned brought a sword to Quilla. “Ever use a sword before?”

Quilla shook her head. “Afraid not.”

“Not to worry,” Ned said. “I figured that was the case, so I brought you the lightest one.”

Pastrin handed her a belt.

“Put the belt on,” Ned said, “and I’ll show you how to attach the sheath.”

Quilla started to strap on the belt.

Annai finished attaching her sword to her belt. “What good will swords be against that dragon?”

“They’ll be useless,” Gabby said. “But we might be facing other things as well. Lamaën and those renegade guards are still out there, too. We all need to be ready to fight for our lives.”

Quilla got her belt on. Ned then attached the sheathed sword. “There. Hopefully, you won’t need it. If you do, the trick is to shove the pointy end into your opponent.” He gave her a weak smile.

“Right!” Gabby said. “Hang and I will lead. Ned, Pastrin, you two come next. Then your Majesty, Annai, Quilla, the three of you. The remaining Kingsguard will bring up the rear. Ready? Let’s go.”

Hang opened the door, and they headed through the wine cellar and up the stairs.

There was smoke in the air of the lower floor of the Palace. Luckily, it didn’t take long to reach one of the servant exits. Quilla was coughing and retching heavily by the time they got there. Thankfully, there were no dead bodies lying about like she had half expected to see. If there had been, she suspected she would be doing worse than coughing.

Hang opened the door a crack and peered out. “Looks clear.” He opened the door all the way.

The cold fresh air was a huge relief, and Quilla breathed deeply of it as soon as she stepped outside. Then she breathed in smoke once more and coughed again.

Annai gasped.

The east wing of the Palace was on fire, and the west wing they had just come out of was ablaze on the upper floors. Worse, the grounds around them were scorched. The gardens were gone. Only a few burning husks of trees remained here and there on the grounds.

“I admit,” Gabby said, “I’m not sure the best route to take from here.”

“North gate?” Hang said. “Not much out there, but it’s closest.”

“Before I came to find you, the dragon attacked the north gate. I don’t know if it exists anymore.”

Hang pointed to the southwest. “Looks like there’s still woods standing over in that direction. We can head west and then south. Hopefully, we can stay under cover long enough to reach the west wall. From there, hopefully we can make our way to the south gate. Any idea where Rudiger is?”

Gabby shook her head. “No idea. He said he was going to keep people alive.”

“Then my recommendation is what I just said, your Highness.”

Gabby nodded. “We’ll do it.” She turned to everyone else. “Keep low and near cover if you can, but don’t stray too far. We’ll try to move fast, but whatever you do, don’t draw attention to yourselves. If we find any other survivors along the way, avoid making too much noise, and encourage them to stay quiet too. Right, let’s go.”

They made their way west, keeping to the edge of the road. The servant building was still intact, as were the kennels and stables past that. Beyond those, the government buildings were on fire.

The streets were littered with the scorched bodies Quilla had feared seeing in the Palace. Not just people. Horses and dogs too. Annai was the first to retch and vomit. Pastrin and Quilla soon joined her.

The sun kept passing behind the clouds. Every time it did, Quilla shivered and looked up, constantly afraid it was the shadow of the dragon flying over them.

But there was no sign of the dragon.

There was no sign of anything living. No survivors. No Rudiger.

They turned north, past some surviving gardens, then to the open grounds. The woods Hang had pointed out earlier were just up ahead, up the hill. They hurried forward.