Chapter 28
The Palace of Levernia
Cai
Jack grunted uncomfortably next to me as we huddled in the brush near the east wall of the palace. The guards walked in their regular places up and down on top of the wall. We were waiting for Arthur’s men to attack the front gate, leading the guards away from this wall.
“What’s taking them so long?” Alastor tossed a pebble in his hands. It was a small ritual he did before battle to calm himself down. I prayed that this wouldn’t be like the battles we had witnessed before. He looked bored, but I knew that, deep down inside, he was shivering like the rest of us. Death was no beautiful thing.
“It hasn’t been that long,” Jack said. “Every second just feels like an hour out here.” Suddenly the guards swerved and we knew they’d heard the ruckus from the front gates, where a contingent of Arthur’s men was attempting to break in. We watched them run in that direction and, knowing it was our only chance, we sprinted for the walls.
The walls in this section needed some attention, the mortar between the stone crumbling to allow for finger and toe holds. Even so, it was an arduous climb. Beads of sweat dripped down my back, and every second I expected a cry to be raised from above and arrows to rain down. But finally, my fingers gripped the top of the parapet, and I cautiously pulled myself up.
The walkway was clear. I found myself relieved at the lack of discipline in Lance’s men. My father’s guard would never have been so foolish as to leave such a large section unguarded. But Arthur’s intelligence was correct — they had been ordered to secure the front gates at all costs.
Jack, Alastor and I gave Arthur’s other men the signal, and while some of them broke through the south gate, others scaled the walls. Chaos wasn’t far away. The rebels in front of me ran across the grass towards the large windows of the ballroom. Glass shattered as they broke in. Already people were running around screaming and I could only assume that Arthur’s men had breached the front gates as well. This meant they were in the courtyard, but not inside the palace yet.
It didn’t take long for some of the guards to storm upon us with their swords. The guard who came at me went straight for my stomach and I had to jump out of the way. I didn’t plan on killing anyone today, so disarming him would take somewhat more effort. I kept my eyes on Jack and Alastor in the event they required me to have their backs, before I struck back at the guard’s swing towards me.
It didn’t take long for me to notice that he didn’t protect his shoulders, so I quickly thrust my sword into his right one, just hard enough to draw blood and make him pull away. I dodged past him, deeper into the palace. The scenes before me were enough to make my stomach turn and I had to remind myself to keep moving forwards, despite the blood and the horrible smell. I stepped over dead palace guards and palace servants, as well as some of Arthur’s rebels.
I entered the throne room and my heart stopped.
Lara stood there, in the middle of the room, dagger in hand and face as white as a sheet.
“Lara?” I called her name and she turned to face me. An expression, which I could only recognise as relief, crossed her face and she sighed. My eyes travelled to movement at the other entrance to the throne room. One of the guards raised a bow, aiming straight for her.
A picture entered my mind. In a moment I recognised the bow and Lara’s silhouette. It was the image I saw in the pond on the day we entered Everness. The vision had been a warning. A chance for me to save her.
I ran faster than my legs had carried me before, yelling at her to watch out. She grunted in pain as I tackled her to the ground, but the arrow went flying past into a nearby pillar. My eyes searched for the guard who had tried to kill her, but Jack had already taken care of him and gave me a nod from across the room.
“What are you doing here?” She was supposed to be halfway to Norrandale now.
Lara had an odd smile on her face. “I had to come to protect you. We both know your spoiled princely behind would probably get yourself killed.”
I couldn’t refuse myself a smile as I pulled her up. “You came back?”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
She dusted off her breeches, tendrils of hair falling in front of her face.
“Is Ray still alive?” she asked with concern, and some wicked part of me didn’t like it.
I shook my head. “Ray has been missing since this morning.”
“What?”
“No one could find him at camp. The last time he was seen was last night. Maybe he decided that he didn’t want to fight anymore.”
“No, he wouldn’t. I don’t understand. Maybe he’s in trouble.”
We started making our way down one of the hallways. “He’ll be all right,” I assured her, even though I didn’t believe it myself. “Ray knows how to take care of himself.”
“I need to find Lance,” she said, and I grabbed her hand.
“I’m coming with you.”
We ran down the hallway and turned the corner before another of Lance’s guards was upon us. He swung his sword at us. I didn’t hesitate to move Lara out of the way as I held my weapon ready to fight. I resisted his blows and told Lara to run and that I would catch up with her. I watched her disappear down the hallway, hoping that she would be safe. The guard put up a good defence but in less than a few minutes I’d managed to disarm him. I gathered all of the strength I could manage in my fist to knock him unconscious.
I immediately got on the move again, looking for Lara. Most of the screaming had quieted down and, to my surprise, most of the people who were walking around were not palace guards, but rebels. I may have underestimated Arthur and his capabilities.
“Your Highness!” Jack was standing some distance away. His expression looked serious.
“What’s going on?” I approached him.
“Word just arrived. Your father has sent for you.” That couldn’t be good.
“Why, what’s happened?”
“It’s your mother.” Jack hesitated for a moment. “She’s dying.”
It felt as though I’d been punched in the gut. I put a hand on the wall to steady myself.
“Your father wants you to come home,” Jack said.
I tried to take a steady breath, my mind running rampant. With everything else going on, I didn’t think I had the courage to deal with this too.
“I know you’re worried about Lara,” Jack said, as if he could hear my thoughts. “But I think it’s best if we leave first thing in the morning.”
He was right. I knew he was right. But the thought of leaving Lara in this mess didn’t sit well with me either.
“How can I just walk away?”
Jack placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “This isn’t your kingdom or your mess to fix. Your family needs you now.”
I nodded with understanding, still forcing myself to breathe properly.
“I need to find her first,” I said, without waiting for a response, and went looking for Lara again.