36. Everly
Everly
Chapter thirty-six
Istartle awake when the door to my chambers smashes open, my guards racing in the room.
“Princess, you must come with us.” Valric grabs my coat and ushers me from my bed. I look up into his worried purple orbs, my stomach twisting in fear.
“What’s happening? Where’s Mother and Father?” I ask.
Valric’s face is a mask of indifference when he looks down at me. With a heavy sigh, he kneels in front of me, gripping my shoulders. “They are meeting us at the escape tunnel. You remember where that is?”
I nod, biting my lip, as tears well in my eyes.
“Good girl. Malarch will take you.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know, but you're a princess, and princesses are just as strong and brave as princes.” With that, he stands and turns for the door, but I reach out, grabbing his hand.
“What about you?”
His long, silver locks brush against his face as he smiles down at me. “I’m going to lead them away from you.”
“Who?”
“Just go, princess. Your parents are waiting.”
Malarch draws his sword and moves swiftly to the secret escape tunnel hidden inside my wardrobe. He pushes the panel and ushers me inside. I cast a quick glance back at Valric, hoping I will see him again. He is my paladin, my friend, my family.
Malarch gently urges me forward. “Let’s go, princess,” he whispers.
I step into the dark tunnel, and Malarch shuts the panel behind us. Then he grabs my hand, and slowly, we make our way through the tunnel. I have so many questions on the tip of my five-year-old tongue, but I was taught that we weren’t to make a sound in the tunnels.
We can barely see a few feet ahead of us. But soon enough, I can feel the breeze of fresh air caress my face. I breathe a sigh of relief and push down the urge to run ahead and see my parents.
Malarch pushes me behind him as the sound of shouted voices echoes through the air. He curses under his breath before turning and squatting in front of me. Malarch is a troll, the only one on the royal guard. His grayish skin and fathomless black eyes used to scare me, along with his sharp pointed teeth, but after a while, I grew to realize he is just a big teddy bear.
“Stay here. I’m going to see what’s going on,” he murmurs.
“Okay,” I whisper back.
Malarch stares at me a beat longer, then slowly rises. He moves with purpose, his footsteps soundless against the earthen walls of the tunnel as he makes his way to where the tunnel ends in the forest. The tunnel fades to black, and I look around, not able to make anything out.
“Is she waking?”
I hear a faint voice, and feel a cool cloth being placed on my forehead.
“No. She is burning up though.”
“What do we do?”
“There’s nothing we can do. I think you two getting closer has triggered her Renascitur.”
The voices fade, and I’m drifting again as pain overtakes my body once again.