Carson and I wait until nightfall, the streets becoming deserted with the normal crowd of people, returned with only the drunk and suspicious. Jackals roam the streets in small groups, partaking in such nightfall activities. No sounds or harmonious melodies are played by natures tune, crickets and frogs being silent.
“It’s almost eerie tonight... Like fate knows things are about to get ugly.” Carson cringes.
I nod in agreement, staring out into the market district from across the river. Shadows begin to dance, and the streets begin to darken as I look up into the sky, the moon itself seeming to hide than witness what was yet to come.
“Mal, if we don’t make it out alive, there is something I need to tell you.” Carson starts, his voice soft and cautious.
I look at my friend with question. Never has he said such a thing. “What is it?”
“Well...”
A nearby howling and hooting of some drunks break us from our conversation, I look across the river and see some drunks and Jackals making a fuss. We maneuver towards the shadows on our side of the bridge. I look back at my friend, my brother in arms and state, “I guess we will just both have to make it out alive then so you can tell me.” I try a smile, but his that he returns to me doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Whatever is bugging him, we would talk and face it together, like we always have.
“Let’s get to the entrance.”
“Right.”
We follow the ridge above the river a little way away, into the shadows as we finally make it towards the pool encircling the palace. The palace itself was located in the central part of the city, encompassed with the water around it to only lead a divide between the market and poor districts until out the city walls. Huge stone walls isolated the noble district from both sides of it coming from the poor and market district. The whole city is separated by class and wealth, but even the noble district was obstructed by the large drop to the water which lay around the palace.
We both set down our bags and such, hiding it with various twigs, leaves and other debris in a series of bushes circling the ridge above the river. It was important to keep this hidden so we can leave the city in peace with our own supplies. At least, that is what I am telling myself.
I fasten a slash around me, set to hold small misc. items I knew we would need in the palace. Carson had taken it upon himself, with a wicked throw, a torch and flint, making a faint echo as it landed above the ledge to our destination. We tie a rope to the tree trunk engulfed in bushes, hidden from normal view and drape it over the edge for our way back.
“Ugh, I hate heights...” Carson states before taking a breath and without another moments pause, flings himself over the ledge to the water below. I don’t give myself time to think and I follow suit, landing in a ripple close to where he landed.
The cold hit a moment later, the pressure on all sides of me as I bring myself up. The tickle of tiny bubbles brush on my cheeks in protest as I go up, up and up.
As I break the surface, I huff, taking in a lungful of air. My short, blonde hair I smooth back behind me, keeping it from my eyes and I wipe away the water in my face. I see Carson already swimming to the edge of the palace.
Normally you would be surprised to hear a splash at night, but in this city, the Jackals used it to drop the dead, with the current in the divide of the market and poor districts to wash out the corpses here and there of any scuffles they didn’t want the queen to hear about; not to mention the slums and any murderous dealings gone wrong. It was the best way to get rid of the bodies. Creatures beyond the city would feast on the end of the river, or so I was told. It is a dangerous place to pass outside the city.
Once both of us made it to the edge of the palace walls, the hard part began. We had to scale the walls inside. Once, as children, we both had attempted this during the day, but to our dismay, we both got halfway up in a race and unfortunately got caught by the Jackals. It was the only time we had ever found ourselves in a prison cell.
They starved us, beat us every day until we lost count of the time we had lain there, bruised and bloody. Pissed on, even. It must have not been more than a week, but it felt like a lifetime in itself. We both were let out, half dead before we made our way out, meeting Malvius who he claimed, loved our spirit for such a young age to be thrown in a cell. I can tell you, the Jackals never forgot, and we never attempted this climb again, until now.
“Reminiscing?” Carson asks with a sly smile. I can tell he has also recalled the time here.
“This time we will actually make our way in.” he nods in agreement, and we begin our climb, but only after our hands dry as we kept them above the water, our bodies slow and chilled from being within the mass.
It is worse when we inch our way out of the water. The icy breeze I hadn’t seemed to notice clings to my ratty clothes and my bare skin, goosebumps forming along my arms and the back of my spine.
Carson huffs near me, “Race? It’ll keep us warmer at least!”
“Bet on it!” I smile and we both whisper, “GO!”
Carson beats me by an arm's length-having flung his arm over the side of the water outlet only two seconds before myself. “I owe you one.” We never usually called in our favors but when we did, it usually ended with who would play decoy with the Jackals or who was to thief away some bread or apples for dinner.
“Ha! I might call you out on this one this time.” he grabs me, flinging me over after he has fully emerged up on the ledge himself. We both sit, panting at the ache our bodies now held and the mere cold we now felt. We both look at each other, sitting against the circular stone in silent agreement-minus the teeth chattering. We would give it a minute to recoup our strength.
I look out and the view from here is quite breathtaking, despite how the day had carried. I couldn’t quite see past the wall encircling the city and what I can is a blur of darkness. The blue hue the night left over the city, the stars that speckled the dark sky, the breeze and whispers in the wind; it gave the city quite a peculiar feeling.
“Mal, we have to get going.” Carson taps the back of his hand at my arm, helping in pulling me up from the ground, grabbing the torch and striking it ablaze before we easily squeeze through the iron bars to begin our decent in silence. The stone tunnel is circular in structure, two walkways on either side, the middle being an indent for water travel.
As we continue down in silence, I don’t mention what Carson had said earlier about whatever it was he felt necessary to tell me. I would give him his own time and inclination to mention it. I will not lie though, in saying the fact he thought it hard to tell me stung a little.
I look towards my friend, his hair shining a darker shade of red in the dim light he carries. He seems to not even mindfully be here; his eyes are distant-in thought. I can't blame him. Everything within the last day and a half has been turned upside down. Whatever this plague is, it was devastating the lands, the people and everything in between. Kings and queens had either shut down their borders, raiding others and taking other liberties with the distraction of the plague going on.
New alliances were built, and old ones faded. New trading routes had brought upon either stagnant shipments, delayed or even poisoned deliveries from merchants. Nobody seemed good enough to trust these days. Our queendom has switched trading routes after Valantis had halted trading, I had heard earlier. Once an enemy, turned ally, the King Harion of Delton and Cherrwarden now had his hands around us with it.
“Hey, Carz?” I ask.
He looks at me expectantly. I continue, “What did you need to stop for in Cherrwarden? You mentioned earlier...” his gaze looks torn between answering, at a loss for words.
“Never mind. We will stop there when we can, then.” I say with a small sigh, continuing onward in silence for what feels like a half hour. Behind us, the tint of the night has faded out into black.
“I wonder what Jarvis plans on doing with the trading routes.” Carson says aloud, glancing to me.
“Probably going to try and rob it. He’s good at causing trouble.” I answer. “I just hope some of the other kingdoms and queendoms can put a stop to him.”
“What are we going to do about the princess? Surely, that is going to cause us more trouble. Jarvis, even if he upholds his end of the deal, what are we going to do with her? This is her home, more than it is ours.”
I stay silent. I don't know what to say other than, “It isn’t for us to decide. It is her choice if she wishes to leave.”
“Yeah, but I doubt she will want to go stay with Jarvis. You know what he or his crew will do to her.”
I cringe. The horror I have not only heard, but seen with my own eyes, no matter how young I was; the things he does to women and enemies is barbaric. Nothing short of torturing, raping and converting to his own wicked ways. Death is nearly the least of your worries after he got through with you.
“Mal, I don’t know if keeping her with will benefit us on the run.”
“It isn’t what will benefit us,” I start, catching his eye, “it’s about working as a team. If she becomes one of us, then we will teach her the streets.”
“Gosh, that sounds dirty.” he chuckles as I elbow him in the ribs. “Hey, made ya smile at least! Can’t let the whole night go bad.”
I shrug, “The whole continent is going bad, Carz.”
“Well, we don’t have to. Somehow, we will survive this! This plague... it can’t kill everybody, can it?” Carson raises a brow but answers his own question. “No, because then there would be nobody left to run the continent.”
I smile, but add in. “Unless it’s just us and a handful of hopefully good people.”
With a wink he says, “See! Now you’re thinking!”
“In a way, maybe this is punishment.” I say, a whisper.
“From the Gods?” Carz asks in question.
“Fate.” I say. “This continent is full of awful people. The wall around the continent...nobody’s been over it and has lived to talk about it. I want to see what’s out there. Why is there a wall to begin with?”
Carson lifts his brows at me, but answers a minute later, “You know if you go, I go Mal. Can’t leave you to your own plans alone. Who else will bail ya out? Can’t let ya get eaten by all the scary monsters.” he winks, and we both laugh.
“My plans aren’t that awful!”
He rolls his eyes at that before shaking his head. We continue a few more minutes down in silence before reaching a wooden door, its hinges nearly rusted. I immediately dig in my slash for a pick and begin my work at the door. It only takes a few seconds before I hear the click and nearly heave it open a crack, the door screaming in protest as it is shoved back.
We wait a few seconds, listening to make sure we don’t hear anyone lurking near us. I peek my head out, into what looks like a storage closet. We shuffle out and gently shut the door behind us. I wrap my hand around the knob as Carz puts out the torch, singing his wet clothes with a low hiss. I slowly crack open the door, then a little more and a little more. As I open it in full swing, I notice to our left, moonlight is pouring in from around the corner. To our right, a hallway going into about ten feet before dividing in different directions. I notice some of the torches are burnt out and immediately get a sense on how eerily quiet it is.
I jab a thumb to our left and Carz nods. We slowly and quietly move towards the corner. I peek around and immediately turn back, panic flaring in me. Carz mouths a question, but I just drape my hand over his mouth and put a finger to my lips. He does a stiff nod, and we hear, “Who is it?”
The voice itself was enough to put shivers down my spine. I had seen a silhouetted figure, turned away from the moonlight, towards us when I peeked around. It went to a shadowed figure to a pair of glowing violet eyes, peering back at me as I snapped back. The voice was even worse, but not as bad as now as I hear the click of a woman’s heels scrape the floor, the chair brushing harshly against rug. Behind us, we hear a click of a door, and some panicked voices begin in a hurry towards us from around the divided hallway.
We both dive for the storage closet, barely getting it closed before the light in the keyhole darkens. “Augh!”
I hear the rub of chainmail and instantly know that guards are rounding the corner. “M- ma’am!” I hear a surprised voice and some movement. I can imagine it might be a bow.
Silence before I hear the chilling voice again, “Who is this?”
“A t-tyrant, My Lady.” After a pause, he continues, “We found him eating the s-supp-lies o-of”
“Stop stuttering.” the queen demands. We hear a sharp movement, to what I barely catch through the keyhole as a figure snapping up straight.
“Y-yes, My Lady. H-he was in the kitchens, stealing what is left of the f-food.”
I hear a sharp click of her tongue, before the tyrant or servant most likely, drops to the ground, crying and begging in fear. “Please! Please don’t kill me! I haven’t had anything to eat in three days! We’re locked in this castle! I haven’t seen my family and-”
“So, you steal our rations?” the queen says in accusation.
“Please, it was only a cut of the loaf of bread! We servants, we haven’t gotten anything since the guards-”
A loud shriek and I hear something fall, rolling before it falls silent again. “Bring me the servants that he speaks of.”
“Yes, My Lady!” One of the guards leave, rushing out of there without another beat to spare. I spare a glance to Carz who looks back with wide eyes and we look back towards the keyhole when the queen speaks.
“You...”
“Y-yes, My Lady?” the fear in his voice is apparent and I just barely see his head bend down towards the floor, half begging silently and half praying. A black and violet mist begins to form around, blocking the keyhole and enveloping what lays behind. We both wince when we hear sudden, piercing shrieks come from the guard as his gurgling makes my blood freeze.
We hear a loud murmur of footsteps heading closer and stop abruptly with a loud thunk. Whatever that mist was, it choaked the life from him and dropped him dead, midtracks of the servants and the other guard judging from the screams that came next.
After a few seconds, it is over and the mist recedes, back toward the queen. Silence falls once more, an eerie tension filling the air as the clicks of the queen's heels recedes back around the corner. I can feel my heart thrum, blood beating against my ears as we sit and wait several more minutes for the adrenaline to pass.
In the slightest whisper, I try, “Do you think... we should go out?”
A few seconds pass before Carz whispers in agreement. We slowly and cautiously make our way out. Somehow, I have a creeping sensation we may need to go into that room. I try to recall what I had seen. A dark figure: the queen, a long table: Planning room. The trade routes had to be in there. Now, the only question left unanswered is the location of the plague research.
“Let’s find the study.” I say, we can confront the queen or at least hope she isn’t there when we find the study.
Carson nods and we decide to head to the right. As we walk, the scene is brutal before us. A guard, several feet away with a handful of I assume are servants by their dress, lay splayed across the hallway. It is a massacre and I wonder just what kind of queen we have been living under all these years if she is capable of doing something like this.
We tread lightly, myself taking the lead with Carson quick behind me. I make no sound, being on the streets my entire life, I am grateful for learning silent footwork. Carson is almost as quiet, until I feel a sharp pull, knocking me backwards and landing on one arm out, holding me up with my feet, my midsection risen just mere inches from the floor. Carson on the otherhand, has his hand clasped over himself, stopping himself from making sound as he had slipped.
He slowly sits up, the guards blood soaking into his clothes and a few bloody prints displayed through the trail. I stand up and look to him and he nods that he’s good to go. We decide not to take the turn the guards had come from, determining that it was the way downstairs to the servant quarters. It had to be on this floor after all. Upstairs were the guest rooms; this story was of royal blood and downstairs were the kitchens and servant staff.
There are doors, both on the left and right. I decide that if there were servants and guards left, or any nearby, they wouldn’t be on this floor. It seems like it's been forever, but it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. We come across a room, a bed canopy, a golden armoire and a giant mirror. There lays some small personal things and I make a point that it could be the queen or most likely the princess’s room. It isn't quite as grand or big as I would imagine the queens. I silently point to Carson, letting him know I was going to take a quick look and he gives me a face. I roll my eyes and shrug; I couldn’t help the thief in me. I had never, after all, been within the palace walls.
Carson continues on as I go inside, looking first at the drawers near the bed. Religious texts were folded in there neatly. I move onto the desk and see a silver brush with a lockbox. I take a deep breath, partially hating myself for snooping in what I assume would be the princess’s room. Perhaps, if we couldn’t get to the trade routes, I could at least trade jewelry for her safety. I knew it was a foolish idea, but it was the best I have. Jarvis loves to be spoiled and handed with a favor to pay up in the future. I take a lockpick from my sash and begin my work. It pops, easily, revealing rings and necklaces. I take them and uncover a note in a messy handwriting, but I leave it.
I move to the drawer and open it, finding a small leather binding, notes inside in a neat handwriting. Different from the note in the lockbox.
753 AGW Nyar Sar 83
It’s been worrisome. Mother has been acting strangely. She assures me she is sick, but I have a feeling...
A very bad feeling...
My lessons have been tense with the tutors. Some refused my mother of tutoring me due to sightings of the plague.
I hope it doesn’t come here. No... It won’t. Mother is smart and loves her people. She wouldn’t let this happen.
I’m going to leave the castle in the morning. I couldn’t find her tonight before bed again, so I doubt she will notice me gone. Just a quick peek in the market! I’m excited.
I stop reading. I swipe my hand over my face and realize the princess had never made it home. Was the queen still unaware? She mentioned her mother the queen acting strange and that only points to her possibly being infected.
I set the entry back in the drawer and decide nothing of reason is within the room. I leave and see Carson down the hall a ways away, still peeking into the rooms on his side of the hall. I begin doing the same thing. A few minutes pass and we stretch down the long hallway. Eventually we come across the last door at the end of the hall, grand double doors marking it as it stands out between the surrounding ones nearby. We look to each other and open it slowly. A large string of windows pours in moonlight, the only source of light other than one lit standing sconce in the room. I can tell the room hasn’t been used in anytime recent with all the dust visible in the air, minus the sconce. I rub two fingers across a book, confirming with a thick layer of fuzzy grey.
“Well, this has to be the study.” Carson says.
“I agree. Come on, let’s find those research papers.”
We start with the massive bookshelves and assorted scrolls, moving on to piles of books and scattered documents and scrolls across the desk and tables scattered across the room.
“I don’t see--” I start and Carson races towards me, pulling me under and behind the desk. He puts a finger to his lips and then I hear it. A final click before the door begins to squeak ominously to reveal a silhouetted figure. From under the desk, I see the trail of a dress, heels below. It’s the queen. I feel myself catch my breath, not even daring myself to breathe. Carson and I stare at each other with wide eyes.
She moves toward a pile of books and makes a “Hmph.”
“I know you’re in here. Come out, now. Don’t make me come find you.” She stops across from the desk, but I know she can’t see us.
“One, two... three.”
Before we have time to react, a trail of black and violet whips towards us from under the desk, in between us, causing us both to fall back and separate. Carson’s body partly pokes out from the piles of books, and I can see her face, looming over us, just barely. Her eyes meet mine and a chilling smile that can freeze you to the bone splays across her violet tinted lips.
“Found you.”
“Carz! Run!”
We both whip back up and plan to flank her from both sides, but the tendrils of physical mist slam the door shut behind her, stopping us in our tracks, the force knocking me back on my ass. We both roll on our sides, back under the desk. I feel my heart beat rapidly against my chest and my breathing becomes hard.
“I knew you were there, like little mice.” She seethes.
I notice the desk in front of me, two drawers atop each other, the bottom one slightly off...
“You thought you were clever. What is it that you little mice want from here? My jewels?”
“We’re sorry.” Carz stares at me in disbelief, not understanding what I am doing so he intervenes with speech.
I tinker with the drawer, realizing the false bottom and pull it apart.
“You’re not after jewels. And you certainly aren’t sorry, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. You’re only sorry you got caught.” She clicks her tongue and shoots another tendril, this one making contact. First, it knocks the breath out of me. I gasp and clutch my chest as I try to breathe. The second time it hits, it bashes my injured hand and I let out a scream.
“Mal! Get up!” Carz stands, getting her attention to give me time. “Listen, we will leave! Don’t do something you’ll regret!”
She laughs, I almost believe it to be authentic before I huff, letting the adrenaline rule me as I make my way up, staying crouched and out of her view, grasping my injured hand, blood spreading through the ruined bandage. If her eyes stay on Carz, I can-
“I don’t regret anything anymore.” She snaps her head towards me and sends it my way, I dodge this one, but another one comes, and then another and another. Carson takes the opportunity and bashes his arm through the door, breaking the lock as the double doors swing wide open. The queen is then distracted as I ram myself into her, taking the chance while her eyes are on Carson. She stumbles, falling into the sconce and knocking it over.
She screams, the embers emblazing the area quickly, the smell of burnt flesh prickling my nose. Carz and I take it, leaving her as she stumbles, arms on fire, those dark tendrils whipping around quickly, and I am sure I hear them hiss. We dash through the hall, ahead of the fire. Carz stops at the storage closet, but I round the corner. I hear a quick protest from Carz, but I ignore it. I need to find those trade routes.
I take a handful of papers and skim it, a few at a time, throwing the ones that prove useless to the floor. "Where is it?!” I shout, panic filling me.
Carz appears at my side and does the same. A minute passes and the heat hits me. I feel it, the air getting smoky and crazed through the fire. I pick up another handful and see her seal. “Carz is there anything else with her seal?!”
“No, I don’t think so!” he goes through a final stack and shakes his head. We round the corner but are knocked to our asses as flame bursts around. We see her crippling body, barely ten feet away, if it was the last thing she do, it was to get to us. I grab Carz and yank him back to the bay window with the papers thrown on the ground, the desk flipped as I shove it aside. I pop open the latch on the window and look below. If we make it, we will land in the same water that we jumped into before we climbed into before scaling the palace walls.
I look to Carson, his wild eyes and mine have already made the decision. We nod and jump after another, a burst of flame behind us as the room, seconds ago we were in is now nothing but a face of fire. My stomach clenches and it only lasts a few seconds before I feel the slap of the ice-cold water. I swim up, catching my breath at the surface. I look around and a few seconds later, Carson bursts from the surface. We swim toward the ledge, trying our best to watch out for any falling debris. We find the rope we had tied previously and dauntingly pull ourselves, scaling up.
I get up there first and I pull Carson up behind me. Not before long, we hear Jackals in the distance. “Carz, we have to get out of here.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
We both grab our bags and bolt in the direction of the market district, the many drunks and onlookers distracted with the palace ablaze behind us. We run and run until our lungs are on fire. The sky, an array of blue and purple, a sign that it was becoming dawn.
We make it to the pier and look around, soaked and shivering from the icy chill running through the night brought. A large hand grabs my shoulder from behind and reveals Jarvis.
“Just in time, boys. Get on.” he shoves us forward onto his ship and throws blankets at us. We make our way to the end once we spot the princess and take a seat, too winded to speak.
“Well, isn’t that a sight to see? Alright boys, let’s head home. Get runnin’.”
His crew begins running around to different stations, the ship moving away from dock. I turn around, the palace, surrounded by walls and buildings. The sight is definitely something to see. Almost a torch in the night. But I can'thelp the feeling of dread as we steer away from the city.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
