Rise of Heroes

Chapter 16 - Leaving Home

“Milady! We must go! We must not make His Majesty wait!” the maid whined, anxiously pacing by the open door of Isabelle’s chambers. The princess ignored her again, feverishly finishing the note she was writing.

The events from last night kept repeating before her eyes and the lack of sleep made them so vivid, so real. And so confusing.

A few hours after her unfortunate encounter with Byron and his mysterious companion, Claus, she had found herself unable to think of anything else but making sure those two were apprehended. Her gut was telling her they were planning something, and she was afraid people would get hurt. Especially that Claus person — his imposing presence and impertinent behavior had rattled her so much that she had acted like some silly, fearful girl that could barely look people in the eye. And that made her angry, so angry.

After her patience finally left her completely, she decided to find the two soldiers that had gone after the pair. It turned out that nobody had seen or heard from them all night.

She hadn’t realized how fast time had flown until the shy light of the morning sun sneaked into her room, engulfing her untouched bed in its embrace. Soon after that, half a dozen men had shown up at her door, carrying away all of her belongings that had been prepared for the journey. Now she was sitting in her empty room, waiting for her Guardian to bring any news or for her father to send his guards to drag her to the carriage.

“Your Highness.”

She jumped at the sound of that familiar voice. Simon stood at the threshold in a new set of clothes, the emblem distinguishing him as a Guardian hanging proudly on his chest. His face was in complete contrast with his appearance — dark circles under his eyes, deep lines on his forehead, and dull light in his tired gaze.

“Simon!” she exclaimed excitedly, rushing to his side. The servant girl was watching her closely, so Isabelle stopped a few feet away, crossing her arms. “Did you find them? What did they say?”

“I found them,” he replied evenly, shooting the maid a glance. “We need to go. We can’t keep His Majesty waiting.”

“I’m not going anywhere until those two are arrested! I want to know what is going on and…” She shook her head and was genuinely surprised when he reached out and grabbed her by the elbow. She wasn’t afraid of him or felt disturbed by his closeness after all the years he had spent by her side, but it was unexpected. He rarely allowed himself such liberty, especially in front of others, so this sudden breach of etiquette had to have a good reason.

“Follow me, Your Highness. Now!” he said in a low, commanding voice, and for the first time since she could remember, she felt like a child that had done something wrong and an adult had caught her red-handed. So she obeyed, letting him pull her out of the room and down the corridor. Her free hand squeezed the parchment she was just writing on a few minutes ago, but then she relaxed her grip, afraid that the ink would turn into a bunch of ugly smudges.

“I found out what happened to the guards,” Simon whispered. She glanced back at the maid trailing behind them before returning her eyes to him. “Dead, both of them. They were found in one of the stables, butchered. They had put up a fight, but they were either outnumbered or overpowered by someone extremely dangerous.”

“What?” she hissed, and Simon’s grip around her elbow tightened painfully. She quickly pursed her lips, trying not to picture the two guards fighting Claus and getting cut down with surprising ease. He didn’t carry a weapon last night. None of the guests were allowed one, only the guards were armed. So how did they win against armed soldiers? Did they hide a weapon somewhere? But if so, what for?

“Keep your voice down, Your Highness! If anyone finds out that I’ve told you of this, His Majesty will have my head.” She nodded abruptly, not really sure if Simon was exaggerating or being disturbingly accurate.

She could not simply stay idle. She could have prevented their deaths, she could have found a way to stop the Keldarians. Instead, she had returned to the feast like nothing had happened and now two lives were lost.

Simon released her elbow, and she glanced around just in time to realize they had reached the entrance hall of the castle, where the grand double doors leading to the courtyard showed a glimpse of the crowd outside. A single carriage was waiting in front of the stairs, its lusciously embellished door standing open. There were guards in full armor standing in formation, patiently waiting as the king was pacing around. Some of his advisors were standing nearby, heads huddled together in a hushed conversation.

When everybody noticed their approach, the mood of the crowd suddenly changed — the guards stood straighter as if realizing their wait was over, the advisors quieted down and her brother looked straight at her with what seemed like pity mixed with disapproval. The king’s face remained an unreadable mask.

“Finally!” her father said with a displeased expression. “I almost thought you had decided not to go with your sister. Few more minutes and they would have left without you.” His bushy dark brows knitted together and Isabelle stepped toward him, taking a deep breath.

“Your Majesty, we must talk,” she said as firmly as she could. “About those guards. About what happened last night. Under those circumstances, we can’t just leave. Let us postpone the wedding until we have unraveled what this plot was about.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, and Isabelle could feel every set of eyes drilling a hole through her. She allowed herself a brief glance around, but all she met were stares of disapproval, hesitation, and annoyance.

“Your Majesty, please listen to me. If I…” she started, but he raised a hand to silence her. His face suddenly looked colder, harsher somehow, and Isabelle tensed, a strange uneasiness growing in her stomach as their eyes met. His eyes gleamed with a warning, telling her to shut up since there were too many eyes on them. Her tired mind had barely taken that into consideration, and she deeply regretted it. Not everyone in the king’s circle shared his willingness to listen to her opinions, some even reprimanded him for doing so.

And to ignore and disrespect his orders so blatantly… she had made a mistake.

“If you do not get into that carriage and leave right now, then your sister is leaving alone for Roder,” King Andreas said with a painfully controlled voice. Isabelle licked her lips, swallowing the feeling of defeat, and bowed her head in acceptance, picking up her skirts and giving him a small curtsy. Before she could turn her back on him and walk toward the carriage, he stepped closer and cupped her face. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her forehead. “I know you mean well, my dear,” he whispered so only she could hear, his tone much more tender than before. “But I can handle my own court. I’ll find the perpetrators and they will be punished. What I need you to do is escort your sister to Roder and make sure everything goes as we planned it.” He pulled back and met her eyes with a smile. “Can you handle that?”

Isabelle gave him a stiff nod, not sure if she could count on her voice being polite and obedient.

“Excellent!” The king smiled, pulling his hands away. “Lord Frendy will be joining you. He’ll see to the legal aspect of this alliance. He’ll keep the contract safe with him and he’ll make sure that our new ally delivers on what was promised.”

“I thought I would be responsible for that,” Isabelle frowned. “With all due respect to Lord Frendy, Your Majesty, but you promised that all decisions regarding Elaine’s betrothal will be approved by me.”

A few men cleared their throats in a poor attempt to hide their laughter, but she disregarded them. She knew very well that none of them would put any power in the hands of a girl, princess or not, for she was often reminded that women were too gentle, too simple-minded to deal with matters of state. More than one of the king’s advisors had called on her father for allowing her to attend any assemblies or meddle in politics. She knew it would be even worse when she left for Keldar, but she refused to back down and just play the role of a beautiful arm accessory.

“And you are, my dear. But he is experienced in these matters and he will ensure that we don’t overlook any significant detail.” He placed both his palms on her shoulders and his fingers squeezed them lightly. “I trust your judgment, my dove, so trust mine. This is important for Anamir and for our family. I know in the end things will turn out as they should be.”

Isabelle held back her sigh.

“Very well. Be well, Your Majesty,” she said, heading toward the carriage. Nickolas waited by its door, so she stopped before going in, forcing a smile. His eyes seemed muddled with tears, and his posture suggested he was fighting very hard to stay calm. “I’ll miss you, little brother. I’ll see you soon.” She hugged him carefully, sliding the creased parchment into the inside pocket of his jacket. He didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t show it. She released him shortly and accepted his hand that helped her into the carriage. Elaine and her ladies stared at her with wide eyes, but she ignored them.

“Izzy, what happened?” Elaine finally asked. Isabelle was just wondering what to say when somebody shouted for the procession to get moving, giving her an excuse not to answer. Their carriage finally departed, the two pairs of horses swiftly taking them out of the citadel and through the packed streets. A lot of people had gathered to watch them leave for the harbor, which forced the soldiers to push the crowd or shout to the people to move aside so they could pass.

All four of them kept to themselves as they stared out through the curtains, bidding goodbye to the familiar setting of their city. Hungry eyes stared at them, calling Elaine or Isabelle’s name in praise — others whistled, shouting obscenities or inappropriate comments, but the crowd swiftly silenced those even before the soldiers interfered.

When the carriage came to a stop, Isabelle barely noticed until her sister tapped her on the hand right before stepping out. Isabelle took the hand the coachman offered and followed outside, narrowing her eyes against the bright light.

Her gaze fell upon the barefooted men wearing baggy pants in dark red, gray, or brown color with loose shirts and hats, which they took off the moment they saw them nearing. In front of them stood a man dressed in comfortable black boots and a bright red jacket flamboyantly decorated with embroidery. His face was as sunburnt as everybody else’s, but unlike the uneasy expressions of the others, he had a huge smile on as he bowed to them.

“Captain Hamad Emory, at your service!” His hat slid from his head and he waved with it dramatically while bowing. “It’s the highest honor that His Majesty chose my ship for this great a task! I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make this journey as pleasant as possible, my fair ladies.” Isabelle moved her eyes from him to the towering barque. The sails of the ship were still down, and the anchor was waiting patiently in the water, but the bright new flag of Anamir was hanging high, flapping excitedly with the rising wind.

She took another step forward, ignoring the conversation between Elaine and the captain. She had sailed with a ship just once before, to Keldar, when she was nine years old. It was an official visit that ended with the announcement of her betrothal to Prince Reuben Crewien. They had traveled on a similar ship with the flag of Anamir waving proudly, announcing their arrival from afar. Now she was escorting Elaine in order to do the same for her. The difference was that Elaine wasn’t coming back.

Isabelle felt another set of fingers intertwining with hers, so she squeezed them tightly.

“It’s all going to be alright,” Isabelle whispered and pulled her sister into a tight embrace. She heard Elaine inhaling loudly and then exhaling.

“We’re almost ready to go,” Cara said from a few steps away. “The moment they finish loading the rest of the supplies, we shall depart.” Isabelle nodded, watching as the sailors and the guards loaded the big coffers and chests on the ship, two by two carrying up their provisions and personal belongings.

“Great,” Elaine said with forced enthusiasm.

A few minutes later, all of the sailors were already on board, rushing to carry out their captain’s orders, while the rest of them were trying not to get in the way. The four girls stood together on the deck, staring at the city in the distance.

Capitan Emory ordered the sails to be raised and his men shouted back in one voice. The docks stood depressingly empty, with just a few lone fishermen watching them from afar. It was almost as if nobody was sad to see them go.

Isabelle turned to look at her sister, who was standing with her lips pursed and her hands clenching the railing in a fierce, almost painful grip.

“Are you alright?” Isabelle asked yet again. The younger girl shook her head, biting her lip. Her body shook as Isabelle drew near and wrapped her hands around her frail shoulders. “It will be alright, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Isabelle,” Elaine whispered in a hollow voice.

The ship moved forward as the wind found its way into the sails, billowing them so hard that the girls almost fell to the ground as the vessel hurled forward. Nobody paid them any attention apart from the Captain who was standing nearby, balancing himself so perfectly as if he was standing on solid ground.

With a smile that was way too happy, he offered them to go down into their cabins until they were in the open sea. Not really eager to find themselves swaying and falling in front of so many people, the four girls made their way to the stairs, disappearing below deck.