A King's War

Chapter 17

VER

I waited with my back pressed against the wall. Really, I wanted to be pacing the floor. I wanted to be hitting something or someone. My nerves were building up and there was nothing I could do about it. I wanted to turn and throw open the door by my side and rush down there. There a hundred questions floating through my mind.

What was taking so long?

Had something happened?

Was my brother . . . dead?

Did something happen to Raven?

Do they both need my help?

I had worked myself up to the point that I pushed off the wall and turned to go down there and find the both of them when the door next to me crashed open as Ilrune was all but thrown through it. I looked in concern at him briefly before turning to peer through the open door in alarm thinking that we must be getting attacked. Except, Raven was the only one to come walking through the door, a frown on her face and her arms crossed over her chest as she stared down at my brother on the floor.

She turned her attention to me. “You have such a pleasant brother,” She said blankly.

Ilrune looked up at her from the floor with a frown before turning to look at me. He blinked and blinked and then blinked again like he couldn’t quite process what he was seeing. “Ver,” He finally said. “What are you doing here?”

I walked over to him and helped him up before pulling him in for a hug. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and he did the same. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I realized it had been completely possible that I was never going to see him again.

“We came to rescue you,” I told him as I pushed back from him.

He frowned for a moment before realization hit him. “Oh,” He said before turning to Raven. “Sorry,” He told her.

She just stared at him. “For which part?” She asked him. “The refusing to listen to me? Or the slamming me into the stone wall?”

I turned to look at Ilrune in disbelief. He just shrugged. “I thought you were a Valveronian soldier. You can’t blame me.”

Raven threw off her hood and rolled her eyes before turning to me. “We need to get out before anyone realizes he’s gone.”

I nodded. “Are we going back the way we came or do you have a different plan to get us out?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “Your brother’s hurt whether he chooses to tell you that or not, it will take us some time to get through the tunnels, but that is our best bet out of here. As of right now, no one knows we’re here. Or rather, no one living knows we’re here.”

I turned to Ilrune only to see that he was staring at Raven.

“You know,” He said to her, his voice now dripping in charm. “I think we both got off on the wrong foot.”

Raven held up her hand before he could go any further. “You’re not seriously wasting our time trying to charm me, are you?” She asked him

He feigned innocence and I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go,” I told him as I grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him after us.

Raven led the way back to the tunnel which was good because all the hallways had begun to look the same to me and I would have never been able to find my way out of here without her. She stopped us as we got closer to the tunnel, peeking around the corner to make sure the coast was clear and then swearing.

“What?” I asked her.

“There are soldiers crawling all over the storage room,” She told me. She let out a defeated sigh. “They must have figured out someone broke in.”

“So, what do we do?” Ilrune questioned and I could see the fear in his eyes at the possibility of going back to the dungeons.

Raven seemed to notice too because she swore even more before ripping off her cloak and slinging it over Ilrune’s shoulders. She tied the front tightly around him and pulled up his hood, a strange look in her eyes. Like she had a plan she didn’t care to fill us in on.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

She just looked at me before making sure her gauntlets were on snugly. “Don’t worry about it,” She replied and I didn’t like the tone of voice she’d used. “Just get ready to run to the tunnel. Get to Kalani and get out of here. Don’t worry about me, I’ll catch up later.”

She moved to step out into the hallway and I grabbed hold of her arm. “Are you insane?” I questioned when I realized what it was she intended to do.

She removed my hand from her arm. “Don’t worry about me,” She repeated. “Just get out of here.” And with that she took off before I could stop her, purposely slowing in the middle of the hallway so that the soldiers would see her. I couldn’t see what happened next, but I knew they’d seen her because they all began to shout out. The shouts and running footsteps faded as she led them away through the maze of hallways and I took the chance to look out. There were no longer any blue tunics in the storage room so I took off with Ilrune close behind. I shut the door once we’d made it safely inside.

I swore to myself and pulled at my hair as I thought about what Raven was doing. As I thought about how she just risked her life for us without a second thought even when the thought of the Ruthless King terrified her beyond words.

I wanted to go back and get her. To find her and help her, but I didn’t even know where to begin looking. I looked to my brother who was looking at me in concern, likely for me as well for Raven.

“Why did she do that?” He asked me.

I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I responded honestly but then, the longer I thought about, I realized that I did know. “Because she’s a good person,” I whispered. I shook the thought of her from my head as I looked Ilrune who was leaning against the wall, his face contorted in pain.

“Come on,” I told him as I moved to the floor in front of me, pulling out my sword and using it to pry up the tile. “Let’s get out of here.”

He got down on his knees and helped me and we were able to get the tile up relatively quickly. I let him go down the tunnel first with my sword and I followed when he’d safely made it to the bottom. I pulled the tile back into place as best as I could before sliding down the ladder. I took my sword back from him and led the way through the tunnel and down the steps cautiously. I didn’t know if any soldiers had made it into the tunnels before we’d gotten there.

The sliding rock door at the end of the tunnel was still open and I stepped out carefully, motioning with my hand for Ilrune to wait just inside the tunnel. I could hear footsteps approaching quickly and I held my sword up and at the ready, waiting for the person to show themselves. Just as they were about to round the corner, I pulled my sword back, ready to cut them down only to stop short as Kalani came into sight.

“Woah,” She said as she held up her hands. “Just me.”

I lowered my sword and motioned for Ilrune to step out of the tunnel. He stepped forward and Kalani looked at him cautiously for a moment before nodding. She then frowned and peered behind him into the tunnel.

“Where’s Raven?” She asked me.

I was about to tell her what had happened, what Raven had done for us when there was a loud crash from the front of the castle. We all jumped and Ilrune looked to Kalani with wide eyes.

“What was that?” He asked her.

“The sound of the drawbridge coming down,” She told us. She ran around the side and looked up at the drawbridge only to swear. “Well, now I know where Raven is.”

I looked up just as Raven reached the other side of the draw bridge. Arrows and spells flew through the air as she ran. King’s Bloods and soldiers chasing after her.

Kalani watched her with worry until she was out of sight. “That’s not good,” She said. She turned and looked back up at the castle and her eyes widened. “That’s really not good,” She said as she stared at a point on the castle.

I looked up to see a man standing atop one of the balconies. And even if he hadn’t had the telltale marks, I would have recognized him for who he was. The Ruthless King. I watched as he threw a spell out into the kingdom below and I knew it was aimed at Raven.

“We have to help her,” I said.

Kalani grabbed hold of cloak before I could go too far. She shook her head. “There’s nothing we can do. We don’t stand a chance against the King and the King’s Bloods.” She pulled the bow over her shoulders and loaded up and arrow, making sure her hood was pulled low. “I have to get you two back to my house before they start coming after you.”

“But-” I started to protest only to get cut off by Kalani.

“I want to help her as much as you do, but right now she’d want me to get you two to safety so that’s what I’m going to do. She can handle herself,” She added softly. Even though she said that and sounded certain about it, I could see the worry in her eyes and the doubt. And I knew she was thinking the same thing as I was.

What if this time, she couldn’t?