A King's War

Chapter 15

VER

We had gotten changed and came back down the stairs to eat. Kalani’s mom was a very kind lady roughly Drey’s age with hair only slightly darker than her husband’s and daughter’s and eyes of blue. She swore a silk dress the same as Kalani, only hers was orange rather than green.

“Ah!” She suddenly exclaimed after she’d set another bowl of food on the table we were seated at. “Raven. There you are, my dear.” She walked around the table with arms outstretched. “It’s good to see you again.”

I turned to look just as she was pulling Raven into her arms. Raven pulled back after a moment and said something to the woman but I was too distracted to hear it. Raven had cleaned up. Her long-sleeved tunic, trousers, vest, and gloves were gone. Replaced with a silk red dress with gold trim around the edges. Her skin, which had always been covered by her clothing and layers of mud and dirt was cleaned and the color of molten bronze. Her black hair which had always been tucked under her cloak went down to her knees in a long braid.

I found myself staring at her speechlessly. Galen and Aila were both doing the same. Galen finally turned away to lean across the table. “Are sure that’s Raven?” He whispered.

Raven came and took the empty seat between Kalani and I at the table. She looked over at the three of us. “What?” She questioned.

Aila and Galen both abruptly turned away and I just shook my head. “Nothing,” I mumbled before turning away as well.

A plate of food was placed in front of her but she didn’t touch it. “We have to move quickly if you want to save your brother,” Raven said. “There are two dungeons here,” She said. “but there’s only one the Ruthless King would put your brother in. Which means we have to break into the palace. We’ll have to get into the palace today.” She looked between the three of us. I can only take one of you with me. If I take the three of you the chances of us getting caught are too high.”

“How exactly do you plan on getting to the palace in the first place? There are blue tunics all over the streets.” Galen questioned.

Raven frowned. “Blue tunics?”

“The Valveronian soldiers,” I explained to her. “We call them blue tunics.”

Kalani was the one to answer Galen’s question. “I’m actually going to be the one getting you to the palace. Raven will be the one taking whoever in.”

I looked to Raven. “You have a plan for getting into the palace?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “Unless they blocked off the tunnels I’ve used before.”

“You’ve broken into the Ruthless King’s palace before?” Aila questioned with wide eyes. “Why in the world would you do that?”

Raven shrugged again. “For fun?” She suggested and I couldn’t help but smile.

Aila just looked at Raven before turning to me. “Who in the ten hells did we get for a guide?” She asked me. I shrugged.

“Let me know which one of you I’m taking with me,” Raven said as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. “We need to set out as soon as possible. Your brother likely doesn’t have much time.”

“I’ll be the one going with you,” I said without thinking.

Galen and Aila both looked at me skeptically whilst Raven shook her head.

“All due respect, your Majesty,” She said and I grit my teeth at the title. “but taking you is not the best course of action. Should we end up getting caught then Ralorn would lose not one but the entirety of what’s left of the royal family. You’d only be dooming your people.”

“She’s right,” Galen said to me. “You can’t be the one to go with her. Aila or I will go.”

I found myself shaking my head. “No,” I said firmly. “I’m going. He’s my brother and I’m going to be the one to get him out. I have to be.”

I could feel Raven staring at me for a long moment before nodding. “Alright then,” She said. She turned to Kalani. “Let me know when you’re ready to take us.”

Kalani smiled. “Just say the word.”

We set out after eating though after talking about my brother and what we would be facing I found myself unable to eat very much. Kalani had given us cloaks that were not caked in mud and blended in more with the upper levels of Valveronia and proceeded to guide through the streets to the palace before us.

We each had our weapons, including Kalani who had slung a bow across her chest, strapped a quiver of arrows to her belt, and then pulled her cloak over all of it. When I had asked her if she intended to use it, she simply said, “Just in case.” Raven was the one to tell me that Kalani was very good with a bow. Raven had brought her staff as she always seemed to do, her sword, and even a shield. She had changed in the uniform of a Valveronian soldier which Drey had gotten from Gods knew where and had strapped her gauntlets on over the sleeves. I was also given a blue tunic’s uniform, but unlike her, I still didn’t look like a Valveronian soldier with it on. We could only hope that no one looked too closely. Though we didn’t intend to remove our cloaks or hoods unless we had to.

The castle itself appeared to be made of a combination of black and blue stone with gold and silver inlaid throughout in various patterns. It was huge, bigger even than the castle of Ralorn where I had grown up. Blue tunics roamed all over the castle grounds and as if that weren’t enough to be alarmed about, the entire place was also crawling with King’s Bloods. There was a huge moat that wrapped around the entirety of the castle, with a single drawbridge in which to get across. We stopped on the other side of the drawbridge before turning and walking off along the edges of the moat. We stayed on the side that was paved and made into a pathway, with a short railing made to keep people from stumbling mistakenly into the moat.

Kalani suddenly stopped and looked around quickly before jumping over the railing and motioning for us to follow. Raven and I jumped over and followed Kalani down a narrow and steep pathway down into the bottom of the moat. I was expecting the water to be deep, and from the black depths, I could see that it was, just not in the area in which Kalani had led us. There seemed to be a path that was raised in only one section of the moat, leading to the other side.

We made it to the other side and walked around to the back of the castle, still at least a hundred feet below it.

Kalani looked to Raven,” You’ve got it from here, right?”

Raven nodded and motioned for me to follow. She walked along the rocky wall, pressing her hands into it as if feeling for something. Finally, she stopped and began to pull small rocks and mud from a hole in the wall. After she had cleared it out, she raised the end of her staff and pushed it in until it was halfway gone, something clicked and a section of the rock wall slid away to reveal a set of stairs.

“Huh,” She said. “Looks like they still never sealed up the tunnels.” She turned to Kalani. “Wait here as long as you can,” She told her. “We’ll be back soon . . . hopefully,” She added quietly as we began making our way up the stairs.