by A J Manney
Once Zalia established rule, she would gather the foot soldiers from their homes and rebuild her army. Then they would march alongside Beckam and his soldiers to Astra, Kingdom of the Dark Moon. There, they would meet up with the rest of the army from Cascadia and join forces with Adaire’s army and attack. Once they reached the castle and everyone was distracted with the battle, Beckam, Adaire, Raven, and Zalia would sneak inside to find Valen and take out King Mylan. Kell would lead the army outside.
It was a good plan, but they needed everything to work out perfectly. A lot could happen along the way, but they would just have to deal with it as they went. They wrapped up their meeting, satisfied with the plan. Everybody headed off to get some sleep, as morning would come quickly.
The next morning, Zalia walked outside with Raven and saw a large group of soldiers prepped and ready to go. Her grandfather was talking to Kell. He looked up when he saw her and headed over to her. When he reached her, he wrapped her in a tight hug. “Please stay safe,” he said simply. “I love you and am so proud of you.” He stepped back and looked her in the eye. “I will see you when you return with Valen.”
Zalia nodded. “I love you too, Grandfather,” she said as she gave him one more quick hug. Then she turned and walked towards Kell, Beckam, and Raven.
“Are we ready?” she asked.
Beckam nodded. Kell pointed out her horse to her and Zalia attached her bag to the saddle and mounted.
Kell yelled out, “Mount up.” He waited until everyone was ready. Then he called out, “Let’s ride.”
Zalia pulled her horse next to Raven and lined up somewhere in the middle of the group heading out. She waved and blew a kiss to her grandfather. He returned the gesture. Then they were off.
Zalia was grateful to be on a horse this time around making the journey between Cascadia and Arrosa. It was much better than on foot, but it still seemed to take forever. The days seemed to pass slowly. They would ride hard, stopping only for a quick break at noon and supper. They would ride until it was too dark to go any further each night. The pace was grueling, but Zalia was grateful to finally being able to do something besides worry.
Raven and Zalia stayed in the same tent at night. They usually crashed and fell right asleep, rolled out of bed the next morning and kept going. Because of their grueling pace, they were able to get close to Arrosa by the end of the third day. Zalia went to bed grateful they had made it safely but worried about what was to come.
The next day, Adaire prepared to move on to his kingdom. Zalia gave him a hug. “Thank you so much for training me and for being willing to join us in this battle.”
Adaire grinned down at her. “You’re welcome. I’ll see you when we’re ready to take down an evil king.” With that, he was off. His guards left with him.
They spent the morning talking through plans and contingency plans for if things failed. By afternoon, Zalia was getting antsy. She was tired of waiting. She wanted to get moving. Beckam suggested they rest in their tents because there was no guarantee of sleep tonight. Zalia didn’t think she would be able to sleep, but surprisingly she did doze for a little bit.
Finally, it was time to get moving. Dusk had fallen. Beckam pulled everybody together and went over the plan one more time. Then Beckam, Zalia, Kell, Raven, and two of Beckam’s warriors left to sneak into the castle. The rest of the soldiers would get into position and wait until they saw Beckam and Zalia emerge with the soldiers from the Kingdom of the Red Rose.
Beckam gave the signal that it was time to head out. Zalia grabbed her quiver of arrows and put it on her shoulder. She carried her bow in her left hand and followed Beckam and Kell silently. Raven walked quietly next to her, and the two warriors followed behind them. When they got close to the castle walls, Zalia stepped in front of Beckam, taking the lead. As she walked, she took in everything around her. So far, everything was quiet. Once they got to the outer wall, Zalia guided them to a small area that was crumbling. There was a bush covering the opening, but she knew from years of sneaking in and out that it was there.
She pushed aside the bush and crawled through the small opening. She hoped the big guys following her could fit. Moments later, all six of them were through the opening. Zalia quietly stepped forward in front of the guys again. They started moving quietly until Beckam suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her low.
Zalia caught her breath and tried not to move as she assessed the threat. She heard voices and footsteps coming. Panicking, she thought quickly. They were still too far away from the castle to get in. They would have to go back. Beckam must have been thinking the same thing, because he pulled her backwards. The two warriors went through ahead of them, then Raven and Kell. Beckam practically shoved Zalia through. He followed, just as a group of soldiers came into view.
It was obvious they were not on duty, or maybe they were but didn’t care. Zalia silently hoped all the soldiers were like this. It would make them a lot easier to take down. The soldiers stayed in the courtyard for a while. Zalia watched, completely dismayed when they sat down and started playing cards. They were loud and boisterous; it was obvious they had been drinking.
Beckam silently beckoned them to sit down. They all leaned against the castle wall and waited silently. Zalia was so frustrated. She had no idea how long they would have to sit here.
Zalia wasn’t sure how much time had passed. It felt like hours. Finally, the men finished their game and left. Then it was quiet once more. They waited another fifteen minutes or so before Beckam pointed at Kell. Kell quietly moved to the entrance area they had used. Kell disappeared through the opening. Zalia held her breath and didn’t move. A few minutes later, Kell returned and motioned for them to follow him.
Once again, they moved towards the castle wall, being careful to stay in the shadows and low to the ground. They were able to get to the wall with no further mishap. Zalia stepped in front of everyone once again and began to lead them around towards the back of the castle. As they got to the corner, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stopped moving and pulled back a little from the corner as Kell came up and stood in front of her. He carefully peeked around the corner. He turned back to look at the two soldiers with them. He made hand motions and all three of them quickly disappeared. Zalia heard only the slightest noise. A few moments later, they were back and Kell motioned them to move forward again.
It was an agonizingly slow process. Every time they came to a corner, Kell would repeat the same process. Soon, they reached the secret entrance. It was a large vent that connected to the kitchen. Zalia quietly removed the grate, thinking as she did how many times she and Kael had done this very thing. It took a few moments to get everybody in and moving. Zalia climbed in last and carefully and quietly replaced the grate.
She let Beckam lead them. She had explained in great detail how to navigate them to their next location. They crawled quietly for a few minutes. Finally, Beckham quietly removed the grate and climbed out. After checking quickly, he motioned them all to climb out. Once they were out of the vent, Zalia took the lead once more to lead them to the chambers under the castle.
Lucky for them, the grate dumped them out not far from the entrance that would take them below the castle. They only ran into two soldiers on the way, and Beckam and Kell made quick and quiet work of them. They hid the bodies the best they could but didn’t take too much time to worry about it. It was time to free her soldiers. They had a battle to get to.
Chapter 27
Zalia once again stepped into the lead and led them quietly to the door that led to the underground chambers of the castle. Beckam helped her pull open the massive door. They all stepped in and down the first two steps, pausing for a moment to let their eyes adjust to the darker area. Zalia wrinkled her nose at the smell; musty with body odor and sweat mixed together. Zalia moved to step forward, but a hand on her arm stopped her. Kell motioned for her to follow him. Zalia was all too happy to let him lead. She had only been down here once and never wanted to return
. They walked silently down the steep stairs. A few crude torches lit the way. When they finally reached the bottom step, Kell held up his hand to stop them. He silently disappeared. In only a few minutes, he was back and motioning for them to follow him.
Zalia thought it was funny that they hadn’t run into any guards until she saw two dead guards on the way. That explained it. Kell had killed them. They walked further into the underground chamber. Ahead of them, she started seeing cells with iron bars. They moved silently through the corridor, edging ever nearer to the first of many cells.
It was late, so they had planned on most of the prisoners being asleep. They didn’t want to cause any commotion and risk guards coming to check on the noise. They reached the first cell, and Zalia looked in. Beckam and Kell looked at her and waited. Zalia shook her head, and they kept moving. After the third or fourth cell, Zalia started questioning the wisdom of her plan. She thought she would be able to recognize her soldiers, but now she wasn’t so sure. These men were all wearing clothes that were dirty and worn. She knew her soldiers wouldn’t be wearing their trademark tunics with the red rose, but she had hoped there would be something that would distinguish them.
Beckam and his warriors led her past each cell. Zalia peered into each one looking for anybody that she knew or anything that would distinguish her father’s men. Cell after cell and passed, and Zalia started to panic. What was she going to do if she didn’t recognize them? They needed to keep moving. They had already lost so much time waiting for the stupid card game to finish.
She was starting to lose hope when suddenly she saw him. “Silas?” She couldn’t believe he was alive. She had seen him lying on the ground covered in blood. He must have survived. “Silas!” she called out quietly. Beckam, Kell, and the other warriors had drawn close behind her, their weapons drawn. There was movement within the cell as a few men started stirring. Silas lay on the ground near the back of the cell. A man close to the cell door stood up and came to the cell door and leered at Zalia. She felt Beckam step up beside her, using his massive form as intimidation.
The soldier looked up at him for only a second. “What do you want?” he barked out. Zalia felt a moment’s panic. Soldiers were starting to stir. They really didn’t want to cause an uproar. More soldiers were waking up not only in this cell but in the cells around them. A guy from another cell yelled out, “Hey, keep it down. I’m trying to sleep.” Muttered curses and yells followed his outburst.
Beckam moved closer to Zalia. “We need to do something quickly,” he muttered. Zalia’s mind was whirling now as she tried to figure out what to do to get them out of this mess. If they didn’t get the situation under control quickly, guards would be coming down the stairs.
Zalia did the only thing she could think of. She stepped back a step and lowered the hood of her cloak. “I am Princess Zalia, second descendant of King Warren of Arrosa, the Kingdom of the Red Rose. I have come to take my rightful place as Queen.” She finished and held her breath, awaiting their reactions.
The silence was deafening. All Zalia could hear was the beating of her own heart. “Princess Zalia!” Silas called out as he made his way to the cell door.
Zalia could have wept when he stepped forward. She locked her emotions down because she needed to be strong in this moment. “Silas, it’s so good to see you. I thought you were dead,” she said, and her voice cracked momentarily on the words.
Silas grinned. “You can’t kill me that easily.” By this time, most of the men were on their feet mumbling and talking amongst themselves. An intimidating guy from the back stepped forward. Zalia watched as other soldiers stepped out of his way. He walked close to the cell door, and Zalia fought the urge to step back. She held her ground as he stared her down.
Silas looked from Zalia to the huge soldier. “Princess, this is Ulric. He served as second to the Captain of the King’s Guard.” Silas looked uneasily from Ulric to Zalia. Zalia stared up at him. One particularly nasty scar ran across his face, giving him a dangerous vibe. Zalia swallowed as she looked up at him. As she did, she realized it had grown quiet.
Lifting her head high, she said in her most authoritative voice. “I realize this comes as a shock. My parents hid my existence all these years. During the attack, I was hidden away in the north tower. Through some help, I was able to escape. I escaped to Cascadia where King Avery and Prince Beckam,” she pointed to Beckam, “helped hide me and train me until I was able to return to take my rightful place as heir to the throne. I know you don’t know me, but I hope to earn your trust. I need you, all of you,” she said, looking around. “King Mylan killed my father, my mother, and my brother—Your King, Queen, and Prince. He has taken what doesn’t belong to him. His days are numbered. I will avenge the deaths of my family, and I will overthrow his rule here in our kingdom. I need your help to do this.”
Nobody said anything, so Zalia continued on. “Prince Beckam of Cascadia brought soldiers to fight alongside us. Prince Adaire of Sol is returning to his kingdom even now to amass his army and meet us in Astra.” Zalia stepped back and looked at the soldiers all around her. “I know you all have been through so much, but I need you now. We need to return our beloved kingdom back to its original glory.” Zalia finally stopped, not knowing what else to say.
It was absolutely silent. The huge soldier in front of her hadn’t made a single expression the entire time she spoke. She couldn’t get a read on him even now. Zalia was completely shocked when he growled out, “You have the looks of your mother, but the spirit of your father. I would recognize you anywhere.” She bit back a gasp of surprise when he took a knee. “Princess Zalia of the Kingdom of the Red Rose, heir to the throne, I pledge my allegiance to you. I will fight for you and help to overthrow King Mylan and the Kingdom of the Dark Moon.”
Zalia watched in amazement as the soldiers all around Ulric began taking a knee, one by one. Zalia’s eyes began to tear up, but she pushed back the tears. “We will fight. Together we will avenge our King, Queen, and Prince, and we will take back the Kingdom of the Red Rose!” she yelled. The men yelled and cheered their agreement.
Moments later, they heard the cry of guards. Beckam, Kell, and the warriors made short work of the three guards that came running to check on the noise. Ulric grabbed Zalia’s hand through the gate. “We need to move quickly before they send more guards. What's the plan?”
Zalia said, “First, where are the keys for this door?”
“They will be on whoever was lead guard tonight. Tonight, it should have been Rowan. He’s a big ugly blond,” he said. Zalia knew exactly who he was talking about. He was one of the first two guards they had taken down. She quickly sent one of the warriors to get the keys from his body. She took the next few minutes to explain the plan to Ulric.
As she explained, Beckam came back with a key and began trying keys until he found the right one. He finally got it, and the men began rushing out the door. One of the soldiers took the keys from Beckam and moved to the other cells to start freeing the other soldiers.
Zalia quickly finished relaying the plan to Ulric, being careful to leave Valen completely out of the plan. They would explain his involvement at a later point. Ulrich nodded. “It’s a good plan. We need weapons. I know where to get them, but we will need to borrow some until we can get there.”
Zalia looked at Beckam. He removed an extra dagger from his hip and a knife from each boot. His warriors did the same. Ulric took them and handed them out to a few guys.
“Okay, listen up,” Ulric called out. His authoritative voice carried in the underground cavern. “Here’s the plan. We need to get to the armory for weapons. If you find clothes on the way, grab them. Any guards you see on the way, kill them—but quietly. We need to try and stay as quiet as possible for a surprise attack on the guards.” The men nodded, moving around restlessly.
Then Ulric started giving orders. “Leo, you take twenty-five soldiers and head for the barracks. Kill every guard sleeping in there. Plan your attack so you ca
n enter quietly and kill them in their sleep.” A soldier nodded and began walking away, calling out soldiers to follow him.
“Dain, you take a crew of twelve men and cover the eastern portion of the castle inside. Kill all the guards. Charles, you take twelve and cover the western portion.” Two soldiers headed off and began forming their teams.
“Gregory and Peter, you each take ten men and head into town. Begin gathering our footmen from their homes and lead them back to the castle grounds. Be prepared to fight when you get here,” he ordered. Two more men began forming teams.
Ulric gave time for those teams to head out. “The rest of us will take down the guards outside the castle. Prince Beckam,” he called. “You have soldiers waiting outside?” he questioned.
Beckam nodded. “I have fifty men waiting for our attack to start, and they will join in.”
Ulric nodded. “Okay, I’ll take ten men with me and head to the front of the castle and join Prince Beckam’s men. Silas, you lead the remaining soldiers out the back. Leave no man alive. Once our mission is accomplished, we will reconvene and make a plan to attack the Kingdom of the Dark Moon.”
With that, Ulric lifted his fist into the air. “For Queen and Country,” he yelled. The soldiers repeated his cry.
Zalia felt tears well up in her eyes. She placed her hand on Ulric’s arm. “Thank you,” she said softly.
He looked down at her solemnly. “Thank you for coming back and for freeing us,” he said. He looked away for a moment and then back at her. “My men... they were starting to lose hope. We’ve been away from our wives and our children for too long. Without knowing if they are okay...” he stopped and shook his head.
Zalia put her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry to have to ask you to stay away longer. If there were any other way...”
He interrupted. “Princess, the only way to protect our families is to take out the threat. Then we can sleep peacefully at night. To kill a snake, you have to take off its head.”