by A J Manney
Zalia nodded her agreement. Ulric looked away from her to his soldiers. “Let’s go. Princess, you stay away from the battle. I will have several of my soldiers take you to a safe room.”
“Actually, I will be going with you. I’ve trained for this. This is my battle, too. I will stand beside my men and fight.”
Ulric looked like he was about to argue, but Beckam shook his head. “You’re not going to win that argument,” he told Ulric.
Ulric nodded and turned back to his men. “Stay by me,” he threw out to Zalia over his shoulder. “Gavin and Asher, flank the Princess,” he called out.
Beckam walked with Ulric as they headed for the exit. Zalia followed the two of them, flanked by her new buddies. “Thank you,” she told each of them. They looked down at her and smiled. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Raven was following. When she met her eyes, Raven said, “Good speech,” with a grin. Zalia just laughed.
All conversation ceased when they reached the stairs. Once they reached the top, Ulric sent a few soldiers to clear the way to the armory. Zalia knew the armory wasn’t far from the door. A few minutes later, they began moving again. They headed to the armory and every soldier loaded up with weapons.
At Ulric’s command, the two groups split. Zalia’s group headed for the front of the castle where the most guards would be. The other group headed to the rear of the castle. When they got nearly to the front, Ulric stopped everyone for a moment. He divided his group in half. He instructed half to go after the soldiers on the walls. The other half was to take out the soldiers on the ground. He spoke quietly. “We’re going out blind. We don’t know their formation for guarding the castle, but we know ours. So, we are going to just plan on it being similar. Whatever you do, keep moving. They may have guards hidden we can’t see. Let’s go.”
Zalia pulled out her bow and grabbed an arrow, ready to head out into the midst. Raven stood next to her with her dagger out and ready. Zalia reached out and put her hand on Raven’s arm. “Be careful out there,” she said.
Raven nodded. “You too.”
Before they opened the doors, Ulric turned back one more time. “Protect the Princess at all cost,” he said. Then they heaved open the doors. Zalia took a deep breath and charged behind them into the battle.
Chapter 28
The chaos was instant. In the blink of an eye, the battle had begun. Zalia let her eyes adjust just for a moment, then she joined in. She stayed close to the doors, in the shadows with her bow ready. She took aim at one of the soldiers on top of the wall. She let the arrow fly and felt a moment of satisfaction as she watched him fall from the wall. The hit boosted her confidence. She nocked the next arrow and hit the next soldier on the wall. She systematically worked her way around the wall, and in less than a minute or so, she had taken down the guards on the immediate wall surrounding them. She stepped from the shadows and moved out into the inner courtyard. Her eyes immediately found another patch of shadows she could work from. She headed quickly for it. Before she could get there, a guard stepped into her path with sword raised. Without thought, Zalia let her arrow fly. He fell with a grunt, and Zalia kept moving.
She made it safely to the area she chose to cloak herself in. She looked up at the wall and set to work eliminating the guards still on the walls. Within minutes, the battle died down. Ulric looked around and called out to his soldiers. “Gather up our wounded and let’s move to the rear.”
Zalia looked around and was thankful to see it was mostly guards from The Kingdom of the Dark Moon littering the ground. A few of her soldiers were down, but none of them looked dead. She started to follow Ulric and stopped beside one of her soldiers who had a nasty gash on his chest.
She dropped down on her knees next to him. “Here, let me help you,” she said soothingly. He watched her apprehensively. She reached out and touched his wound. He flinched back in pain. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “I’m going to heal it.”
She placed both of her hands gently over the wound and grit her teeth as the familiar tingling and pain began to travel up her arms. In a few moments, the wound was completely closed. Zalia lifted her arms and let the blue whisps fade away. She looked into the soldier’s eyes. He was staring at her in shock. Zalia noticed suddenly that the courtyard had gone completely still. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Ulric and the other men staring at her in awe.
Zalia stood up slowly, unsure of what to say. Ulric approached her slowly. “You’re a magical healer,” he breathed. “There hasn’t been one in over a century,” he said in a voice full of reverence.
Zalia nodded. “I think that might be why my parents hid my existence,” she said quietly.
Ulric simply nodded once. “All right, well, it’s good to know you’re on our side,” he said. He turned and addressed his soldiers. “This stays with us until we figure it all out. And the Princess needs our protection more than ever,” he said fiercely. The soldiers nodded and Ulric led them inside.
The teams from inside the building met up with them and reported to Ulric that they had killed all the guards indoors. Ulric sent a large team to go aide the team taking on the soldiers in the barracks. Ulric sent soldiers to the kitchen to ask for food and for any healers available.
Zalia stood against the wall resting a moment, and Raven joined her there. Zalia hugged her. “You okay?” she asked.
Raven smiled. “Never better,” she said. “How about you? I saw you take out most of the guards on the walls,” she said. Zalia smiled at her.
Beckam came and stood by them. “You both okay?” he asked. Raven and Zalia nodded.
Zalia smiled at him. “First step accomplished,” she said.
Beckam looked at her in pride. “Nice work with the guards on the wall,” he said with a smirk.
Zalia beamed under his praise. A moment later they were joined by Kell. “Prince and Princess, are you both okay?” he asked, looking over them in concern.
Beckam smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Never better. How did you fare?”
“Good. We made short work of those guards,” he said with a smile.
“I’m going to make my rounds and see who needs to be healed,” Zalia said. Beckam looked at her in concern.
“Will you be okay? Grandfather said you haven’t been as strong since... Well, since Valen left,” he said.
Zalia shrugged. “I’ll be careful. If I get weary, I’ll stop and take a break,” she said. She hated talking about Valen; it made her sick to her stomach, wondering if he was okay. Pushing thoughts of him aside, she walked over to the wounded soldiers.
She spent the next two hours healing soldiers with wounds. None of them were horribly severe. A few she had to take a break and come back to, but she was able to help the soldiers who were the worst off.
Beckam found her when she was finishing healing a knife wound on a young soldier. “Zalia,” he said, “You need to get some rest. We will be heading out first thing tomorrow morning.”
Zalia nodded. “Let me just finish up these last two and check in with the kitchen staff. Then I'll take a break,” she said. At his skeptical look, she followed up with, “I promise.” He left her alone then.
True to her word, Zalia finished up the last two soldiers and headed to the kitchen to greet and thank the staff.
As soon as Zalia stepped into the kitchen area, all conversation stopped. Zalia froze as all the servants in the kitchen turned to stare at her. Zalia didn’t know what to say for a moment. She hadn’t thought this through. Suddenly, a woman with a familiar face stepped forward.
“Princess, it is so very good to see you again,” she said with tears in her eyes. Totally breaking protocol, Zalia stepped forward and gave her a hug. Tears sprang to her eyes as it felt like being hugged by her mom. “Thank you for coming back for all of us,” she whispered. Zalia stepped back and saw the tears in the woman’s eyes.
“Forgive me for having to ask, but what is your name?” Zalia asked embarrassed.
T
he woman smiled graciously. “My name is Alice,” she said. Zalia smiled at her.
Zalia stepped back and looked around the room at all the individuals. Some she recognized; some she did not. “First of all, I want to say thank you for your service to the Kingdom of the Red Rose and to my family,” her voice broke slightly over those words. Many of the staff and servants looked down. Some had tears in their eyes.
“When I return, I will take my rightful place as heir to the throne. At that time, any of you who no longer wish to serve here are free to return home. I know many of you were taken from your homes. I am sorry for that. While I can’t change your past, I can help with your future. Any of you who wish to stay and serve can do so, but I will establish wages for you. You will be paid for your services, and you may choose to live here in the castle or in a home in town.” Zalia looked around at the looks of astonishment on their faces. “I only ask that you stay here until this battle is waged, and King Mylan is killed. That is the only way I can guarantee your safety.” Heads nodded all around. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I need some help. We have a lot of soldiers who haven’t eaten properly in months. I need lots of food.” Zalia paused. “Do we have lots of food?” Zalia asked uncertainly.
Smiles appeared all around her. “That we do,” Alice said. “We will see to it.”
“Thank you. Thank you, all of you! We will speak again soon!” Zalia blew them all a kiss and headed out of the kitchen back to where the soldiers gathered. She wondered briefly what Valen would have thought of her tonight. She smiled briefly, thinking of him. That was quickly chased away by a sense of fear and foreboding. She needed to get to him soon.
She located Beckam and headed towards him. “What’s the plan?” she asked.
“We leave tomorrow at first light,” he said. “But first, we have some business to attend to.” Zalia looked at him questioningly. Then she saw Ulric walking towards her with her mother’s crown and royal red robe in his hands.
Zalia’s breath caught in her lungs. She just stared at Ulric as he walked towards her. Zalia watched as her soldiers spread out around her until she was surrounded on all sides. Behind them, she saw the kitchen staff come out from the kitchen and quietly line the walls surrounding the great hall, where they stood.
Ulric stepped towards Zalia and stopped. “Princess, would you please kneel?” Zalia just stared at him. He smiled slightly. Then motioned her down with his head. Zalia sank to her knees.
Ulric turned serious and looked around the room. “Today, we witness history as we crown our first Queen, Queen Zalia of the Kingdom of the Red Rose. Zalia, do you pledge to serve this kingdom as a fair and just queen, to always uphold the law with justice and mercy?”
Zalia took deep slow breaths as she listened to him. When he paused and waited for her, Zalia nodded and said, “I swear it.”
Ulric looked around the room at all those gathered there and said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Queen Zalia, your rightful Queen and heir to the throne.” Ulric gently placed the crown on her head and placed the robe around her shoulders. All around her, cheers and clapping broke out. Zalia stayed on her knees for a moment until Ulric put his hand out to help her up. He pulled her to her feet. Zalia turned around in a full circle, taking in the faces of her people. She knew she looked nothing like a queen, standing there in fighting clothes, but it was time for a change. Her kingdom needed to be brought into modern times.
Zalia waited for the clapping to slow down, then she opened her mouth to say what was in her heart. “Tonight, we have taken back control of our castle,” she said. Cheers and clapping spontaneously broke out. Zalia smiled and waited a moment before continuing. “Our soldiers are going to head into town and wipe out the rest of the threat. Then our army will unite with Prince Beckam’s army from the the Kingdom of Waters and Prince Adaire’s army from the Kingdom of The Rising Sun to march to the Kingdom of the Dark Moon. We will kill King Mylan and his Royal Guard. We will avenge the deaths of our King, Queen, and Prince.” More cheers rose around her. “We have much to look forward to in the days ahead, but right now we need to stay focused on this war. Tonight is just the first battle. I make this promise to you. I will return.”
“Ulric, will you please explain the next steps?” she asked.
Ulric nodded. His booming voice took over. “Our soldiers will head home to be with their families and rest today. The foot soldiers should be arriving soon from their homes. Prince Beckam’s soldiers will stay and protect the castle.”
Zalia moved around the room talking to her people, accepting their congratulations, and answering their questions. After her third or fourth yawn, Beckam appeared at her side. “Come on. We’ve done all we can do for now. Let’s get some rest.”
“Where’s Raven?” Zalia asked.
“I just sent her to find a room,” Beckam said.
“Oh,” Zalia said. She was too weary to say anything else. Her adrenaline was starting to exit her body, leaving her exhausted. “You can tell your soldiers to sleep wherever they find a room.” Then she headed towards the front of the castle, towards the staircase that led to the sleeping quarters. She trusted her kitchen staff to take care of feeding all the soldiers.
Zalia pulled her weary body up the stairs. It was midmorning. She needed to sleep for a few hours. When she reached the top of the stairs, she paused for a moment. She debated on which room to sleep in. She decided to head to her room. She didn’t think she could handle anything else tonight. She walked slowly into her room. It felt like a lifetime ago she had lived in this room. She felt so removed from that life, from the girl she used to be.
She quickly shut down her emotions. She couldn’t handle it today. She needed to get some sleep. She closed the door and quickly changed out of her battle clothes. She was too tired to take a bath, so she settled for washing her hands and face. She put on a chemise from her drawer and climbed into her bed. Her bed felt amazingly soft. Zalia felt her whole body relax as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 29
Zalia slept fitfully that night. She was nervous for the coming battle. She had a hard time shutting her mind down. Finally, it was time to get up and get moving for the day. Zalia got up and got dressed quickly in her battle clothes—her black leather pants, a tunic top, and her leather boots. She packed her bag with what she would need for the days ahead. She planned on heading to the armory to get more arrows. She grabbed her bag, her bow, and her quiver and headed downstairs.
Downstairs there were hundreds of soldiers inside and outside the castle. The footmen had arrived, and the soldiers from yesterday’s battle had all returned. The servants must have worked all night to prepare enough food for this army. Zalia headed right to the kitchen to thank them. She ate a quick bowl of pottage and some brown bread. When she had finished, she went looking for Beckam or Kell or Ulric.
Zalia ignored the stares she was receiving from the men. The foot soldiers arriving were seeing her for the first time. Zalia had too much on her mind to be worried about it. She finally found a familiar face. “Kell,” she said.
“Good morning, Princess,” he said kindly.
“Is everything on schedule?” she asked.
He nodded. “It is. We will be loading up and heading out in waves. The first wave leaves soon. You and Raven will be with Beckam and myself. We will be with the first group heading out,” he said.
Zalia nodded. “Sounds good. Do you know where Raven is?” she asked.
Kell shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
“Okay, thanks. I’m going to see if I can find her,” Zalia said as she headed off to the kitchen. Zalia found Raven laughing with the kitchen staff. Zalia didn’t say anything but just watched her for a moment. When Raven saw her, she came over to talk to Zalia.
“Raven, I want you to stay here,” Zalia wasted no time saying. Raven looked at her in shock.
“Why?” Raven asked in shock.
“I need someone I trust to stay behind and help run things he
re. I’m going to ask Kell what soldiers we should leave behind to protect the castle and our people while we are gone, but I need to know someone is here overseeing things. You know this castle, you know the staff, and you are familiar with the way things run. Would you stay here for me until this battle is over?” Zalia pleaded with her. She knew if somebody were asking her to stay away from the battle she would not be pleased. But she really needed someone she could trust to stay behind, and she believed Raven was the right person for the job.
“Okay,” Raven said suddenly, startling Zalia. Zalia looked at her in surprise.
“Really?” Zalia couldn’t help herself, she smiled and launched herself in Raven’s arms. “Thank you. I can’t say how much I appreciate this, Raven,” Zalia spoke sincerely. She stepped back and looked in Raven’s eyes. “After this, we will find your family. I promise.”
Raven smiled. “I’m counting on that,” Raven said simply. Raven looked at her solemnly. “Be careful out there,” she said. “Don’t take any unnecessary risks. We need you; Arrosa needs its queen,” Raven said. They hugged one more time, then split ways.
Within the hour, Zalia and the first wave of soldiers left the castle. Zalia found herself in the middle of the group. Beckam rode on one side, and Kell rode on the other. The ride to Astra took two days. The two days passed without incident. When they got within a half-day's journey of the castle, they pitched camp. They needed to wait for the rest of the soldiers to arrive.
The next two days were the longest of Zalia’s life. It took two days to get all the soldiers there and to wait for Prince Adaire and his army. Finally, they were ready. They had gone over the plan a thousand times. Everyone was ready and knew what to do. Now, they just needed to execute it.
Unlike before with Valen’s group, this time they weren’t going for stealth. They wanted to attack in broad daylight. Sheer numbers would ensure their victory. Once the fight was underway, Beckham, Kell, Adaire, and Zalia would sneak inside to find Valen and hopefully take out King Mylan on the way.