Leaving The Palace

Leaving The Palace


Emilia’s POV

We were already by the east gate, waiting for Brian, at the first sign of sunset. The world around us was tinged grey, almost as dark as night, but not entirely. Above, the sky was almost grey too, but terribly stained by a fading, yet glowing orange that marked the sun disappearing beyond the horizon.

Beyond us, at the gate, the guards went about their usual routine. Four of them were patrolling before the gate, armed with their rifles, the same as the two on the Battlement on top of the gate. Another two rested on the walls beside the gate, engaged in a conversation.

I had been able to take care of the spy maids, but until I get back control of the army and palace guards by retrieving the seal with Aaron, I can do nothing about the spy guards. So it was safe to say, all of them were all Aaron's men. Which means they mustn't see us.

I looked past the wide and massive statue some yards away from the gate and on the field—the statue we hid behind. I let my eyes dart from the guards at the gate to the statue, analyzing every possible way they could see us. But I could find nothing; the statue was large enough that it blocked us from them and them from us, except we are so interested in each other, we shouldn't be able to see each other, especially with the darkness encroaching on the world.

I eased back into the safety of the statue, Headmaid Alice's breath fanning my shoulder, as she whispered in a hushed tone to the other maid we brought along with us—someone Headmaid Alice assured us we could trust—Agnes, she calls her.

I held tight to Sebastian's hand, our fingers intertwined with each other's, and I smiled at him even though his eyes were blank, raised over my head, and looking away from me, while he muttered loudly under his breath.

My hand holding tight to his was the only thing keeping him from wandering off or pacing about. The soft, whistling evening breeze brushed our faces beneath the hoods of our cloaks. It pushed Sebastian's own back a little, and I leaned on my toes to get it back over his head, pushing back the striking chocolate brown tresses that snuck out of his cloak.

I brushed my thumb on his cheek carefully, and for a moment, I thought I saw his blank, mad look disappear, but I couldn't be sure.

I tried not to let down the tears threatening to spill from my eyes as I watched him being consumed more and more by his madness. I blinked, following up with a hard sigh and looking away from him. At least he wasn’t mad enough nowadays to strangle me as he did before. Now, he just mumbled aloud and fast to himself, spewing strings of nonsense, wandering off, or pacing about.

The drugs Aaron had slipped into his food and burned into his incense while I was away had terribly messed up his already ailing mind. Though it didn't look like I would get the not-so-bad version of him back soon, I hope I do. I hoped he would come back to me.

I looked up and smiled into his face again, watching his lips move fast as he made his meaningless squabbles. Then I leaned up on my toes, and I kissed him hard on the lips, so hard he broke off of his madness fast, and he grabbed tighter at my waist, holding me to his lips. He latched hungrily at my lips, sucking hard, especially at my lower lip.

By the time I pulled away, I was panting gently for breath. The blankness in his eyes lifted, and he smiled down at me now, his lips broadening over his head. He looked away from me to the rest of the field, and his eyes darkened a little. “What are we doing in the field, wife?”

I had explained it to him before. Apparently, he was mad and didn't listen. I grabbed his head with the hood of the dark cloak he wore. “Just trust me, husband, and say nothing. I am getting us to safety.” I told him.

His brows furrowed at me, but it eased a bit, though the distasteful twist on his lips lingered. “Okay,” he muttered, taking my hands under his cloak and rubbing his cheeks against my tender palm.

I almost chuckled at the sight. He seemed like a kid, my biggest baby.

Headmaid Alice's voice snapped through me, and I pulled fast from him. “I think Lord Brian is here.” She said.

Her voice had a force of urgency to it that made my heart leap off my chest. I leaned forward, looking past Sebastian to the gate.

It was truly Brian. His boyish features were unmistakable under the darkness of the evening light as he rode on the horse, driving the carriage into the palace grounds.

The guards stopped him just as he was driving in, three guards pulling before him, blocking off his path into the palace grounds, the rest gathering around the horse.

My fingers were heavy as I held tight to my dress. My chest seemed like it was about to explode inside of me as I watched them close in around him. They seemed to be asking him some questions, conversing heavily with it, their eyes darting to the carriage and him. I wasn't wrong. They were Aaron's spies. I wasn't sure what they were talking to him about, but he seemed to heavily rest on the horse and carriage, carefully inspecting it.

Brian dropped from his horse then, talking with them. The next thing that happened was completely unexpected. Not even in my wildest nightmare would I believe my eyes.

Brian drew a sword from a pocket embedded in the carriage’s body. The smooth steel caught the almost silvery glow of the oncoming moonlight and glinted like a diamond under the sun. The sword sliced the air twice as Brian swung it fast, and the two guards near him were instantly decapitated before they could even move. Blood rushed out of their necks like a running tap, their heads rolling like balls on the brown sand around them.

The other guards moved for Brian, but two men jumped down from the carriage. Gunshots cracked in the still evening air as the men fired at the guards on the Battlement. They made sharp, air-splitting cries as they dropped to their death.

At the same time, Brian had charged at the other guards, slicing them down with his sword, moving fast and skillfully. He was unstoppable, almost like a beast. By the time it was all done, all the guards were lying on the floor, dead, blood staining the brown sand and the green grass around them red.

Brian looked into the palace then, and he threw his blood-stained fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. For a moment, I just stared at the horror ahead, unable to move, my legs feeling like lead under me, while my eyes jumped from one corpse to another.

It took Headmaid Alice dragging my arm to stir me into moving. I gasped, realization hitting me like a wall, knocking my senses back in, and I ran after her, dragging Sebastian with me, who had slipped into his mad state again.

Brian winked at me as we reached him. I tried to hide the look of disgust for him and tried not to look at the corpse on the floor as he lifted me up to the carriage and also helped me lift Sebastian into it too. When Sebastian had almost wandered off into the night, I had to grip his shirt tight, holding him close to get him to stay. His men helped Headmaid Alice and the other maid in too.

Since the seats in the carriage couldn't go round, the men stayed outside.

“Now, let's go, sister.” Brian chimed as he mounted the horse. Soon the carriage was turning slowly with the horse, and then in one furious move it surged forward. The whole carriage began to bounce, the wood creaking, the horseshoes tapping the cobblestones as we left the palace grounds and entered the streets.

The carriage windows were shut with curtains. Nevertheless, the rich yellowish glows of candles and lamps lit on stalls along the streets slipped into the room, assuring us we had left the Palace, and then, not then, did I release my breath, echoing a loud, heavy gasp as I freed my mind. Finally we were safe.

I slipped my fingers into Sebastian's own, and I held him closer to me as the carriage continued to bounce down the streets.