Chapter 45 - A Coup D'état

It practically killed Rowan to leave Eleanor, but he had to. If he had stayed, if he had seen her get insulted, hit and humiliated, then he would not have lasted a second on the sidelines. He was leaving her to get tied up, but he should have known better. Without him there, Shannon was able to take her anger out on Eleanor, and he had almost snapped her neck because of it.

“There’s nothing you can do about this right now, Rowan.” Donn had said to him that night. “I know that you care about her more than you want to admit, but there are bigger things at play here. I won’t let anything happen to her from now on, but I need you to focus on the reason why we’re all doing this.”

Donn always spoke the hard truth but it was never like he wanted to hear it. If he reacted, if he had stopped them, if he had taken his anger out on Shannon, then they would have known that he cared about Eleanor. And that would end well. For now, he would move like it didn’t affect him. He would not let what happened to her be in vain.

The next morning they moved out. Staying in Rowan's house would not be wise since the Prince and the Louis’ knew where it was. Eleanor was a crucial part of their plan. Losing her was not an option.

They moved southwest, to the state of Inas. It was the biggest state and would give them some more space between themselves and the royal family when they came looking for Eleanor.

The guild inhabited a few houses in a coastal town at the edge of the country. Eleanor was not someone who had to be kept like a dangerous criminal but she needed to be watched enough, so she was placed in a house where all the elders of the guild were. It was with the safest and most trustworthy people in the guild, and it was away from Shannon. That allowed Rowan to rest easy.

It had been four days since they were able to seize parts of the Haespia. It seemed like their efforts were immediately noticed by the royal family because of what Eleanor told him about the Prince, and so when they received word that the King and Queen wanted to speak with them, they knew that things were all going according to plan.

“We’re not looking to have an audience with the royals, we want to get into the castle and then take it over. The royal family and high-ranking officials that live there are our top priorities right now. We must capture them and then use the momentum of people’s panic to establish new law and order.” Mark, an elder of the guild, addressed them.

Rowan was one of their best fighters so he would be at the front of the pack. He was required to be one of the people tasked with capturing the royals, and if Rowan was being really picky, he would love to capture the Prince and see the look on his face when he did. Then he wanted to punch it for him ever thinking that he could have Eleanor.

“Some of our numbers have been cut down because of the royal army, but that isn’t going to stop us. With most of them trying to retake the land, they would not be able to stop our invasion. According to one of our sources from inside the castle, the King and Queen are going crazy trying to figure out how to pacify the nobles who are threatening to stop supporting them. They’ve never had to be rulers for anything so they aren’t magically going to start today. We’ll use their confusion and frustration to our advantage.” Diane, another guild elder, spoke up.

They left for the capital in the late morning. They approached the castle with a small group, and once the gates were opened a larger number of them would emerge.

Before they had left, Donn informed him that Eleanor had woken up. He almost gave in right then, but he kept himself rooted to the floor. He told Rowan that Eleanor was silent and didn’t speak to him, but that she looked like she had been crying. He had left food for her but didn’t stick around long enough to find out if she ate it.

The thought of Eleanor crying because of what he did, gave him the strength to tear through the castle when they broke in. There were a sufficient number of guards that came after them, but they were easily able to defeat them.

Eleanor was right about the castle being big and confusing. It took them nearly the rest of the day to comb through it. They managed to get their hands on most of the nobles and he had even gotten word that one of their other groups was able to find the King and Queen before they could escape.

All Rowan wanted to do was find the Prince. Somewhere along their journey through the maze of a castle, they stumbled across a kitchen, and in five minutes flat they had emptied it out. They had foods that Rowan had never even seen before. After fighting and walking for that long, his group needed a break and so they took a short one while they fueled up their bodies.

While eating his way through the pile of meats, bread, and fruits he had picked out for himself, he had bit into one of the green fruits that were there. It was incredibly soft and juicy and gave his taste buds a nice shock at how refreshing it was. He almost sighed in contentment.

“Eleanor would like this,” he said and took a few more bites of the fruit.

It was only when a silence passed over his group, that he realized what he had said. Rowan had never spoken unconsciously like that. And when he looked around the room, trying to think of something to say to save himself, he couldn't.

“You’ve been spending way too much time with her.” one of his guild members finally broke the silence.

Rowan sighed. “That was my job after all.”

“Hey,” one of the people who joined them from the other guilds spoke up, “Is she really as bad as they say she is?”

That she’s spoiled, doesn’t listen, gets everything she wants, acts like a brat when she doesn't and is so rude it makes your skin itch. Yes.

“No, she’s not,” Rowan said, casually going back to eating.

“Huh,” he made a thoughtful face, and then also went back to his food.

Moving on from Rowan nearly sabotaging himself, they were finally able to find the Prince. He was all the way at the back of the property. The castle was broken up into three separate buildings and they found him in the last one. There was a large group of guards surrounding him as he stood in the middle of the hallway like he had been waiting for them to arrive.

“Done hiding like the rat you are?” someone from his group spat.

But the Prince didn’t pay him any mind, instead, he was completely locked in on Rowan.

“Was this your plan all along?” he asked the gladiator.

Rowan shrugged. “Who’s to say?”

Arthur scowled. “Where’s Eleanor?”

“Safer than she was when she was with you.”

“We all know that’s a lie.”

“Well, why don’t you defeat me and find out.”

And so the Prince charged at him, with the mini legion of guards right on his tail.