The Last Princess [EDITED]

Chapter 28

WE were barely a day away from the palace.

The cold stone of dread in my stomach hardened, knowing with every step we were getting closer and closer to the palace.

You could use so many words to describe it — my birthplace, my prison, the place I had been tortured and yet the place where I'd been loved. A place of love and isolation, protection and danger side by side.

But behind this, it was my ancestral home, the place where the royal family had lived for centuries. I had a duty to protect it from the wrong hands. Which I hadn't done. But I was doing it now.

A glance at Maple told me she was feeling the same thing. She'd gone through horrible things there, too. Her mother's death, my torture, and her engagement to Forreston.

We stopped for the night, knowing that we'd reach the next morning. I sat on a pallet, between Maple and Aiden.

"What's the plan?" Arden asked. We'd gone over it once, briefly, but even I wanted to hear it again.

"We take turns again. I'll go with the Princess — "

"I'll come with you," Maple said. I turned to her. "I know the place, I know how to get in."

Terran nodded sharply. "Then the three of us will be one group, Aiden and Arden another, and Pecan and Aster the last."

"I'm not eager to be a soldier," Aiden said, his tone dark.

"It's our best option," Pecan said, sighing.

"Now, the rebel attack will happen three weeks from tomorrow — it's an eclipse," Terran said sharply. "The sun will be hidden for almost an hour, and we use that to our advantage."

"What, exactly, do we do?" Aiden asked.

"Princess, you will make it to Queen Ivy's chambers. We will escort you. Once you defeat her, we will take care of the Prince. Then it'll be over."

Over.

After so long — it could be over in three weeks. It didn't seem real.

"Get some rest," Aster said, her eyes gentle, "You'll need it."

We cleaned up and finally, I laid down on my pallet.

The others' even breathing filled the air, but I couldn't fall asleep. Memories from my time at the palace flashed before my eyes — the beatings, the dungeons — my sisters. My dead sisters.

"El?" Her voice was hushed. "Can't sleep?"

I looked to the side and swallowed. "No."

"Me neither," she said, exhaling. I could just make out her face in the moonlight. Her eyes were dark. "Can I sleep next to you?"

I nodded, and she crawled out of her pallet, into mine. I shifted to make room for her, glad for the extra warmth.

"I'm scared," Maple said softly.

"I am, too," I admitted, turning my face to her. "Maple, whatever has happened between us — in that palace, we're a team."

She nodded sharply. "No lies. I'll need you."

"I as well," I said quietly.

Maple was the only one who truly understood what it'd been like in there. She'd been by my side the whole time.

"We're going to defeat Ivy," she said. I gave her a nod.

"We will."

***