Shadow's Throne

Chapter Seventeen

Mare's Pov

I hear my bedroom door slam open and I practically jump out of bed, ready to send a lightning bolt at whoever just barged into my room.

"Rise and shine!" Farley says with a smirk as she plops down in a chair and steals a strawberry off my breakfast tray.

I sigh and grab my breakfast tray off the table near Farley and put it on my bed so she can't steal any more of it.

"Is there a reason you woke me up at five in the morning?" I ask, glancing at a clock as I climb back into bed to start eating.

"Cal's orders. Jet leaves at six," she replies.

"Lovely," I say sarcastically.

Farley walks over to me and seems to be inspecting something on my face. I raise an eyebrow and she heads back over to the door to leave. Before she slams the door shut behind her, she says something that I definitely wasn't expecting.

"I like the new earring."

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After finishing breakfast, getting dressed, and throwing my hair into it's usual braid, I head downstairs and out to the airfield.

By the time I arrive, it's almost six and it seems like almost everybody's here. I notice Cal walking around to different groups of people, telling them where to go. I start wandering around looking for my group.

It doesn't take me long to spot the bright blue, green, and white hair of Ella, Rafe, and Tyton. I head over and get a few good mornings from everyone. We quickly go over our plan again before Cal comes over.

"Mare, you're in charge of your group. You guys will be on the first jet," he says and I nod.

I notice him stare at me and watch his eyes switch from confusion to something that looks like a combination of regret and relief. He quickly turns around, leaving me a little confused.

As he's walking away, I hear him say, "By the way, I like the new earring."

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At exactly six, our jet begins to ascend into the slowly brightening sky.

Farley is sitting in a corner, already asleep. I'm sitting by Ella and Cameron who are both looking out the window, watching the land blur underneath us. The rest of our group is scattered around in the remaining seats.

I decide to take a nap. After all, it's a long flight to the Lakeland's. And being asleep is so much better than being awake thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong with our plan.

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I feel someone nudging me, waking me up. Ella is looking at me, and once she sees that I'm awake, she points to the window. I look out to see that we're flying over the lakes, which tells us that we've officially entered the Lakelands.

I slowly get up from my seat and make my way to the front of our jet as my nervousness greatly increases.

"Alright everyone. Only a few more minutes before our jet will land in a field just outside of the city. From there, we will enter the royal's escape tunnels and begin our march to the castle where we'll continue out the rest of our plan. Before we arrive, the Scarlet Guard's spies will shut off the palaces access to water at Farley's command. Now, who's ready to storm a castle?" I say with more confidence than I thought I had.

Numerous cheers erupt throughout the jet and I smile as the jet slowly starts to descend and a field becomes visible through the windows. When we touch down, the doors open and we all exit, Farley and I leading everyone to the entrance to the tunnels.

Farley opens up the rusty door hidden by wildflowers and we follow her down the concrete stairs into a damp dirt passage with only the occasional light to guide us.

We wander down the passage for hours until the dirt underneath our feet turns to concrete. Farley stops us and radios her spies before we continue on. We get a message a few minutes later telling us that the palace's water has successfully been disabled.

Eventually, more and more lights line the walls and we start to ascend flights of concrete steps,  telling us that we're reaching our destination. We all start to quicken our pace, ready for the battle that's soon to come.

After climbing a flight of steps, we come to a stop in front of an iron door that leads directly into a servant's hall in the palace.

The butterflies in my stomach are quickly replaced with adrenaline as I wait for the battle that will take place beyond this door.

Farley and I turn to face the small group behind us.

"Rise red as the dawn," we say in unison.

The others echo us and we turn back around. Farley opens the door and we carefully enter a narrow hallway.

Tyton confirms there's no one around by using his ability, and I reach out and power off all the cameras around us.

Farley turns to the left and begins walking. We all follow behind, Tyton searching for people, while I shut off the cameras.

After a while, Farley stops at a door and we follow her inside a narrow passage. This must lead to the servant's hidden entrance inside the royals wing of the palace.

As we're walking, Farley's radio crackles and Cal's voice is heard.

"Army has charged into the city."

"Copy that," Farley replies as she quickens her pace.

We all swiftly follow behind and it's not long before we reach a wooden door.

"Mare, turn off all cameras beyond this door if you can. Tyton, check for people," Farley says, looking back to us.

I do as she says and nod when I've successfully turned off all of the cameras I can sense.

"Five people," Tyton says in concentration.

"Two other people besides the royals," Farley mumbles to herself before standing up straighter and turning to face the rest of our small group. "Well, everyone, let's go kill ourselves some Cygnets."

With that, she opens the door and we all head inside.