The Eternal Queen

Chapter 35: Ardele

Clara and Nathen nod, and we quickly exit the document room. I make sure to not touch anything as I do not want to spread the powder. The smell of blood coats my senses as we make our way through the library, but we make a quick outing into the hallway. 

With a parting nod, the prince and I walk down to the royal wing. Swiftly, we take out the human guards on their posts. The prince opens all the doors until we find the correct one.

The bedroom is beautifully made but has no character. It is all pristine white, the only color being Illea's navy blue emblem up on the walls. The only light in the room is the dim flares of the fire in the fireplace, still burning. 

I make quick work of all drawers and compartments, until I open what I assume is the king's nightstand. The nightstand is clean, with a compass, watch, and a stack of letters. I pluck the furthest letter down, and I scan the letter.

King Maximus of Clairemont has been corresponding with King William of Illea. From what I have read, King Maximus gifted King William writing paper as a gift for their treaty three months ago. To my knowledge, King William has no idea that the papers are laced with uliope powder. It seems that the two have become quite close, considering the amount of letters here.

The crown prince is reading over my shoulder, and I can feel the hostility vibrating off of him. I pray that King William was not apart of the dastardly plan, because if so he could be spared. If not, the wrath of Arcana will be upon his kingdom.

"Can you search for a cloth bag?" I ask, softly.

The crown prince moves and a couple seconds later, returns with a cream dust bag. I place the letters and Clairemont's ripped emblem from earlier in, letting him take the bag. I take off my black gloves, carefully, trying to make physical contact with anything.

The fireplace nearby is still lit, the flames shining amber light through the room. I decide to toss the gloves into the fires, watching the gloves break apart from the flames. After a few moments, the gloves suddenly start to bubble up. The smell hits me first and I panic. Oh no.

"RUN! Fallon, run!"

He is standing closest to the balcony and whips into that direction. I am closer to the main door, but I take off to the balcony as well. The prince jumps off the balcony, swinging his long legs over the marble railing, and I do the same, tucking my dress between my legs.

Anxiety blinds me, and suddenly I am falling. In mid-air, the king's chamber explodes. It is an earth-shaking force that rattles my whole body from the inside out. The booming crash makes me lose my hearing for a second, and I lose my breath. The noise from the explosion is bound to catch attention. It is unavoidable.

I am falling and falling, debris falling beside me as gravity takes us both down. A piece of marble slams into my shoulder, and I cry out, feeling the sharp stone edges of the cracked stone penetrate my skin.

Bracing myself for a disastrous landing, I place a barrier spell upon myself, knowing it will break either way due to my lack of energy. The view of the ground comes closer and closer, and I suddenly realize that the prince directly under me. I scream for him to move, flailing my arms around frantically. But it was too late. I fall into Fallon's steady arms, and we tumble a harsh fall onto the ground.

Luckily, it is grass. I groan out raggedly. Fallon pushes my windblown hair out my face and struggles to get us to sit upright. The area is clearly out of the palace walls, thank the heavens. If we were still in palace, we would have gotten caught immediately. The blast was powerful enough to push us this far out which is crazy to comprehend.

"Are you okay?" I mutter.

He huffs out a long painful breath. "I think I should be asking you that."

I pat his shoulder to tell him to stop talking. We both are quite injured. I think he has a broken leg, and my shoulder is definitely dislocated from the force of the marble slab earlier. I can barely hear a thing, and everything tingles in a bad way.

Blood is oozing out of my wounds, and I start to feel lightheaded. The prince rips my torn ball gown more, wrapping my wounds as best as possible. Blood is still coming out at an alarming speed but has slackened a bit.

"What are we going to do?" I cast my gaze upward.

"We have to wait. It would make matters worse if we tried to walk in public, attracting attention."

Sucking in a painful breath, I nod.

Time passes and I reply the moments before the blast. Us walking into the room. Opening up drawers and compartments. Finding the letters. Throwing the gloves in the fire. There was nothing in the room to create such a powerful explosion. But there was. And I highly suspect it has to do with the mutated uliope root powder.

The powder must chemically react powerfully to fire to create such a blast. Until we test it ourselves, we will never know for sure, but I am glad that the prince and I are both alive. Even if we are both bleeding to death out in the middle of nowhere.

The crown prince jerks me awake. Shivering, I curl up tighter into a ball and I glance at him. What happened?

He point up. "Is it what I think it is?"

My brows scrunch together. What? I cast my gaze upward to the gloomy sky, and I spot golden figure flying overhead. Squinting, I take in the shape of the figure. It is an eagle. Wait, is that a lion? No, it is a griffin. It is Daniel. They have found us.

Joy must have been radiating from my expression because the prince suddenly smiles.

"Thank God. I thought I was a hallucinating."

Together we frantically wave at Daniel. I hoarsely holler at him to come down. He flies down and shifts back into a human looking form. Fully naked. I jerk my head down, immediately flushing. Nope, not today. Not ever.

The crown prince tosses his coat jacket over to him, and after a few moments I look up. The prince is significantly larger than Daniel, so the jacket covers him well. Throwing the naked image of him out of brain forever, I grin at Daniel, before a scowl takes over my face.

"What took you so long?"