The Princess and The Bandit

FORTY SIX

However, empress Lauren fully trusts this Camila person and her friends. It's clearer than crystal water that the two of them have something deeply personal going on. Perhaps his prejudice lies on that fact. Lauren is his friend and he only wants the best for her and the future of the empire. He just honestly thinks that Camila isn't right for her on that regard.

He'd really like to speak his mind about the matter. They are all in a precarious moment, who knows where betrayal comes from. Nobody thought it would come from Bunloaf, a once unassuming and humble county from the south, yet Brad managed to fool them all.

Who knows what this person who just came out of nowhere is capable of.

But then, he had a massive imperial troops on his command, his responsibility. In that very second, that is his task and he should focus on that.

Anytime now, the empress and that canola person will have all points of entry open for them.

The imperial forces lined up according to their kingdoms of origin. As the appointed leader, Shaen was up front with his selected second-in-commands that consists of two lieutenants from each Arcadian kingdom, as well as a phalanx of warriors behind him, flanked on both sides by the centaurs of Clifden. He dispatched his lieutenants to direct the troops to take positions on the castle's every entry on the ground, ready to get inside once it is opened. He had given the command to assemble the ladders and battering rams, as well as the catapults, just in case. He was prepared, he had everybody else prepared.

But no amount of preparedness is enough for what was about to come their way . . .

* * *

It was like a portal. Some kind of magic portal.

According to Lauren, it was created by the first emperor as a way to connect the sacred and resilient temple of Arcade city to the imperial castle. A means of secret passage for the imperial ruler to a spiritual commune.

As leadership and strife came hand in hand with change of time, the passage became a means of refuge and escape.

There was an actual physical route, but Lauren opted the one with magic because it is more efficient since they are time pressed at the moment. Who knows what crazy shit Alejandro has done to the imperial family's home and the people in it.

From the glowing hall of the imperial temple, the empress and the bandit now find themselves in the middle of an empty sitting room; there are no windows but there was a fireplace, paintings depicting Lauren's relatives, presumably, lined the walls and the furniture consists only of a single couch and a coffee table. There was no door in sight but there was one bookshelf in the corner.

"Remember, on the south and the north gates, you must pull all the red levers all the way up; the north and south gates, push all the yellow levers down,"

Lauren hands over a small parchment with a clear description of the quickest route to the garrison quarters where all mechanisms for the gates are. It is where she should go the moment they leave that room, which was a passage behind the bookshelf.

Camila was reluctant to leave Lauren alone to go and remove the magical invisible barrier that covers the entirety of the castle grounds from above. But the plan was for them to go separately so she can unlock the castle's four massive gates at the same time as the empress lifts the magic off of their heads.

"Try not to get killed okay? I trust you with this because I know you can do it. You know them well and I know the entire castle best. Let's work simultaneously so we can finally put an end to this terror. But most importantly, that whatever you do, don't engage in any fighting and risk getting caught . . . Or killed," It's pretty clear that Lauren herself was reluctant as well, considering that not too long ago, she almost lost Camila in one tiny serpentina cut.