The Crown cannot Help You

Chapter 40: The Forest

"We won't be far off now," Flynn announced into the night. His horse was trotting casually alongside Hannah, maintaining a similar pace.

"I know." Audelia stared ahead, taking in the forest that was about to shelter them. "I recognise this place."

"You mean from when you almost bled out purely because you were too stubborn to say anything, princess?" Flynn chuckled at the memory of her stubborn self, determined to do anything to lay her hands on him. And not in a good way.

Audelia barely raised an eyebrow as she remembered. She had been so deep into wanting vengeance for her father that she would have killed anyone to have a shot at Flynn. When he changed the game entirely and found her instead, the only thing on her mind was to kill him or die trying. "At that point, I'd have rather died than be taken."

Audelia then gently tugged Hannah to slow trot, leading her towards a small opening in the groves of trees.

Flynn followed suit, not questioning her decision, or pursuing their previous conversation. The forest was dark and secret like the circumstances of their meeting. Their journey together had been fuelled by pain but, they'd both come so far since.

"We should probably wait for a few hours for the sky to darken a bit more," Audelia instructed, already climbing off the horse.

Flynn nodded in agreement. "We should also go over the plan again, just to be sure."

They'd discussed a general plan throughout the past week, attempting to cement any issues they could run into. Their plan needed to be airtight if the task was going to be successfully done.

Audelia and Flynn secured the horses before walking a little while away to find a place to rest. In the end, they found themselves huddled in front of a large tree. Their backs rested against its aged bark to avoid them being snuck up upon, and they agreed to go without fire as to not be made a target in the dark. However, without fire, they grew cold very quickly, so they decided to bundle up together and use Flynn's jacket as a make-shift blanket.

Once they were settled, Audelia started to recite their plan. "We'll enter together through my bedroom window." Audelia closed her eyes to visualise the window. "It is on the fourth floor up, so we'll have to climb up the wooden lattice that the ivy grows around, but that shouldn't be an issue."

"Can you handle the climb?" Flynn asked coldly, wanting to cover all the bases as he'd seen her struggle a few times along their journey because of her ribs that had only just started properly healing.

Audelia turned to him with a pout. "I'll worry about myself."

"Oh, shut it." Flynn quickly spat back, not wanting the childish attitude. "I just need to know so I can adjust the plan accordingly."

Audelia gave his shoulder a light shove with her own. "I'm fine if that's what you were asking."

"Right," Flynn said with a tone that was filled with doubt. "It isn't shameful to look after yourself."

Audelia ignored him. "Once we get into my room, we'll stick to the servant corridors all the way to my mother's room, dealing with any guards in a non-lethal way."

"And you're prepared to kill your own mother?"

"I don't have a mother," Audelia replied coldly, not even taking a second to think. She had already imagined the different possible outcomes, and some of them ended with her killing her own mother. But she'd already taken the time to toughen her heart to that.

"Maybe so, but she still is a person, Audelia." Flynn gently touched Audelia's shoulder, an action meant to remind Audelia that she wasn't alone in this. There were a few worries upon Flynn's mind about tonight, but one had been particularly haunting to think about. He didn't want her to fall down the same rabbit hole he did, closing herself off in order to cope with killing. It would make her lose everything that made her who she was, things like her compassion, her humour and her strength. She may as well be dead.

Audelia nodded distractedly.

"Taking lives takes a toll, Audelia," Flynn whispered, desperate to get Audelia to understand this. "But I don't have to tell you that."

She'd taken lives already, and Flynn had seen the aftermath. The darkening of the gold in her eyes. The nightmares that were similar to his own. Her light had dimmed.

Audelia cocked her neck towards Flynn. "I understand the price I may have to pay for the kingdom." And the price was steep. Audelia knew this, as she still hadn't been able to get rid of the picture of Lily's lifeless face from it had burnt itself into her brain. "After I deal with the queen." Audelia swallowed. "I will lay claim to the crown, and no one should oppose me."

"Let me do it, princess." Flynn said after a short while of silence.

"Let you do what?"

Flynn let out a small breath before meeting Audelia's eyes. "Let me be the one to kill her."

Instantly, Audelia shook her head. "That's out of the question, and I may not even have to kill her."

"But if you do. If she forces your hand and you have to kill her. Let me do it."

"No."

Flynn let out a small scoff. "You knew that there was the chance I'd do this, that I'd ask for you to allow me to do this, and you've had almost three weeks to tell me to turn back."

"I decided to trust you and hope you'd just let me do what I needed to do," Audelia argued. "And even if I'd asked, you wouldn't have just turned back."

"Well—yeah, okay, I wouldn't have." Flynn relented. "But that's not the point."

Audelia narrowed her eyes at Flynn. "What? That's literally the point you gave."

Flynn felt a smile slipping through his hard exterior. The argument wasn't funny, but Audelia's angry face was. He composed himself by taking a few deep breaths and then started again. "Look, I'm just trying to help. I don't think you should have to kill any more people, not when you don't have to."

"I'm not going into this with my first reaction being to kill her. I want to talk to her. I want to understand more about why she did what she did and tell her why I'm there."

Flynn had expected her to do that. She had told him over and over how she wanted her first move always to be compassion. He'd seen her do it enough to take her word seriously. "And then what?"

"She will kneel or die," Audelia said bluntly, staring off into the forest before them. The palace was just beyond the darkness of the trees and the sounds of the night.

She hadn't seen it in so long, the place she had once called home. But she'd imagined it a fair few times. She would imagine the ivory walls and the way they would simmer in the sun. She would imagine the gardens, with the rows of different coloured flowers in constant bloom.

She'd do this almost every night before she fell asleep because, despite everything, the palace was still a safe space for her.

That would change soon, however, as the moment she stepped foot into the palace, she knew her imagined safe space would come crumbling down. She would have to face the truth that her childhood home was never safe.

"Is there any way I can convince you to let me do this instead?" Flynn asked, grabbing her hand in his.

Audelia interlocked her fingers in his and hugged his hand to her chest. "No. If I let you kill someone for me, then I'm not better than my mother. The person I'm attempting to be better than. And I'm trying to abolish the assassin line of work, not continue it as my father did."

That was a good reason enough for Flynn to drop the subject and instead give Audelia a small yet approving nod. "I like that idea, princess."

Audelia rested her head against him, feeling the muddy, rough material of his second-hand clothes but also the warmth of his body. "So do I."