Royal Rebel 4 ~ The Return

Chapter 57: Aiding the Enemy

The sound of a door creaking open alerted me and broke me from my tired daze I'd been in for who knows how long now. I glanced up at the dim light that peeked into the room, and I saw a hand reach in with fire blazing above it, and then it opened further to reveal two people.

"Azu...?" I whispered as he stepped in, and I saw a face full of concern quickly shift into one of relief. "How did you find me?"

"We overheard Sauron talking about holding you captive." He explained, and the woman standing beside him walked over to me and drew her swords. I closed my eyes, preparing for her to hurt me, but she slashed them at my chains and broke me free. I rubbed my sore wrists as I watched her walk back to Azu's side, and then I looked back to Azu. "This is Melanie. She's on our side, don't worry."

"Where's Idalia? Is she safe?" I asked, and he averted my gaze and made a face. "What happened?"

"She found us on her way to the North Wing. The three of us went together, but an attack from Naboris split us up just as we got there." Melanie told me, sheating her blades. "Azu and I were almost captured by Ulia, but luckily we were able to escape. I can only hope she lost our trail."

"How did you escape?" Azu pointed at Melanie to answer my question as he let the fire in his palm dim, and she looked out into the hall for any guards.

"That's not important right now. We have to find the princess and get out of here. As soon as they capture the king, Esther will come back."

"Woah, wait a minute," I cut in, and she glanced back at me. "What do you mean when they capture the king? We're going to stay to prevent that from happening, right, Azu?" I looked at him, and he was once again avoiding me. "Azu?"

"There isn't much we can do to stop it now. His highness has already made his presence known to the clan, and they're going to find him." She looked back ahead into the hall, occasionally glancing at Azu. He looked distraught. "The best we can do is get ourselves and the princess out of here and warn the queen."

"No. We're going to protect Link, we aren't leaving!" I snapped, and her eyes went from frustration to sudden fear as her ears perked up. "I'm going to stand my ground, I'm not just going to leave and let-"

"Shhh!" She quickly shoved Azu against the wall beside the door before practically pouncing on me to get me on the ground. She grabbed the tarp from the floor nearby and pulled it over us, leaving just enough open for us to peek out, and we all stayed completely silent. Only then could I hear the footsteps coming closer.

"I'm telling you, the salmon is better if you burn it just a little more!" We heard a man say, and another with him groaned.

"You're crazy, Derek." They kept walking, but then they stopped just by our door. "Why are these doors open?"

"Maybe Master Sauron forgot to close them?" The one called Derek shrugged, and they other one reached out and grabbed the handles as he scanned the room.

"That's ridiculous, he never forgets. Someone was here." I could see Azu still standing as flat as he could against the wall by the door, careful so the guards wouldn't detect him. "Could this have been the room the little knight was in?"

"Nonsense, the chains are all broken and sliced! Why would he put a prisoner in a room with broken chains?" Derek asked, and the other guard gasped as he finally noticed the metal restraints hanging from the wall behind Melanie and I.

"Because the chains weren't broken when he was captured! He escaped!" He pointed down the hall. "Go alert the others! I'll guard this hall and wait until they come back!"

"You won't have to wait long!" Azu called to him as he pushed himself away from the wall, and he pushed the guard away with a gust of wind.

"Azu!" Melanie and I snapped, lifting up the tarp so we could see him fully. He shrugged and used more wind to push Derek away as he came back, and he used ice to chain both of them to the wall.