Destiny's Binds

Her Preeminent and the King

Lloyd regretted any nasty thing he'd ever thought about Cole. His knowledge was invaluable in sneaking around the Cursed Realm. Although, judging from Cole's anxious demeanour, he regretted agreeing to join them. Every slightest movement and sound made him jump.

Still, somehow, Cole was able to lead them to a barrack outpost. They snuck in and stole military uniforms. Cole refused to wear a disguise, insisting that if they looked suspicious, he'd pretend to be their prisoner.

Afterwards, the trio set out toward the city. After heading out, it only took a half hour to come across a road. So, the three walked along the path. The capital which housed the Royal Family wasn't far inland. The journey only took a few hours. Lloyd never realised how small the country was. Especially when compared to Ninjago. Cole told them that it only took a day to walk from one side of the island to the other. Despite being small, it was densely populated. Even the rural areas felt claustrophobic with the amount of people travelling on the roads.

Everyone Lloyd saw was grubby with a thick cake of dirt on their skin. Hygiene wasn't a priority, unlike Ninjago. It was surprising how many of the people they passed were women and sickly children. When the citizens saw the uniforms, they always parted the path allowing Kai and Lloyd to pass them, while they kept their heads low. Many were on the sides of the path, and knelt over, picking at the dirt.

"Why are the roads so busy?" Kai whispered to Cole.

"They're drifters," Cole said, "They've no way to afford food so they wander about looking for bugs to eat."

"They're so many," Lloyd said.

"Yeah... Her Preeminent believes that having food and a home is a privilege only for the most loyal citizens."

Kai and Lloyd both kept their mouths shut, passing more and more hungry and homeless people. Lloyd picked up his pace, imagining Harumi being stuck in such a terrible place. She deserved much better than a dying country that treated its citizens less than fleas.

*

They arrived at the wall Royal Palace. There was only one gate of entry and exit. That a platoon of soldiers guarded. A metal gate remained closed unless the soldier permitted the person to pass. Kai insisted that they could take the gate by force, although Lloyd and Cole agreed that they could get in tactfully.

Since Cole didn't have a uniform, sneaking him into the palace was too risky. There was no good reason the three of them could come up with to have a plain-clothes citizen in the Palace. Cole brought them in sight of the gates. He told them the latest passwords and how to cheat the identification system. Then he sent Kai and Lloyd to the gate. Lloyd and Kai were both able to keep their composure (Lloyd imagined what a mess Jay would've been if he had to lie to sneak into the Palace and was thankful that he left Jay back at the Bounty). As they approached the guarded gate, Kai slipped into character. He sauntered up the crowd of guards on the ground. One of the soldiers, stepped forward to talk to them. Before he could question them, Kai spoke.

"On duty for inner wall patrol," Kai said, sounding like it was a typical post of him that he'd grown bored of.

"We weren't informed of a shift change," the guard said.

"We're reinforcements," Lloyd added as an excuse came to him suddenly, "Her Preeminate insisted that there be extra guards on site since the Ninjago Princess came."

"Can't trust those Ninjago folks," Kai said, with a shrug.

"Ninjago Princess?" the guard said.

"Yeah, Princess Harumi from Ninjago," Lloyd said. The guard tensed, grabbing the hilt of his sword. His party behind him all drew their weapon seeing his tension.