Beyond the Glow

Chapter 44

We arrive in a crowd of people, and I collapse, utterly exhausted. I can hear shouting, and feel myself lifted and placed somewhere soft before I pass out. 

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When I wake, finally feeling like I can move without killing myself; I'm in the dirt room I had inhabited before I went to the castle, everything is still the same. Even the iron tub sits, pulled out in front of the fire and awaiting use. 

Len sits at the end of the bed, twiddling his thumbs and looking worried. As I begin to sit up, he looks back; rushing to help me. My muscles ache, but other than that, I feel fine. 

"We made it." I say, looking around me. "I wasn't sure we'd make it." 

Len smiles weakly. "We almost didn't, but you pulled through. Got us right into the middle of the soldiers having dinner actually. I landed with my foot in a bowl of mashed potatoes." I laugh, my voice coming out raspy. 

"What about Baldur?" I say, swinging my feet to the side of the bed and ignoring Len's look of disapproval. 

"You should really rest a bit longer." 

"And get cut out of the good stuff? I'm the one who brought us here. I don't plan on being forced to rest while you all make plans." I roll my eyes. "Where's Baldur?" I ask again. 

Len sighs, but doesn't argue further on the subject. "In one of the meeting rooms, him, Fira and Kendi are discussing what to do next. Apparently there's a wedding tonight." 

I frown. "Guess I missed the Princess ball then. I was kind of looking forwards to crashing that. They sure move fast around here. Guess I'll have to settle for the wedding instead; do you know who the bride is?"I look up at Len, and he bites his lip. 

"We don't know yet, but I'm sure we'll find out soon." I narrow my eyes, but let it pass; holding out an arm.

"Help me to this meeting room then. I want to be there to make decisions; maybe they know something." 

Len shrugs, masking the nerves that he'd shown earlier, and takes my hand; helping me to my feet. Together, we stumble into the hall, and from there, through the entire complex of halls until we get to a door. By then, I can walk normally, but I let Len push through the doors; still leaning on his shoulder. 

The three people inside turn to face the door when we enter, and I stand normally, my cheeks turning slightly red. "I'm back." I say, smiling weakly. 

"Good. Just the person we need." Says Fira sarcastically. Kendi rolls her eyes at the comment, giving me a smile. 

"Good to have you back." 

"What're we talking about?" I walk into the room Len standing by my shoulder and lending a comforting presence. 

"Fira feels like we should announce ourselves and launch a full scale attack right away, as reckless as we can get." Says Kendi. "I think we should send a small team in to infiltrate the castle, and save Leila like that, taking out the Royal family if we get the chance. We were trying to get Baldur to pick a side when you came in." 

"Which is precisely what I was waiting for." Says Baldur with a smile. "Welcome back to the land of the living, my friend." 

"Nice to see you too." I say to Baldur. "As for the attack," I look around, noting the annoyed look on Fira's face. "why don't we do both?" I ask, looking around exasperatedly. "If we launch a few smaller attacks around the castle to distract them, then we can send a smaller team in at the same time to do just like you said. It's simple."