King's Cage [Completed]

Chapter Forty-Two

Shade

Without thinking, I jump into Tramy's cell. Raising my eyebrows at a shocked Jon and Tramy, I shout out,

"I'll take my brother off your hands, thank you very much."

Then, grabbing Tramy's hand, I jump outside. Once we are far from the palace and outside of Archeon all together, I stop and let go of my brother.

"You idiot!" I yell at him in the middle of the forest. He deserves worse. I shove him to the ground. Shouting at him from above, I can see the regret in his eyes. "I let you have another chance! We're family! That's what blood does. But you go on and leave again. You already killed our sister, how could you leave the rest of us to die?"

Tramy looks at me, full of fear. That snaps me out of the trance I was in. "Tramy." I plead, desperate for him to explain. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

He pushes himself up off of the ground. Taking his time, he brushes himself off. Finally, Tramy looks up and gives me a half smile.

"I felt useless." He admits. "I got sent home from the war because Mare made those conditions with the king. Then all of a sudden, there was a different kind of war. A war where I couldn't participate like you or Mare or even the friend of hers. What's his name? Kilorn. Mare was the star and I was... nothing." Tramy pauses and kicks at the grass. "I thought I could help her out. I just wanted to help her out. Then, Jon came to me and gave me an offer. When that went backwards, I left. I don't want any part of this anymore. Jon found me wandering the woods a couple of hours after I left. He's planning something, and he already knows where the camp is."

That's all the confessing I needed to hear. Awkwardly, I put my hands on his shoulders and harshly tell him, "That was incredibly stupid of you, Tram. But I know you have a good heart. Just... come to me next time okay?"

Breaking the tension, he shoves away from me and laughs. "Yeah right. I'm the big brother, you should come to me for advice."

I raise my eyebrows at him. Looking back at me he sighs. "Alright. But what can we do to help Mare. She's married to the monster?"

I nod. "And pregnant too."

That causes an explosion out of him. "What? Are you kidding me! I'm going to kill Maven! When I get my hands on him..."

I laugh, enjoying his frustration. "Cal did that one, brother."

His face softens a little bit. "Oh, okay." A moment a silence passes before he adds quietly. "I'll kill him too."

Patting him on the back, I roll my eyes. "Well, let's go back to camp. It will give you a chance to hurt the prince."

♥

Kyra

More days pass in agonizing silence, just waiting for the next move. I'm left completely alone, no one cares to be with me as I wander aimlessly around the tower. Of course, two guards always accompany me. But there are no visits from Luka or that new guard. There are no updates. No whispered conversations in the night or stolen glances. I haven't even seen them.

I play chess with a maid in my bedroom one afternoon. I keep beating her, but she barely gets to practice. Taking another one of her pieces, she groans and stands up.

"I'm sorry, miss, but I keep losing and I need to get back to work." She says sarcastically.

I stand up with her and stick out my lower lip. "Oh, alright. Next time we will play a game you're good at, if one so exists." I tease her.

When she leaves, I walk around the tower and finally beg Liam and Castor to play hide and seek with me. It may seem like an immature game, but in this place, filled with amazing hiding spots, it's like a dream. Liam and Castor agree, but they say that I need to convince another pair of guards to play with us.

"What about Eli and Kastle?" I suggest as we continue walking around the halls.

Castor gives me a strange look. "Eli left about a week ago, miss Kyra." He informs me.

I stop in my place and put a hand to my chest. "What?" I exclaim. "Nobody told me. He's been here for years!" But then I realize that Eli had been getting older. Jon must have replaced him because he was inadequate for the job. So that's why the new guard came. I look up at Liam. "So who replaced him?" I ask, glad I will finally learn his name.

Liam straightens his shoulders. "His name is Soren. He's probably the youngest one Jon has ever brought here."

I start walking again. "And how old is he, Liam?" I inquire.

"Oh, he's just a few years older than you, I suppose. Maybe 19 or 20."

"Well I bet they would be willing to play a game, wouldn't they?"

Castor grins at me. "Most likely, miss Kyra."

I skip down the hall, happy that I will see him again, if just to be able to question him about the Scarlet Guard.

♥

Jon

I march straight into Maven's office, angry as hell. That stupid brother of Mare's just kidnapped my prisoner! I knew he was alive and that Maven had hid him for a while, but I had no idea that he was so well recovered. Well enough to sneak into the palace and jump into a cell to rescue his brother.

Maven looks up when I storm into the room, eyebrows raised in annoyance which just angers me further. He is so immature; so childish. This kingdom will fall with him running it. I'm certain of it. He will ruin us all with his whims; his feelings. I deserve to be in that throne. I deserve to be able to run this country, this world. And I will steal it from his hands. Maven will no longer be king, he will be nothing. And the little lightning girl will join him in exile. In death.

"Jon?" Maven's voice brings me back to reality. I need to calm down to be able to convince Maven of my proposition.

"My king." I bow, which may be a little much. "Shade Barrow just broke Tramy Barrow out of the prison. I saw it with my own eyes, sir. "

Maven stands up and leans on his desk, hands spread apart. Surprisingly, he laughs. "Of course he did." Maven says, more to himself than me. His head snaps up. "Yes, Jon. Thank you for telling me. What do you want to do about it?"

I look at him, glad he is the one who asked me. "I already got the location of the Scarlet Guard's camp. Any other information was just extra intel. We can still bomb them. We can do it right now."

I look at Maven who is stating at the wall. He slowly nods his head. "Yes." He finally says after a few minutes of silence. "Yes, let's do it."

Impulsively, he walks swiftly out the door. Smiling, I trail him, ready to check off phase one of my plan. Get Maven to trust me. Done.

Hey! I'm trying to do longer updates for you guys. I swear.

A special thanks to chels_the_bookworm for helping me pick out Soren's name. :) A super special thanks to JennifersStories for always supporting me. You guys should check out her Disney's stories. :)