Our Savior

•4•

Everyone rushed out of the room, not caring if they shoved past Amber, who was standing just inside the doorway. She was still fuming from her outburst, but as she stood in the now empty room, it dawned on her what exactly she had just done.

She had defied the queen, in front of the royal family, no less. She'd made them furious; and she had enjoyed every second of it.

She took several deep breaths, smiling to herself before following the royals in their mad dash to some other room she'd get lost trying to find again.

They'd gone down countless hallways and about five staircases before they came to their destination, a plain steel door well beneath the palace. Two guards stood posted in front of the door, each fully armored and carrying a sword sharpened to a nasty point. The guards stepped aside when they saw the king and the group trailing behind him approaching, and the servant scurried away to attend to his other duties. The royal family walked into the room, feigning equanimity.

Amber swallowed nervously, but her mouth had gone dry. She began to follow the group into the room, but the guards crossed their weapons over the doorway.

"You are not permitted to enter. You'll have to wait out here." The guard drones, the words sounding rehearsed and monotonous.

"She can come."

The guard turned back around to face Jasper, who was pushing both of the guards' swords down and away from the doorway.

"As you wish, Your Highness." The guard ducked her head, lowering her weapon. The other guard followed suit, eyeing Amber suspiciously.

The guard who hadn't spoken wordlessly followed Amber with his eyes as she stepped into the room, and Amber sent him a small wave. The guard snorted in response, crossing his weapon back over the door just after she had passed through it. The door was closed behind her with a loud thud.

The room was thrust into darkness for a terrifying moment, until large, blue-tinted screens covered the walls. The screens were little more that collections of some type of glowing cloud, the images they displayed distorted and grainy. One lit up on the surface of a long table in the center of the room, casting a ghastly glow on the people that sat at it. There were eight of them, other than the royals who sat in the remaining unoccupied chairs. Amber stood by the door, unsure about what she was supposed to be doing.

As soon as the king had sat down, one of the eight spoke up. "Let the Gardellan council meeting-" he began to raise a wooden gavel, but looked over his shoulder to Amber. "What is she doing here?"

"Get on with it." King Richard urged.

  "Right, well," the man continued, "Let the Gardellan council meeting commence." He said it much less enthusiastically the second time, bringing the gavel down onto the glassy surface of the table.

Moments after the councilman had finished, Jasper spoke. "Have you captured the intruder?"

"We believe they've already escaped." Replied another of the council members.

"Well, then go find them!" King Richard slammed his fist on the table, rattling several half-empty coffee cups and spilling one. The coffee quickly flowed across the table, several council members lifting their arms off the granite surface before their sleeves could be soaked.

"My liege, I know this is a time of stress for you and your kingdom, bu-"

"Ha!" The king laughed, "The kingdom?"

The councilman ignored the king's remark, continuing where he'd left off. "But we must maintain control of our heads. We need to stay alert. Why would someone break into the palace now? Nothing relatively important has happened as of late."