Devoted Nobility

Chapter 84

Sophia

Hundreds of rebels were racing towards the party, swords and crossbows in their hands. The two dozen guards in the room were outnumbered. They knew that it would be useless to all fight back as more and more enemies continued flooding into the room. The other guards in the palace were probably occupied defending different parts, so no help was available. A few began running towards them, trying to hold them back from killing the guests. Others ran from the room, possibly going to get them from behind. The ones who were left came up to the stage. I was still on the floor, my ankle throbbing with pain.

“We must go now, your majesties.” One of the guards screamed, gesturing towards a door behind the stage.

He ran to it and pushed it open with strong force. Charles was the first one to head into it and Anne followed immediately after. Alexander scooped me up in his arms and we made our way through the door. I heard the rest of the family follow behind us along with the few guards before the door slammed with a bang. We were in a dark tunnel. It had stone walls and the only light came from lit torches that hung from the ceiling. I felt safer, but that made my thinking clearer. We left all of those people to die. Whoever invaded the castle didn’t seem to have friendly motives and we ran away from our people in need. My friends were out there, but their lives mattered just as much as any innocent person’s. After walking in the dark hall for a few minutes, we reached a stone door. A guard shoved it with brute force and it slowly swung open. On the other side of the door was a dead end besides a staircase. It was a spiral and the wood planks looked unsteady. Regardless, Anne charged up them in a jolt of energy. The rest of the children followed as did two guards. I profusely insisted that Alexander set me on my feet so I could walk myself. My ankle still ached, but I kept it to myself as to not cause any more trouble than what was already going on. I climbed the wobbling stairs as quickly as I could. I felt relieved when I was finally on solid ground again. I had no idea where I was, but it appeared to be a safe house of some sort. There were no windows and the one door in the room had chains and a lock around it. Boxes full of dehydrated meat and water were along the walls and small beds took up the rest of the space. Most of the children were holding themselves together with calm attitudes, but Catherine was curled in a ball on the floor, her head in her hands.

 I silently moved to her and knelt down. “Catherine, are you alright?”

She looked up at me, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “No. This is very frightening.”

I nodded. “I know, it is. It may not seem like it, but we are all frightened.”

Catherine raised her eyebrows. “Then what are we going to do?”

I didn’t honestly know the answer to that question. “We are going to be brave together.” I truly hoped that was the plan.

I put my hand out and she took it. I brought her over to one of the beds and sat her next to Victoria. I wasn’t sure if it would help, but Victoria could always cheer me up. By this time, everyone was up the staircase. Alexander and his parents were standing in one corner of the room, whispering and the guards were doing the same in the opposite corner. I wasn’t sure if I would get in the way of their planning, so I decided to stay with the children. I did all I could to keep them relaxed and even played hand games to pass the time. Every second we spent in this room made me more on edge. We were hiding and crafting strategies while innocents, guests at our party, and our friends were facing the horrors of the rebels. Outside of my mind, we had only been in the room for ten minutes when Alexander called me over to him.

“What is going on?” I asked as soon as I was near him.

“We believe they are the Protestant rebels. One of the guards claims to have seen a Portuguese coat of arms on a soldier as well, so they may be involved. Either way, they are trying to take over our court and we are severely undermanned.” Alexander spoke quickly, obviously rushing.

My head hurt just from the idea that the Portuguese were now targeting England because of my affiliation to it. I had to forget it for now because there were more important issues. “What are we going to do? How can we stop this?”

He took a deep breath. “We have plans for situations like this. An army post is only a few miles from here with ten companies of men. At the first sign of distress, a rider is sent to go alert them. It will take maybe two hours for them to arrive here. My father and I have to stay to protect our people. The rebels may want to negotiate and that would be our job as well. You, my mother, and my siblings must leave now.”

I felt as if a boulder was dropped on my chest. “No, I won’t leave without you. I am staying here.” My breathing accelerated and I was now gasping.

Alexander put his hand on my shoulder. “It will be okay. There is a carriage outside that will take you all to the Elingston Estate. It is only a few hours from here. They will keep you safe.” That didn’t change anything. “I know you don’t want to leave here with everyone’s lives at stake, but if you can’t do it for yourself, do it for the baby.”

I was torn. I knew he was right. I had to protect myself to protect the life of my child. Our lives were intertwined at the moment and it would be selfish to make the choice I wanted. I knew Alexander was a brilliant person who would come out of this stronger. I had to believe that. I sighed. “Promise me that you will live. Promise me that you won’t let these people end everything we have worked so hard for.”

“I promise.” He said with confidence.

Part of me wanted to make him promise to protect as many people as he could, but that wasn’t something I needed to hear. I knew he would do it. So, with his promise of survival, I swallowed my nerves and gave Alexander one last kiss before walking out the now unlocked door. I was surprised that it lead directly outside. The night sky seemed to have no stars in it as we were brought to a large carriage. It had two rows of seats in it. Charles climbed all the way to the back corner and the Queen sat next to him. Catherine, who was still shaking, sat next to her mother and Peter placed himself next to her. Anne was the first one in the front row and Samuel cuddled up to her. I let Victoria slide in and I took the last seat next to her. Before I knew it, the carriage was racing away from the palace. The farther we got, the guiltier I felt. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t leave the love of my life to die while I rode off to safety. Was it too late? I looked behind me. We weren’t even out of the gates yet. I could see the candle light pouring from the court’s windows. I made a snap judgment before I could talk myself out of it.

“Stop the carriage!” I hollered. We were all jolted forward as the driver abruptly did as I said.

“What are you doing?” The Queen said, her face contorting with confusion.

I pushed open the carriage door. “Take care of them.” I said before climbing out. “Drive.” I demanded as soon as I was on the ground. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I had to do something.