Grace
The hallway was empty, as expected.
They stood at the very end of the hall, which only led to the shabby door they had entered through and a small window overlooking the sea.
Harriet had used her abilities to hide herself and Grace before they walked through that door, just in case a guard was nearby. So, from that point on, they couldn't see each other or themselves, just Kaden.
This was her mother's wing. None of the doors there were guarded because no one would have any business leading them in there. The guards were aware that Kaden was regularly wandering these halls, but they paid little attention to him. They hadn't when she had done the same, either. The only guarded door was the one in the main corridor that led into these quarters.
Kaden started walking toward the massive oak door. Grace looked around as she followed, at the wine-red walls with the wooden panels and the matching carpet covered in dust that shimmered in the faint light that shone through the window after every step. On the table in the middle of the foyer, she noticed a vase with flowers—white peonies. Kaden had to have placed it there. Every year, their mother would plant many of those in the garden. She would have loved it.
Kaden had reached the door at that point and opened it. The guard to the left didn't even blink.
While her brother held open the door for three seconds longer than necessary so that she and Harriet could slip through, he asked the guard if he had seen Bastien.
Apparently, he was in the kitchen. The opposite direction of where they were supposed to go.
Without saying anything, Kaden turned down the hallway to another staircase leading down to the servants' quarters and the kitchen. With nearly every door in the hall guarded, Grace couldn't ask him what he was doing, so she had no choice but to drag Harriet along after him.
She smacked her brother's shoulder to stop him as soon as they stepped through the door and onto the first steps. "Where are you going?"
He spun around. In the faint light, she could barely make out his searching eyes. Right, he couldn't see them...
"We need to talk to him before we do this," he simply said.
"What for?"
"There is a situation I might not have been completely honest about..."
He turned back around and raced down the stairs before she had the chance to process his words. What was he talking about?
When Harriet moved forward behind her and nearly crashed into her, they nearly tumbled down the staircase together.
"Watch it," Grace hissed.
"Watch what? "The empty space in front of me?"
Fair enough.
Grace rushed down the slightly creaky flight of stairs, looking for Kaden, whom she had lost sight of. She saw light gleaming under the kitchen door and headed towards it. Realizing she couldn't just barge in there in case anyone else was inside, she listened first instead.
She overheard Kaden and another male voice quietly discussing something. The second voice had to be Bastien. No one else spoke apart from them, so Grace knew she could go in.
Kaden turned as he heard the faint creak of the opening door. "Harriet, you can reveal both of you. Nobody is around."
Within the blink of an eye, Harriet appeared in front of her in all her glory, her arms extended as if she were a court jester. Bastien, despite probably knowing about this, stared at them wide-eyed.
In comparison to her brother, he was still relatively short, possibly about her height. His hair was longer than it used to be and resembled a curly mess on top of his head.
"Nice to see you again," he said, still stunned.
She returned the nod.
"What are we doing here?" she asked her brother.
Kaden turned around and scratched the back of his neck. Bastien avoided making any further eye contact. When Grace looked to Harriet for an explanation, she found her just as confused and skeptical as she was.
Finally, her brother spoke. "Father might be aware of your presence in the kingdom... I doubt he suspects you of sneaking in through the back door to poison him, but he knows you're close. How, I don't know."
Vayne had already warned her about it. She didn't see a problem with that, since he'd be dead before he'd come to know how close she actually was.
"He has more guards stationed in the throne room," he continued. "Among them is a Seynin. He might be able to detect you even if you're hidden."
That could be a problem...
"You couldn't have told me that before?" Harriet snapped at him.
"I didn't exactly know about the change of plans regarding the Ammadon boy, now did I?" he grumbled back. "The last I heard, he'd be here and could be held responsible for the assassination. We could have used him as bait to entice that guard. Also, I had hoped he would not be present at this time, but Bastien was just in there a few minutes ago."
Grace rubbed her temples as she tried to think. Seynin were dark creatures who, for all she knew, could have been sent from hell. They rarely communicated with anyone, particularly not about what they could do. The only thing humans knew about them was that they were one of the most dangerous monsters in all of the ancient history books. A fact that hadn't changed for centuries. Everyone who witnessed their powers would not have been able to share their knowledge afterwards. She had luckily never encountered one of them, though she was very familiar with the stories. If her father kept one of them near him, there had to be a reason. They weren't trustworthy, so he had to be desperate, or, as she thought with great pleasure, afraid. On the night in which she disappeared, she'd left a mess behind. It seemed he still remembered what she was actually capable of, and now even more than before.
"So what now?" Harriet asked as she looked at each of them with a clueless frown. "We can't just walk in there. It's a trap."
"No, we can't," Grace declared. She had an idea. It was idiotic and completely reckless, but it was the only option she could think of. "We have to get back to the garden. I'll tell you everything there."
Kaden nodded gravely, and Harriet only breathed once before she and Grace both vanished. Kaden told his friend he'd be back soon and began leading the way back to the stairway. They remained silent until they arrived at the door to her mother's wing. The guard on the right opened the door for Kaden. Before he entered, Grace pulled Harriet along with her inside.
Within three minutes, they were standing in the garden, looking at Jamie, Aderah, and Tanner, who had jumped up at the sight of them. Jamie seemed so hopeful that Grace was barely able to speak. "Change of plans," she murmured.
His expression clouded, and he desperately ran a hand through his hair. "What happened?"
"My father has more guards than I anticipated. A Seynin is stationed close to him. We can't go past that."
"Damn it," he grumbled.
"I have another plan," she tried to assure him. "That was the very last option I wanted to consider, but I'm afraid there's no other way."
Aderah tilted her head, Jamie only stared, probably knowing what she was about to say.
"I will meet him. Here."
She looked at her brother. "You will have to deliver the message. Tell him I'll be waiting here in two hours. He's to come alone. He might be cautious while he expects me to show up out of nowhere, but when he knows I'll be waiting for him, he can't resist coming alone. To him, I am still the daughter he wants to ruin on his own."
"You won't do that," Jamie told her. "I won't let you trap yourself."
"It's my decision," she retorted. "I can do this. With Harriet's help."
She refused to listen to any other arguments and went on to explain the rest of the plan: she would meet her father there in the middle of the night. He'd disparage her, mock her, and possibly try to kill her, but she could handle it. She'd only need one second in which he wasn't looking at her, and then she'd be gone. Harriet would conceal her and allow her to sneak behind him and end it. It shouldn't be too difficult. The worst part would be the confrontation she had hoped to avoid at all costs.
Each of her friends except Harriet and even Kaden tried to talk her out of it. They were unsuccessful. She had already made her decision. She was well aware of the risk. But what other choice did she have? She couldn't stay away much longer.
When they realized no one could stop her, they went silent. Everyone let it sink in for a minute. This could very well be the end of everything.
"You have to leave," she finally said to Aderah, Tanner, and Jamie. "You can't be here when he comes."
They nodded slowly.
Kaden left at one point so the guards wouldn't be suspicious and to deliver the message. Before he went, he hugged her tightly and assured her that it would work out.
Shortly after, Tanner and Aderah soon stopped looking sympathetically at her and exited through the hidden door.
She turned to Jamie as soon as she was certain they were gone. "In case something goes wrong—"
"Don't even start like that," he interrupted quickly.
"Just in case something happens," she started again. "You have to do something for me."
He squeezed his eyes shut and slowly shook his head.
"Should anything happen, there is someone who will help make everything right again."
He opened his eyes. Sad, glassy eyes met hers. He was listening.
She told him about a man who had the power to turn everything around if she failed. They didn't exactly have a pleasant history, and he wasn't very fond of her, but she knew he'd come if they needed him. She'd prefer if he didn't get involved at all, but as angry as she was thinking about it, he might wind up saving her.
Jamie's face became more perplexed with every sentence and piece of information she offered him. He'd known her for so long, yet she'd never told him about that man.
Eventually, he agreed to drag him down there if necessary.
"But I'm begging you; don't let it get that far."
She laughed hollowly. "I'm not trying to."
"I know you aren't," he responded sadly. With that, he drew her into a final hug, placing his head on top of hers and gently pulling at a strand of her hair.
She buried her face in his chest and hugged him even tighter than before.
Finally, she pulled back and wiped away a tear that left a salty trace on her cheek. "You'd better go as well now."
He ruffled her hair and turned around. Before slowly making his way to the door, he said over his shoulder, "Don't let him make you forget how strong you are."
She knew he would, but didn't admit it. Instead, she returned to Harriet to figure out how to handle everything.
Soon enough, they were prepared. Not mentally, but the plan was there.