Kida made it quite easily into the palace. It was dark out, and she bet that most of the guards would be posted at the Queen's bedchamber and her children's to make sure they too weren't assassinated by the people who just saved the world. A load of bullshit, that's what Kida thought about the whole situation. Only a person as powerful and greedy as the Queen would double-cross them after what they'd done for her, so Kida was going to enjoy killing her.
Well, she was going to enjoy seriously injuring her. Helio had said he wished to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. Kida had, of course, argued that they couldn't get Issey into the position of Queen if the Elders were still alive. They were powerful; they'd brainwash everyone else. They eventually came up with an agreement; they would knock out the Elders and imprison them in the palace dungeons, where they'd live for the rest of their miserable lives. Not that it would be long, judging from their white hair and croaky voices.
He'd made a good point when saying this, though. If they killed the Elders or the Queen, everyone would doubt what kind of a Queen Issey would make if she was willing to kill like that. So Kida finally agreed, and that was settled. No killing if they could avoid it. Although whoever killed the King had some serious explaining to do.
Kida jogged silently down corridor after corridor, using the shadows to shield herself whenever she needed to. She figured they wouldn't have put anyone down in the dungeons; they'd want to interrogate first, ask questions. Depending on how many prisoner's they'd made; if Kieron, Quin and Issey were all captured, they'd throw one or two down in the dungeons. They'd most likely be asking Issey or Kieron questions; with Quin being a psychotic Keeri, they'd try and avoid him as much as they could. So where would they torture someone? It wouldn't be near the bedchambers, or the throne room. It wouldn't be downstairs near the dungeons, either. So it must be close; somewhere around these corridors, in one of these doors.
She peered through each one, keeping close to the far left wall so she could see if someone came around the corner, which hadn't happened at all yet. She wasn't sure if this was a trap or the guards were just plain stupid.
Finally, she found the door she was looking for. As she peered in, she found Issey tied to a chair, head down with her blonde hair forming a curtain around her head. She was clearly unconscious; they'd done a fair bit of damage. Kida guessed mostly punches, but the elf was still out of it.
Deciding that Issey would be no good to her unconscious, Kida decided to trace her steps back and remember where this door was as she headed back the other way, heading for the dungeons. If Quin was captured, that's where he'd be.
"Kida!" someone half-shouted, half-whispered and Kida's eyes widened, spotting her brother creeping down the corridor in front of her. She darted over, hugging him quickly before pulling back.
"They have Issey down that hall, tied up," she whispered. "She's unconscious, so we should come back to her."
"What happened?" he hissed back, glancing up and down the corridor. "Issey and Quin were talking to the Queen, and someone barged in in the middle of the conversation, went right up to the Queen. Whatever the bastard said had her fuming, and the guards were on Issey and Quin straight away."
"The King was already dead when I went in to kill him," Kida said quietly. "Throat slit. Someone set us up. Me, Hallee and Arlo got out, went back to Quin's place. Hallee's probably ripped her stitches, so I told them to stay while I came back. Where's Helio?"
"He went to Quin's place not half an hour ago," Kieron replied solemnly. "I guess he figured someone would get out and head back there. Speaking of, where is Quin? Did you find him too?"
"No, he must still be around here somewhere," Kida muttered, tugging her brother's arm. "Let's go look for him."
"The Queen's in the throne room still," he murmured, and Kida looked at him. "I think she's waiting for someone. Quin will show up, but I want to know what the hell just happened." Eventually, Kida nodded and they both set off down the corridor, winding their way back to the throne room. Just as they got to the doors, however, the Adranian Elder appeared around the corner and it was all Kida could do not to swear right then and there. Instead, she quickly gathered up a veil of shadows and sheathed herself and her brother from view, waiting as the Elder threw the doors to the throne room open. They darted in after him, before the doors shut, and hid behind one of the pillars to the side.
"This is wrong," the Queen seethed, pacing back and forward in her big, patterned dress. Kida bit her lip. "IS THIS WHAT I ASKED FOR?"
"Your majesty?" the Elder squirmed, the hesitation clear in his voice. She whirled on him, and he visibly flinched away.
"I asked them to kill my HUSBAND!" she shrieked. "NOT MY CHILDREN! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE?"
Kieron's body tensed and Kida ran her tongue over her bottom lip. So they weren't being double-crossed. Someone else was in this palace, killing the Royal family, and Kida had no idea who it could be. Perhaps it was one of her brother's rebellion soldiers? No, it couldn't be. They only take orders from Kieron, and he didn't tell them to kill anyone. Especially not the King of Reichon and his children.
And Kida hadn't even considered Prince Nexus and Princess Elasha in their plan. They were planning on overthrowing Reichon's Royals, and they didn't even take into consideration the two heirs of the throne. Although, now that she thought about it, Helio probably didn't mention them because he knew they were going to die.
She was so confused she just let it pass.
"I would send more guards to scout the city's edge for the others, but there are no others. They seem to have... disappeared."
"DISAPPEARED?" the Queen screeched, and the Elder nodded.
"I sent some to search the palace and the rest to scour the city, but the palace seems to be empty, Your Almighty Highness." He added this last part in the hopes that she wouldn't tear his head from his shoulders, but she seemed too furious at his words to care where they came from. As she started screaming profanities, Kieron and Kida snuck out of the throne room and Kida took the shadow veil away, letting out a deep sigh.
"Well, we're in trouble," Kieron announced finally, and Kida groaned.
"Why are we always in trouble?" she whined as they headed back to find Issey. "And who the hell is killing every living thing in this god-damned palace?"
"I have an idea," Kieron grumbled, and Kida glanced at him only for a moment before she started shaking her head.
"No, impossible," she declared, turning back to the corridor. "He was with Issey when the guards came at us; there's no way."
"The guards came at you because they discovered the dead bodies of the Prince and Princess, and found you leaving the King's room, who was already dead. They could've been dead for a little while before the plan started."
"But he wasn't triggered," Kida argued. "There's no way anyone in this palace could've said 'my love' in the time we've been here."
"He stabbed Issey in the back, Kida," Kieron reminded her. "He didn't need a trigger to do that. He's unstable."
"He's a suspect," Kida muttered. "That doesn't mean he definitely did it, okay?"
"He's the only one that makes sense," Kieron added. "But a suspect is fine. Better than nothing."
They reached the room Issey was being held in and Kida slashed the doorhandle to ribbons with her shadows after discovering it was locked, allowing them access to the room. Kieron untied the ropes holding her hands behind her while Kida went for the ones around her ankles, trying to get her attention at the same time.
"Jeez, Issey, what've they done to you?" Kida murmured, noting the bruises around her collarbones and right eye, with the cut on her left cheek just starting to dry up. As her hands fell forward, Kida noticed the left one looked rather odd compared to the right, and the material of her pants just above her left knee was torn and bloody. It looked like the Queen got a little carried away.
"Issey, you there?" Kida hissed as Kieron went over to the door to pick up Issey's swords and her belt. Kida pulled the belt onto her lap and pulled out what she hoped was a healing cream, popping the lid open. She got some on her finger and parted the mangled material above her knee, seeing a harsh burn. Kida grimaced, smearing the cream over the wound and she waited a moment, seeing slow progress but still progress as the wound gradually closed over. She did the same with the cut on her cheek and retracted her hand as the elf started to stir.
"I thought you got away," she said when she was awake enough to speak without groaning, and Kida nodded.
"I came back," she said simply, peering at her left hand which she was cradling in her right arm. "That broken?"
"Just the thumb," Issey admitted, groaning as she leaned forward to peer at the belt. "That little green bottle. Take the lid off." Kida did as she was told and handed the bottle to Issey, who poured the liquid into her mouth. When she swallowed and chucked the bottle over her shoulder, she waited a moment before she took hold of her thumb and yanked it, grunting in response. No scream, no cry. Just a grunt, like it took a bit of strength to pull her thumb back into place. "Alright, I'm good. Let's get Quin and go."
"You know where they're keeping him?" Kieron asked, and Issey frowned.
"Huh? They put him in the room next to me. On my right."
Kida shook her head. "If they put him there before, they've moved him since," she explained. "He isn't there now."
"Then let's find him and get out of here," she muttered, allowing Kieron to help her up and support her with an arm around her waist. Since Kida was too small to help, she led the way and made sure no one would see them coming.
Someone screamed and the sound echoed through the corridor, coming from in front of them somewhere, and Kida glanced back at Kieron and Issey. Issey waved her hand absent-mindedly and Kieron nodded at his sister, so Kida bolted and headed straight for the source. It was coming from the dining hall, which was too far away from the throne room for the scream to belong to the Queen or the Elder she was with. It was probably one of the guards; if she was fast enough, Kida might be able to catch this killer in the act. For Issey's sake, she really wished it wasn't Quin.
As she burst into the dining room, her breath hitched as she saw Quin moving straight for her, and she would've attacked him right then and there if she hadn't seen the hooded figure stepping away from a rather large pile of dead guards, with blood dripping from the little black dagger in their hand. Kida narrowed her eyes at Quin, her fists clenching and unclenching by her sides.
"Quin," she announced through gritted teeth. "What are you doing? What the hell is going on?"
"Kida, listen to me," Quin replied, eyes wide. The doors opened again, and Quin glanced behind Kida's shoulders, probably seeing Issey half-limping in Kieron's arms by the way his eyes widened slightly. But he returned his attention to the matter at hand. "You have to think about it, okay? Don't overreact. Don't assume. Just think. It'll seem crazy and downright impossible but it's not, alright? It's very, very possible."
"What are you talking about?" Kida hissed. "Do you know how many people have-?"
But her voice cut off as the hooded figure stepped up to Quin's side, pushing the hood from their head to reveal who exactly was the one responsible for the deaths of just about everyone in the entire palace. And Kida's heart thumped loudly as her blood froze and her insides churned. It was impossible, surely. And yet...
"Ryia?" she whispered.