There wasn't a crowd this time-- Galen said there never was. They didn't like watching those being thrown to the Abyss.
Thus, it was only the guards who walked Archer and the king to the edge of the kingdom, where the eternal darkness crowded like a heavy wall against the faint glimmer of light from their lanterns.
"This is madness!" Archer yelled, "Galen is your king. He has served you faithfully all these years!"
But the guards stayed silent, none of them even bothering to look him in the eye.
"Archer..." Galen whispered, his voice hoarse, "Please stop... It won't make things better."
They walked for a bit longer, coming to pause at the very edge of the blackness. Peering through it, Archer could not see even two paces infront of him-- the darkness so resolute that it echoed the feeling of comlete nothingness, as if the world simply ended right there.
It was then that the guards shoved them uncerimoniously forward and Archer lost all sense of direction.
No longer could he see the lanterns they had carried. It was as if they had been snuffed out completely, leaving not even a speck of light. He peered around, trying to catch sight of Galen, fear clawing its way up his throat. Wildy, he whipped around, calling the king's name until he felt a hand grab him weakly on the shoulder.
"Archer?"
"Blimey, Galen, I thought I'd lost you..."
"Keep close. I can see slightly, but not by much. Here, take my hand, I'll guide you."
Feeling up to his shoulder, Archer quickly found Galen's hand and tightly lacd his fingers through the king's own. Then, with shaking steps, he let him lead them through the pitch darkness.
At first, it was rather slow going-- Archer could see nothing of his feet, or his hands, or Galen's form-- and he would only take slow, hesitant steps, always afraid he would trip and fall into some large hole and be stuck there forever. Soon, however, they began to pick up the pace, and once or twice Galen lit a magical fire in his palm which made it possible for them to see one another. Nevertheless, it was too weak a flame for them to make out any of their surroundings and it drained Galen's energy too fast, thus, for most of their journey they walked in darkness.
"Where are we going?" Archer asked suddenly, his curiousity still managing to spark in the midst of their current situation.
Galen answered after a slight pause. "I haven't the faintest idea. There is nothing for us here but death."
"Then why bother?" Tears pricked at Archer's eyes, and he brushed them agrily away with an invisible arm. "If we're going to die then why are we still walking?"
"Because I have hope. A foolish hope, but hope nontheless. I do not think my Ancestors intended for me to die here, nor you."
"But even if we do survive, we can't go back."
The king was silent. So much so that Archer thought he was having trouble breathing until Galen spoke once more. "Even if we can't, we must. My people need me--"
"Your people betrayed you!"
He felt Galen squeeze his hand slightly. "They are lost. Confused. They think my brother will offer them freedom, but I know of the armies of the surface world-- of the armies your mother told me of when my brother was too busy training to listen. Nay, I listened, and I know. I know that if my people go to war, they will be slaughtered. And that, dear friend, is why we must go back."
Archer sighed, blinking in the nothingness. "When? When will we go back?"
"The moment I think up a plan."
..........................................
Pip stomped her way through swordfighting lessons that day.
Over the months she had gotten stronger, training until her muscles were taught and hard. She was nearly unbeatable now and all the men and women she had sparred against knew it.
Still, she wasn't happy.
Thus, as she and Mordren hacked and slashed at one another, retreating and advancing, cutting and thrusting, Pip let her emotions control her sword arm.
Cut, thrust, slash, slash.
It was only when she drew blood and Mordren hissed in pain that she stopped, panting for breath.
"In a bad mood today, are we?" Mordren said, gesturing to a servant to begin bandaging his arm.
"It wasn't my fault your guard was down." she muttered.
"No, no. It was something other than that. Something troubles you." the servant finished with his arm and Mordren stepped forward, pulling his hands delicately on her hips. "Tell me. As king, I shall galantly fix whatever plagues your mind. Do you need me to execute someone?"
Pip clenched her fists, tears welling in her eyes. "You already have."
Tilting her chin upward, Mordren gave her a concerned look. "Are you speaking of your cousin?"
"Who else would I be bloody speaking of?" her words were harsh, but her soul wasn't in them. Her usual fire was gone. Deminished by guilt. She felt tired. Empty. As if all hope had gone out of life.
She had done all this to help Archer, and instead she had gotten him banished. Blimey, she was a horrible cousin. All she did was hurt people-- especially those she loved. She didn't mean to, didn't want to, but she did anyway.
Because she always thought she was right.
Looking up at Mordren, she wished for a fleeting moment that she had never joined his stupid rebellion, that she had never kissed him, or met him, or even come to this stupid Abyss.
She should have stayed on the surface world, fighting the street boys, and looking for machine parts for Archer, and stealing sauseges, and teasing Cogs, and...
Bloody heck.
Where was Cogs?
Mordren was saying somthing, but Pip did not listen, instead, she pulled away from him, eyes wide.
"I have to go." she muttered quickly, backing out of the training room and beginning to sprint through the halls.
She ignored the calls of Mordren chasing after her as she frantically ran to her room that she had shared with the boys. Flinging open the door, she found the room empty.
Kicking shut the door, she continued to search the palace halls in a wild frenzy, going so far as to look through every nook and cranny in the library.
Cogs was nowhere to be found.
Pausing in am empty hallway, Pip slumped against the wall, feeling as though all her fire had gone out.
Her cousin was gone, her friend was missing-- possibly dead-- and her entire world was crumbling around her. She was exhausted, too tired to scream, too broken to cry.
It felt as though she had made a thousand mistakes, thinking she had been so right. She had done out of love-- love for Archer and Cogs. She wanted to see them happy. She wanted to bring them back home. And now... now they were gone.
And though Pip found hope in a new day, she realized that it would not get any better.
For once Mordren began to take control of things, he changed.
Where there had once been a kind and understanding king, Pip soon began to see his hideous true colours poking out like a hideous disease.
On the first day, he punished all those who still sided with Galen; either sending them to the dungeon or whipping them.
A few, he beheaded.
"These are our enemies, Pip," he said to her, when she had fiercely told him to stop. "They pose a threat to my throne-- and you want me to be safe, do you not?"
But Pip had only scowled in reply, the guilt in her stomach making it hard to think as it twisted painfully.
Once the traitors had been dealt with, Mordren doubled the guard in the streets and set out a certain time which all citizens of the Abyss must return to their homes.
Failier to return to their home meant death.
Very few broke this new law, but Pip could see that none were pleased with it. Herself included.
She felt as though she had made a mistake in trusting Mordren, but his words were too silvery to resist, his lips against her own too soft to simply ignore. And though she never would have admitted it to anyone, she felt as though she was under his spell. A spell that had slowly begun to fade as he changed with each passing day, growing more controlling as he sought to keep his subjects from rioting.
But watching him decline was not something that Pip enjoyed; instead, she wondered if this sort of thing was also her fault in a way, and for the first time, she wondered if she should have simply forgotten of revenge.
Perhaps then, Archer would still have been here, telling her that everything was going to be alright.
..................................................