Morrentien Palace was a relic of the past. Must have been at least 1000 years old. It was built by Vessel Zaris near the end of the Era of Gods. The palace was dedicated to Heimaron the god of wrathful storms.
The palace was constructed out of grey stone that arched in a lancet up over many large, delicate mosaic glass windows. The walls came to a triangular roof that through several buttresses connected to the three towers who in turn reached out in a series of bridges to the Cloud Reach Spire. The Spire was a marvel of magic that floated as if in defiance of gravity directly above Morrentien Palace. No one knew exactly how it was done, as no one had even been able to get inside of it Morrentien Palace was full of old and strange magic that no one could decipher, and full of doors that no one could open. Since so much knowledge of magic was lost during the Era of Dissemination it was unlikely that the doors would ever be opened, but it didn't stop me from hoping that one day I could see what secrets lay beyond those doors.
Distipe the alluring mysteries I couldn't help staring up at the grand gates of Morrentein Palace and feeling that people of the past were so gullible. I just couldn't see why people would follow someone who claimed to be the vessel of the god of wrathful storms. He might as well have had a sign above his head that said "I'm Evil." Not to mention his list of atrocities was longer than the palace was tall. His first act as ruler was to flood the port town of Dunsmurth. He went on to wage war for decades and committed so many unspeakable acts against women I often wish I had not swiped Deiren's book on it. How anyone sided with him or the later vessels during the Era of Dissemination I have no idea.
I stared up at the large gates and the Cloud Reach Spire for a while. I tried to look pensive, like I was contemplating the old magic of this place. In truth I just didn't want to go inside. Who knows what could have been waiting for me on the other side. With the wedding so close my father could be waiting to talk details, or worse he had already gotten a wedding planner for me to talk to.
Building up my courage I took a deep breath, "I just need to make it to my room and pretend I'm asleep from the long and hard journey," I thought to myself, and I quickly opened the door and sped inside.
Fate had other plans however, as I entered into the entrance hall / ballroom, which was a large, ornate, rectangular room that ceiling rose into a lierne dome, I saw Lady Dorchanty look in one of the coat closet to the right of the twin half spiral staircases the lead up to the interior balcony. I would need to sneak past her if I want to get to my room. The room was very big, and I had plenty of experience sneaking around people even in high heels. However, the stairs would be a problem. Lady Dorchany was pretty preoccupied by the coat closet, so I was able to quietly close the doors and make my way to the base of the stair. I was a third of the way up when my heel caught on the long green runner that ran down the stair which caused me to lose my balance and cased my foot came down with a small *Clip*.Even though it was just a small sound Lady Dorchanty whirled around like the palace was on fire.
She was white as a ghost and had a wild look in her eyes. Usually Lady Dorchanty is the pinnacle of grace and elegance. She had a perfect silver bun and a controlled, careful expression. When she walked her dress never seemed to move, and her poster never seemed to falter. If someone told me she was born straight as an arrow I would believe it. However, in this moment all that was gone, replaced with fear and panic. This took me by such surprise that I probably looked as white as she did. It didn't help that I was still a little weirded out by Bregan's recent attitude. Part of me wanted to run up the stairs and pretend nothing weird was happening. The other part of me knew that if I did that I would be in etiquette lessons until the day of the wedding.
"Good day Lady Dorchanty," I started forcing down my own panic. Lady Dorchanty however made no attempt to hide hers and continued to stare up at me in disbelief and panic. She looked scared which scared me.
"Lady Dorchanty are you …" I started.
"You need to leave," She cut in abruptly, finding her voice.
Of all the things I was expecting, that was not one of them. I thought she might scold me for something or even yell, but telling me to leave seemed out of nowhere.
"Lady Dorchanty," I started trying to maintain my elegance in this strange and frightening situation. As I made my way down the stairs I continued "What is wro…"
"There is not enough time to explain," She said quickly and urgently. "But, you need to leave without anyone seeing you."
"What," I protested, starting to lose my grip on elegance. Was I being kicked out of my own home just before the wedding? Was Lady Dorchanty trying to get me to panic to test my skills? Did Began see and report my imperfection to my father? A million possible explanations ran through my head all at once. However, through it all one stuck out. This was a test. It had to be. I had seen Lady Dorchanty talk down to the Lord Commander. There was nothing that could make her panic this much. Right?
"Lady Dorchanty," I started mustering all of my eddiquitte from a year of lessons. "You seem unwell. Should I call for a doctor?"
"Child!" She said, grabbing me by the shoulder and then did something I never in a million years thought she was capable of doing. She slouched over me. Also, no one had ever called me child. It had always been princess or your grace, so that took me by surprise as well.
"I don't have time to explain, but you need to go," She insisted, and began to push me towards the door when suddenly a change of heart shoved me into the coat closet with a quick "Nevermind hide!"
"Hey!" I started to protest, but the door was already shut. As much as I wanted to shove the door back open and berate Lady Dorchanty for shoving me into this dark and musty closet. I couldn't get over the feeling that something was actually wrong. Lady Dorchanty would never slouch even if she was commanded to do so. I decided It would be better to wait and listen for a second. As soon as I put my ear up to the door I began to hear footsteps coming down the stairs.
"My liege," I heard Lady Dorchanty say in a shaky voice through the door.
"Good," I thought to myself. If my father was here then he would be able to talk some sense into Lady Dorchanty, or at least stop her from being crazy.
I was about to try and force my way out of the closet when I heard "Has she arrived yet, I have had reports of her arriving in Singkook, but nothing since then." But, it wasn't my fathers voice. It was my brother's voice. Liege was a term for a superior and only one superior to Lady Dorchanty was my father, the king of Fairylan. Lady Dorchanty was acting crazy, so she must have made a mistake. But, I continued to listen.
"She has not arrived yet, my liege," Lady Dorchanty responded meekly. "But, I will let you know as soon as she arrives."
"Good. The sooner we find her the sooner…" Frederick was cut short by the sound of the doors being thrown open followed by the sound of clattering and clanging luggage.
"Perfect timing. Bregan I take it my sister has just arrived," Frederick said delightedly.
"Yes, Prince Frederick," Bregan puffed as he strained with the luggage.
"I am King Frederick now," Frederick said with a smile in his voice.
"What!?" Bregan said at the same time I thought it. What happened to my father? He was ill when I left, but it was nothing worse than a cold. I want to burst from my hiding place and demand answers. Fortunately, Bregan had the same question I did.
"What happened to King…" Bregan started before correcting himself "I mean Frederick the 22nd." He finished with the clank of luggage being set on the floor.
"Unfortunately, he passed away while you were gone," Frederick said, though he didn't sound too upset.
"How?" Bregan asked.
"You can ask the staff later if you are so interested. Gods know they love their gossip. But, I need to talk to my sister. Where is she?" Frederick demanded.
Bregan seemed to cue in on something that even I was not fully aware of because he lied and said "She is still outside."
"Good. Bregan take that luggage to my sister's room and get some rest. You look awful," Frederick said as I heard him make his way towards the door.
As soon as I heard the door close, I heard sprinting, then Bregan saying "Where is she?"
Then the closet door opened with a jerk and I fell tumbling onto the floor.
"You have to leave," Lady Dorchanty said urgently. "Prince Fredrick killed King Fredrick. Oh, damn these stupid names, why are they all named Fredrick." The swearing surprised me almost as much as my brother killing my father.
"Right, we will take the northeast exit. Can you slow him down?" Bregan said so calmly that it confused me. How could anyone be calm in this situation?
"I'll try," Lady Dorchanty said firmly.
"Come on," Bregan said, pulling me off the floor. "Move."
In any other situation Bregan commanding me to do anything would have been the perfect excuse for me to get him replaced with a more agreeable knight. Right now however, I was happy to go along with whatever he said. My mind was too mixed up to think straight. In the last ten minutes I had learned that my father was dead, my brother killed him, and my brother wants to kill me too. And, I thought my life sucked before. It didn't make any sense, I thought we got along well enough. We were not particularly close, but I still loved him. He would sometimes listen to me rant about how terrible Stewcan was and I would listen to him complain about how hard his lessons were. Why suddenly was he so murder happy.
"Through here," Bregan said, guiding me through the northeast exit. Under normal circumstances I would never be able to keep up with Bregan. Especially while wearing high heels. But, he was so exhausted from the previous few days that it was a miracle he didn't pass out from the exertion.
As we made our way to the stables I noticed that we still hadn't seen anyone save for Fredrick and Lady Dorchanty. The Palace was a big place, but with all the staff it rarely felt empty. Even the horses were gone. Where was everyone?
Bregan began to look around desperately while I stood mostly in a daze about the whole situation. I was hot, sweaty, tired, my feet hurt, and now my dress and shoes were covered in dirt. I guess that last part wasn't so bad because no one seemed to care about appearances anymore.
"There," Bregan shouted, pointing at the wagon that we had come in on.
It looked like Parchy was getting ready to unharness the horses when Bregan dragging me along shouted "No. Stop."
"Huh!?" Parchy responded.
"We need to head north, it's urgent," Bregan commanded.
"What? Well the wagon is still prepped if you need it." Parchy said, taken aback.
"We need you to drive," Bregan continued. "Please."
"Huh," The old man had already taken us much further than he needed to and looked ready to protest. But, upon seeing the look in Began's eyes he relented with "As long as you fill me in along the way."
Bregan practically threw me into the back before jumping in himself saying "North as fast as we can."
"What's so urgent," Parchy asked, rounding the corner back to the front of the Palace.
"There," a voice shouted from above followed by an arrow thunking in the dirt.
"Nevermind," Parchy exclaim, spurring on the horses.
Several men began appearing out of the palace ground wearing colors I didn't recognize. They wore gray with silver and orange trimming. No kingdom or order I knew about wore those colors. But, they were armed like they meant business. Swords, spears, halberds, and other polarms I didn't know the name of.
"Hey! Stop them," Frederick shouted, from the palace doorway. He was now flanked by two of the strange men. Each of the men was restraining someone. The one on Fredrick's left had Lady Dorchanty. Meanwhile, the one on the right had Arina.
"ARINA!" I thought, and moved to jump off the wagon. I would have succeeded too if Began hadn't grabbed my dress and pulled me back.
"LET GO OF ME!" I cried desperately. As I kicked and flailed.
"Stop! You won't be able to help anyone." Bregan retorted.
Some part of me knew he was right. What was I going to do? I could barely lift a sword much less swing one, and the only magic I could do was making food disappear. Still, that only made me feel worse. What did make me feel better was taking off one of my heels and trying to stab Bregan with it. Bregan, even in his exhausted state, was still much bigger and stronger than me, so he easily pushed me off and sent my heel scattering behind us.
"Get ahold of yourself," Bregan shouted, as the wagon thundered down the street.
I don't remember much of the wagon ride after that as I curled up into a ball and began to cry. What was I supposed to do? What else could I do? From my ball I heard Bregan and Parchy arguing about something. Bregan said something about them giving chase. Meanwhile, I did the only thing I could do, I cried. I don't know how far we travelled or which road. But, at some point we ended up on the muddy slopes. On a cliff road that overlooked the swampy lowlands. Bregan and Parchy continued to argue. Something about how we were slowing down and the horses were tired I think. Then it felt like the cart hit a bump, and I suddenly felt like I was flying. It didn't take me long to realize that was because I was falling.
"PRINCESS," Bregan shouted, trying to grab me as the cart went over.
The horses neighed and whined as the weight of the cart pulled them over too. I hit the muddy slope and slipped and tumbled. I saw sky then mud then sky then mud again. On the way down my head hit a rock and I immediately saw spots. By the time I stopped rolling I barely got a breath in before the cart came crashing down on top of me. It would have crushed me instantly if the mud hadn't broken the fall. I desperately began to claw and crawl through the mud to try and get out from underneath the cart. But, the more mud I pushed the more mud filled its place. I was already tired and my head throbbed with pain. The more I dug the more spots appeared.
I heard shouting above and fighting not long after. I ignored it as much as I could as I continued to fruitlessly dig. A couple more heavy things fell from above at some point, but at that point I was out of strength. I could dig no longer. My vision was spotty and blurry. My head threatened to kill me. So there upon the swampy muddy ground I took a long nap.