Page 24 of Her Royal Blood

“You stay here,” I said and Hawk just laughed at me and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall of the cave.

Our shelter was shallow and not the greatest hiding place, but it was protected from the elements and under a toppled rock. From the air, or from below, one wouldn’t think there was a shelter there as it was hidden from view. If prisoners or guards came looking for us in the morning, the rocks looked like they’d fallen over and were teetering on continuing to fall down the sideof the hill. It was only obvious from one side that there was a crawl space to take shelter in.

As Hawk rested, I ventured out, without much hope or strength, I walked into the darkness. We needed food or our chances of survival in the days to come would be slim. I snapped some vines near our shelter and tied them to rocks, balanced perfectly. I knew animals scurried nearby, I could hear the rustle of their feet over dried leaves. Hawk had mentioned berries and after walking only a short distance, I found some and picked all the ripest one’s I could find. When I returned to my trap every muscle in my body ached, but night time was the creature’s hour. I was surviving on sheer will. My body was way past the point of exhaustion. I was sick, nauseous and starting to see things again, but we had to eat. I set some of the berries in my trap. I ate a few and pocketed the rest for Hawk.

I then tucked myself into the crags of nearby boulders and waited for my trap to work. The berries I’d eaten were ripe and sweet and did nothing for my hunger other than awaken my stomach to its starvation. I must have dozed off, cold and miserable, because I woke to the sound of a horrid screeching. I hefted myself up to see the heavy rock I’d set to fall when the snare was tripped had landed on a large rodent.

I’d seen rats, but none this big. It was the size of a small dog, plenty of meat for two. My wolf would be proud of my mortal form catching prey as I had. Tomorrow I’d have enough energy to shift and find us something more substantial but for tonight, this beastly thing would do. I removed it from the trap and finished the poor half dead creature off before I carried its carcass back to the shelter and built a small fire.

It had to be the middle of the night, but any kind of fire would alert guards to our whereabouts, so I built the fire in the cave. There was a tiny space where the rock overhang had slid off the boulder enough that a small gap had been created above ourheads. Perfect for the fire. It would dampen the smoke enough not to billow into the air.

I quickly built a fire and skinned the rat with a rock I’d sharpened on the walls of our cave to remove the outer skin and skewer the thing. I cooked it over the flames and the smell of cooking meat brought Hawk out of his slumber.

“Tell me that’s food,” he said in an angered sleep stained grog. “That river did me in. If it’s not food I’m going to roast you over that fire.”

“It’s not much, but it’s food.” I broke off pieces of meat and bone giving Hawk roughly half of the creature and the handful of berries. “And it’ll dampen the hunger pangs.”

We ate in silence, but we ate. When we’d sucked the bones dry, we piled up leaves and dirt to make a bed around the fire. I probably wasn’t wise to fall asleep so deeply, but as soon as I finished my last bite, my body remembered that I’d suffered a deadly venom poisoning and a raging river in the span of a few days. I passed out, unable to stay awake any longer. Hawk did the same.

“Here’s to seeing another day,” he mumbled before snoring.

The sentiment wasn’t very hopeful, but it was all we really could expect…another day.

Chapter 9

Aria

It had been a long time since I’d awoken in a place I couldn’t remember or have dreams I didn’t recall. That morning I did both. I rose out of bed in a panic not knowing where I was. Jolted awake by the rough shaking of a strong male hand, my eyes flew open and the world spun into focus as I stared into the dark gray eyes of a fatigued and battle weary man. Jarvis stood over my bed staring as I tried to breathe myself back to a sense of peace and normalcy. I had been at the Royal safe house for two days, and had spent most of my time there sleeping. I couldn’t remember when I’d been so tired.

“I’ve gotten a hold of Derringer. You have to come with me now. I’m sorry for the inappropriate intrusion of your bedchamber, Your Majesty, but there’s no time for goodbyes. I’ll tell the Queen that you’ve left for your mission,” he said with quick efficiency. “Hurry and dress, we have no time to lose.”

I slid out of bed grateful for the nightgown Janaya had given me. I grabbed my tunic and pants and brought them with me as I slipped behind the dressing screen. I put on the clean shirt and leather pants that had been gifted to me by a soldier at Janaya’s request last night. I threw them on over the underclothing and stocks she’d also given me.

I came out from behind the screen and slipped my feet into my boots lacing them as I walked with Jarvis out of the hidden safehouse. Jarvis secured a cape for me from a coat rack near the exit of the underground caves and we followed the labyrinth of tunnels walking in a different direction than the one we’d used when we entered. After miles of walking we climbed a steep set of stairs to find ourselves above ground and only a mile from the seaport.

“From here we have to make it to the king’s stronghold. He, his advisors, and several Royal Guards are being housed in a hidden keep within a dilapidated apartment complex near the harbor. The king is regrouping and planning to retake the ports and defeat the Crypt Claw who invaded Navarrah City. Keep your hood on and your head bowed,” Jarvis instructed as I pulled my hood down and focused my eyes to the ground. “We can’t risk you or the king’s stronghold being discovered.”

Together Jarvis and I weaved among the bustling throng of people bumping against one another walking from one location to next. It was already past midday and the city was frantic with people either packing up their belongings to leave or hunkering down to stand their ground. Crypt Claw soldiers walked among the citizens who did their best to avoid their attention. Jarvis and I moved briskly through the throng until we were able to reach the dock. As soon as we came near the shoreline, Jarvis pulled me into an alleyway.

He motioned to a small gray door at the end of a very tight alleyway that didn't go beyond a large stone wall. Without a word, Jarvis opened the door with a key he wore on his belt and pulled me inside the steep stairwell. He locked and bolted the heavy steel door and we made our way up the stairs to another door the same as the first. Once inside this door, I was met by King Lex and his advisors all sitting around a long wooden table with pitchers of water and wine interspersed among them.Half full goblets sat next to plates of half eaten food as the King pondered maps with a grisled looking man in his late fifties.

“Queen Aria, your Majesty,” Jarvis bowed to introduce me.

Below the open window the docks were alive with movement. Ships were coming in, but none were going out. I could see their massive sails from the tall darkened window behind the king. One could look out of the window just fine, but its darkened shade gave me reason to assume outsiders wouldn’t be able to see in. Two armed guards flanked the window so I was a little more at ease being in the middle of the busy port, hiding in plain sight.

All of the military members sitting at the table with the king were heavily armed as were the guards stationed behind the door we’d just walked through. King Helix and his military advisors looked as if they’d been at it all night. The king’s face reflected that of an older man, one worn weary from threats of war and ruin. The conflict with Polonius was taking its toll on him.

“Ah, Queen Aria,” King Helix said, nodding his head to me. “It’s good to see you. Have a seat and pour yourself some wine. I am, as we all are,” he said looking at his advisors and gesturing to the room. “curious as to how you’ve been able to come here, instead of being in Brahman’s Peak with your newly wed husband?”

“The man who I will never call husband is married to Gabrielle, a former servant who served the Bevatas and is now my lady in waiting. I glamoured her with magic to look like me and so far I’ve not heard any reports suggesting my rouse has failed. We haven’t much time, but I intend on freeing Lex from Vitoria Island and together we will defeat Polonius while he still believes he’s married to me.”

“I’m glad to know that you’re not wed to Polonius,” King Helix said in earnest. “He has proven untrustworthy and powerhungry. We have few resources to defeat him at present. Our troops are spread thin and are needed to guard the various strongholds in places where his Crypt Claw have already infiltrated. He’s been planning this take over for a long time, certainly longer than his useless peace treaty suggests. We’ve seen one of his airships over our skies and more are coming.” The king looked daunted, but not defeated.

“By your leave, Your Majesty,” Jarvis said as he bowed his head to the King and King Lex nodded to him, as Jarvis left the room.

“Lex spoke of stealing the plans for Polonius’ airships. Have you been able to build any of your own?” I knew they had been trying to recreate the blueprints since Lex and Cheyenne took them over a month ago.

“We have and they’re still in production. We’ve got as many engineers and assembly workers as we can spare working on the project, but they take time and expert skill to craft. We’ll have ships in the air soon, but not soon enough, I’m afraid.” Jarvis raked his fingers through his thinning hair, looking tired and haggard; this battle was aging him quickly. “I find it admirable that you want to free Lex, but we’ve been trying. The waters surrounding the island are heavily guarded. Our ships have been shot at every time we’ve approached. We’ve already lost several men in the effort.” The shadow cast over his expression darkened.

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