The Hathway Kingdom (Book 2)

Three.

~Three. ~

Romulus and Lizbeth both froze as they felt the room shaking and Lizbeth looked up at her brother with a worried expression on her usually smiling face. Romulus had a similar expression on his face as he looked at his sister before the door to his study flew open and Theodoras burst inside. Romulus went to ask him why he had come barging into his study without knocking, but the words died in his throat before they could even come out.

He clutched at his chest and he stumbled forward, knocking the teapot and cups to the floor where they shattered. Lizbeth was on her feet and by her brother's side in a matter of seconds. She placed her hand on his shoulder as he seemed to struggle to breathe.

"Brother? Brother, what is it?" she asked as the entire palace began to shake and cracks began to form in the walls, small at first, but growing larger by the second. Lizbeth frowned before she looked at Theodoras as she held her brother's arm, taking note of just how much he was shaking.

"Something has happened somewhere, Theo...Could you go and find out what it is before it brings the whole building down?" Lizbeth asked him as she guided her brother back into his chair. Theodoras nodded his head and turned to leave the room...Only to find some form of barrier now preventing him from putting a foot through the door to leave. He tried several times but failed each time.

"It...It won't let me leave, my lady..." he said as he turned back to face Lizbeth and Romulus. Lizbeth frowned before she opened her mouth to speak.

"It won't let us go anywhere..." they both heard Romulus say and Lizbeth fell silent before she and Theodoras both looked at him carefully.

"What do you mean, Brother?" Lizbeth asked him as she looked at him and he lifted his head from where he had it in his hands and looked at the pair.

"I mean that it's a defence mechanism that my...Our, ancestors placed within the palace walls when it was being built," he began to explain once he had caught his breath before he paused as he met Lizbeth's gaze and she frowned.

"What...Kind of defence mechanism, Brother?" she asked cautiously as she watched her brother. He met her gaze, swallowing heavily before he looked down again, giving a shake of his head. Lizbeth frowned again before she reached out and took her brother's face in her hands, making him look up at her now.

"What kind, Brother?" she asked him more firmly now and Theodoras moved closer as well to hear Romulus' response. He sighed before speaking.

"It...was a spell...attached to each of the bricks in this building that, should it feel as though it was under attack, it activates and seals the people who are in any of the rooms within the palace inside those rooms to prevent any harm coming to them," he explained reluctantly, and Lizbeth frowned as the palace shook again, much more violently than it had before.

"But...What could have triggered it? What could have possibly happened that had made it activate and go on the defensive?" Lizbeth asked as she let go of Romulus' face and looked over to a small piece of the wall fell from the crack nearby.

"I'm...I'm not sure..." Romulus began to say before all three of them froze as a wave of emotion so powerful that it took their breaths away swept through the room.

Romulus clutched at his chest as he found it difficult to breathe again. He clenched his eyes shut to fight against it. It was a sensation he had never felt before and now he had felt it twice in a matter of minutes. He opened his eyes and looked towards his sister, whose hand was covering her mouth as tears fell from her eyes. He then turned his eyes to Theodoras, who was doubled over and gasping for air.