The Crown and the Throne

Chapter Eleven

I stare at the lines scrawled messily across the map, memorizing every little line and mark and scribbled note.

There are no real words, just symbols and some form of a made up language only the guardsmen and the ruling heirs ever knew. The risk of a "spy" getting ahold of or losing the map was too great, something both Haunika and Sebastian seemed to agree on.

"Only us three get to know what everything on here means," Haunika had said while furiously writing on the map. "Memorize it well. And if you get caught-" she had glanced at me with furrowed brows and pursed lips before looking back at the map. "Well. Just don't."

I pinch the corner of the paper.

We had only spent a few hours planning, but both of them believed the plan was soundproof. "Plenty enough able bodies here to fight," Sebastian had muttered at one point. He was right. If both men and women joined in, there would be over four hundred fighters with us. Not to mention there were people that would join in Yalean.

The guards were to be the first rescued. My stomach rolls at the mental image of having to trek through sewage water beneath Yalean's prison. I clear my throat and return to studying the map and plan.

Guards. Guards were first. I trace my finger over the charcoal circle around the city. I rub my fingertip against my thumb, smudging the dust on my skin. The gray color seemed like a strange bruise, making each fingerprint line stand out.

We get the guards from underground. What remained of The Stone Queen's guards were most likely to remain in the prison with Bellioana prisoners and the city weaponry. I pinch the corner of the map again.

Someone has to send the flare into the sky after. A Tempera fae would be there to clear the skies of any clouds, Haunika had already made sure of that. The signal would tell everyone waiting along the charcoal line around Yalean- I trace the marking again- that most of the guards were incapacitated. The streets could be flooded with our small force of power. A giddy feeling stretches through my mind for a brief second. We would be saviors.

The excitement in me fades when I remember Haunnika's word of advice: pessimism. There was the chance that we could fail, and not make any ground in the start of our fight, with the ever looming threat of death hanging over us.

I let out a sigh and carefully roll up the map. Only so much time staring at it could do anything for me. I bind it with a leather belt.

My room door swings open and hits the wall behind it with a loud thud. Sebastian's arms are hidden by thick black armor, the silver lining shining with the light of the candle on my table.

"For tonight," he says quietly, setting the armor on the bed beside me.

I nod slowly.

He had made it clear that he wanted me to stay here tonight, not follow him into a fight. The kingdom needed me alive, and I knew that, but my kingdom also needed a queen who could fight. Sebastian however believed otherwise.

"Here." I hand him the bound map.

His fingers tighten around the tube and fiddle with the brass buckle. As usual his eyes dart around the room and avoid meeting mine. His shoulders, normally pinned back and straight, are slouched.

"Well?"

I watch him shift his weight to his other foot.

"Are you sure-" he starts.

I groan. "Yes! I'm sure, I am certain, that I want to go. I'm not amazing with a sword but I can use my powers! You've watched me train for months." I wiggle my fingers towards him. Frost sprouts from my fingertip and forms a small ball that bounces around the back of my hand. "I could be better as a Glacea than you could be!" His cheeks turn red. I sigh. "I will be okay. Look, you've given me protection, too." I tap the armor. "I doubt anyone else besides some of the guardsmen are getting this, huh."