Breaking Boundaries - Blood Ties- (2)

Missing

Lily sat on her throne in an empty room. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, time was irrelevant. Every time she shut her eyes, she saw Kiara being dragged away. The hurt and anger in Athena's eyes. She lost the last of the Bu family in a matter of minutes. How could I be so careless? I should have attacked them when we were at full strength. She thought, wiping a tear that fell to her chin. "I'm sorry Krea." The words echoed in the large room, she knew Krea was listening.  "I'm so sorry that I failed your daughter." Just then, she felt something on her shoulder. She turned but saw nothing, but she knew. "Thank you." She whispered.

Jordan was sitting at the foot of Kiara's bed. Was it my fault? I let my duties get in the way of family. She thought back to when she had Krea and Malcolm on the table of the old Delgado infirmary. She couldn't save Malcolm, of course, she couldn't save Kiara or Roux. She rested her elbows on her knees and put her face down onto her hands, trying to control the sobs. It's all my fault. She thought.

Athena had been in the woods every day for the past month. The first place she checked was where they kept Lily and Kiara in the dungeons of an old broken-down castle.  She knew the chances of the two being in Hayland were much higher, but she had to be sure. She spent the rest of her time watching Hayland. Studying for any openings. It looked much different than before. Walls were built all around with troops guarding them at all hours. It was nearly impossible to sneak in, even if she managed, she would be noticed right away. The only way to get her sister back was with an army. An army they did not have. Unfortunately, that would take time, time that they didn't have. It would be a miracle if they were still alive even after a week. 

"Athena." Brittania brought Athena out of her thoughts. "Anything new?"

She sighed in defeat. "No, I can't seem to find a weakness."

"Athena, it's Kiara, if anyone can get through this, it's her. You know that. The best thing we can do for her is to rally people together. The sooner we put energy into that, the sooner we get her back."

The brunette took one more look at the town before looking back to Brittania. "You're right, can you get in contact with your old commander? Have she met at the Kingdom? Bring all of her troops." 

"Of course. I'll meet you there as soon as I can."

"Thank you." This meant Athena had to return and face Lily. She despised her for what she did, or lack thereof. She didn't want to hate her, she knew Lily for since she could remember, but this felt like a betrayal. She took a few deep breaths before collecting her things and heading back to the castle. 

***Three months later***

The five clans gathered around in the war room. They had tripled the number of troops by gathering the last bit of leaders not torn by Charlie yet. "So we just storm the castle?" Agatha, the last commander of Brittania questioned.

"Well," Lily started. "There is only one way in. We cause a big enough distraction at the front, we can have a small group from the back get over the walls so we can sandwich them in."

"And when they find out to call reinforcements, then what?"

"We will deal with them," Athena stated bluntly. When we take Hayland, it will be easy to defend, we can most likely get more people to join us once Charlie is dead."

"And how do you plan on getting to her?" Agatha asked, still not confident with the plan.

"There will be plenty of distractions, I will simply slip in, and find Kiara and Roux, they will take me to Charlie and we will end this. Once and for all."

"This sounds like a one-way trip." Jordan chimed in. "As long as Charlie is dead and my family is safe, count me in."

"It is settled then, we leave at nightfall. Get the troops ready." The Queen demanded.