The Seven Deadly Kingdoms

Chapter 21

Caspian looked down at her and sighed. "I don't even know your name."

Adelaide quirked a brow. "What does that have to do with anything?" She knew she was treading on thin ice. He could very well still kill her if he wanted to, but her curiosity beat her survival instincts.

"I didn't want to be a part of this war. But I had to be. I'm not a killer, and I despise my kingdom too much to take a life on their behalf."

This hadn't been a part of the plan. Adelaide should have been on the road right now, making her way to steal from a king. It almost made her laugh, the situation she was in. Sitting in a meadow with a stranger who should have killed her.

Adelaide sat up, her hands placed in her lap. She was simply waiting on the opportunity to gun it out of there. And she knew he most likely knew that too.

Caspian looked back to her, confused. "Well? Get out of here!" He waved a hand in her direction motioning for her to leave.

"How do I know you won't just kill me when I stand up?"

Caspian scoffed before tossing her knife at her feet, along with his. "I won't kill you. Just leave, and we'll act as though it never happened."

Adelaide slowly picked up her knife. She contemplated taking his, too, but decided against it. She believed him.

Adelaide turned to walk back up the hill. After a few steps, she stopped and turned around again. He sat there, staring at the ground. He was an odd man, that was for certain. She frowned and looked to the ground. "You know.. You don't have to be a part of this."

His gaze snapped back to hers, confused. "A part of what?"

"The war."

"And how might that be possible?" Caspian scoffed as though it wasn't the first time he had heard the statement.

"Run away"

Caspian scoffed once again and laughed. "Run away? Are we children, here? If I ran away, where would I go? Off to another kingdom that would force me to participate in their war?"

"You could go anywhere. You don't have to be a part of any kingdom. How would they find you if you were on your own somewhere?"

Caspians gaze softened. "You seem as though you've thought about this yourself?" He questioned. A moment of silence passed. Adelaide looked behind her, to the woods. Her freedom. Her duty. She looked back to the man. A mystery. A conversation.

Adelaide walked back to Caspian, taking a seat in front of him. He still seemed confused. She was, too. This encounter had definitely not been on her to do list for the day.

"You don't love your kingdom?" She asked. He Laughed and shook his head. "I despise my kingdom with every bone in my body. If it weren't for innocent people that lived there, I would gladly watch it burn to the ground. The government is corrupt and steals what little the starving citizens have." Adelaide hummed in understanding. The seven kingdoms seemed to share the same predicament.

"Extollentiam is the same way. We look lavish on the outside, but many of its lower class citizens aren't able to afford food anymore. If you aren't born into wealth in Extollentiam, then you're no more valuable than dirt. If only we could have a new kingdom, run by the people who know what poverty feels like. Then we might live in a free land."

Adelaide and the strange man sat in the meadow in silence. Adelaide had thought about why exactly she had been serving her kingdom so loyally the past few months. Perhaps it was simply to be able to get back to her family. Maybe it was to give the queen a friend. She wasn't entirely sure, but she knew it wasn't for her kingdom.

Adelaide sighed and stood once again. Her excitement for her quest to steal from the king didn't excite her as much anymore. If Extollentiam were to win this war, what good would it even do? It would only give more power to the king. It would doom them all.

"Well, Caspian, it was nice to meet you. My apologies for attempting to kill you." She said firmly, turning to leave again. She barely made it thirty feet before she heard Caspian's voice once more.

"Wait!"

Adelaide stopped. She felt as though she were going back and forth at this point.

"Yes?" She questioned, turning to him.

"What if there was another kingdom?" A spark lit in Caspian's eye, as if he had just come up with a brilliant idea. It frightened Adelaide, but she wanted to explore it nonetheless.

"What do you mean?"

"What if there was another kingdom to fight in the war? One that wasn't corrupt, and supported its people? How good of a chance would you say it would have in winning?"

Adelaide pondered his question, trying to figure out what he was getting at. What other kingdom could he possibly be talking about? There were only the seven kingdoms in all of this land. Was Caspian going mad?

"What are you getting on about, Caspian? There are no other kingdoms to fight but the seven. And if there were to be another, it would have to have a bloody good army to be able to be victorious." Caspian rose to his feet and jogged to where Adelaide stood. He grabbed each of her shoulders, smiling. This man was certainly a mad one.

"I am saying, miss, that a new kingdom can rise. There are so many starving and homeless people in all the kingdoms, that they alone could come together and overpower the rest!"

"Well that certainly puts a good light on the world we live in.."

"No, no! You aren't understanding! What I'm saying is, we could rally our own troops. Recruit our own soldiers. The people are so desperate for a change, surely they'd be willing to fight for something that could be their's to keep instead of going to a nasty king! Do you see what I'm saying??"

The thought was crazy, sure. But it was an idea nonetheless. He was right about the statistics. The poor outnumbered the wealthy ten to one in this land, and so did their passion.

"So, you're saying we make our own kingdom?" She asked cautiously.

"Yes! Think about it, there is plenty of land in-between the kingdoms. We grow our own army, secretly of course, and when we join in the war, who will be there to stop us? We can take the rest of the land for ourselves! Look, it's a wild idea, I know. But it's possible. When has your kingdom ever served you? When has it ever done you any good? Don't you want a change? You just said to me that I could run away. What if we both did? What if we started a revolution?"

"That would be insane. We would be killed."

"Better to die fighting for a change than to die fighting for the ones who destroy the possibility of it."

Adelaide had to admit, the man had a good point. But it was crazy. They had just met. He didn't even know her name. And he wanted to start a revolution with her? After all that she had just built in her own kingdom? The thought was absurd.

And she liked it.