Veil of Shadows

Chapter 30. Declarations of War

Salia flipped the lever, and the stone wall slid away to reveal the tunnel. As before, she grabbed a torch from the side of the wall and started to make her way down the long hallway.

A voice said "Fancy meeting you here."

Salia spun around to see Notch standing at the entrance of the doorway, a small smile on his face. She dropped the torch. "King Notch, I can explain." Salia said quickly.

Notch shook his head. "I'm sure you can. But first, let us take a walk." Not in a position to refuse, Salia fell in step behind him as he began to walk down the tunnel after picking up the torch she had dropped.

"You seem to be taking this rather well." Salia said cautiously. Notch didn't look back at her as he said "Oh, trust me, I'm furious beyond human comprehension."

That definitely doesn't sound good, Salia thought.

"You think I didn't notice you slipping off to meet with your rebel friends?" Notch continued, and Salia paled a little. "And you thought you were being stealthy about it, didn't you?"

Salia nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Notch placed the torch in a bracket on the wall and said "I assume you know the punishment I have laid out for treason."

"Any and all persons found guilty of treason by any degree are sentenced to immediate execution unless otherwise authorized." Salia recited quietly, knowing the words by memory.

Notch simply smiled. "I took the liberty of carrying out your friends' punishments before you arrived, so that you wouldn't be burdened." Salia's blood ran cold.

"Where are they?" Her words were barely a whisper.

Notch turned and gestured to the domed room in which Salia had met with them before. "See for yourself." With those words, Salia knew to brace herself for something terrible.

She dared to look up.

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"He killed them!" Salia cried, running into Shadow's throne room at full speed. Instantly, Shadow was on his feet. "Who?" He asked urgently, moving to meet Salia.

"The spies you sent to rendezvous with me at Notch's castle." Salia said, fighting a losing battle to keep her voice from shaking. Shadow went very still. "How bad were they?" He asked quietly.

"Terrible, so terrible to remember. I don't-I can't...I couldn't even recognize them..." Salia managed a few more moments of coherent speech before she broke down crying.

Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder. There wasn't much else he could do.

After composing her features, Salia took a deep breath. "What are you going to do?" She whispered, and Shadow turned his gaze on her. "Probably something stupid."

"By something stupid, do you mean officially declare war against Notch?" Salia asked, but she already knew the answer. She had seen how large his forces had grown over the last week.

He had been reserving knights for something, something that involved a lot of fighting. And this was what he was planning. Open war against Notch and his army.

"I suppose, now that you mention it, officially declaring war on Notch seems like a good idea." Shadow said.

"You realize that this will make or break the rebellion. If we lose, almost all our forces will be depleted and we'll all die. If we win, Notch's reign ends and Minecraftia will choose a better King."

"Winning a war is like a game - knowing which risks to take is key. But there's only one way to know if you made the right choice." Shadow replied, and Salia's brow furrowed slightly.

"How is that?" She asked, and Shadow grinned faintly.

"You wait and see if you win."