Sisters Three (Completed)

33. Brenna (2/2)

The celebration stretched out for hours, a splash of revelry in a country that was starved on rations and the seriousness of war. Now that they were allowed to eat rich foods and dance to their hearts content, no one wanted to go back to their manor homes. Even Brenna regretted when the party would eventually have to end and she would lose this sense of being on top of the world and having everyone pay their respects all at once.

The captain of the guard approached the throne, placing a hand over his chest as he waited for their permission to draw closer. Robbin nodded and the man came to his side, close enough so that no one could overhear what he was about to say. Brenna casually leaned in.

"Your Highness, there's a mob outside the castle gates," he said, eyes cutting toward the door where a group of guards were just entering with harried expressions. "We think it might be a good idea to have you and the queen move to a safer area while we work on dispelling them."

"A mob?" Robbin asked. "What do they want?"

The captain shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. They're shouting something about the heir's child being the rightful owner of the throne, but that doesn't make much sense."

Brenna swallowed sharply, sitting up straight and moving out of ear shot of the conversation.

The wretched maid had talked. She'd told someone outside of the household and they'd told others, and now they had a mob outside of their castle. This was exactly what she'd hoped to avoid, though she found some solace in the fact that it was happening after she and Robbin had already been crowned. Let them complain all they wanted, but Robbin wore the crown and carried the High Priest's blessing. A child who wasn't even born could not compete with that.

"Dear, we're going to retire early," Robbin said, interrupting Brenna's thoughts. She smiled blandly and nodded, pretending she didn't know and didn't care why he was removing them from the audience chamber.

Amidst the bows and curtsey of those courtiers close to them, Robbin and Brenna followed the captain and two guards who materialized from the thin air to escort them down the aisle and toward the grand double doors. Brenna nodded and smiled, but Robbin stared straight ahead.

As they walked into the hallway and past the less important people of court, more guards peeled off from the walls and came to join the ever growing circle of protection around the new king and queen. Brenna was forced into Robbin's side by the tight quarters the guards put them in, walking down the hallway and to the open-aired walkway that ringed the courtyard. With a roof but no wall, the walkway offered a refreshing breeze but also gave them a direct overview of the mob gathered just on the other side of the courtyard gate.

Torches had been lit to combat the setting sun, and a sea of orange flames stretched over the bridge spanning over the defensive moat. A rumble of disgruntled voices rolled on the air and Brenna's face paled as she saw the sheer size of those who protested at the gates. She'd never have imagined that many people were concerned over keeping the bloodline from the late queen, yet here was almost a small army shouting and screaming to be listened to.

"Perhaps we should let them have an audience," she said, her shaken eyes turning to Robbin.

"That would be foolish and useless," he replied, ignoring the sight of the mob.

"But they're upset because they think we're not listening to them."

Robbin looked down at her sternly. "We're not listening to them. For some reason they've gone back on their consent to have me as ruler, and I won't let them bounce us around like this. The High Priest gave the people a chance to express whether they approved, and they did. He's blessed me, he's crowned me, and I'm not going to let some rabble take that away."

Brenna bit her lip. She knew exactly why they now rejected Robbin, and it was because a better offer had come around. Morna's child, directly related to the queen and the brother that everyone had loved. They knew about this child and no doubt they'd also been told that she'd tried to quiet the maid and hide the news. Her stomach roiled at the thought that she might have caused the anger in the crowd.

"Let's just get inside and away from this," Robbin said, his jaw clenching.

They turned a corner and were only a few feet from the hallway that would lead back into the interior of the castle, when a commotion drew the guard's attention to the courtyard gate. Pausing for a minute while the captain walked to the bannister and looked down, they witnessed a group of guards rush out from the castle on the ground and to the gate where a group from the mob were crouched on the ground. The guards began yelling, drawing their swords, and the common men quickly finished what they were doing and raced back to the safety of the crowd. Brenna frowned, trying to make out what the bundle was that they'd left against the gate, and then everything heaved in a mighty explosion.

Debris of dirt and stone flung as high as the walkway, pelting Brenna and the rest in a rain of destruction. A roar of booming filled the air, so loud that when it ended Brenna could still hear it in the depths of her ears. Everyone was knocked off their feet and to the floor, tumbling into each other. As the dust clogged the air, Brenna pulled her skinned hands to her chest and frantically searched for Robbin. He was a few feet away, his crown lost in the scuffle of guards as they helped right him and checked him for injuries.

"Robbin," Brenna called, but her voice sounded so muted and muffled through her ears that she wondered if she'd even actually said anything at all. At any rate, the guards got her to her feet and began roughly pushing both her and Robbin toward the safety of the interior.

As they passed by, Brenna looked down in the courtyard to see the gate ripped apart in the middle, the ground around it dug into a deep crater, and the mob of people spilling through and trampling over the downed guards.

Fear more real than she'd ever known washed all the color from her face, and filled her stomach with numbness. The mob was inside, and she'd been the one to incite their rage. What would they do? She shivered at the thought and quickly turned her gaze away, burying her face in Robbin's side and letting the guards hurry them to a safety that wasn't guaranteed anymore.