The Last Princess

Chapter 77

"This is helpful." Aiden grumbled.

I was in no hurry to do what Arden said (fight with Aiden), so I quickly changed the subject, telling him about my visions as we walked ahead. He didn't think they were very helpful, hence the sarcasm.

And beneath all this was a cold stone of dread in my stomach, knowing with every step we were getting closer and closer to the palace. You could use so many words to describe it- my birthplace, my prison, the place I had been tortured and yet the place where I'd been loved. A place of love and isolation, protection and danger side by side.

But behind this, it was my ancestral home, the place where the royal family had lived for centuries. I had a duty to protect it from the wrong hands. Which I hadn't done. But what I was doing now.

A glance at Maple told me she was feeling the same thing. There she had seen her friend get tortured, knowing there was nothing she could do about it. She had had to find a job there after her parents' early death. And then she'd been imprisoned there, with the risk of getting married to a monster.

She must've been terrified, just like me. She had no reason to go back, unlike me, but she was. She was brave.

And then I stumbled.

I was so busy thinking, I hadn't realized where I was going, and I tripped over a large root which had come up to the ground. I gave a small yelp, toppling forward, when two strong arms caught me.

I turned back to see Arden, pulling me back helpfully. "Thanks." I said shakily, my stomach twisting when my back pressed into him. "Should we take a break?" He suggested, letting go of me.

"Okay. We can eat something too." Aiden said. "You okay?" Maple asked. I nodded. We sat in a circle. Aiden (where was he getting this stuff from?) had apparently packed together another meal, for us to eat.

We ate in silence. Finally Aiden said, "We're getting close. Should be there by night." It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was talking about. I swallowed and glanced at Maple. She was glancing down at her food, not looking at anyone. Then she glanced up at me in a sort of grimace that conveyed sympathy and companionship.

"We all know how it looks. So we just go in and say we're looking for jobs as servants?" Arden said. Maple choked. She coughed alarmingly for a moment, while I thumped her back. When she recovered, she said, gasping, "We're going to be servants?"

I understood her shock. She was going to be among her fellow maids, albeit in disguise, again? What if they found out who she was? "Relax, we're going to be in disguise." Aiden said, shoveling food into his mouth.

I glared at him pointedly.

He coughed and straightened up. "I mean, we'll be fine." Arden looked doubtful. "Do you really think this is going to work? I mean, they must be suspicious with all the rebels and everything, do you really think they're going to let anyone in the palace?" Arden asked.

It was true. There was no reason to think they would let us in just like that. "We have to try. If they don't let us in, we find four servants, change our appearances to look like them, knock them out, and get in." "Well, we'll try getting in the right way first." Arden said, clearly not comfortable with harming four servants.

Aiden grunted, clearly   knowing what his twin was thinking and having a different opinion of it, but said nothing. We finished eating, Aiden packed up the weapons, and we started again on our journey.

It was getting very dark, and I was getting very tired, when Aiden finally realized we were sleepy and suggested we rest. Because we were near the palace.

The nearer we got, the more dense the knot in my stomach became, making me almost unable to sleep, despite my tiredness. But I finally drifted off.

Maple shook me awake in the morning. "I'm up." I murmured. She and Arden were holding the packs, and Aiden was for on his way to getting up, surprisingly. His face looked strangely wet, and I deduced that either Arden or Maple had borrowed my trick for making him wake up.

 By dawn, I knew we were getting close. We were approaching from the backside of the palace, where there were only trees, but I could still here the sounds of the town beside the palace. Which was both horrifying and satisfying (but more horrifying) at the same time.

Soon enough, we reached.

From the edge of the trees, we peered at the palace, surrounded by a ring of guards. It was a huge, imposing fortress and did not make a very pleasant sight, though it was familiar.

I was back.