The Ordinance

Chapter 23 - Natalia

Hey, my lovely readers! So, unfortunately, we are nearing the end of this story. However, there will be one more chapter after this. After that, I'll start editing this story.
Also...sorry in advance ;)

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All the way up into the east wing, that idiot chased her. She had the advantage here, though, because she knew every hiding place in the castle from playing hide and seek with her brothers when they were little. Now she was using that knowledge to her advantage. She pressed herself tight against the wall, and forced herself to slow her breathing. In, out, in, out, she chanted in her head. Around the corner was her pursuer, checking extremely slowly behind every door.

"Where are you, Princess?" He beckoned. "I'd like to wipe that smug look off your face."
Natalia bit back a retort. She listened to the loud sound of his heavy footfalls against the porcelain tiles. Two, three, one, she burst from her place against the wall just as the man rounded the corner. She grabbed his wrist, his other arm, and dropped the ground, flipping his body over her. His sword flew across the hallway.

He groaned on the ground. She kneeled next to him and grabbed his collar tightly with one hand. A ball of fire shone brightly over his head, ready to set his hair aflame, in the other.
"Who planned this attack?" She yelled in his face.

He tried to spit at her face, but just ended up drooling on his chin. Natalia suppressed her laughter.

"Who?!" She yelled, the ball of fire growing.

"The King! It w-was the King. He's been planning for months! He-he thought that Renegade group was up to something," he explained, breathless.

So many different thoughts swirled around her head. "What does he know about the Renegades?"

"That-that they're growing, and they know Princess Isabelle's secret," he hesitated.

"What else?" She asked.

"We know one of the Northfalls is involved with the Renegades," he said, gritting his teeth.
She stared at him for a moment, her suspicions confirmed. Without knowing it, her other hand got fiery hot.

"Ah! Let me go!" The man pleaded.

"On one term," she bargained. "You bring the King a message from the Renegades: We are far from done with him. He will regret this."
The man nodded feverishly, and Natalia let him go. His head slammed to ground from being suspended off the floor by his shirt collar. He quickly got up and scampered away.

"And don't come back," Natalia warned, her tone even and filled with foreboding.

After she made sure he'd left, she made her way back to the ballroom. She could still hear shouts echoing from downstairs. Bewildered and angry, she ran down the steps back to the ballroom. Fire burned hot in both of her hands. The ballroom was erupted into chaos, some people trying desperately to escape while others, completely unprepared, joined the battle. Most of the Humans there were equipped with small weapons. She even saw some grabbing for small firearms they'd hidden in the bushes. Bastards, she thought angrily, jumping off the last two steps. The king hadn't planned the ball this year because he'd been planning an attack on the Fae instead.

Somebody ran up behind her with a sword aimed at her shoulder, but at the last second she turned on her heel and threw a ball of fire at him. Startled, he fell and dropped his sword. She picked it up and used the hilt to hit him and knock him out.

Fighting her way through the crowd, she searched for anyone she could recognize. Maxon, Isabelle, anybody.

Another Human charged her, nearly knocking her over. She blindly slashed her sword in his general direction while still stumbling backward from the impact. He yelped in pain, and when she regained her balance she realized she'd struck him in the face. With a forceful kick to the sternum, he fell over, clutching the huge gash over his eye.