The Prince of Arc - Part II

Chapter 17 - The Drake Escape

17.

"Quiet!" Marcus heard one of the guards shout down the hallway as he ran to Lucas's room. Instead of knocking like usual, he barged in to find Lucas still interrogating Cameron.

"You have to know where his mother is!" Lucas said, sitting in a chair across from Blake Archer's friend, who was sitting in his own chair tied up so that he couldn't escape. His voice; half shouting, seemed to have repeated itself numerous times. "Where did she go after the conference?!" Lucas shouted in frustration, putting his hands on his knees, leaning forward.

Cameron just laughed.

"So you want me to tell you a lie? I can do that. We weren't told anything after the conference about where she went. We thought she was coming here." Cameron paused, and sarcastically continued, "Or did we?" He laughed again.

"Lucas," Marcus interrupted. "I know you're busy, but there's something going on outside,"

"You should probably go see what's happening." Cameron warned. "I would if I were you," He said, laughing, then he continued sarcastically. "I guess I'll wait for you, and not use the knife in my back pocket to escape."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll get that for you." Lucas said, returning the sarcasm. He got up, walked behind Cameron's chair, and looked for the knife. There wasn't one.

"So you're gullible, Lucas? That's a great trait for an interrogator! Once the monarchy falls, I would strongly advise you becoming one. That is, if you're still alive." Cameron humored himself as Lucas walked away, saying, "Oh and next time make me a higher card than 4 in your stupid game!" referring to the cards the Drakes had been placing. Lucas just ignored his comment, and left with Marcus to go investigate what was happening outside.

"Did you get any information out of him?" Marcus asked.

"Not yet, but I have a foolproof plan to get him to break. First I'll tell him there's nowhere Blake or his mother can go, because all palaces in Arc will be destroyed within the next few days. If that doesn't work, I'll elaborate on the condition of Skylar's father and brother."

"Skylar? Who's she?"

"Her name is Skylar Rains, she's the hero of the Rebels, and the supposed love interest of Blake Archer. After she refused to kill Blake in Borders, everyone thought that she was convinced Blake was a rebel. But then once King Archer died, the thought that she believed Blake was replaced with the idea that she was just acting to get to the main problem- Blake's father. The citizens believe she killed King Archer, and was captured by the Archer authorities soon after the shooting. Now, of course this isn't true," Lucas paused, seeing that Marcus was confused.

"Wait, so if Skylar didn't shoot King Archer, who did?" Marcus asked.

"The only true Loyal there, Abby Suttrox." Lucas smirked, "She's a loyal follower of just my family alone, and was acting as a double agent. She killed their King, under my father's order."

Marcus was speechless. Lucas's father had ordered a Loyal to shoot the King of Arc, half the power of Sandrux. Didn't Lucas or his father see that killing King Archer would cause this terrible uprising, despite whether or not they liked him? Didn't they realize that this all jeopardized their position in Sandrux? Did they even care?

And with that, Marcus realized the rebellion was more than just an uprising, it was a struggle of absolute power. Even though he had been a friend of the Drake's his whole life, he couldn't help but wonder... would the Archer's have killed Lucas's father as they had killed Blake's?

Marcus's thoughts were interrupted as Lucas began to speak again.

"What actually happened was my father ordered the Loyals to scare Skylar out of Borders, which they did. The citizens will never know this, however; so the blame remains to rest on Blake's shoulders, just like it should." Lucas explained to his silent friend.

"And we have her family?" Marcus posed another question. Though he wanted to ask why his friend was so happy about the situation, he knew that he would just receive an answer that would be something along the line of, 'The Drake's destiny is to dominate Sandrux, and nothing shall get in our way.' Asking why would be pointless.

Amongst all of his thoughts, Marcus realized something else. He was thinking against the proper judgment he had been raised to believe. Judgment that stated the Drake's were superior to the Archer's. For several reasons he had been taught to believe the Drake's were better leaders than their monarchical partners. For some reason he was somewhat doubting the Drakes.

Once realizing he was thinking rebelliously, Marcus shut down these thoughts and remembered his upbringing. There had to be a reason behind the actions of the Drake's. He decided to trust that these reasons would reveal themselves with time.

Lucas began again,

"Yes, that's part of how we got Skylar out of Borders. After seeing her family had been kidnapped, she probably was going to leave Borders to escape the Loyals and search for her family. However, luckily for us, Blake found her before she left. He took her and left for the hideaway. Without knowing it, he created the perfect lie for his downfall." Lucas grinned. He would've kept going on, but they had reached a good viewing spot of the situation outside from an attic window facing the front yard.

The forest surrounding the hideaway was in flames and the house was surrounded with Rebels. The Loyals were greatly outnumbered and were easily overpowered by the crowd. The vehicles in the driveway were destroyed, and bodies of Loyals lay beside them. Lucas's reaction to the situation was not one of panic, however. Instead he smiled, pleased by something.

To Marcus's surprise, Lucas was happy at the sight of destruction, death, and devastation. This side of Lucas he had never seen before. It scared him.

"I told you," Lucas said, believing he had proved his claim. He began again, "Is it not obvious that they hate the Archer's? Look at what they've done! Surely their behavior is because they all believe Blake was here, and with their rebellion's leader held hostage. " Laughing, he continued to frighten Marcus. "And as for Skylar, she will be murdered along with the spirit of rebellion. And unfortunately for Blake, we are going to make them believe she was killed by the Archer's."

Lucas backed away from the window, and walked over to the other side of the attic. From there he pulled open a trapdoor, and began walking up the steps to Ebony, the Drake jet, which waited for them on the roof of the hideaway.

Marcus, once again lost in thought, remained staring down at the scene before him. Lucas paused halfway up the stairs leading to the roof and glanced over at his motionless friend.

"Are you coming or not? There are more cards to place..." Lucas said, humoring himself. His voice seemed to wake Marcus up, because as soon as he stopped talking Marcus replied,

"Of course, Lucas. Sorry,"

He turned from the window as Lucas had earlier and followed him to their escape.