Guardian of the Kingdom Page 2

  Every day she studied the maids, and every day Faramond studied the guards. They practiced the roles they would have to play, neither believing they were convincing enough. Tobin brought pieces of armor until finally, Faramond had an entire suit.

  “It's time to put the plan into action,” Faramond said, looking at the suit. Athena's heart pounded. They were nearing the end; she could feel it.

  “Are you ready?” Tobin asked her, grasping her hand.

  “I'd be lying if I said yes.”

  Chapter 3

  Restless didn't even begin to cover how Athena felt that night. This was perhaps the last night she had before everything changed forever. Perhaps the last night she had left to live. Though she remained as hopeful as possible, she could not deny the possibilities of reality. Life was cruel; even the greatest people experienced misery. Death loomed over her, watching her every move, waiting for the perfect time to strike. And if it didn't strike her, who would it choose? Surely, blood would be spilled. Surely, someone would not escape. Though Athena hoped Landgrave would be the one not to escape, she had experienced enough to know that luck was not always on her side.

  “Are you asleep?” Faramond whispered into the darkness.

  “No,” Athena sighed.

  “My heart won't stop pounding. It feels like it's going to burst from my chest.”

  Athena's heart was also beating so rapidly that she was afraid she'd have a heart attack and die right here. So much for fulfilling the destiny of the Guardian of the Kingdom. Her nerves couldn't be calmed. She was sweating, trembling with fear and anxiety, her mind a mess of thoughts and worries. Would it be better right now, to be one of the starving people in the streets? Unaware of the reality of the entire situation? Suffering without knowing the truth? Or what if she was one of the maidservants, happy and well-fed, more concerned with marriage prospects than the bleak lives that surrounded her? She would have felt sick either way, either sick of wanting to know the truth or sick of herself, getting to live a life of luxury while everybody else suffered. At least in her current position, she had hope. Hope that she'd be able to end the horrors Galbar had seen. Hope that life could be restored. And now, her hopes were both closer and farther away than they'd ever been. The possibilities of success and failure were both imminent, and it would be up to Athena to make sure success was the outcome.

  “I'm scared, Faramond. It's never been this real. We've never been this close to the end.”

  “It's not the end,” Faramond replied. “It's the beginning of either a long war or a long road to recovery.”

  “Even if we stop Landgrave, what about the Shadow? It's far more powerful than any of us.”

  “We'll have Landgrave's army at our command. The strength of thousands of men with you as their leader, if you together cannot stop the Shadow, then no one can.”

  “I don't feel like a leader.”

  Faramond laughed. “There's no one else I'd rather have leading me, Athena. No one else as resilient, stubborn, and strong as you. You've always devoted yourself to helping others, haven't you noticed?”

  “Helping is not the same as leading.”

  “Really? It seems to me that the best leaders are servants to their people. You helped your grandparents every day for years. You helped Edgehill. You helped me. And now you're going to help the whole kingdom.”

  Athena shook her head. “I complained about helping my grandparents. I tried to help Edgehill, but there was nothing I could really do. Hunting in the forest for a tiny amount of meat doesn't amount to much. And how did I help you?”

  “You befriended me,” Faramond said. “How many friends do you think I had as the town drunk?”

  “I know for a fact you didn't have any.”

  “Of course,” Faramond said. “There were moments when I wanted to give up on you, and just live my own life. But I made a promise to watch over you, and if not for that, I never would have seen you become the guardian. Your parents would be so proud, Athena. The entire kingdom is going to be thankful for you.”

  “I still feel like a regular girl, Faramond. I look at the muscles on my arms, the scars all over my skin, and sometimes I can't believe it's me. I think of everything I've been through, and it's like I'm seeing the experiences of someone else, looking in on someone else's life. In my mind, I'm still the rebellious girl running through mud puddles and getting into trouble.”

  “You're not just a rebellious girl, but a strong woman, Athena. And I know you may have trouble accepting it, but it's the truth.”

  “I wish all of this wasn't forced upon me,” Athena said. She'd had that thought many times, she'd said it out loud enough times to make calm Faramond annoyed, but saying it a thousand times didn't make it hurt any less. Was she strong? Of course. But that didn't mean she wanted these responsibilities. No one would want to face this kind of danger; no one wanted to be in charge of saving an entire kingdom. Yet here she was, all of this responsibility forced upon her, and nothing could be done to change that. All she could do was try her best to live up to it.

  “You'll be successful, Athena. I refuse to believe otherwise.”

  “You may refuse, Faramond, but you know as well as I do that things could go wrong.”

  “And if they do, at least you tried. At least we tried. Tobin and I are at your side. If you fall, we fall with you.”

  “Thank you for believing in me.”

  Though Faramond didn't say anything, Athena thought she could see tears falling from his eyes. It had to be her eyes playing tricks on her in the blackened room. When his breathing slowed, she realized he must have finally fallen asleep. She did not sleep at all.

  When Tobin appeared, Athena didn't know whether hours or minutes had passed. Time flowed strangely, as if the world had ceased to move, and had started moving too fast at the same time. Athena donned her maidservant's clothing and took a deep breath. Faramond's suit of armor made him unrecognizable as Athena's friend. He looked like a nameless soldier. The three of them stood for a minute, not exchanging any words, just heavy silence. There were unspoken conversations between them. What-ifs and goodbyes. But no one wanted to say goodbye. No one wanted to believe that this would be the last day they got to live. No one wanted to believe in failure.

  “You both know where to go?” Tobin asked, breaking the silence. Athena and Faramond nodded. Was now a good time to faint?

  Tobin kissed Athena's cheek. “I'll see you in the throne room.” He shook Faramond's hand. “Sometimes I can't believe you're not really the town drunk from Edgehill. When this is over, can you give me acting lessons?”

  All three of them laughed, but their hearts weren't in it. Their hearts were far too preoccupied with feeling like they'd explode.

  “Let's go,” Athena said.

  Without another word, they went their separate ways. Athena turned around, watching as Tobin strode through the courtyard, on his way to request an audience with Landgrave. She saw Faramond too, making his way towards the guards. Eventually, he was supposed to join Tobin as a bodyguard, but it wasn't vital. In theory, the plan would work as long as they all ended up in the throne room, regardless of how.

  Athena ventured towards the castle, following a crowd of servants. The guards didn't so much as glance at her. She slowly made her way towards the servants’ quarters, breaking away from the group and trembling with nervousness. Just walking through the castle was terrifying, knowing how close Landgrave was, knowing that this entire plan could go wrong, and the future of Galbar was at stake.

  When she reached the quarters, she did her best to blend in. She had observed the maids enough to know how air-headed they were. Though it pained her to stoop to their incredibly low levels, she hoped she was convincing enough. For the most part, she didn't have to interact with them. Most of the maids were busy, scurrying around, carrying linens and clothing, folding cloths, washing fabrics in giant basins of water. Athena didn't hear any mindless chattering. Every woman seemed invested in her work, and then Athena realized why.

  Guards patrolled the room, stalking back and forth, looking like predators readying to catch prey. One of them jabbed a sword handle into a woman's side, pushing her against one of the wash basins. He began to yell, and suddenly he slapped her. Throughout the assault, she didn't say one word. Her face was pale, eyes wide, a pure look of terror. Athena wanted to attack the vicious guard. The poor maid hadn't been doing anything wrong; she was simply doing her job. What right did this guard have? And then she remembered some of the soldiers back in Edgehill, how they had victimized innocent citizens. People with power were so often corrupted.

  “Are you okay?” Athena asked, rushing towards the beaten woman after the guard had disappeared, apparently satisfied with the marks he had left on his victim's skin.

  “I'm fine,” the woman replied tersely.

  “I'm sorry,” Athena said.

  “We all are.”

  “I'm going to help.”

  “Help? No one can help, especially you. You and I are just servants. We go outside sometimes and pretend that everything's okay, try to ignore all of the horrible things that are happening, but we can't pretend forever. Because we're all going to get killed.”

  “Landgrave's reign is coming to an end,” Athena whispered.

  “I wish I could believe that.”

  “Please believe me.” Athena turned away, continuing to walk across the room. She thought of that woman, and all of the people she had made promises to. Tobin's sisters, Victor… she had promised that everything would be okay. She couldn't let them down.

  Athena found the group responsible for cleaning the throne room and slipped into the crowd, following them as they started towards the throne room. Just like the woman Athena had come across, these women were also miserable. They were nothing like the maids outside the castle, the ones who laughed and talked of frivolity. These were people who had suffered perhaps every bit as much as Athena. People who had lost. They walked close together, many with hands balled into fists so tightly that their knuckles were white. Nervous gazes darted through the corridor, eyes never resting upon the guards. Athena was filled with more rage. These were innocent women, no doubt enslaved. She didn't want to imagine what they had been through. All she wanted was for their suffering to end.

  “We're going to have to make a detour,” someone said. No one questioned.

  “King Landgrave is in a meeting, we'll being cleaning his apartment instead.”

  The women nodded, and quickly turned down a corridor opposite of the throne room. Athena had to break free, but she wasn't sure how. There were guards posted every few feet. They eyed the maids closely. Athena couldn't keep following the group though, she had to get to the throne room. She would not be responsible for ruining the plan.

  Athena began to stride, as confidently as possible, down the corridor, alone. None of the guards bothered her at first, but of course, her luck didn't last. Just yards away from the throne room, she was stopped.

  “Ladies aren't supposed to be walking alone.”

  “I'm no lady,” Athena replied, still trying to sound confident, maybe a bit cocky.

  “You certainly look like one. A very pretty one,” the guard cooed.

  Athena wanted to punch him. “I'm on my way to a very important task. The king himself trusted me with it, and I can't be late. Please do not delay me any longer.” Athena started to walk again, hoping the guard wouldn't question her.

  “An important task? I see, the king's got a new toy. He could do better.” The guard laughed and shooed her away. “But I suppose he's already played with all the best ones. Go on then, darling.”

  How could it be that these men had turned so rotten? Surely there were decent ones. Surely power hadn't corrupted them all. Surely not all had been brainwashed. Athena shuddered. It was frightening how people could be fooled, how they could be completely changed, from good to evil in a matter of months. She hoped that they could go back to being the people they truly were; she refused to think that they were naturally so vile. A kingdom full of Landgrave lookalikes was not a kingdom Athena wanted to be a part of. Galbar had been good once. It could be good again.

  The throne room was directly ahead now, at the end of the corridor. Half a dozen guards were stationed there, guarding the door. Athena had no idea how she was supposed to get in. Faramond and Tobin were nowhere in sight. She figured about an hour had passed from the moment they had separated. An hour was enough time, wasn't it? Seeing as the guards were still here, there was no way Tobin or Faramond could already be in there. They would have had to fight off these men. There would have been blood and bodies on the floor.

  Panic nearly set in, but Athena couldn't allow that to happen. She turned down an adjacent corridor, deciding she would pretend to be occupied with something. She couldn't draw attention to herself. The guards could not suspect anything. As Athena paced, she suddenly heard a very familiar voice.

  “You'll have to wait out here. The King is meeting with his advisors right now.”

  “How long will that take?”

  “However long the king sees fit. It could be minutes or hours.”

  “It's urgent that I speak with him!”

  “We would all like to speak with the king. You're lucky you secured this meeting, he doesn't often meet with low-ranking soldiers.”

  “You're calling a commander low-ranking?!”

  “Don't raise your voice, soldier. The king doesn't like complainers. Just sit out here quietly and wait. Throw your tantrum later.”

  Athena's heart swelled. She nearly ran to Tobin, relieved to see a familiar face, relieved to know that the plan had not already failed. When her eyes met his, he mouthed one word: wait. They couldn't go in the throne room until Tobin was in that meeting. Until the advisors were gone. She smiled at Tobin, but quickly she realized that Faramond was not here. He hadn't been able to be Tobin's bodyguard after all. It wouldn't have been so alarming if not for that fact that he had no idea the plan had been delayed. She could only hope that Faramond had figured it out. Maybe he would make his way here as well, after seeing the group of guards outside the throne room. Athena cast a worried look at Tobin. He nodded, obviously thinking of Faramond as well. It's okay, Tobin mouthed.

  “It better be,” Athena whispered.

  Chapter 4

  Faramond roamed the castle corridors, heading towards the throne room. He had long ago abandoned the other guards, not being able to stand their supposed friendly banter. He kept reminiscing of days past, when the castle had been a happy place, where the guards had all been kind, understanding, caring, chivalrous as soldiers were supposed to be. They were not trying to start a war, but keep the peace. Now, these men were war-mongering fools, hell-bent on destruction and inflicting pain whenever and wherever they pleased. It was almost easier to see these humans as the true villains, rather than the Shadow. A human causing damage was far simpler to recognize. The Shadow was an unseen force, almost like a legend.

  But the Shadow was real, and Faramond certainly wouldn't forget that. He had seen the desolation done by the Shadow and not a human hand. These men did not have real power. Only the Shadow did. The Shadow was completely in control.

  Faramond sighed. Before he, Athena, and Tobin could take on the Shadow, they had to deal with Landgrave. Landgrave, the idiot who had released the Shadow in the first place. The biggest fool in the kingdom and perhaps the world. Faramond knew the plan - get into the throne room and fight - but as he got closer to the throne room, he began to have doubts.

  There were always doubts though. Lately, doubts were all he had experienced. Athena was unsure of the plan. And though Faramond believed in her, he too was unsure. He didn't have many comforting words to offer because he couldn't even comfort himself. He had no idea what would really happen once they entered the throne room. He had no idea how many guards there were, how long it would take to fight them off, or even whether they could. Athena couldn't see any clear visions. Tobin couldn't do anything more than create maps of the castle. All three of them were in the dark as to what would happen.

  Yet, he walked forward anyway. Faramond reached the throne room, finding a few guards posted. Did that mean Athena and Tobin weren't here yet? Or was Tobin in there meeting with Landgrave right now? If any fighting was going on, these guards would either be in the throne room or lying dead on the floor. Faramond stood for a moment, trying to decide what to do. There was no way to know if Tobin was in there. If he was, he would be waiting for Faramond and Athena to arrive. He would be stalling time, asking the king whatever questions he could come up with. If only the throne room had windows, Faramond wouldn't have to guess what was going on in there.

  Finally, he decided to take a chance. He guessed Tobin was already in the meeting. He couldn't let him stay there alone any longer; the longer Tobin stalled, the more irritated Landgrave would become and the likelier he would kick Tobin out, or worst-case scenario, have him killed.

  So Faramond marched up to the guards. “I have business with the king,” he said. He was a good enough actor to know that he sounded confident. If he could fool an entire town for years into thinking he was a drunken fool, he could certainly lie his way into the throne room.

  “The king is in a meeting right now,” one of the guards answered.

  So Tobin is in there. “I am aware of that, thank you. He requested that I deliver a piece of information, regardless of whether he was in a meeting or not. I'm simply trying to fulfill his request.”

  The guards shrugged. “Well, we certainly wouldn't want to keep you from doing business with our king.”

  “Thank you,” Faramond repeated, and just like that, the doors were opened, and he strode in, one hand resting upon his hidden sword. His heart sunk immediately. Tobin was not here. There were seven men in this room: two advisors, the king's guard, made up of four men, and Landgrave himself. All of this time, Landgrave had been a distant threat, never seen, and now, here he was, sitting upon the throne, looking as smug as Faramond had imagined he would.