Zara and Derek made their way through the vegetation. From the metallic sounds nearby, they could assume they were being pursued by some soldiers. The mage grabbed Zara, and they both hid behind a tree, letting the soldiers pass as they shouted about finding the princess.
The voices and footsteps faded until they could no longer be heard by either of them. At that moment, Derek stood up and began moving in the direction his sister had marked on the map. But he couldn't advance far before being stopped by Zara.
Derek didn't resist, but he didn't speak either. His silence was reason enough for Zara to know what was wrong with him.
"You mustn't worry. Shadow is strong. Besides, they need her alive—she's the only one who knows where we're going," the girl said with a smile. Though Derek didn't look happy at all—quite the opposite.
His empty eyes fixed on the path again, but Zara didn't let go of him.
"What do you want now, Princess?"
Zara swallowed.
"I've seen many maps of the empire. Near this forest, farther north, there's a small lumberjack village."
"So what?"
"Let me finish." Derek nodded with a sigh. "The army has a garrison in that place. It's possible they're launching these attacks from there. Also, they might take prisoners there."
With each word, the light seemed to return to the boy's eyes. He was realizing what Zara meant.
"Your sister saved me in the city once. It's time to return the favor." Zara extended her hand to Derek. "Do you want to go rescue her?"
The mage looked at her, somewhat confused, but let out a small laugh before shaking Zara's hand.
"Do you even have to ask?" the mage murmured. "Count me in."
They both then headed further north, with a single goal in mind: rescuing Shadow. But the optimism quickly faded from Derek's face.
"Wait, Princess. It's just the two of us. An inexperienced mage and a princess who doesn't know how to fight."
Zara stopped short.
"Hey, I do know how to fight," she said, raising both eyebrows, then sighed. "But you're right. We can't fight—especially not against my siblings." The princess deflated a little at the thought of her brother Callen. How must he be?
An idea came to the princess's mind. Perhaps her brother was the answer they were looking for. Zara sighed with regret.
"I have a plan—a dangerous one, but possible." She picked up a branch from the ground. "If it goes wrong, you might end up dead." She began drawing an improvised map in the dirt. "But if it works, we'll be out of here before nightfall."
Derek clenched his fist. Sparks seemed to fly from it in all directions.
"I'd rather die than abandon my sister."
The princess smiled.
"Then let's begin the preparations."
Meanwhile, Shadow sneezed from the dust, imprisoned in a solitary cell, surrounded only by filth, chained to the wall, and stripped of all her belongings and the garments that hid her identity.
"Want some water?" The woman looked up, finding Olivia standing at the door. She didn't respond—just looked away. "I'll take that as a no."
Olivia set the cup on the ground, then leaned against the cell door.
"I want you to answer all my questions right now, and I don't want any runarounds."
Shadow didn't respond—just stared at her.
"What did you want Zara for?"
Silence.
"Did you only want her?"
Silence once more, broken by a yawn from Olivia. Shadow hadn't paid much attention, but the woman had dark circles under her eyes. Not that she cared anyway.
Olivia began tapping her fingers on her own arm, frowning.
"Woman, it seems you don't quite understand your situation," Olivia threatened.
"Oh, I understand perfectly. You're here to congratulate me on being such a good warrior, aren't you?" Shadow joked, downplaying her current predicament.
"Should I break your arm to start?"
"You can break whatever you want, albino. I have nothing to say to someone like you."
"Someone like me? Brave words from someone who kidnapped a defenseless girl."
They both fell silent for several seconds, just standing there, staring at each other. Neither seemed able to bear the idea of being face to face for another second.
Olivia sighed.
"You know, I don't have much time. I wouldn't want to have to resort to more drastic measures."
"Do you know anything more drastic than death? I have to take her to my kingdom, that's my order."
Olivia picked up the cup of water and threw it at her, drenching her.
"Your order was breaking into our palace and taking my sister hostage?" Olivia walked a little closer to Shadow. "Tell me, what is Zara supposed to do that represents a threat to Tarzovia?" Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.
The woman began circling Shadow, piercing her with her gaze.
"Not me—a great inventor." She pointed to herself, then placed her arms behind her back. "Not Callen—the second-best swordsman in the kingdom." She looked directly into Shadow's eyes. "But Zara—an ordinary princess."
"My lady and the Tarzovian King are very interested in her. I don't know for what, so she must not be that ordinary. They only told me one more thing." Shadow tilted her head. "Where is the seal?"
Olivia walked up to Shadow and grabbed her face, lifting her off the ground.
"What do you know about the seal?" Her tone was urgent. Her eyes had opened wider and seemed to be reddening. "What do you know, damn you!?" She now shouted with much more urgency.
Shadow began to laugh.
"I knew at least one of you must know something about that." She tilted her head to the other side and maintained a mocking smile. "As I was told, it seems to be secret information. Not even Zara knew about it."
Olivia sighed and released Shadow's face.
"How foolish of me. I thought they wanted Zara only as a bargaining chip." She walked to the door, her hand over her eyes. "I completely underestimated the amount of information you could have in your hands."
Shadow moved her head from side to side.
"What's wrong, brainiac?" Shadow asked, still smiling. "Does that answer the questions you might have?"
"I must inform Father about this immediately." Olivia glanced sideways at her, then pulled her weapon from her robe. "But first, I'll take care of you." She aimed directly at Shadow's head—but before she could fire, the sound of knocks on the metal door distracted her.
"Princess, urgent news!" Olivia put her weapon away again and let the guard in.
"What's happening? I'm busy."
"It's important that you know. It's your sister—Princess Zara."
Olivia stepped closer to the guard, grabbing him by the shoulder pauldrons of his armor.
"You found her!?"
The guard shook his head.
"To be more precise, she came here on her own."
Shadow broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing the news.
"Hey! Was anyone else with her?" she asked in a pleading tone.
"No, not that I recall," the soldier replied.
Olivia struck the guard's helmet.
"Who gave you permission to speak with the prisoner? Come on, get out of here." The soldier bowed and withdrew.
Olivia gripped the door handle tightly.
"You're safe for now. But that won't last forever." With that said, she left the room and closed the door, leaving Shadow alone once more, wondering what had happened to her brother.
Some minutes earlier, in another of the garrison's rooms—one that looked more like a study—Callen was writing a letter. In it, he explained how they had managed to capture Shadow and that they would soon find his sister. The recipient would be his father.
His concentration was interrupted by a soldier's knock at the door.
"Enter."
The soldier entered and made a small bow.
"Prince, I bring news about your sister."
The prince looked up from the paper.
"Have they found her?"
The guard shook his head.
"To be more precise, she surrendered to us."
Callen raised an eyebrow. That wasn't the answer he'd imagined, but right now that was the least of his concerns.
"Bring her here. Immediately." With another bow, the soldier disappeared from his sight.
Why would she do that, after everything? The prince thought. Callen began tapping his finger on the desk. The seconds passed, and with them, his unease grew even more. Though only a day had passed since the incident, for him, it felt like much longer.
She's not that kind of person. She's not the type who simply abandons her goals easily. If she were, she would have given up on her dreams years ago, and we wouldn't be in this situation now. She must be planning something.
After a wait that felt endless, the door opened again. There she stood—with her crown atop her rebellious hair and her blue dress full of creases.
The girl walked slowly until she stood before the desk. Ignoring the dust and dirt now on her face, to Callen it was as if she'd never left in the first place. This story is hosted at g.com.
"Zara."
"Callen."
An empty greeting—laden with formality, but not brotherhood. Callen observed her with a furrowed brow, still tapping the table.
"Why?" the prince asked.
"Why what?"
"Why did you come back on your own, after everything?"
Zara swallowed.
"I..." But she couldn't finish, interrupted by her brother.
"Has that act of rebellion ended, then?" His voice was deep, accusatory.
"It wasn't an act of rebellion."
"Oh, wasn't it?" He stopped tapping. "And what was it, then, sister?"
Zara wanted to speak, to defend herself, but the words wouldn't come out. Deep down, she knew her brother was right.
"That's what I thought." Callen stood up, hands behind his back. "Father is worried. He may not show it, but he's mobilized the Church of the Moon and the Order of Sorcery just to find you."
They both fell silent then. Though it was only for a few seconds, it felt like hours.
"Make yourself comfortable. We're leaving for the capital in a few hours."
"No..."
The answer surprised Callen.
"What?"
"No. I won't go to the capital."
Callen clenched both fists.
"You don't understand what you're doing."
"No, you don't understand!" Zara slammed her hands on the table. "All this damn time locked up in the palace—I couldn't even go out to the outer courtyard!"
The princess's words carried all her determination and anger.
"You never took my word into consideration!" She kept shouting as a crystalline gleam began to appear in her eyes. "You have plenty of soldiers for the war! But not one to accompany me on a little outing!?"
"Zara!"
"No, I've heard your excuses enough!" The princess stepped back. "You can leave whenever you want. Olivia can leave whenever she wants. Hell, our older brother is abroad."
She took off her crown, holding it in her hands.
"Is it that I'm more of a trophy to you than family?" Her voice began to crack, little by little. "I just wanted to go out and see the outside world!"
Callen struck the desk, breaking part of the wood.
"Shut up already!" The princess stopped. "Was letting yourself get kidnapped the solution to your problems!?"
"If you had listened to me from the start, none of this would have happened!"
"This is exactly why Father never listened to you! You only think about yourself! You're incapable of putting yourself in anyone else's place!"
"But—!"
"No buts! You have no idea how badly we've been through these days!" Callen threw the ink he'd been writing with to the floor. "Olivia has barely been able to sleep for fear of the signal disappearing from her sight!"
Zara took a step back.
"What if you've already reached Tarzovia? What if something happens to Zara? What if she's dead!?" He threw the books from the desk to the floor. "We risked going to rescue you, completely ignorant of the enemy! Olivia could have died! I could have died! Is that what you wanted!?"
"No... I..." The words barely came out. Zara's entire body trembled; her eyes were reddened.
"And do you know what the worst part is? We got nothing in return. No thank you. No hug." Callen walked until he stood before her. "Do you know what I got for all of that?"
"Brother..." The first tears were already streaming down her face.
"A blow—a treacherous attack from the very person I was trying to save." His brother's voice was beginning to crack as well.
Zara dropped the crown, which rolled to her brother's feet. The prince walked past her toward the door, without even glancing at her.
"You're right. None of this would have happened if we'd listened to you." He opened the door. "We never imagined this would be the extent of your selfishness." Upon leaving, he slammed the door shut, the sound echoing throughout the place.
Once the initial shock faded, Zara fell to her knees on the ground. She thought: Yes, I suppose I deserve this. She brought her hands to her face. Now the tears fell like a waterfall, mixing with the ink Callen had spilled on the floor.
As the crying intensified, she couldn't help but think that, after all, her brother had been right. She was nothing but a selfish person.