Guenevir waited. As she sat in the alley, waiting and watching the soldiers, the air turned cool. She’d considered going to Ashwin to try and convince her to let her be one of the servants in the palace, but that would never work.

  Why did Mr. Axwel have to step down as the head servant then of all times… No, he had done it for a long time now, and he deserved the retirement.

  Soldiers stood around the perimeter of the gates, holding spears and on full alert. The discipline of the soldiers surprised her. She expected, especially with a shift overnight, that at least some of the soldiers would doze off.

  Three hours had passed since she talked to Vince. Three hours of her watching the soldiers, waiting for the first sign of being able to sneak in.

  True, her clothing gave her more freedom and let her move swiftly if need be, but the downside is she’s much more visible. She’d have to get inside the palace pretending to be one of the servants, which would give her free reign.

  If something didn’t happen soon, she might have to take out some of the soldiers.

  “Damn it, Galvin,” she muttered under her breath. She still despised him for sending her on this mission, the one least capable. Throughout her entire time at Justicar, she’d always been the one being rescued, the one walking underneath Galvin’s shadow, under Darius’s shadow, and now maybe even under Morwin’s shadow. Within Justicar, she was just that girl who was in Galvin’s inner circle. How could she have hoped to pull off something like this?

  She gripped her knuckles tight. No. No use in self doubt now, none of that would help her here.

  She reached into her jacket and pulled out the crossbow. She’d shot it a couple times at the wall in the three hours waiting, just testing the mechanics of it. A bolt already sat neatly in the string, pulled back and ready to fire.

  While waiting, she also learned how to reload the crossbow rather quickly. Perhaps even faster than a traditional bow.

  She raised the weapon and aimed it at one of the guards. Thankfully, a crossbow fires silently bolts as well. With a bow, you could hear the snapping of the string as tension is released, and especially on a soundless night such as this, guards would converge on her location within the minute. A crossbow does make noise, but with a smaller string, it’s a quieter, high pitched noise.

  Thirty bolts sat in her pouch, ready to be fired. She counted more than thirty guards surrounding the gates alone. That didn’t account for the guards who walked around the inside of the palace.

  All she had to do was take out these guards, and then she’d be able to pass herself off as a servant and successfully infiltrate the palace.

  She sucked in a deep breath.

  She didn’t have to take out the guards, did she? Beyond the gates, at the front door, a special guard sat. The one who gives permission to enter the palace, after checking your credentials.

  She couldn’t take any of the guards out, otherwise the intruder alert alarm would be raised. No, entering in through the front door won’t do.

  The windows? So many guards roamed around that they’d see her try and sneak in through.

  She let out a groan of frustration. If only she was born a Dragikiri, she could use the power of opal and forced everyone’s mind to ignore her, then use the power of emerald and launch her up to one of the windows. Or she could use the power of sapphire on the guard in front of the door to let her inside.

  Come on, think! There has to be a way inside.

  The answer came to her, a sudden realization which made her feel stupid for not realizing before.

  When Darius and Galvin were planning to go inside and steal igians which Galvin had the soldiers distracted, she stood there and listened. She just had no idea the distraction would be him arrested.

  They talked about an underground tunnel that he and other members of Justicar had built over the past ten years. The grand scheme for that was to dig a tunnel connecting the De’Shai palace and the king’s palace so there could be free travel between the two of them. As of now, the tunnels have not been discovered. However, Guenevir didn’t have the schematics for which each tunnel of the network led to.

  It was a shot in the dark, but she had to take it. If she remembered correctly, the entrance of the tunnel sits in De’Shai’s palace, in one of the washrooms on the first floor.

  She wouldn’t have to kill any guards to get in, and she wouldn’t need a writ of passage either.

  She turned away from the king’s palace and put some gait in her steps, sprinting all the way back to De’Shai’s palace. Why hadn’t she thought of this sooner? Here she was, looking like an idiot, watching the soldiers, waiting for any opening she could find, when the answer was there all along.

  As she ran, she put the crossbow back into her jacket, in one of the pockets. Three hours, down the drain. She’d have to find the entrance soon, or else this entire operation would fail.

  Before she knew it, she was back at De’Shai’s palace. They had less guards watching, and the guards knew Guenevir so they let her in without question.

  Some servants moved through the floor, but not as many as during daytime. Some of them Guenevir recognized, and some she’s never worked with.

  During training, she’d been required to learn the layout of the palace closely, as it’d be a life or death matter should rebels attack. It took her about a month to know the general layout, and about a year to fully immerse herself in it. Now, she knew it as well as the back of her hand. She knew where all the washrooms sat. The one that’s likely to have the tunnel would be the one closest to King Rai’Shal’s palace.

  “Servant!” a voice called from behind her.

  She froze in her tracks.

  “Frantic to be somewhere are we now?” She slowly turned to face the man who’d called her name, and her eyes went wide at the person standing before her.

  Ashwin, the new head servant for Lord De’Shai, and also the man who had an affinity with sapphires and could read minds.

  “Yes!” Guenevir said. “I need to get back to Morwin’s room and continue the cleanup of it and see if I can find something.”

  Ashwin raised an eyebrow. “Cleanup of that room concluded a week ago,” he said. “Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen you around for a minute. Guenevir was it?”

  She felt her cheeks getting flushed, and sweat forming along her brow.

  The efficiency of sapphires is in direct contact, so if Ashwin wanted to Screen her, he’d need to touch her, right?

  “Yes, that is my name,” Guenevir replied, standing straight and projecting confidence into her voice. “I was here in the palace when the rebels made themselves known. I tried to fight them but they overpowered me, and I was able to escape, however I was pretty injured. I came back today because I wanted Morwin and that servant with him to pay for going against the king. There has to be something in his room, which is where I was headed.”

  Ashwin let out a chuckle. “No, those rebels wouldn’t be dumb enough to leave some damning evidence in a place as obvious as that,” Ashwin spoke. “The servants performed a clean sweep of it about a week ago and came up with nothing.”

  Guenevir bowed her head. “Damn it,” she said. She gripped her fist. “One way or another, I’m going to make them pay.”

  Ashwin laughed. “Wouldn’t that be nice?” he said. He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. “Hey listen. I’m a couple servants short of an event tomorrow, and we could use an extra hand. The king is having a grand dinner for lords all across Agnius to come, and we need people there to serve and clean. Will you be willing to be one of those people?”

  Guenevir froze. A free ticket into the palace of the king sat before her. But the only possible reason for this ticket presenting itself is that Ashwin doesn’t believe her.

  “I think Lord De’Shai has me somewhere for tomorrow,” Guenevir said. In truth, she should have just stopped talking so Ashwin didn’t suspect her further. But she had the answer to the infiltration right in front of her! All she had to do was go into the washroom, look under the bowl, and find the tunnel. So close…

  “No, you answer to me,” Ashwin said. “Lord De’Shai might be your direct superior, but I’m the one in charge of all the servants. I’m not asking you to be present for this dinner, I’m telling you,” Ashwin said. He produced something from his pockets and handed it to her. “Present this to the guard in front of the gate and he’ll let you in. I also have a record of which servants enter and which doesn’t, and you’ll be disciplined if I do not have your name in the report. Is that clear?”

  Guenevir gave a crisp salute. They know who goes in and who goes out at all times. As Ashwin walked away, she turned around and sprinted along the hallway again, holding that paper in her hand. It served as both a ticket in and her condemnation. If she was right in assuming this dinner was a front and the Screening event would take place, which she most likely was, then she was in trouble.

  Once outside, she saw guards and soldiers moving to shut off the gates to the city, as Lord De’Shai instructed. So no more getting out for her.

  Why would they wait this long to flush out the remaining rebels from their ranks? They should have done it the day after the escape took place. Did they not fear them escaping?

  No, in the commotion, more rebels would have escaped. Waiting this long was deliberate for them. They wanted to find the servants most dedicated to this within the walls, the ones who worked most closely with Galvin who didn’t want to give up their cover. The two week wait provided other rebels plenty of time to abandon their missions, and they already had a log of people who didn’t return to work, a log with her name on it. That’s how Ashwin recognized her.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  He did seem surprised she returned. And also, since her name appeared on the log, she was a suspect. No leaving now, she had to commit to this.

  Guenevir nervously handed the paper over to the guard. She hoped he didn’t notice her shaking.

  The guard took the paper from her hands, took one look at it, and asked her name.

  “Guenevir,” she spoke.

  He scribbled something down on the paper and gave her the go ahead to pass. During the way to the king’s palace again, some thoughts crossed her mind. Why would they put potential rebels, people seeking to overthrow and destroy the king, into his palace, the place that’s supposed to be free of rebels and with the highest security in all of Agnius?

  Inside the palace, she was pleasantly surprised. If she thought Lord De’Shai’s palace was lavish, this place stands on a whole other level. The rugs made of the softest and smoothest velvet carpet with the shiniest and most expensive marble to complement it, the walls lined with paintings from the most prolific painters in known history, whose works cost upwards of hundreds of igians. Here, the king had it all laid out in the entrance of the palace, just freely.

  As Guenevir was led through the palace by one of the guards, she took in the sight of it all.

  “First time here?” the guard asked her.

  She nodded.

  “Yeah I was surprised too.”

  That was the end of that conversation. As they walked through the halls, Guenevir wondered if she would be able to meet the queen here, the revered figure of Agnius that barely anyone as ever seen. She couldn’t remember the last time the queen made a public appearance. She must’ve been too young for it.

  The guard led her to one of the king’s guest rooms. There were many guest rooms, occupying about two of five floors in the palace. The room itself was grander than the room she had back in Lord De’Shai’s manor. Everything appeared squeaky clean, and the walls, floors, even the furniture, screamed to her of extravagance.

  “Curfew is over for the servants,” the guard spoke. “It’s your first time here, so I’ll let you know right now. Only the soldiers are allowed to wander the halls at night, and servants are not expected to work during these hours. I know it works differently in Lord De’Shai’s palace, where he has servants working round the clock in alternating shifts, but things are different here. Now get some rest, you look like a mess.”

  Guenevir bode the guard farewell. She then turned to her bed and stared at it. She could curl up and fall asleep on the mattress, covering herself in the softest wool blanket she’d ever seen or felt, but there was work to be done.

  As soon as she heard the guard’s footsteps recede, she left her room, closing the door quietly behind her. Only the guards allowed to roam the halls, huh? That wouldn’t be a problem for her.

  A shadow at the far end of the hallway came into view with a light which grew closer and closer. Guenevir pressed herself against the wall, doing her best to hide it. To soldiers approached from the corner and made their way towards her.

  Oh no, they’d see her before long, and that would be the end of her mission there. Gueneivr reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the crossbow. She could see the light from where she stood, but the light didn’t quite reach her yet.

  She lifted the crossbow up and aimed it, the bolt poised and ready to strike.

  She clicked the trigger, and allowed the bolt to fly. As soon as it did, she reached into her pouch and pulled out another bolt, reloading the crossbow. She pulled the string back and notched the crossbow in place.

  Her bolt struck her target, the soldier on the left, and he crumpled immediately. The other soldier looked up in alarm and prepared to let out a scream, but Guenevir fired a second bolt before he could do that. It struck him in the forehead and he collapsed on the ground, dead.

  Guenevir rushed over to heave up their bodies, cleaning the blood. Thankfully she only had to clean the marble, as the carpets were already a velvet red color.

  She moved the guards to her room, one at a time, and undressed one of them, dawning the soldier’s gear over her servant uniform. One of them had a helmet, which she put over her head. She’d picked the guard whose gear matched more closely with her size, but it still proved to be much too loose for her.

  She shrugged it off. It’ll have to do for now. As for finding which room Kaden was in, it’d be easy to do, now that she had the soldier’s apparel on her.

  She left her room and began walking up to other servants quarters, knocking on the doors one by one. And one by one, tired or sleep servants opened them, asking her what she wanted, and some being angry to have been woken up at this hour of the night.

  Eventually, she did find the room Kaden was in. He rubbed his eyes and yawned as he opened the door.

  “Can I help you?” he said, slurring his words and stretching.

  Guenevir took off the helmet. “Kaden, it’s me,” she said. “We have to get out of here now!”

  “Guenevir? Why are you here? Were you selected too?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “We need to leave. Right now.”

  “Why? The new head servant selected me as one of the servants to attend this meeting. Whatever they’re going to talk about, I’ll be right there to listen to all of it! It’s the perfect thing for me to give the information to Galvin.”

  Guenevir stared at the boy incredulously. Did he not realize? Does he not know about the Screener? Ashwin, the man who could practically read minds, was going to come tomorrow. Then again, this fake dinner was the perfect plan to flesh out rebels. If the plans for the dinner got out, then the rebels would want to attend and find out as much information as possible, regardless if they’re a servant or not. The perfect cover up.

  “There is no dinner,” Guenevir said. “The Screener is going to be here, and he’s going to try and get the rebels to reveal themselves. We have to get out before that happens. Now.”

  Kaden let out a gasp. “No…,” he whispered to himself. It took him a moment to gather his his thoughts, but he finally spoke again. “And I almost foolishly walked into their trap.”

  Guenevir nodded. “But you didn’t. We have to get out of here now.”

  And they rushed down the hallways. They’d escape through the tunnel underground, make their way back to Lord De’Shai’s place, and come up with a plan from there. Since the gates were shut, they’d need to scale the walls to leave.

  Guenevir and Kaden came across a musty looking and smelly door on their way. Guenevir froze in her tracks and stared at it. The door rested somewhere on the first floor, and the surroundings of it did not match the rest of the palace. Where everything else was lavish, this door was old and had cobwebs along the hinges. What could be behind here?

  “This must be it,” Guenevir said to herself. “Let’s go.”

  Kaden yanked himself free of her grip. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he spoke, his limbs frozen in place. “Something eerie is on the other side of the door.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Guenevir said. “We have to find the unknown exit to this place.”

  Reluctantly, Kaden followed her.

  Then someone’s hand grabbed her on the shoulder and gripped tightly.

  Guenevir spun to see a guard standing there, an angry look on his face. “What in Agnius’s name are you two doing going down there?” the soldier exclaimed. “Don’t you know that whoever finds out what’s in the basement gets executed indiscriminately?”

  Guenevir exchanged looks with Kaden.

  “What’s in the basement?” was all Guenevir could muster out.

  “Something the king doesn’t want anyone except a certain group of people to know about,” the soldier said. “My job was to guard it with my life, and the one time I take a washroom break, I come back to find a soldier and a servant snooping.” The man let out a sigh. “You better be glad I caught you guys before you went down there, or else it would not have been pretty.”

  Guenevir smiled weakly. “Thanks,” she said.

  “Now tell me, what are you guys doing this hour? Servants aren’t supposed to be out and about at this time.”

  “The last servant,” Guenevir spoke. “He’s the last one that Ashwin chose to attend the dinner tomorrow, and I was just escorting him to his room.”

  The man removed his hand from Guenevir’s shoulders. “Fine,” he said. “Hurry up and be done with it. And don’t come snooping for this basement again or else I’ll have to see your head disconnected from your body. And I don’t want to see that on a pretty girl such as yourself.”

  “Thanks,” Guenevir smiled before ushering Kaden away from the door.

  A secret basement that nobody knows about, huh? What else was the king hiding within this maze of a palace?

  Luckily, Kaden knew about the schematics that Darius and Galvin shared. He led her to where one of the entrances was. To prevent it from being found, the entrances were limited, and some of them were disconnected with one another. You had to be a Dragikiri to use diamonds and teleport to be able to find them. Well, there was one accessible to a normal person like herself.

  In one of the corners in the palace, behind a lavish marble wall, a tunnel lie. An inconspicuous spot, which wouldn’t be suspected by any regular person passing by, was the tunnel leading to their freedom.

  Kaden worked swiftly to remove the walling, which was a piece of wood expertly painted to look like it belonged there, and removed it. Guenevir crawled in through first, and Kaden remained to shut the wall and cover up any traces of them being there.

  “I killed two guards,” Guenevir whispered. “To try and get to you. Hopefully they don’t find his body anytime soon.”

  “Not until this supposed Screening is over,” Kaden said. “That’s when all the makeshift servant rooms will be cleaned and they’ll find it. But hopefully, we’ll be long gone by then.”

  “Yeah,” Guenevir nodded. “Hopefully.”