Land of Strength and Sorrow

  An army had formed outside the castle walls and stretched down through the dirt road. Even more bodies stood in a group outside of the town’s gate. Siege weapons lit with fire blazed against the dark night.

  A crash sounded and the walls shook again, tiny pebbles tinkled against the wooden floor. It hadn’t been thunder as she’d thought. It had been the Frost Mages.

  A ram, long as a tree and as wide as the road, pounded into the castle gates. Jovi jumped back from her window, grabbed her bag from the corner of the room, and rushed to the hallway. She crashed into something hard and unmoving. Jovi ended up flat on her backside, her nightgown hitching up as her legs flew up over her head.

  A throat cleared.

  She sprang up and shoved her gown down to cover her legs. Cappa stood in front of her, his eyes flicking all around but never landing on her. As soon as she stood, he offered his hand, but still averted his eyes. “Let me help you, now that you’re decent. We must hurry, though.”

  “The Frost Mages are outside the castle. They have attacked.”

  He nodded. “We must go. And quickly.”

  “I only had time to pack clothes and a hairbrush.” She went back to her room and put some slippers on her feet, then wrapped a cloak around herself. Not decent, but it would have to do. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  Cappa grabbed her hand and together they jogged down the stairs. They ran into her father in the hall outside the dining hall.

  King Ryan stopped in front of them, his eyes wide.

  He’s scared. I’ve never seen him scared in my life, Jovi worried.

  He grabbed Cappa by the shoulder. “Get her out of here. Don’t let them have her. You know what they mean to do with her.”

  Cappa nodded.

  Jovi raised her brows. “Father, you need to surrender. You need to give them what they seek and end this attack. The safety of the kingdom depends on it.”

  “No! I will not give them what they want. They might win the castle, but they won’t win my daughter. Now, go.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Stay safe, my daughter.” He laid a gentle kiss to her forehead.

  “Father? You are acting as if you won’t ever see me again.”

  King Ryan frowned. “I very well might not.”

  “What about mother?”

  “She will be with me. Whatever our fate, we will stick together through it all.”

  “But…”

  A piercing bang came and wiped the rest of her thoughts from her mind. Battle cries and boisterous footsteps echoed through the halls.

  Cappa grabbed her, pulling her through the dining hall. She glanced back, almost falling over her own feet. “Father, I love you.”

  “And I, you,” he answered before he disappeared from her sight.

  Tears blurred her vision, but she held them back. Somehow. No matter their differences, she didn’t want any harm to come to her father.

  She said a prayer to God and hoped He could hear her words, Please, keep my parents safe.

  The sounds of battle haunted her even as Cappa closed the door to the kitchens. An empty room greeted them. The servants must have abandoned their post, probably on orders from her father. He wouldn’t want any harm to come to them. Any of them. They were his people. He might be a stubborn King, but decency ran strong through his veins, too.

  Although he might be a bit misguided in some circumstances.

  Cappa opened a door Jovi had never seen in all her eighteen years at the castle. “Where will this take us?”

  “Go on in and find out.” He struck a match, and lit a candle Jovi didn’t even know he had in his hands.

  If she hadn’t ducked as she entered, she would have hit her head. Walls and walls of shelves sat on either side of her, filled with boxes and bags of food. They were in the pantry. He’d brought her to the food closet.

  What was his plan? To make the Frost Mages a meal and see if their hearts could be bought by way of their stomachs? she wondered.

  “Cappa, I mean no disrespect here, but can you please explain how hiding in a pantry is going to help us when the Frost Mages have probably taken the whole castle by now?”

  He crowded around her as he moved down the long, narrow walkway. “Just keep up, will ya? And stop asking so many questions.”

  Easy for him to say. Questions were the only thing that kept her halfway sane. Her hands shook so bad she could barely stand it. Fear had snaked over every surface of her body, inside and out. For herself, sure, but mostly for her parents, and the kingdom. If the Frost Mages take and hold Kingsperch, they will rule Central Orendor. She’d hate to see what would happen to the lovely land if that came to pass.

  But she kept up and followed Cappa, not letting anymore questions escape her lips. At the end, with nowhere to go, he crouched down on the floor, setting the candle on the ground before his palms grazed the wooden planks below his feet. A small brown rug landed smacked on the front of her legs and curled over her feet. Before she could say anything about having it thrown at her, her eyes landed on a section of the floor topped with a brass handle. Cappa tugged on it and the floor lifted, revealing a hidden exit.

  Jovi’s mouth fell open. “An escape hatch? How did you know about this?” She hadn’t known, and she’d lived in the castle her whole life.

  Cappa smirked up at her. “All guards must know. In case the royal family is ever in trouble. It was part of the job description.” He paused, reaching a hand out to her, “After you.”

  Before she took his hand, she unzipped her bag and swiped at some dried meat on the shelves, letting it fall inside. At least they’d have something to eat. Her hand went in his for a moment. She gaped at him with wide eyes right before she descended, releasing his hand.

  A few stairs fell into a ladder. Each rung creaked under her feet and her shaky hands almost caused her to fall, but she held on. At the bottom, she jumped down, and her slippers splashed in a puddle on the uneven ground. Cappa’s tapping footfalls were right behind her.

  The smell of wet dirt filtered through the air and took her breath away. Jovi tucked her fingers under her nostrils, then thought better of it. She had to be strong right now. An unpleasant smell wouldn’t hurt her.

  Cappa hopped down beside her and splashed mud all over the bottom half of her legs. She sighed but said nothing.

  If that’s the worst thing that happens…I’ll be okay, she thought.

  She told herself that over and over.

  Cappa still had his candle, which revealed a rounded tunnel with no end in sight.

  Cappa knew about this tunnel. He has to know how to get out of it, too, she hoped.

  “So, fearless leader, what is the plan now?” she said to him.

  “Now, we get you away from the castle.” Cappa moved forward.

  “What comes next?”

  “Hopefully something good.”

  Yes, that would be nice. Not practical, but nice.

  Jovi took a few steps as water splashed around her feet and soaked into her cloth slippers. The tunnels were littered with puddles, so there would be no chance to dry off. It would only be a matter of time until her toes were wrinkled from the moisture, a feeling she couldn’t stand.

  Cappa stopped abruptly. “I think this needs put out, just in case.” He blew on the flame of the candle and instant darkness surrounded Jovi.

  Her eyes had a hard time adjusting, blacker circles faded in and out of her vision. She stretched her arms out to her sides until she found the rocky wall of the tunnel with one of them, shifted closer, and dragged one palm along the surface to guide her through the inky dark.

  Loud noises vibrated the walls and shook the ceiling. Until now, she hadn’t realized…How could she have been so stupid? The castle rested above her. The Frost Mages must be causing havoc up there while she tucked tail and ran like a coward.

  A coward is the nicest thing they’ll call me if the people find out I left my parents to rot, she scolded herself.

  She should have stayed and fough
t.

  “Cappa. We need to go back. We need to help my parents. We can’t leave them with those people.”

  “We can. Your father would rather see the heir to Central Orendor escape than to die protecting him. Don’t get me wrong. It’s noble of him, but if it was me, I’d rather you stay at my side and we would die together, but I’m not brave like the King.” A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips and she heard the smile in his voice.

  She bit down on her lip and hid her amusement. “Very funny. You have to be brave to be a guard to the royal family, Cappa. I’m not daft.”

  “I never said you were, did I?”

  She chuckled and kept moving.

  Another loud bang rattled the stone wall under her fingers. She stopped and winced.

  “Try to ignore it, Princess. They won’t find you down here.”

  They might not find me, but they have my parents. That’s just as bad, Jovi noted.

  She did as he said, though. She tuned the noises out the best as she could and walked forward, almost mechanically. The smell of something rotting struck her and she almost coiled in on herself. For all she knew a dead mouse—maybe even a rat—or something bigger, like a cat, hovered in a nook next to her face. One could easily get lost down here, and anything could be hidden in the shadows as it waited to attack.

  She shivered in her mind. I hate rats.

  It took all her strength not to run back into the castle as she heard the pitter patter of tiny claws scraping against the tunnel floor.

  “Princess?”

  “I’m here.”

  “No, you’re way back there. You need to keep up. There are a lot of forks in these tunnels. I can’t risk you getting lost down here.” Cappa’s shoes scraped against the wet floor as he stomped toward her. She had been quite a distance from him, which she hadn’t realized, but that didn’t mean he had to treat her like a small child who’d disobeyed him. Not a single part of this night had been easy for her. Not one bit. He reached down and linked his fingers with her own, his warm breath touching her cheek. A strange sensation fired through her, almost as if every nerve in her body had sparked to life from his touch. She shoved the experience to the back of her mind. Those kinds of feelings about a guard would get her locked in her room when she returned, if she ever did.

  Cappa yanked her along with him. “This will help you stay with me. I guess I should have tied a rope around your waist and attached it to me.” He laughed.

  She didn’t.

  “I’m not a dog.”

  “Never said you were. Did I?” His loud voice conveyed his smugness.

  She huffed, annoyed with his cockiness. She almost said something she couldn’t take back, but she pressed her lips together and stopped her words. Then she blew out a puff of air. “You didn’t.” She paused, swallowing hard. “And thank you. I wouldn’t want to get lost down here either.” Even though she tried to control her voice, it still quivered as she spoke.

  She cursed her weakness in that moment. Being strong sounded easy, when in fact she struggled with it daily. Most of the time, she imagined herself curled in the fetal position while she rocked back and forth with her arms wrapped around her stomach on the ground, all the while knowing how weak those thoughts made her. Not that she let it stop her. No, in fact, right now, she could picture herself doing those exact things. What did that say about her? Nothing good, for sure.

  She shook her head and willed her feet to move. Not that she had much of a choice as Cappa’s pace doubled her own. His legs were a lot longer, which made the strides difficult for her. Plus, pictures of her father and mother with bloody throats kept flashing through her head. She didn’t think the Frost Mages had killed them, though. They wanted something, and her parents would be kept alive until the Mages got it.

  Patience. How she hated it. She’d never been good at it, but today she had to be. This was not a controlled situation. She didn’t know what would come next. So, if she got away from the Frost Mages, what then? What if she never made it back to the castle? What if she never took it back from them? Her inner strength was being tested and so far, she’d failed the exam. It needed to shine brighter than ever before, but instead it clumped into a gray blob at her feet.

  My strength is within. But I have to find it before I can use it, she encouraged herself.

  But how could she do that when right now she stalked through a tunnel below her home with her tail tucked between her legs?

  Frustration clawed its way out in the form of shallow breaths.

  “You okay, Princess?”

  “Yes. Just irritated.”

  “Ah. Well. Take a deep breath. We have come to a crossroads.”

  “Metaphorically?”

  “No. We’ve really come to a crossroads. A fork in the tunnels. Which way will we go?”

  Jovi rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to know the answer to that question?”

  Cappa dropped her hand and his warmth disappeared from her front. “Follow me. Sheesh. You’re no fun.”

  Jovi stomped so hard the soles of her feet felt it through the bottom of her soaked slippers. “Thanks for pointing that out. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my whole life changing right before my eyes, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  Cappa struck a match and lit another candle. “Maybe the light will let our enemies know where we are, but I think we need it.” Then he sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t think before I spoke, and I should have. I’m just trying to keep your mind off of everything. I know how hard this must be for you.”

  Jovi wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her palms up and down her skin. “How? How would you know how hard this is? For any of us?”

  He faced her with gentle eyes. “Because. Let’s just say I haven’t always been a guard. I came from another life. One very different from the one I live now. I’ve had trials and tribulations. Faced enemies. And ran. I came out the other side stronger for all the experiences I’ve had. You will, too.” Cappa’s fingers curled into his hand so fast that if Jovi hadn’t stared at his side, she’d have missed it. In fact, she thought she may have imagined it.

  Her heart lightened as she took in his words. He’d just became her guard. She didn’t know him or where he came from. If his words were true, they had more in common than she originally thought. “Thank you, Cap. For everything you’ve done. Now, get me out of these tunnels so we can figure out where to go from here.”

  Cappa led her down the widest tunnel. She followed him without scruples and trusted him more than she did herself. In this moment, he knew more than she did.

  It didn’t take long before her mind drifted again. How could her father have done this to the kingdom? Central Orendor would never survive a war. They didn’t have an army. They had Fairies and Kobolds and extinct Giants. Very few people lived throughout the land, at least from what she knew.

  “What if the Frost Mages killed all the people in town?” Jovi’s voice shrank to a whisper as if she feared someone hearing her question.

  “They didn’t. They won’t hurt anyone. Not yet. Not when they want something. Trust me.”

  She trusted him, but not about this. The Frost Mages were an unknown threat. They were unpredictable. She cursed her father again. “I can’t believe he led us down this path. Anger fuels his hatred. I understand his anger, but he can’t let hatred control his actions.”

  Cappa stared into her eyes. “A lost child is something I would never wish on anyone. I don’t know how I would react to that. The Frost Mages started this war. Sure, only one of them did, but that one did the worst thing he could have done. A King could never forgive something like that. Nobody could.” His voice shook.

  He knows loss, maybe more than most.

  What had his life been like before he came to the castle? Maybe she’d never find out, but she hoped one day she would because, for some reason, Cappa intrigued her. More than she ever wanted to admit out loud.

  But she didn’t agree with him. Not
about this. “Perhaps he will never forgive it, but he has to lead. He can’t let anything hasten his path. He has to rule fair and just. Signing the death certificate of a whole race of people because of the actions of one isn’t right. It would be like one of our people from the village doing something unthinkable and my father hanging the whole town. It isn’t right.” She paused and took a deep breath. “If he just admitted he made a mistake…” She left the rest unsaid, but she knew Cappa could read between the lines.

  An opening in the tunnel showed the rising sun, rays peeking into the tunnel and lighting their way. They’d been down here longer than she’d thought. Or time just flew when something threatened your life. Probably the latter.

  Cappa stopped, the light showing the frown on his face. “You may be right, Princess, but you are very wrong.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Kings, no matter what, do not admit mistakes. Mistakes equal weakness. If a King shows a weakness, he won’t be King for long.” He nudged her shoulder with his own, a smile lighting up his face. “Now, how about we stop talking about all this heavy stuff and get out of here.”

  Jovi tilted her head to the side, thinking about his words. Did admitting a mistake really turn into a weakness in the eyes of a kingdom? Perhaps. Her head spun so much she didn’t want to think about it anymore. “Maybe you’re right about both things, especially getting out of these murky tunnels.”

  “I am. Trust me. I don’t envy the job of being King. No matter who sits on the throne.” A sadness flickered behind his eyes, gone as fast as it had come. A secret hid in that sadness, though. A mystery Jovi hoped she could solve.

  Jovi nudged his shoulder, mimicking his movement from moments ago. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing you won’t have to be, right?”

  Cappa laughed, then blew out his candle. He tipped it to its side, letting the pooled wax drip out before tucking it in a front pocket of his bag, then he met her eyes. “True story. Now, I’ll race you out of here.”

  Feet pounded against the ground and sparked her to life. Jovi pumped her legs, hoping to catch him, but he had a head start and longer legs. She had no hope.