The march began three hours before the crack of dawn.
We agreed to take the outskirts—to stay as close to the wall as we could, so we could arrive at the castle before sunset.
They claimed to know a shortcut that would take only ten hours.
I guess it pays to not aimlessly wander through the woods like Miles and I had.
Miles and I stayed close, but we also spent the time getting to know the others. There were about a hundred of us. And if Cleo was telling the truth, there were about three hundred more waiting to join us.
I had gotten to know Cleo some. I learned that she had been a part of the Scarlet Rebellion since her parents abandoned her when she was twelve. She was scooped up by an old commander and taken in. She learned to fight the moment she could walk.
I learned that she preferred a trident-shaped weapon over a gun. When I questioned her on this, she told me the Scarlet Rebellion prided themselves in not needing mass amounts of guns. She even said when they took over, they’d incinerate every last one, so no one could get their hands on such a deadly weapon.
She quickly grew on me, and before we knew it, we were laughing and joking as if we were old friends. The other woman in charge, Merida, was more stern than Cleo. She wasn’t interested in small talk, instead, she busied herself by scanning our surroundings, clutching the gun to her chest, and waiting for anyone who dared to stand in our way.
I had stayed clear of the man who was also in charge. Miles had told me his name was Arthur, and that he had been in charge for many years, but other than that, I knew nothing. His rugged features and stern demeanor deterred me from him. He was large— much larger than anyone I had ever seen, and his hair was buzzed short to his scalp, revealing scars across his head.
We were just at the tail end of our journey when the others met up with us. Their group merged with our much smaller one, and now, we were a mob.
I caught a glimpse of brown curls out of the corner of my eye. I frowned, pushing my way through the crowd, desperate to catch up with the individual. My hand brushed her shoulder.
She spun around.
I gasped, a huge smile cracking on my face. “No fucking way.”
Her face instantly lit up as well. “Violet?”
“Meribel?” I smashed into her, pulling her into a hug.
It seemed like it was years ago that I helped her smuggle weapons into Emory, and now, she was back standing in front of me. Pieces started to click into place. “You’re a part of the Scarlet Rebellion? That’s why you had me smuggling weapons.”
She laughed at this. “And since when were you a part of it? I was sure you were dead after you won the games.”
I shook my head. “No, no. I’ve gotten close to it many times, but… somehow I survived.” I didn’t know why, but my eyes trailed to Miles, who was just a few feet ahead.
We continued to talk and catch up as we continued walking. I even introduced her to Miles, to which she instantly sensed there was something between us and made sure to tease us for it.
We were only a mile out from the castle. We all sat to rest to regain our energy before the fight began. The commanders passed out weapons and met with Miles to form last-minute plans.
I pushed my way to them. “You have to let the staff live.” They all eyed me as if I were growing two heads. “They’re innocent,” I pressed on. “They’re scared. And they don’t want to die. Give them a chance to surrender. Same with everyone else.”
“It’s a waste of time,” Merida said, pushing her sweaty, spiky hair back. “We don’t know for sure who is with us and who is against us. They either cause trouble or they don’t. They decide if they live.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, calculating my next move.
“Fine,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “Then count me out.” I pulled Miles closer to me. “And him, too.”
Miles perked up at this as his eyebrows rose, but he remained quiet.
Cleo scoffed, turning to Merida. “We can’t do this without them. If the soldiers see they backed out, they’ll think something is wrong. We’ll lose them, too.”
Merida and Arthur both exchanged glances, before leaning in and whispering to each other.
“No secrets,” I snapped, slamming my hand on the makeshift table they had made from a stump. “We either save the innocent, or we don’t do this at all.”
There was silence.
And then, Arthur spoke, “Fine.”
A voice rang out from behind us. “Oh my god!”
Miles and I snapped around.
Miles went stiff.
A man stood, with short white hair and a graying beard. The wrinkles under his eyes deepened as a smile grew behind his mouth. “Miles? Is that you?”
Miles seemed frozen in time. His face turned green and the ball in his throat bobbed as he swallowed deeply.
“Who is that?” I asked quietly.
“That’s… my stepdad. That’s the King.”
I, too, was now frozen, my mouth falling open.
The man—the King—rushed forward and pulled him into a hug. Miles was hesitant at first, stiff in his arms, but he eventually relaxed a fraction of a bit, wrapping his arms around him.
“My god, son, you’ve gotten so old,” he told him.
Miles pulled away, his expression still as if he was seeing a ghost. “I thought you were dead.”
“No, no. I left the second I saw what your mother had become. I joined the rebellion in a few mere days. I’ve been here, fighting to take her down ever since.”
Miles swallowed hard again. “You left me there.”
The King’s face turned sour. “Oh, no, son. You don’t understand. You were safer there. I couldn’t take you here to fight. It wouldn’t be right.”
The king reached out to Miles again but was quickly shrugged off. “I need space.”
As he fled the scene, Arthur grabbed his arm. “We don’t have much time. The sun will set soon. Get your affairs in order. We don’t have time to squander.”
Miles glared at him, then swiftly shoved him back. “You’re an ass for not telling me he was here—that he was alive.”
“Get it together, soldier,” Cleo said in a warning voice.
Miles shot a look at her, before stomping away.
The plan was being executed flawlessly.
A hundred of the soldiers stayed back in the forest, watching and waiting until they were called in as backup.
We were infiltrating the castle now, and I stayed close by the three head commanders and Miles. The King was with another group, heading toward the maid’s quarters to usher them out the back before any blood began shedding.
“Remember,” Cleo said as we crouched against a wall. “We’re only here for the Queen. Take out who you need to, but she’s the main target. Once she’s dead we’ll send the signal to go ahead with the burning. The group ahead of us will take anyone prisoner we need to. There’s no need for any more avoidable bloodshed.”
We all nodded and began advancing.
Miles and I stayed in the back, clutching our swords as we waited for the next move. Cleo and Merida signaled each other with their eyes, sprung up, and took out the two guards ahead, suffocating them until they passed out.
I squeezed my eyes shut, demanding the thoughts of the games to disappear back into the dark part of my mind.
“Hey! You!” a voice boomed.
Just then, a flood of guards came at us. The three commanders began to take them all down. One got passed them and began charging straight for us.
Miles jumped ahead, swinging his sword at the guard.
The guard fell to his knees, coddling the open wound on his neck.
I raised my own sword, ready to finish him off, but Miles grabbed my arm. “Leave him. No unnecessary killing, right?”
The next few minutes were a blur of blood and screaming. We had made ourselves known too soon, and all the lights began flipping on.
“You!” Arthur shouted at us as he attempted to hold back the guard advancing on him. “Go find the Queen. Finish it.”
We both nodded and slipped out of the hallway. We ran through the entrance hall, the rebellion group already taking down guards, and flew up the stairs.
We ran past the King’s group, where they were already almost finished ushering out the maids and workers.
Hall after hall, we ran. My memory kicking in as my feet led the way to her quarters.
Two guards stood in front of her doorway.
They sprung into action once they saw the blood on our clothes.
Miles took out the one on his side with one easy blow to the face, but the man on my side was much larger than me. I swung, but he deterred it with his own weapon. He knocked the sword from my grasp and instantly grabbed me, pulling me in and holding the blade to my throat.
Miles halted in his tracks, raising his sword up. “Let her go.”
“No way. I’ve seen her around… causing trouble. I bet the Queen is just waiting for her head on a platter. And I’m going to be the one to deliver it to her.”
I cried out in protest, struggling to break free of his strong grasp.
“If the Queen wanted her dead she would’ve done it herself by now. Please… don’t do this.”
The man seemed to not care. He pushed me to my knees. “I am so going to enjoy this.”
Out of the corner of my teary, blurred vision, I saw his sword rise.
And then…
Nothing.
The man grunted out, falling on top of me.
I shoved him off, rapidly wiping my eyes to see what had happened. I pushed myself up.
My breath was knocked from my chest when I saw who was standing at the end of the hallway, his gun raised.
Arlo.
“Oh my god,” I cried out, running to him. Miles was on my heels, pulling us all into a big embrace.
“I thought I’d never see you guys again,” Arlo said, his voice choked and hoarse.
“We thought you were dead,” I exclaimed, laughing at the absurdity of it all.
He pushed us off quickly. “Wait, this is all you guys? Are you a part of the raid?”
We nodded.
I tugged at his shoulders, “Join us. Please. We need you.”
He didn’t hesitate, “Of course. We’ve got to stick together, right?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, smiling.
The reality of what was happening came crashing back down. We all sprang back into action. “The Queen. We have to find her. And then we can end this. All of it,” I told Arlo.
“I know where she is,” he said quickly, pulling us back. “She’s not here. She’s in her study. I can take you there, come on.”
I dashed to receive the bow and quiver that the other dead guard had strung around his back
And so, with only four arrows, we took off toward the all-too-familiar library.