Chapter One

He could hear the screams farther off, and closer, the clash of steel on steel. Footsteps of at least a dozen men pursued him as he dashed along the corridors, but Gabriel knew the way, whereas they did not. Sean knew the way just as well, so they ran in step down one hall, into another, and finally into the back near the closest entrance to the escape tunnel.

Gabriel pushed the correct switch, and a door that had previously looked like wall paneling popped out. He hurried through, then spun around to hold a hand out to Sean.

“Come on,” Gabriel hissed when Sean hesitated. Then Sean shook his head. Gabriel had never seen Sean look so unkempt. His blond hair, usually combed and braided neatly, fell in messy rivulets halfway down his back. Sweat dotted his forehead and his green eyes were wide with fear.

“I can’t, Prince,” he said softly. “Someone must lead them away from this hall so they don’t find this passage.”

“It’s a hidden door! Even if they do find it, it will take them more than enough time for us to get safely away on the other side.”

Sean shook his head again. “They must believe you are hiding somewhere inside the castle. It is the only way to foil their plot and to keep you safe. Go!”

Gabriel could hear their pursuer’s footsteps quickly approaching, likely just one hall away, but that didn’t stop him from lunging forward, reaching desperately for any part of Sean he could grasp to pull him to safety. He couldn’t lose Sean, not now after all he had already lost. Not with what Sean meant to him.

Sean dived toward him, and for a moment Gabriel felt relief, but after the briefest press of lips against his own, Sean’s hands landed on his shoulders, shoving him deeper into the passageway. The secret door clicked shut a moment later, throwing Gabriel into darkness.

“No, Sean!” Gabriel didn’t quite dare raise his voice, but somehow, he knew Sean heard him, just as he somehow heard Sean’s reply:

“Run and live, my prince. My love.”

And then Sean was gone, running away to draw off their pursuers. There wasn’t a catch on this side of the door, a safety precaution in case someone tried to sneak into the castle by traveling the wrong way down the escape tunnel. The only way out was deep in the forest. If Gabriel wanted to save Sean, he would have to traverse the tunnel and return above ground.

Gabriel set his chin and spun away from the door. So be it. He would assail the castle from the outside, storm it somehow, and rescue Sean. If he had to kill every single one of the invaders, he would do it. He had to, because losing Sean…

He had already lost his sister, and his father had not escaped the castle either. He could not lose Sean too.

Gabriel hurried his feet, walking as fast as he dared in the near-perfect darkness. He knew this tunnel, had walked it dozens of times, as did every member of the royal family. The floor was flat and even, sloping gently downward at this point as the branch he was in headed toward the main tunnel. Once he got to the main tunnel, there were torches and matches. It took a while before Gabriel’s footsteps began to echo as he stepped into a larger space. It took another few minutes of fumbling awkwardly until his fingers brushed against the waiting torches, and then he fumbled around a bit more to strike a match and get it lit. Gabriel squinted against the light, but didn’t wait for his vision to adjust before continuing on his way. He had to get out of the tunnel so he could go save Sean.

No one really knew when the tunnel had been built. Rumor said the tunnel predated the building of the castle, that a wizard’s tower much like Wizard Rap’s in the Zel Mountains had once stood where the castle was now and the tunnel had been part of it. Other rumors said the first Queen Gabby had the tunnel built after the second war with the mindless hoard of Faltiken, when the hoard had come almost too close to winning, and she had feared for her children’s safety.

Regardless, the walls were dry and the ceiling secure despite no maintenance being conducted on it for as long as Gabriel could remember. At least with the torch lit, Gabriel felt safe to move at full speed. He covered the last mile in only fifteen minutes and stepped out into the forest only twenty minutes after Sean had locked him away.

Gabriel doused the torch in a pile of dirt just inside the mouth of the tunnel, then peeked out into the woods. He heard birds chirping to each other as they began to settle into their nests for the evening. It was too bright for the frogs and crickets to begin sounding, but the setting sun filtering through the leaves said it was about dinnertime. Gabriel had been dressing for dinner when word had come that the castle gates had been breached and an army was invading.

What he didn’t hear were sounds of fighting. The fact that the birds were willing to make noise said there wasn’t an army hiding out here, waiting to grab him. Still, it wouldn’t do to get caught easily by taking one of the many paths through the forest. Gabriel started walking back toward the castle, but through the underbrush. He would leave a trail for a skilled tracker to follow, but wouldn’t run into anyone lying in wait along the paths.

It took another twenty minutes to reach the edge of the forest. The castle was just ahead, its sprawling, ancient structure a welcome sight. Now, how to sneak back inside? Gabriel knew better than to try the main gate, but perhaps one of the smaller servant’s gates weren’t as well guarded. He would have to try one of those.

All Gabriel had to do was get inside, find Sean, and together they would kill the invaders and save his father. Then they could return to figuring out the cure to his sister’s mystery illness, and once that was solved, everything would return to normal.

That’s all Gabriel wanted. No more fear, no more sadness. Just love, of his family and of Sean. And the sooner he got to work, the sooner it could be fixed.

The south servant’s gate was the smallest and most likely to be overlooked by soldiers new to the castle grounds. He would try there first.

Gabriel had barely taken one step south when he spotted movement at the top of the central tower. The flag there, proudly flying his father’s crest, was lowering.

“No.”

It didn’t stop at half mast, just continued to dip lower and lower until it reached waiting hands and vanished. A moment later a new flag appeared, slowly rising into the setting sun. Gold and blue, the colors of the northern invaders.

“No,” Gabriel whispered again and felt his knees hit the ground as all strength left his legs. “Father! Sean! No.”

Removing his father’s flag could only mean one thing: the king was dead. Sean wouldn’t have let Father die, not without fighting tooth and nail, and if Father were dead, then Sean… No, Gabriel couldn’t even think it.

“Please, Sean…” Gabriel gripped his necklace, the one Father had given to him at his birth along with the name Gabriel, and felt the first hot tear slip down his cheek to splash against his clasped hands. Any minute now Sean would come bursting out of the top of the tower to slash down the enemy’s flag and return Father’s to its rightful place. Then Sean would lead the charge into the woods to find Gabriel, so they could all go home safely together.

But the gold and blue continued to flap, shining in the reddening light as the sun began to dip.

“Sean, no, please,” Gabriel whimpered one last time, with one last hope-filled plea. When it, too, went unanswered, his body went limp, and he fell to the forest floor, sobbing his pain into the dried leaves and pine.