Before they could go to war, Cari, her parents and all the others had to find a safe place to plan their next steps. The Last Retreat was no longer secure. The Duke of Charon’s men would come here eventually in their search for the escaped Dragoons and their rescuers.
Chance came up with a solution, leading all of them back down through the basement entrance to the sewers and then into the ancient catacombs beneath the city. When Cari asked where he was taking them, Chance answered, “Long ago, the Elves and others helped build this city for our human friends. When we left, we took along secrets unknown to the men who later formed the Empire.”
The elf stopped at a blank wall blocking the passage ahead. He raised his right hand, holding the strange glowing, magical light he’d used once before in the catacombs. With his left hand, he ran his fingertips over the stone wall while he muttered something in elvish. Glowing turquoise runes appeared on the wall, then, with the grinding of stone on stone, it slid back into the side of the passage, revealing a large chamber on the other side.
Chance stepped inside and beckoned for them to follow. The room they’d entered had a vaulted ceiling with a double row of six columns running down either side of the room, each supporting a portion of the worked stone ceiling above. At the far end of the room sat a broad, rectangular stone table flanked on the two long sides by low stone benches. Between each of the columns were four stone slabs arranged on the floor in a square pattern with about a foot of space between each edge.
As Cari moved through the room, she realized there was something familiar about this place. “Chance, this place was built by dwarves, wasn’t it?”
The elf’s eyebrow shot up in surprise. “You know of our underground kin? I’d thought their existence had been long forgotten by the minds of men.”
“I met the spirit of a long-dead dwarven king on our journey beneath the western mountains. He lamented the disappearance of his kind but told me some of his people’s story. He believes their descendants might still exist somewhere far to the south. This place looks much like the place we found in that underground city beneath the mountain during our journey.”
“This is where the dwarves who helped build the city rested and planned their construction of the Crystal City’s foundation. No one has entered this place for many centuries or even knows of its existence. We will be safe here.”
Cari realized the low stone slabs were beds and the table was where the dwarves took their meals and laid out their blueprints for the underground foundation upon which the city above was built. “This is perfect,” she said. “It would be nice if we’d brought some more lamps with us to banish some of the gloom.”
“Here, let me help,” her dad said. He raised his hands and pointed around the room. Four fist-sized globes of blue-white light rose in the air and moved to each of the room’s corners.
“Better?” Hal asked.
“Yes, much. Thanks, Dad.”
“No problem. Let’s get settled in here and then start laying out a plan for stopping the coronation.”
“You know when it is?” Cari asked.
“Your mother says she does.”
Mona nodded. “While infiltrating the Palace Square for the rescue this morning, I overheard two of the Duke’s officers discussing how they’d have to go through all the security plans again in three days’ time. That must mean another big event is planned in the palace with an announcement to the assembled populace in the square outside. It’s the coronation. It’s got to be.”
“Then we’ve got only two days to figure out a way to stop Timron’s ascension to the Crystal Throne,” Cari said.
“They certainly didn’t waste any time, once Timron was back in the city, did they?” Rodrigo said.
Chance shook his head. “The Duke knows he can’t afford to wait, especially now that they know Cari’s here with another potential heir. If word got out about Jaycee’s existence before Timron was crowned, it would mess up everything.”
“Then why don’t we just announce her?” Cari asked.
“That wouldn’t work.” Mona shook her head and frowned. “They would just rush Timron to the coronation and crown him. They already spread word about an imposter to the throne. While the populace might rise up to support her, the Duke of Charon will have all the cards in his hands if Timron is already Emperor. There’s nothing we will have comparable to his control over the army once that happens.”
“I don’t know,” Hal said. “I’ve managed far more with less in my day.”
“Dad, we’ve got little time, and no one wants to start a civil war that sweeps through the entire empire again like before. If there’s a way to get Jaycee on the throne now before Timron is crowned, that’s what we need to do. It will keep a lot of people from getting caught and killed in the crossfire.”
“I guess you’re right,” Hal said. “So, what’s the plan?”
Cari scanned the group around her. They needed more help. “We plan soon. First, we need one more person here to make sure we can pull this off.”
Four hours later, in the early morning hours of the next day, the planning began in earnest with all of them around the broad table. Percy sat nearby with Jaycee, reading her a story from a book of fairy tales.
Merrick, the newcomer to the group, sat at the table on the bench opposite Cari. He leaned forward after hearing their initial plans and tapped his fingers on the table.
Cari looked his way, “you have some ideas, Merrick?”
The underworld merchant leader paused in thought and then said, “the big trick is getting into the Palace during the Coronation or, preferably before it. They’re going to be watching all the doors and gates leading into the Palace Square and the palace itself. They’ll also be watching all the known secret passages. There was a time when I might have been able to sneak you in via a route from the sewers, now I am afraid that option will be covered, as well. Too many people know of it to be safe.”
“There is one thing that they might not know about,” Mona said. “Kareena once told me of a passage near our quarters in the royal wing of the Palace. She said no one but her father knew about it. He told her of it only when the palace was surrounded by the usurper Kang’s forces, hoping she would use it to escape. In the end, their defenses were overcome more quickly than expected and she never got the chance to use it.”
“If there’s a passage no one knows about, that would be the perfect way to get inside,” Cari said. “Where are your rooms in the palace in relation to the grand audience hall? That’s where the coronation is supposed to happen. Is it close?”
“Close enough,” her mother said. “It’s next to the imperial apartments. The grand audience hall is right next to those.”
“Do you know where the passage lets out into the city?” Merrick asked. “It’s one thing to know where the entrance in the palace is located, it’s another to find the far end of said secret passage.”
“Kareena only told me it opened out into something she called the Chapel of the Eighth Canal. Does that mean anything to any of you?”
Cari looked around at her companions hoping someone showed some signs of recognition. Merrick sat back holding his fingers steepled in front of his nose. He looked as if he were praying despite the scowl on his face. “Merrick, something’s bothering you. Do you know of this chapel? You do come from the Canal District of the city.”
“I know where that chapel is, but that’s only the good news.”
“So,” Hal said. “What’s the bad news?”
“It’s not in my part of the Canal District. It’s in an area belonging to my chief rival and a known ally to the Duke of Charon. There are many factions that watch over that district. Many of them are allied with me and if I don’t have an arrangement with them, I can purchase an arrangement with them. But the Eighth Canal Gang is something altogether different. The leader there is one of the Duke of Charon’s cronies. If he sees you all coming, he’ll put two and two together and figure out we’re up to something. If there is a secret entrance to the palace leading to his area, my guess is he’s heard legends of its existence, if we show up in his area armed to the teeth, he’s going to realize it’s true and warn the Duke.”
“So, first we have to deal with this person and his gang. Then we have to find the tunnel entrance. Then, once all that goes according to plan, we sneak into the palace and fight our way into the coronation and put Jaycee on the throne,” Cari said. “And here I thought this was going to be difficult.”
“If it was easy, Cari, everyone would be doing it,” Hal said.
Cari finished the phrase as her father said it. It was a favorite saying of his. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Anything worth having is worth fighting for and the all the other sayings that fit here.” She turned back to the problem at hand. “Merrick, what kind of support and forces does the leader of the Eighth Canal Gang have?”
“He’s got the usual band of thugs. He keeps most of them centered around his warehouse near the central canal where all the other canals come together and lead to the river. There are probably no more than twenty or thirty in all.”
“That’s not too bad,” Stefan said. “My platoon from Tandon can probably handle them.”
“If they get tied up in the fighting in the Canal District,” Cari asked. “How are they going to be able to come help us fight inside the palace?”
“Oh, that’s a good point.”
Silence settled around the table.
“We need more people,” Cari said. “At some point, we’re going to have to open this up and let other people know what we’re planning. Liam, have you been able to round up any of the former Dragoons?”
The Dragoon sergeant nodded. “There are about fifteen in the city that I know of. There may be others who will arrive before we kick off our plan, but everyone was pretty much scattered back to their homes after the regiment was disbanded. It was difficult to get the word out to too many in time for them to travel here. Figure on no more than thirty in all.”
“That’s something and we’ll take it. We’ve got them to add to our number,” Cari said, ticking off the numbers on her fingers. “We’ve got Stefan’s platoon from Tandon, Harley Denne’s collection of loyal city watchmen, and those Dragoons who’ll get back to the city in time. We are going to need them all with us inside the palace once the fighting starts.”
Merrick cleared his throat. “I’ve been trying to stay in the background on this, but I see that if I want to have things work out my way, I’m going to have to have a more active role.”
“What does that mean, exactly,” Cari asked.
“I have some men and women of my own, but not enough to match the Eighth Canal Gang. That said, I can call in some markers. I can probably come up with another thirty people between mine and the ones I can afford to hire. That should be enough to keep the Eighth Canal’s people occupied while you all look for the entrance to the tunnel.”
“If your people go in first,” Hal suggested, “the other side might not realize it’s associated with us. Is there a way you can make it look like an ordinary underworld squabble or maybe a takeover attempt?”
“That’s a good idea. He and I are not friends at all. Some even call us enemies. He might think I’m using the coronation as a distraction to take over his part of the Canal District. If that were the case, he probably wouldn’t want to tell the Duke he was under attack. It would show weakness.”
“Exactly,” Hal said. “You tackle them on your end. Keep them occupied by hitting them down by their warehouse. That would be where you would attack if you wanted to take his resources for yourself anyway. Once that pulls all of the guards from the rest of the area, we can move in with the rest of our group floating through the canals in a barge until we are near the chapel.”
Cari nodded. “It sounds like this plan is starting to come together. All we need is a way to stop the ceremony once we reach the grand audience hall. I think I have a plan that might help with that. Liam, do you still have my holoprojector,”
“Yes, it is in my bags we brought from the tavern.”
“Then we’ve got a way to distract the Duke’s men while we get Jaycee to the throne. It should distract at least a portion of the guards in the hall. Here’s what I’m thinking.”
Cari outlined her idea. Everyone around the table pitched in their own thoughts until the plan solidified into something that might just work. Cari glanced over at her father as the final details were hammered out between her mother and Merrick. Her dad looked at her and winked.
Cari smiled. If it weren’t so dangerous, the next couple of days would be a whole lot of fun.
Quest accepted — infiltrate the palace and crown a new Empress