Days rolled by, seeming to stretch on forever. It had only been a month in but I was ready to leave. No wonder Prince Zeke said I should've chosen a different job. I wasn't cut out for this at all. While most knights spent their nights gambling or partying, I was always cooped up in my room. A secret board, full of papers and strings tying things together was hidden under my bed. I had no doubt someone might find it, making it all the more important to find a hide out.
Something stupid was placed in these halls too, deep under the castle. Tunnels. I always wondered how some knights were able to get from one place to another quicker than others here. Now I know. Most tunnels lead to other patrol areas while some lead to other bars underground and gambling areas. Turns out, Paymor Kingdom has a lot more secrets than meets the eye. Secret tunnels, secret war threats, secret killers. It was all normal here.
I bumped into the Prince and Princess a lot more too. The Prince was almost always followed by his sister, and then was followed by more bodyguards. A casual smile here, a polite wave there. That's all it was. But his eyes kept lingering on mine, pausing sometimes in the hallways as if he wanted to say something more. Princess Gia never allowed it though, it seemed she had it out for me. A quick glare before she left was all I received from her half the time. I sighed, seeing as this assassination was going to take longer than expected too.
Princess Gia and Prince Zeke were always seen together, making it pretty obvious that if I were to kill them they would be together. I quickly ate my lunch, barely talking to other knights at the table. Loud laughter could be heard from the other end of the table while my side of the table was much quieter. It made it hard to focus with all the chatter. Suddenly, the doors to the dining hall burst open.
"Attention please! I'd like to talk to you all about something." Prince Zeke announced. I wasn't expecting this. Not for him to burst through the heavy doors and shout at us. The laughing died down quickly, the only noise was some people breathing heavily for whatever reason.
"First off, I'd like to thank you guys for being here. I really do appreciate it." He said, smiling a bit as he stood there proudly. "Second, I need some help in the gardens. Anyone care to join me?" He asked. It was like a switch, going from bubbly and talkative, to not saying a single word. I couldn't stand it anymore. I quickly stood up, raising my hand up.
"I'll do it." I declared, getting a grin out of him. He nodded, thanked everyone else for their time before we took our leave. "I wasn't expecting you to volunteer first. If anything, I expected you to not volunteer at all." Prince Zeke laughed, nudging me in the side with his elbow. I turned my head to the side, rolling my eyes away from him so he wouldn't see.
We walked down the hallways, sunlight beaming inside the open windows. We walked kinda slowly, allowing him to chat with me. Or for him to just talk while I half listened. We finally reached the gardens, walking through the ballroom to get there. The sun and heat was extreme, not enough for me though seeing as summers in Yales were much hotter. I followed him out, seeing him clean up the garden. I picked up some weeds, throwing them into a burning pit while Prince Zeke cleaned and polished some of the statues. "You know, you never told me your name." He said, not looking at me as he bent down to pick some weeds. I had my back to him, thank god for that too as I instinctually rolled my eyes.
"It's Val. Val Whiteman." I said, hollering over my shoulder. He chuckled a bit for whatever reason. "Do you mind if I call you that then, Val? Instead of Mr. Whitman?" He asked, turning around to face me. I turned back to face him, staring him down. I never thought about it until now. But Prince Zeke sure does want to get closer to me. It was almost unnerving. I finally nodded, getting another smile out of him.
The sun was setting now, my shift clearly over by now. Maybe I was working overtime with how long we've been here for. It seemed like hours, hearing him talk about everything from his favorite food to his grandma. Zeke wasn't shy at all, that was clear. I wasn't sure why he trusted me, he was completely different from the night we first met. "Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it." He said, smiling at me. I smiled back, nodding my head before heading back through the ballroom. People were leaving through the kitchen doors, rushing out to give people dinner. I glanced over at some of the waiters seeing them look drained and tired before rushing past me.
I quickly went to the dining room, seeing how packed it was. People were leaning against walls, plate in hand while stuffing their faces full of food. Even more people were seated, eating pig and ham. I glanced around, looking for Remy. I sighed, giving up as soon as I realized she wasn't there. Knowing her, she'd be there late, way later than I wanted to be there. I skipped dinner that night, heading to my dorm again. Rain tapped on my window that night, helping me relax.
I sighed, staring out the window. It would only be a matter of time before everything gets demolished here. Not only that, but Remy and I will be finally free. Free from our past lives and onto whatever else it is we want to do. I laid back, smiling as I thought about all the things I could do before drifting off asleep.
"Hey!" Someone yelled behind me, stopping me from walking in the hallways. I turned around, glancing up and down at this guy. He was a bit shorter than me, a full nasty beard with food stuck in it, and overall looked like he was in a gang of some sort. "Yes?" I asked, confused about why he was talking to me.
Bam!
I gasped, feeling the hard hit of his fist on my throat. I staggered back a bit, nearly falling over. "That's for what you did to me! I can't believe you, man!" He yelled at me, his eyes crazed. "The hell?! I don't even know you!" I screamed back, gathering so much attention from others. People started to gather around, closing us in. I sighed, not wanting to fight. I was supposed to fit in, not fight people here. Suddenly, he lashed out again, kicking me in the leg. I grunted, feeling the pain before throwing a fist myself. Despite his height, he was pretty tough. I threw a right hook on him, catching him off guard before he staggered back like I did.
"Just stop it!" I yelled, seeing the hate in his face. He didn't like to be told what to do, that was for sure. Instead, he lashed out again, hurling towards me. I didn't want to fight him. It wasn't even a fair fight; I could've won by now. But no, the mission means more to me than fighting some hobo.
"Enough!" Someone yelled, parting the waters of the crowd. The man turned around, his face paling at the sight of Prince Zeke. "What the hell are you two doing?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The shorter man stuttered over his words. "He took my money. I'm sure of it!" He explained, pointing at me. I shook my head no, rolling my eyes before Prince Zeke smirked. "I don't care if someone stole your money. You get free housing and food. What more do you need?" Prince Zeke said, rolling his eyes. He walked over towards me, uncrossing his arms. "And you. Why the hell are you fighting with him?" He asked, his eyes narrowing in on me. I shrugged.
"What? Am I supposed to let him beat me up?" I asked, scoffing a bit. Some people gasped, hearing how I was talking to him. Some even smirked, elbowing their friends as if to say, "Look at this freak." Prince Zeke didn't say much, as I already expected. "Whatever. Everyone, carry on. I better not see anymore fights." He mentioned, looking back at me before glaring. As soon as he turned around, the idea of secretly flipping him off came to mind. I stopped the urge to do so, letting my fists hang down by my sides. Suddenly, Remy came up to me. I didn't even see her. But this time, she wasn't alone.
"Help me. Oh my god." She whispered in my ear, her eyes wide. I glanced back, my eyes widening like Remys. "Um. Am I interrupting something?" Princess Gia asked, her arms crossed over her shoulder. Remy looked back at her before back at me, rolling her eyes. I smiled at the snobby princess, pulling on my best fake smile I could.
"No, your highness. Remy is just a bit tired, that's all, and was complaining to me about it." I smirked, nudging her in the side before giggling a bit. Gia smiled back, an obvious fake one too. "Oh! If that's the case, you may be excused for the rest of the night from patrolling." Gia said, staring at Remy. Remy smiled, a genuine one this time, before thanking her. Princess Gia nodded before waltzing off—not a single care in the damn world.
"That was easy. Hey, I gotta discuss something with you later; meet me in the tunnel, ok?" She added, staring at me with wide eyes. I groaned, annoyed since all I wanted to do was relax after patrolling, but eventually I nodded. She rushed past me, leaving to go to her room.
A while ago, Remy and I were patrolling together, one of the very few times we get to do so.That's when we found the tunnels, routes for guards and others to get around quicker. I hated having to go to the tunnel though. People were constantly lurking around; it was hard on my heart seeing as it beat faster every time I heard something outside of the tunnels. No matter what, the fear of being caught always haunted the back of my head. I glanced around, slowly making my way back to our tunnel later that night.
Our tunnel was pretty secluded; not many people knew about it to our best guesses since it looked old and run down. Most of the tunnels here look nice, with stone walls and flooring, but this one was muddy and had overgrown plants in it. It led to the outside forest, a great escape if we needed to run. "So, what was it exactly you needed to discuss?" I asked, running my fingers through my long hair. She leaned back, resting her back on the stone wall. "I got a plan, but it may be a dumb one. So I need your thoughts." She said. Remy was the mastermind behind this mission. I, on the other hand, was not. I silently disagreed that whatever her plan was, it wasn't dumb, but let her keep talking as I nodded.
"Most of the time I see you with the Prince, and I have a feeling that Princess stuck up likes me too." She started to say, getting another nod out of me. "I'm thinking that if we try to be friends with them, we can gather information while also finding a time to kill them." I nodded, a bit confused now. "Wasn't that always the plan to begin with?" I asked, leaning back a bit with my arms crossed as I sat down on a rock. She nodded before speaking up again. "Here's the thing though: there's one more important person we haven't considered yet. Talking to and befriending Assistant General Ramani." She said, eyes narrowing in on me as our lantern started to die out for a split second.
"What about him? I asked. "He's an assistant to the general, Val. He can be useful to us. So, I propose we try talking to him." I nodded, understanding her now. She was right; if anything, he knows the ins and outs of the war and would know if Paymor planned to attack first or not. If we could get information on what they planned to do about the war, we could alert our king about it sooner.