Ruby Red

Chapter Nine

The whole castle was acting strange, and Karis didn't know why.

It had started this morning. When he left his dorm and went down into the common room, the guards were all huddled together whispering. A few of them pointed at him as he walked by, and then their conversations grew more scattered and cacophonic. When he walked over to join the gossip, they dispersed like a flock of birds, scattering to their various posts around the castle in a hurry that wasn't there a moment ago.

When he had arrived at his post to assign details for the day, his division seemed jumpier than usual. It was getting to the point where they would talk through all of his instructions and ignore him when he called their names. He was done.

"Alright, seriously, guys!" Karis yelled, startling his group of about twenty. "What is going on here? Was it something I said?"

A brave soul dared to raise his hand. "Uh, Karis, what are you talking about?"

"Everyone has been acting like I don't exist all morning, let alone talking and listening to me. You all are sworn to protect the queen, and I don't think you can do that if you're too busy ignoring your generals. I would appreciate it if you all would pay attention and take orders so none of us get in trouble."

Someone else stepped forward. "Sorry, Karis. There are rumors going around that the prison was attacked last night. Three people are dead. None of us know what's going on, either."

Karis almost dropped his paper. "What?"

"The royals have been in meetings all morning. Harsha hasn't told anyone anything. Not to mention the fact that one of our guards is missing, too. We're all on edge." The guard smiled sincerely. "But we're sorry. Go ahead. Let us do what we need to do. Right, everyone?"

Murmurs of agreement went up around the small group. Karis shook his head and started to restate everyone's assignments from his paper. His eyes were roaming over the words and his mouth was moving, but he wasn't processing what was happening. How had everything changed overnight? His guard's explanation helped, but that still didn't explain why no one was speaking to him.

After his division dispersed for the day, Karis decided he needed answers. He needed to find Fallon. Of anyone here, she was the most likely person to know the most information.

As he stormed through the castle grounds, he found a curly brown ponytail surrounded by another group of guards. His fast walking picked up to a jog as he neared her. One of the men she was talking with pointed behind her, and she whirled around.

Soon, Fallon was jogging toward Karis, too. The other guards left, and they met in the middle of a courtyard. "I'm so glad you came to find me," Fallon said, grabbing his wrist and dragging Karis toward the castle. "How much do you know?"

"Something happened at the prison last night, three prison guards are dead, and one of our guards is missing."

"Okay. I don't know a lot, but from what Lévian has told me in between meetings, I've analyzed what information I do have enough to tell that this isn't good. We're lucky someone called in those bodies when they did, or else we'd be so far behind that it'd be impossible to keep up."

Hair swishing along the nape of her neck, Fallon led Karis down an empty hallway right inside the palace doors. Fallon sighed and looked up. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, Karis, I really do." Her voice broke as she whispered, "You know how one of us is missing?"

All Karis could do was nod and study the worry growing in Fallon's face.

"It's Alana."

A high-pitched ringing filled Karis's ears. It took him a second to process her words, but once he did, they were all he could hear.