From the Depths

Chapter 13 - Breath of life.

Back on the beach once again, the sun had begun to sink beneath the waves, blanketing the area in an orange hue. Henry had insisted that they stop by the mess hall to get some food before their day, or rather the night continued. Her rumbling stomach not wanting to disagree, she was happy for the small amount of nutrition the slightly stale bread provided.

She'd had to light a lantern so they could descend the stairs, which was much more terrifying now in the approaching dark, as she couldn't see all that far in front of her anymore. The tiny flickering light was all that stopped her from falling to her death, that and Henry's strong grip on her forearm.

Henry had told her the King would likely come by way of the village, which was around the side of the beach, like he had when he was bringing supplies during the day. That made sense, though she did envision the King trying to take these death traps called stairs and falling... no, more like rolling down these very steep stone steps. She couldn't help it, it put a smile on her face.

Now that they were alone again, she pushed the very question that still plagued her. "So, why do you think the King hasn't been killed yet?"

He shot her a look, glancing around he sighed. "Use code words like with the King earlier at the very least, Christ, you'll have our heads."

Their feet hitting the sand they made their way over to the cliff edge, which now doubled as a hidden entrance.

"The leach has too much money to throw around, money and land equal power. He has the means to give it out and he does, to the right people." He concluded.

"Don't you mean the wrong people?" She corrected.

"Precisely, why get rid of something that benefits vial men's needs?"

"It's only the needs of the nobles though."

"And who has the military control?"

"The nobles." They both said in unison.

"Unless some vigilante for the people comes along, he will stay in power. All because people are greedy." He was all too right and it stung. "Even on with his death one of his benefactors would just take over and the cycle would repeat."

"But he has no sons or daughter." She pointed out.

"Purcelsly my point, the nobles would fight and bicker over who would take his place next, but in the end, they are all the same. Cruel vial men that only care for wealth."

She sighed, he wasn't wrong. "No escape from powerful men when the world is so corrupt."

"Not the world, this Kingdom."

"Why stay then?"

Henry raised a brow at her, "Why do you say?"

"This is my homeland, I have family and friends that are at risk if I leave."

He huffed not responding to her statement, though she now knew the answer. It did beg the question, who was important to him that he would stay? But it didn't matter. Placing her hand on the rock wall to open the invisible doorway. "Give me a shout when the King is here."

"It's not treasure is it?"

She raised a brow at him. "I cannot confirm nor deny for fear of my head. But I will try to convince the King to let you in on this, I could honestly use a hand with it." She slipped inside leaving him with more questions than answers since he'd not seen anyone use the entrance yet.

"You can hear me still?" He called out from the other side.

She giggled. "Yes, loud and clear." She responded. "Henry?"