Magic and Gold

30: I Told You Once

We walked side by side to Ralphus' room. "Are you ready for this?" I asked.

"You're not the only one who wants this. He's been subjugating my people since a crown was put on his head." He looked so determined, I had the desire to touch his face, smooth back his hair. Try to bring some semblance of the child I knew so many years ago, when we were all just kids playing games on equal footing with set rules. I wanted to bring back who I was, too. Life was easier when the games were fair.

I nodded. This had been my father's room, filled with mostly negative memories. Long ago, my mother had stayed here, but by now, the room had lost all semblance of her. I would not regret anything done here. "Let's go." I placed a hand on the handle and pulled the door open. We would either wait until he came or fight him and his personal guards. Not the most foolproof plan, but we were willing to fight ourselves out of any bad situations.

But when I opened the door, guards spilled out of the room, at least twenty of them, all armed to the teeth. I unsheathed my daggers, fighting as many as I could. Brutal slashed cut my arms as I took down more than one guard, but there were too many. Two grabbed my arms, and one more pressed down my shoulders, forcing me to a kneel. Another guard grabbed my daggers from my hands and dropped them to the floor as I struggled. I tried to reach my daggers, right in front of me, to no avail. I attempted to stun them with the small amount of magic I had, but there were too many guards.

I was forced to kneel on the floor and watch Blade fight a losing battle. He had out two swords, constantly turning and fighting more guards than I could comprehend at once. He truly was good at what he did, taking down many guards as he fought at least five. When one fell, there was another to replace him. Finally, they knocked both blades out of his hand and forced him to a kneel, as well.

When their hands tightened painfully, I sneered. "It takes five of you to detain a little girl?"

"Little girl? You don't give yourself enough credit," said someone from behind the door. I tried to jump forward but was held back by the strong guards. Ralphus emerged, having the nerve to smirk. "You don't give up, even when it's as futile as trying to kill me. You're bold, I'll give you that. I don't see many 'little girls' get promoted to Department Head, even less heading the Department of Stealth. There's only one Department more important than that, and its Head kneels in front of me over there." He pointed at Blade, who looked at Ralphus like a bug underfoot.

"How do you know any of that?" I looked everywhere but at him.

He walked closer to me and I continued to stare at the wall. "You're not the only one with spies. Look at me." He grabbed my chin and forced my face to look at him. His eyes were a muddy brown encircled with a darker black. "It's rude to ignore me."

"It's rude to restrain guests," I countered.

He laughed and addressed the guards holding me. "Keep a good hold on her. Do not underestimate her. Or else," he threatened.

A guard grabbed my own knife from the ground and pressed it to my throat. "Don't try anything." I tried not to make a sound, but I felt like the walls were pressing in. It was horrible, the feeling of being completely at someone else's will. I could die right now without any chance to fight back. I gulped.

I heard the sound of soft footsteps behind me, and Ralphus looked up. The evil man even had the audacity to smile. I saw Blade's eyes widen across from me, and I saw why when the girl walked around into my line of sight. "Mae," I whispered. "What are you...?"

She walked right past me and jumped into Ralphus' arms. She peppered kisses all over his face, laughing the whole time. "You're okay. I'm so glad you're safe."