The Princess's Secret [completed]

33: Comrads.

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Hiram.

Hiram didn’t have time to react to his friend's death, hearing his name being called. He sighed, squeezing the apprentace’s shoulder before standing and turning to his next task.

King Jacques and King Esteban were approaching. The looks on their faces showed their shock and grief over what had transpired.

Hiram swallowed and bowed. “Great Kings, Rayndra thanks you for coming.”

King Jacques glanced at the dead body behind Hiram before meeting his gaze. “I only wish we could have come sooner. Where is King Caspian?”

“It is my belief that he was captured, sire. He and several of our men attempted to capture Thaddias-” He no longer bothered using the title- “but the mission was unsuccessful. No one has seen him since, and his body is not among the rubble.”

King Jacques nodded. “Then we must attack Adrelawin and free him.”

“With you permission, sir, I would like to relieve you of any responsibility to the very possible death of King Capsian.”

King Jacques looked surprised, and raised an eyebrow. “Explain.”

“Well sir,” Hiram swallowed, carefully crafting his words. “-I fear that Thaddias will use King Caspian as a hostage, and if there is an attack he may kill the King.
With your permission, would like to take an elite group of knights into Adrelwain and attempt to sneak the King out.
If there is to be any failure, it should be on the knights of Rayndra, not those who came to help us.”

The King slowly nodded, turning to King Esteban for a second opinion. “I agree.”

King Jacques turned back to Hiram. “You may take that responsibility. I say we give your men three days, no more, to rescue your King. Then, successful or not, we will attack.” The King glanced at King Esteban, who nodded in agreement.

Hiram bowed again. “Thank you.” He paused. “I hesitate to ask, because you have already offered and done so much-”

“What is it?” King Esteban interrupted, never one to beat around the bush about things.

“Well sirs, our people have been sent to the castles around Rayndra for safety, but I fear that Thaddias may have left some men to conquer them.”

“Then we will send troops to check on their safety.” King Esteban declared while King Jacques nodded. Hiram bowed again, repeating his thanks...

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Caspian.

Caspian leaned his hands on his knees, gasping for air, trying to ignore the pain in his leg. They’d been going at it for about ten minutes already, him using all his skill to fight the two off simultaniously.

The giants were puffing pretty hard, and had paused their attacks to catch their breath. He straightened and raised his arms, going on guard as one of the gaints stepped forward to continue the fight.

The second man grabbed his pal’s arm, stopping him. “Leave him be, he’s not like the other peasants.” The man turned to Caspian, nodding. “You’re a pretty decent fighter. How’d you end up in here?”

Caspian lowered his hands, realizing they’d had enough. He shrugged. “You know Thaddias, unreasonable as always.” He answered carefully. If the giants realized who he really was, they’d be more likely to kill him.

The man laughed, a disgusting sound, and nodded in agreement. “Ain’t that the truth. Where’d you learn to fight like that, not on the streets?”

“No, no, hardly! I was a bodyguard once, got a lot of practice.” He forced a laugh as he answered. His words were true, just seriously lacking details.

The pair glanced at each other, disgust obvious, and walked away into the darkness. Guess they don’t like bodyguards. Not that it mattered, they now respected him more than they had at first, and that was all he needed.

He cautiously sat again, meeting the stares of the family. “What?” He asked, deciding not to make a big deal about it.

“They just… left you alone.” One of the little boys said in awe. Caspian smiled, amused by his amazement.

“Sometimes people just need a little surprise here and there to keep them in check.”

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Tamar.

She watched as two men carefully lowered Isidro onto the bed. He’d just arrived at the castle, having been back at the tower recovering before the move.

She waited as the men passed, leaving, then sat on the stool next to the bed. “How’re you doing?”

“Eh, some frostbite, nothing too bad.”

“How on earth did you get out from under the ice?”

“I’m not really sure, it’s all pretty hazy. I know I punched the hole, but the details are scrambled.” He frowned, thinking.

“It sounded like you had fun.” She commented, a smile slowly creeping over her face. His expression morphed into what can only be described as horror.

“What did I say?”

She laughed at his tone. “Something about pretty horses I think. You made no sense whatsoever.”

He groaned and placed a hand over his eyes, face turning red. She had to cover her mouth as she laughed, shocked by the reaction. She never would have thought he was capable of blushing.

“Don’t ever tell anyone about this.” He muttered, still covering his eyes.

“Ooh, I don’t know, I’m thinking this would make great revenge for scaring me.” She almost regreted her threat when she recieved a pained look. But the look quickly formed into a frown and her regret disappeared.

“I scared you! You’re the one who just about fell through under my watch, I nearly earned myself a beheading!” He pointed out.

She burst out laughing again when shock registered in his eyes as he realized he was speaking to the true queen of Rayndra. He had obviously not given much thought before speaking, she had never seen him so scatterbrained and confused!

Tamar patted his hand, trying to stop her laughter. “You should get some sleep before you get yourself into trouble. I’ll check in on you in a couple hours.” She said, standing.

She was out the door before she realized that she was acting like a nurse again. Being a Queen is going to take some work…