All the Crown's Shadows

by Emily Rose

  My heart fluttered as I read, hardly believing what was on the pages. These are parts of history that nobody in Sundown has ever heard, not even my grandparents. Why would this be hidden from us? I continued reading.

  It is said that one day, the burden of the endeavor will prove itself too great for the drained gods. Thousands of years ahead, in a time where evil will rule the Shadow Forest, the gods will leave the burden for someone new. This person will be chosen by the gods to preserve Aslan from the inescapable darkness.

  Time raced by. I immersed myself in the world of these new books, absorbing as much as possible. I had no idea how long I had been in the library when I heard voices approaching through the open doors.

  I quickly shut the book and bolted behind one of the massive shelves. The room was hardly it, but I could still make out two figures approaching. They talked quietly and urgently.

  “You have to tell her,” one voice said. It sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

  “She’s not ready yet, Soren. I’m still not sure if we can trust her.” That voice was one I knew. Prince Aiden.

  “She’s a Champion now. She’ll be fighting nearly every day when she returns to the cages. We might not have much time.”

  I creeped closer, hiding myself in the shadows. The two men walked through the library, turning away from me. It was then that I noticed the posture of the large man walking with Aiden. It was the guard I had seen dozens of times before. Soren.

  And they were talking about me.

  By the time I got back to the infirmary, the sun was starting to peak over the horizon. I tried to get myself to sleep. I even tried counting every stone on the wall across from me in the candlelight. But nothing. Sleep would not come.

  Instead, my mind meandered over everything I just read. And that was just one book. There were thousands left in there, begging to be picked up by somebody.

  I thought about Soren and Aiden. What were they talking about? And why did they need to trust me? My memory brought me back to the first fight in the Ring of Angels. Soren was kind. He showed me compassion, which was something foreign here within the City walls. And he was sneaking around the castle late at night with the Prince. Strange.

  Harvey would love it up here. Part of me couldn’t wait to see her again so I could tell her about it. She would be amazed by the stories and the history.

  ✽✽✽

  My mind got sharper every day. The fight with Opal was in the past. A small bump in the road. I had bigger things to worry about.

  This might be my only chance to get out of the cages. I had to escape.

  I slept for a couple of hours, acting well-rested when Amaris came to bring me breakfast. She was a shy woman, and thank the gods for it. I didn’t need anyone else poking around in my business. One royal family member was plenty.

  The day was uneventful. Hours passed when I was alone with my thoughts in the infirmary. My mind itched to return to the library, to learn more about the history of Aslan. There would be time for that eventually, but not now.

  As the day passed, I studied the supplies in the room. There wasn’t much I could use to escape. I had the clothes I was wearing, the blankets on the bed, and a few potions and bandages that I didn’t understand. Great. If only one of these was a vile of poison.

  The sun began to set. I started to pace around the infirmary. I was leaving the castle tonight. The plan was a simple one. I was going to wait until the guards were distracted and sneak down into the cages. After that, I was planning on winging it.

  My plan wasn’t rock solid. I knew that. I also knew that any attempt was better than no attempt.

  Silence eventually fell over the entire hallway. I waited for one minute. Two minutes. Five minutes before cracking open the infirmary door. Were they really this naive? Leaving one of their trained Champions unattended in the castle?

  I guess so. My bare feet padded across the floor as I rushed in the opposite direction of the library. The halls, and all of the creepiness that dwelled within, were becoming more and more familiar. Getting to the cages would be the easy part.

  Part of me regretted ever becoming close to Harvey. She was merely collateral, not part of the plan. If anything, she was a burden. Without her, I wondered who I would have become here in the Ring of Angels. Riley, on the other hand, was at least a reminder of home, of where I had come from and why I was here.

  I had a job to do, and I couldn’t forget that for anything.

  The cold floor sent a chill up my spine. The entire castle was dead silent. I creeped through the hall, around the corner toward the staircase that could only lead to one thing. The cages. The cut in my thigh began to sting as I crouched in the shadows, preparing for any unwelcome visitors.

  What I wasn’t expecting, though, was a guard in the staircase, practically waiting for me. And it wasn’t just any guard. It was Soren, the guard I had seen with Aiden multiple times.

  “Well, well,” he said casually as I turned the corner. “Looks like you’re feeling better, then.”

  I bowed my head and nodded. “Yes, much better. I just got lost looking for, uh-”

  “Save it. Aiden expected you to sneak around here at some point. I’m just impressed you didn’t make a break for it sooner.”

  My heart sank to my feet. He knew I would try to get back to the cages. He was waiting for it.

  Soren pushed himself off of the wall, walking toward me. His light brown hair curled across his forehead. “Let’s go, fighter.”

  I didn’t resist as he led me back down the hallway. He didn’t seem angry or upset in any way. In fact, he didn’t seem to care at all that I had just attempted escape. The infirmary doors had just come back into sight when the dark boom of the King’s voice echoed through the castle.

  “She’s a Champion! You’re telling me you lost one of my Champions?”

  Soren grabbed my upper arm, tugging me roughly in their direction. His soft demeanor was now that of a harsh, icy guard.

  “She’s here, your highness,” he said as the King snapped his head in our direction. “My apologies for the confusion. The healer suggested she get walking on her leg right away.”

  Soren was… defending me?

  “Ah, there she is!” The King's face was still flushed with anger. “Thank you, guard. The sooner we get back to fighting, the better.” He looked at me with those cold, vile eyes. Everything in me was disgusted at the sight. The fact that he was looking for me here… what did he want with me so late at night, anyway?

  Soren bowed his head as the King and his guard brushed past us, leaving us without another word. His behavior seemed to get odder every time I saw him. Aiden, fierce temper and all, was nothing compared to the mood swings of the King. Part of me wondered if Aiden would ever behave that way, or if fate was simply on his side.

  Either way, I was left with a deep feeling of unease as the infirmary doors shut behind me.

  ✽✽✽

  Amaris didn’t come to change my bandages in the morning. Instead, Aiden slammed the infirmary door open, cheery as ever.

  “Good morning, Ruby. Nice to see you’re still alive. How was your little adventure last night?” His loud, bright voices pierced through my head. After multiple nights of no sleep, exhaustion began to take effect.

  He walked to the healer table as I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  “I told Amaris I could change your bandages today. I’ve learned a thing or two about healers, you know.”

  I smirked at the thought. “Right. I’m sure the King’s son has nothing better to do than sit around and change bandages.”

  “You’re right. What I should be doing is training the Champions for their next fights. But I digress.”

  The smile disappeared from my face. During this stupid healing time outside of the cages, it was easy to forget that other people were still down there fighting for their lives every day. Including Harvey and Riley. I couldn’t stop the pang of guilt f
rom creeping up my neck.

  Aiden grabbed a roll of white bandages and walked toward my cot. “I know you’re worried about your friends.” His voice had lost all sarcasm, and his eyes showed nothing but solemnity. I looked down at my lap.

  “I hope you realize that as Prince of Aslan, I have some say in who fights in the Ring of Angels.”

  The feeling of shock had to have been clearly portrayed on my face as I looked up at him. Not only had Aiden saved my life on multiple occasions now, but he was also willing to help protect my friends.

  “Why would you… I mean, how can-”

  “I can’t always control it,” he interrupted, “but because I am the lead trainer, I have a good opinion on who is and is not ready to fight. My father listens to me sometimes, despite what you probably think.”

  I huffed a loud breath, letting a smile creep back into my cheeks. Aiden leaned forward, undoing the bandage that was wrapped around my thigh. “Thank you,” I whispered. I’m not sure if it was the daze of the morning, or my brain slowly deteriorating from all of the punches I had taken in training, but I found myself wanting to talk to him. Confide in him. His presence had become warming recently, even if he did prevent me from escaping just last night. “They don’t belong here. They’re too good.”

  He looked up from the bandages. Something bleak abruptly hung over his features as he met my gaze. His eyebrows were drawn together, eyes dark. Something pulled at my chest as he attempted a weak smile, giving my thigh a reassuring squeeze as he focused back onto his work. I tried to ignore the heat that radiated from his touch.

  Maybe this was a mistake. Making friends with the enemy’s son was never part of my plan. But if it was going to keep the people I loved safe, then so be it.

  ✽✽✽

  With my wounds beginning to heal, I was running out of time. After being out of the cages for almost a week, I had no lead. And since my original plan to save Riley and Harvey was out of question, I had no hope for escape.

  This was bad.

  I waited for Amaris to change my bandages at night before tiptoeing through the darkness, into the same hallway I had seen too many times.

  Disappointment nagged at my chest. I was about to turn around. I was about to give up when I heard the deep, foul growl of a voice. King Xavier’s voice.

  He was arguing with someone, speaking in a hushed voice that traveled roughly through the air.

  “I need more time,” he said. “Just another week or two.”

  I couldn’t hear what the other voice was saying, but it sounded like a mere mumble. Low and dark.

  “I’m getting stronger every day. We’re getting close.” What was he talking about? Close to what?

  I crept closer to the door, needing to hear more. I had suspected the King was up to something evil, I just didn’t know what. Until now.

  My heart was racing as I tiptoed closer.

  I was feet away from the entrance of the room, listening to the voices when the floorboard under my foot gave way to a loud, groaning creak. These damned old floors.

  The King had stopped talking. Did he hear me?

  Rough hands quickly grabbed me from behind, spinning me around and pulling me into a doorway. I was pinned to the wall in the hallway I wasn’t supposed to be in to begin with.

  “What the hell are you doing out here?” I could hardly see anything, but the familiar smell of roses filled the air. Aiden.

  I wasn’t sure if it was my adrenaline from the encounter, or the realization that his face was only inches away from mine, but heat flushed through my body. I found myself grateful for the dark hallway.

  I had opened my mouth to speak, to make up any excuse for sneaking around the castle at night, but a warm hand clasped down on my face.

  “Stay quiet,” he demanded. So I did.

  Only a few seconds went by, but it felt like hours. He pressed me further into the shadow of the wall as the King walked past us, down the hallway and around the corner.

  I could hardly stop myself from sighing in relief as we heard the door slam behind him.

  Once I had recovered from my close encounter, though, my mind started to wrap around what was happening. The Prince had helped me? Was he also trying to spy on the King? And what was the King hiding, anyway?

  “Ruby,” he said in all seriousness. I could still hardly see his face, but his voice was dripping with desperation. “I need you to trust me.”

  Trust him? I didn’t say anything, didn’t even nod as he removed his hand from my mouth. I wasn’t exactly in the position to negotiate.

  He didn’t wait for my reply, anyway. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a dark room just a few doors down.

  The room was dead silent. The only noise traveling through the air was the sound of my breath, shallow and fast. Aiden fiddled with a candle, which eventually flickered to life. I could hardly make out a massive bed in the center of the room, just as dark as everything else in here. A large shelf stacked full of books towered against the wall across from me and a large wooden table was scattered messily with paperwork and ink. The familiar smell was much stronger now.

  Roses. We were in Aiden’s bedroom.

  “Why did you bring me here,” I asked. Why was I whispering? “I can explain, I wasn’t trying to escape or anything.” My hands shook slightly as I walked further into the room, and I clasped them in front of me to keep him from noticing. Weak.

  “I have to show you something,” he replied, ignoring what I just said. “Ever since I saw you use your fire in that first match, I’ve just had this strange feeling about you. Like we were supposed to meet. Here. Now.”

  My breath hardly filled my lungs. The composed, logical Aiden that I had known wasn’t here. Instead, his eyes widened with every rushed word he spoke. He continued.

  “I mean, you can feel it too, right? The energy between us?” I didn’t have to answer. Instead, he covered the space between us and grabbed my shoulders. The same spark rippled through me, and a breath quickly escaped my lips. That was all the confirmation he needed.

  So he felt it, too.

  Maybe I wasn’t as crazy as I thought.

  “I’ve never felt that with anyone before, but after I saw your power, it all made sense.”

  He took a deep breath, pausing from his rant. My stomach flipped as he drew his eyebrows together and glanced down at his hands.

  He was nervous.

  I watched him as he reached his arms out in front of me, palms upward. When I saw the all-to-familiar white flame jump from his palms in the darkness of the room, I gasped.

  He quickly dropped his hands, watching me with wide eyes. He harnessed the magic, too?

  “How is this possible,” I whispered.

  “I don’t know,” he said harshly. I flinched at the aggression in his voice.

  “Sorry, I- Ruby,” he paused. His eyes went soft with the type of expression that made my heart ache. Desperation flooded his eyes. His lovely, bottomless eyes. “I need your help.”

  12 The Prince’s Truth

  Everything started to make sense as Aiden spoke.

  He had the magic, too. Or whatever the hell it was. The only difference was that he didn’t need to be almost dying to access it.

  And he had never killed somebody with it.

  About a year ago, he started getting dreams, he explained. He said his dreams were dark. So dark, that he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. At first, he didn’t think much of it. But they kept coming, over and over again. One night, the day before I arrived at the cages, a woman came to him in one of the dreams with a warning. She said horrible things were coming, and he would have to make a choice.

  He would have to pick a side. And fast. He didn’t understand what the woman meant at first, but he said it was clear to him now.

  While he talked, I noticed the icy feeling of dread tingling in my fingers. This was too much of a coincidence. Our dreams, the flames. What could this possibly mean?

  I wa
s about to cave. I was about to tell him what I knew and about my dreams when he mentioned King Xavier.

  “About the same time I started having the dreams, his behavior changed. He was never overly loving and emotional by any means, but there was a huge increase in the Ring of Angels fights. He became obsessed with death in the most cruel way. When people stopped volunteering, he began kidnapping young men and women for the cause and claiming it was to support the crown.”

  My heart sunk. Is King Xavier even more cruel than he used to be? That would explain the terrifying dreams that I was having. The way my body hated being around him, even the blackness of his eyes seemed to be a reflection of his soul.

  Aiden continued, “but when I asked him about it, when I questioned his actions in any way, he would shut me out completely. I’ve never seen him act this way, Ruby.”

  “Why would he suddenly be more interested in killing people?”

  “I don’t know, that’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.”

  I remembered a part of a book I had read in the library days before.

  The evil that dwells within the forest is one that the gods have seldom encountered before.

  “Can I ask you something?” I asked. He faced me again, his pale skin flickered against the candlelight.

  “Sure, anything.”

  “Your dreams-- does anyone in particular ever speak to you in them?”

  He paused for a second in concentration. “Usually it’s just myself in the darkness, trying to find a way out. I try to talk, but there’s nobody there.”

  The mighty Prince of Aslan, terrified by his own brain.

  “You’re afraid of your own dreams, then?”

  “Yes.”

  He answered quickly. Confidently. When he looked up at me, something deep swam in his eyes. I debated telling him about my dreams. My dreams of golden light, gifted by the gods. The voice of Ophine. The direction and instruction I was receiving. But it was too soon. There was no way I could tell if Aiden was telling the truth, anyway.