This story takes place between HKT and Blackveil. The idea of the Black Shields turning on Zachary came to me one night and this is the result. I have no idea how long it is going to be, but I'm hoping it will be done before Blackveil comes out.
Everything belongs to Kristen Britain, save for a handful of OCs, which are mine.
...
He was dreaming. That was the only place this would make sense.
He stared through sleep-fogged eyes at Karigan's face, hovering perilously near to his own. One of her hands clasped his mouth shut, the other held a sword to her lips in a sort of macabre shushing motion.
He blinked. Was it a dream? She wore full Rider gear, from the square of plaid beneath her brooch to the saber sheath at her waist. In his dreams, she never wore anything like that. In fact, she rarely even—
She lifted her hand off his jaw and retrieved something at her feet. "Quickly," she hissed, "Change. You're not safe here."
He gazed blearily at the pile of clothes she thrust at him. "What…?" he mumbled.
Her sword slipped into its sheath. "Majesty! Now!"
At her tone, adrenaline poured into his veins and he stumbled out of his bed in a tangle of sheets and nightclothes and bed canopy. As he dressed in the dark, he kept one eye on Karigan, who pressed her ear against the door, listening.
"What is it?" he whispered, tugging the white shirt over his head. These weren't his clothes. He noted gold embroidery on the sleeve: Green Rider.
She turned as he was tucking in his shirttails. "No time. Come with me." Inexplicably, she snapped the canopy shut around his bed and tugged him toward the corner of the room, where cold drafts lingered outside a rectangle of darkness. The Paramour Passage, he fondly called it. It was supposed to be secret.
"How did you know about—"
"Shhh!"
They slipped into the secret hallway just as the regular doors clicked and opened. Together, he and Karigan pushed the false wall, but he stopped her with a motion before it was all the way shut. She frowned at him, but despite her urgency, his curiosity couldn't be ignored.
Apparently, hers couldn't either, and she tucked herself below him and peered into his dark bedroom.
Torchlight from the hallway illuminated the three—no, five—eight—ten black figures as they stepped silently around his canopied bed. He stiffened and watched through startled eyes as they drew their swords. Black bands ornamented the silver blades. Karigan released a trembling breath.
Zachary's eyes widened as his Black Shields raised their swords and, as if in response to a silent command, plunged them through the canopy and deep into the mattress on which he had lain just moments before.