"VASH, NO!"
Antonio couldn't believe what he had just seen, but Lilli's shriek of horror from seeing her brother stabbed certainly confirmed it.
He immediately jumped onto the balcony rail, holding onto the pillar he had been standing by, and pointed at the Club Royals so that the guards on the lower floor could see.
"Guards, get in there!" Antonio commanded, "Restrain the Club Royals, and get Jack Vash to safety!"
The guards moved forward as quickly as they could, but Elizaveta cast spells large enough to knock them all away in waves. Ivan summoned the Club Sword, and started killing any guards who got past Elizaveta's magic.
That's when Antonio noticed it.
Roderich was still holding Vash, his right hand holding the dagger in place, and his left hand holding Vash's wrist. There was a glow of magic surrounding where Roderich was holding Vash's wrist. Antonio knew it, and Gilbert once confirmed it: the only magic Roderich should be able to wield is through the Club Jack's Bow.
Antonio's observation was interrupted by Ivan's booming voice.
"Natalya, kill their Ace, and capture the Queen!"
As Natalya started bolting up the stairs, Antonio knew that he had only one choice of action.
"Lilli, we need to run, now!"
He jumped down from the railing and grabbed Lilli's hand, and they ran along the balcony as quickly as they could. As they passed the top of the stairs, Natalya was halfway up, and they narrowly dodged the dagger she threw at them. They rushed down the hallways, trying to make as much ground as they could away from Natalya's flying daggers.
"Into the King's study, Lilli," Antonio ordered as they approached the end of the hallway. Lilli got to the door first, pushing it open and rushing in. Antonio slipped in and shut the door just in time for one of Natalya's daggers to get lodged in the wood. He grabbed the bar and brought it down across the door, blocking entry into the room.
"Antonio, Lilli, what is this all about?" Francis asked, coming around from his desk as they were catching their breaths, "What's happening out there? Who is here?"
"It's Clubs," Lilli explained, "Roderich just killed Vash, and Natalya is after us."
"Elizaveta and Ivan are killing the guards, and Roderich used magic," Antonio added on, "We need to get out of here now."
"Sounds like a Code Juliana," Francis suggested, walking over to the bookshelf.
"Yes, it might be," Antonio confirmed.
"What is a Code Juliana?" Lilli asked, looking back and forth at the two men.
A large bang sounded against the door, and they realized that Natalya was trying to break through. Francis pulled a book forward, before pulling on the shelf it was on. The bookshelf moved forward, revealing a hidden passage.
"Go, get out of here," Francis ordered, holding it open for Lilli to slide through, "Ride to Spades, tell them what has happened."
Once Antonio had also gone through, Francis started pushing the bookshelf back without having gone through himself.
"Francis, what are you doing?" Antonio asked, "Come on through, we can close it from this side."
"No, you go on ahead," Francis insisted, "If this is indeed a Code Juliana, then let me fulfill my duty to you."
"I won't let you do this!"
"Please, Antonio, just go. You need to protect Lilli."
Antonio huffed in defeat.
"Fine. You better get out of this alive, Francis."
"I will send a raven to Spades to tell you I survived. If it's not there by noon tomorrow, summon the Jokers to find out my fate."
Once that had been said, Francis pushed the bookshelf the rest of the way back, leaving Antonio and Lilli in the hidden passage.
"Why isn't he coming?" Lilli asked in alarm.
"He's buying us time to escape. I'll explain later, come along," Antonio said, leading Lilli down the hidden passage. They hit a small winding stairwell, went down it, and found a small door at the bottom. Antonio kicked it open and climbed through, pulling Lilli through it afterward.
"This passage led to the stables?" Lilli asked, noticing they were in one of the horse stalls.
"Yes, and looks like Pierre was left for us," Antonio confirmed, quickly going over to Francis's favourite stallion and opening the gate, "Open the stable doors, Lilli, we'll ride out as quickly as we can."
As Lilli rushed to the doors, Antonio quickly put a saddle onto Pierre's back and led him out of the stall.
"It's chaotic out there," Lilli informed Antonio as she ran back to him, "All the servants and notaries are running amuck."
Antonio quickly lifted Lilli onto Pierre so she could ride side-saddle, before hopping on behind her. With Lilli looped in his arms, Antonio grabbed the reins and spurred the horse into a gallop. They rode through the castle grounds as quickly as they could towards the gate.
"Roderich just saw us," Lilli said as they came around the front of the castle, "He's on the second floor balcony."
"He's going to shoot arrows at us, isn't he?" Antonio asked as they rode across the moat and into the adjacent fields.
"Yes, he's about to fire," Lilli said, stretching her arms around Antonio and putting her chin by his shoulder to see behind, "I'll keep him from hitting us, you lead Pierre into the forest as quickly as you can."
As Antonio focused on the riding, he noticed several glows of orange magic in his peripheral vision. As he turned in the route at one point, he saw that Lilli was casting shields of magic, keeping Roderich's magically enhanced arrows from hitting them. Lilli managed to block one more arrow before she relaxed into Antonio's grip as they entered the tree line.
"Good work, Lilli," Antonio said, "Just keep holding on to me and rest up. I'll get us to Spades, even if we have to ride through the night."
Arthur stood on the balcony overlooking the entrance to the Spades castle, a cup of tea in his hand. He had slept miserably, and even went to the King's quarters to see if cuddling with Alfred would ease his mind. He eventually gave up on his sleep, and was now watching the sun rise.
Arthur's relationship with Alfred had taken several steps over the summer. Once Arthur was able to admit his feelings while sober, it suddenly became easier to tolerate Alfred's presence. Arthur found that it even helped relieve the pressures of being a Queen, as the idiot was there every sunset to help him unwind, whether with cuddling or heavier petting.
Although the Royal pressures had been relieved, it suddenly allowed space for another problem. Over the past week, Arthur had started having strange dreams, and they were only getting worse. His dreams the past night had been the most disturbing yet, leaving him very unsettled.
His thoughts were shortly interrupted by footsteps, so he turned and saw the King approaching.
"My bed was empty," Alfred complained, stretching and yawning, "I could've sworn you came to my room and tried to cuddle with me last night."
"As nice as it is to cuddle with you, love, it didn't help," Arthur replied, "Strange dreams kept waking me up."
"I wasn't able to chase away your nightmares this time?" Alfred asked, wrapping his arms around Arthur and giving a small kiss to the back of his neck, "What could've haunted you so badly?"
"They were filled with death, blood and burnt skin," Arthur recounted, "It felt as though something terrible is about to happen."
"That's not good, hopefully we can keep it under control," Alfred said.
They both remained quiet, watching as the skies filled with rich pinks, oranges and reds before the sun joined it.
"A red sun rises," Alfred muttered.
"Let's just hope it doesn't mean that blood has already been spilled," Arthur added on.
Before turning away to head back inside, Arthur noticed a horse entering the castle grounds, with a rider dressed in orange. As they got closer, he noticed the horse was carrying two people.
"Arthur, that's Lilli and Antonio," Alfred observed, "What are they doing here, and without Francis or Vash?"
"I'm not sure," Arthur said, watching as Lilli stopped the horse in front of the castle and motioned for guards to come help her, "Let's go find out."
With Alfred following him, Arthur left the balcony and wove through the hallways, finding the nearest staircase they could. Once they had descended to the main level, they rushed into the foyer where guards and servants were just helping Lilli and Antonio inside. Antonio was barely conscious, and Arthur could see the shock and exhaustion on Lilli's face.
"Lilli, what happened?" Alfred asked.
"Your Majesties," Lilli bawled, "The Club Royals showed up and attacked us. Roderich killed Vash, and Francis stayed behind to fight Natalya and cover our escape. Antonio rode through most of the night."
"Clubs attacked Diamonds?" Arthur exclaimed in alarm, "That is bad news."
"Francis," Antonio groaned, "He said… if he survived… he'd send a raven … here to Spades… arrive by noon today…. ."
With that said, Antonio's head dropped, and the servants caught him as he blacked out.
"If that raven doesn't arrive," Lilli finished for Antonio, "We need the Jokers to investigate what happened to Francis."
"Get Queen Lilli and Ace Antonio to the guest rooms, they need some rest," Arthur ordered the servants, "Alfred, go wake up the others, we are officially in a state of emergency."