The entire castle shakes, a roar of sound following not unlike that of a full-grown dragon, Ezran thinks, the books that he'd been carrying to the table where Opeli has been reading up on treatisies, falling to the ground.
Opeli rounds the table to his side as another rumble travels through the castle, and Ezran clutches onto Opeli's robes, trying to stay upright.
The books on the shelves are tumbling off them, falling into piles on the floor where they tremble still.
Another explosion rocks the castle and both Opeli and Ezran fall over, and Opeli curls around him, protecting him to the best of her ability as a nearby bookcase falls over and something shatters in the distance.
"What's happening?!" Ezran cries.
"I don't know!" Opeli says, "Oh gods!"
The cry of horror is echoed by a thunderous crack, and the next thing Ezran knows, they are plummeting through the air, falling through to the throne room below.
Both of them are screaming, and Opeli barely manages to grab one of the standards that hang upon the pillars that line the throne room.
They sway in place for a moment, but the fabric can't take both of their weights and it begins to rip, sending them falling again.
Opeli lunges out, and this time she grabs something more substantial, their descent slowing dramatically.
Opeli manages to turn so that she takes the brunt of the impact, the terrible sound of bone breaking and her scream resounding as they hit the floor.
Ezran is jarred from her arms, sent spinning across the floor, a little dizzy but otherwise unharmed.
He immediately looks back and regrets it.
Opeli is crumpled on the ground, one leg twisted in a way that Ezran knows isn't natural, white bone poking out, blood pooling beneath her.
Around them the castle is in chaos, a mix of sound that seems to fade out into the background as Ezran looks at Opeli, who he has known all his life, bleeding out on the floor of the throne room.
Then he stands and runs over to her-he knows basic medical stuff, like what kind of herbs work for fevers and how to apply pressure to stop bleeding and how to theoretically set a bone.
Ezran is not about to stand by while someone he cares about dies.
So he does what he can, and manages to find a set of guards who he sends for proper healers who arrive just as Opeli wakes up, grimacing in pain.
"Is the King alright?" she asks, eyes unfocused, head lolling back as one of the healers, a short red-haired woman with dark eyes, begins bandaging her abdomen.
"His Majesty is fine, thanks to you, councilor," the healer says, "he helped stop most of the bleeding before we arrived."
"Is she going to be okay?" Ezran asks.
"She'll heal in time," another healer, this one with grey eyes and pale blond hair says. Ezran thinks their name is Ennis. "You did well, your Majesty, I'm glad all those times you spent hiding in the healer's wing from the cook paid off."
Ezran winces, but nods. "Me too."
"King Ezran," Gren calls, and Ezran turns to find him jogging towards him.
The commander still has bags under his eyes, a weariness to his bearing that reminds Ezran of how Dad had looked in those last weeks, tired and worn when he thought no one was looking.
"What happened?" Ezran asks.
"King Ezran," Gren says, pausing for a moment before delivering the bad news. "Viren has escaped."