Chapter 26

Queen Courtney

Courtney was sitting in her room; she was trying to regain strength from what happened a few days ago with her husband, Levi. Tobias had come twice a day to meet her and talk about the plan they were making and would go into action tonight.

So, far Tobias had been right; she treated Levi much better, did what he told her to do, and smiled around him. After that, Levi treated her much better and started to tell her everything, even what he was planning to do to Glidonia.

She made sure to remember them whenever she told Genevieve and Derek in person; Levi had totally been convinced that Courtney was like him and now wanted to take over the kingdom.

"Hello Courtney, my dear, how are you today?" Said Levi while giving her a kiss on the cheek; as much as Courtney didn't like it, she had to let him kiss her because if not, he would suspect something.

"I'm good dear Levi; what about you?" she asked him.

"I've been doing good, darling, just tired; also, I have a meeting in about five minutes; what I hate most about that is that it will last two hours." Said Levi.

"But in the end, everything will all be perfect." Said Courtney.

"I should be heading that way already; I'll see you later, my dear Courtney." He said and kissed her, and left.

Courtney felt scared of what would happen if he found out what she was doing, but it was for her home in Glidonia. She heard someone opening the door but didn't turn, thinking it was probably Levi again and he had probably forgotten something, but instead, it was Tobias.

"Courtney, are you ready?" asked Tobias.

"Yes, but are you sure everything will be fine? I've been doing what you said for a few days, and now he completely trusts me, I think." She said as he nodded.

"While you rescue Kathleen, I'll get us a carriage; I'll just say I want to go for a ride. Since I'm doing what you told me, he lets me do more things independently and doesn't suspect anything. But you'll come with us, right?" she asked him.

"I don't know if I should, Courtney?" he told her.

"But…Tobias, he'll suspect that you had something to do with it, and then he'll torture or even kill you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, you've helped us so much, and you are still so young; you have a lot to live for. Your barely 16 years old; you have a lot to live for." She said as he listened to her.

"Please, Tobias come with us; my father and Derek won't reject you when you tell them everything about your brother. How you had no idea what he was doing and that he tricked you and even blackmailed you, they'll believe you; please, I don't want anything to happen to you because of me." She told him as he nodded.

"Alright, I'll go with you, Courtney; just be prepared; our plan goes into action now." Said Tobias.

As time ticked by, there was no time to waste; every minute counts; Courtney saw Tobias leave the room and started to head right; after that, the door closed, and Courtney grabbed her coat and headed out to go find a carriage. She had to be careful to make sure no one saw her because her plan wouldn't work if they did.

When she made it in, she quickly started to look for a carriage that Tobias had told her about; they hardly used it, so no one would notice it gone. She searched for it, but it was hard to look for it, she thought she looked everywhere until….

She stepped on a small square tile then a secret passage opened. She entered a small room filled with many pictures of the past wars of Thraas and how they managed to win all the battles.

Courtney was shocked to see this; they would win the wars basically by cheating and sending the soldiers who would fight. But they didn't really fight; they had more men in the underground hideouts and would attack the other soldiers from underground while they were sleeping, catching them totally off guard below and above.

It all made sense how Thraas would always win; they didn't have a legend like most people thought; they just cheated. They killed without mercy at any time of the day; they did not have an honorable and fair battle. Courtney feared her family; if they had done this in the past, what would stop them from doing it again,

'I have to find that carriage and get out of here with Tobias and Kathleen; I have to warn Derek and Genevieve.' She thought.

Courtney rushed out and started to look for the carriage again; finally, when she found it, she quickly examined it to make sure that no one was inside; when she turned around, she felt a pair of arms go around her waist.

Prince Tobias

He had to work fast and get Kathleen out; when he made it close to the dungeons, he saw some guards, and he had to think of something quickly to distract the guards. He remembered last time what happened; he knew now that the guard won't let him in without having to consult his brother first.

Then remembered that he was smaller; he and his brother would always play there without their parents knowing because princes weren't allowed to play there. They would always take a secret passageway; it was near the entrance of the dungeons.

They had to step into one of the tiles to open the walls; they quickly found it stepped on it, and went inside. Then another door opened; he looked up to see that he was at the bottom of the stairs and passed the guards that blocked the beginning of the stairs.

He quickly went to the cell where they kept Kathleen; he saw the little girl frightened and hugging her knees while her head was on top of her knees.

"K-Kathleen?" The little girl looked up as he called her name and got up from the floor.

"Yes? Tobias, is that you? How's Courtney?" asked Kathleen, worried.

"Yes, it's me; your sister is fine soon, you'll be with her, but first, we need to get you out of here." Tobias tried to find something to open the door, but he knew the only thing that would open the door would be the key.

Then he remembered what Courtney taught him, and he quickly returned with Kathleen.

"Kathleen, do you have a bobby pin that I can borrow?" Kathleen quickly put a hand in her hair and sound not one but five bobby pins, then she gave them to Tobias.

"Thanks." Tobias quickly grabbed them and then started picking up the lock; it took three tries, but he finally got it; he opened the door, and out came princess Kathleen.

"Thank you so much, Tobias." She said as she embraced him in a hug.

"You're welcome now; let's get going; your sister will be happy to see you." Tobias leads the princess to the stables where queen Courtney was supposed to meet them; when he sees her, he turns to Kathleen.

"Look, there's your sister." He watched as Kathleen saw he sister and raced to hug her, and he saw as Courtney turned around to return the hug; she looked happy to see her sister again.

Tobias sometimes wished that he and his brother were close as Courtney was with her sisters.

"Thank you, Tobias, for bringing me, my sister." Said Courtney.

"You're welcome, Courtney; come on, we should get going; Levi's meeting could be over any minute now." Said Tobias.

"You're right, so let's go," said Courtney as she got inside the carriage with Kathleen, while Tobias put on his disguise as a coachman and started driving the carriage.

"Courtney makes sure you hide Kathleen well until I tell you to." Said Tobias.

"Ok, Tobias." She said.

As Tobias passed the gates that led to their village, he made sure to not make a lot of noise since everyone was asleep now. It was already eight o'clock when he saw it was safe; he told Courtney that she and Kathleen could stop hiding now.

All they had now was a long ride to Glidonia; even though they were the closest to Glidonia, it would still take them about four weeks to get there; they prayed that they'd be able to get there safely, and with that, they vanished into the woods.