As the passage closed behind her, Rayla felt a chill run down her spine for a few seconds. Pushing it aside, she focused on the human prince she was following, as they wove through a series of tunnels, clambered up and down staircases and ladders, and slipped through gratings. The inside of the castle, and presumably the ground below the castle, seemed to be filled with secret passages. She tried to memorise her route, but it quickly turned into a blur of similar junctions and corridors. Ezran, however, seemed to know exactly where he was going. It vaguely reminded her of tales she'd heard of earthblood elves.
Shaking her head slightly, she paused when Ezran raised a hand, finger to his lips.
They were close.
A moment later, as the faint echoes of their footsteps died away, Rayla could hear the sounds of voices.
"Did you find out why they turned out the guard?" An unfamiliar male voice said.
Another responded. "Yeah. Apparently, that elf tied the prince up in his birthday suit and vanished. Wouldn't have thought Prince Callum would have had it in him."
"Well, you saw how he was looking at her."
"As if. He's not nearly brave enough. She'd snap him in half if he looked at her funny."
"You should have seen the doe-eyed looks she was giving him while they were dancing."
Rayla bristled at that, and almost stepped out of hiding to attack, before remembering that she was here to steal the egg, not beat up guards. Gliding on soundless feet, assisted by the worked leather soles of her boots, she crept towards the plinth, one eye on the guards. She immediately noticed a problem. The egg was casting a soft blue glow over the surrounding area. Even the sort of annoying, gossiping guards she was sneaking up on would notice it disappearing. A blue lantern wouldn't cover it. Overpowering the guards, unless she could do it extremely quietly, would raise the alarm.
She was left with one option.
And it was enough to make her groan internally.
Why couldn't I have been good at magic? She thought to herself, as she carefully studied the egg. I should be able to create some sort of illusory replica, but how long it'll hold... Moon and stars, I wish I had a better bloody option.
Focusing, Rayla created the illusionary egg, settling it over the top of the original.
She reached out for it but found that she could barely move her fingers.
"Ez…" She whispered, gesturing at the egg.
The small human darted forwards, on suspiciously soundless feet, before scooping up the egg and depositing it into a rucksack. They then both retreated. Rayla wondered how long it would take for the illusion she'd created to fade.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
As he slipped into his aunt's chambers, a basket of jelly tarts in hand, Callum was surprised to find that he wasn't alone in the room. His aunt, and his father, were sitting next to a fire, facing away from him.
"Did you catch them?" His father asked, as Callum slid closer to the weapons rack. On it, next to his aunt's broadsword and oversized shield, hung Rayla's blades.
Callum couldn't help but watch their hands.
"We didn't. By the time we reached their location, both of Viren's children were gone, along with his corpse."
"What about our guest?"
"Our guest is slowly recovering." Amaya's lips quirked in a smile. "He's incredibly stubborn."
"How long do you think it'll take?"
"For him to recover? A month, at least. Certainly before he's ready for any strenuous exercise, and that's with…"
"Don't even say the name, even in this room."
"Even with our other guest helping."
"Indeed. How has our guest's latest letter been received at home?"
"She is apparently willing to consider the idea of peace talks, but only if the Queen of the Dragons consents. Reportedly, since…"
"Since the loss of King Thunder and their egg, she's started sleeping more and more. Her caretakers are worried that she will go to sleep and simply never wake up." Harrow completed.
"How…?"
"I have my ways."
"Sarai warned me about those, your Majesty."
"I'm sure she did. What do you think of my plan?"
"You could improve it. Perhaps waiting for our negotiations to bear fruit. I should be able to convince my contact to… agree to some form of face-to-face negotiation, even after your ridiculous rush of blood to the head!"
"It was Viren's idea, more than mine, dear sister. And perhaps it was the stupidest thing I have ever done in my entire life. When the sentry bought news that Moonshadow elves were coming to kill me, I was actually relieved, for a second. Knowing that, for once, human stupidity was going to only rebound on the fool, not his entire race or kingdom. I thought to dismiss the guards, and wait for them in the courtyard, alone and unarmed, but I'd rather go out on my feet."
"Why did you even do it?"
"Because it was becoming clear that Lux Aurea wouldn't even consider peace as long as King Thunder ruled over Xadia and refused it. And, because, deep down, I hated him for killing Sarai."
"And now you plan to send both your heirs into a hostile kingdom, accompanied by a teenage Moonshadow elf, to make some sort of ludicrous peace gesture?"
"It may be the only way to bring peace."
"The only way? We could just as easily present the emissaries from… with the egg and let them do the rest."
"We could. And that might end the war. But it might not. If Queen Zubeia wakes up to find her egg being returned to her by two human princes…"
"She might attack."
"If she were Thunder, I'd expect her to. But, from what little we know, she is the warm sun to his hail. She won't immediately attack, especially if they offer no threat, and only reverence."
"What about the Dragonguard?"
"I think it possible that they were disbanded. I didn't encounter any of them, and nor did… or at least, if the treacherous piece of magical slime did, he didn't tell me about them."
"The elf… she was holding something when we found her."
"I wonder… we need a new Court Mage anyway, and there should be someone in this damn kingdom who can step up to fill Viren's shoes and go through his storerooms."
"I'll make enquiries."
"Oh, and I have a peace offering for you to offer our… conversation partners. It was kept in King Thunder's lair. I bought it with me, as I thought it had power, but after I saw… someone looking back at me, I realised that I had made a terrible mistake."
As they turned to reminiscing about his mother, Callum took the chance to grab the blades from the stand and slip out of the door.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
When he returned to Rayla's room, Callum was unsurprised to find Ez and Rayla already there waiting for him, with a faintly glowing backpack.
"How'd it go?"
"Oh, just dandy. No-one even knew we were there. And I left an illusion behind so they wouldn't realise we'd taken it."
"She was amazing." Ez gushed. "She even let me pick up the egg."
Callum shot Rayla a look at that. She just stared back at him, armed folded, leading on the side of her bed.
"We're goin' to need supplies, you know. If we're planning to go all the way to Xadia. I can forage, but I'm not as skilled as…" she broke off, tearing up.
"We'll go and get some supplies." Callum said.
Suddenly, there was a clangor of bells, starting with the handbell at the guardhouse, and quickly being taken up around the fortress. Rayla muttered something emphatic in a language Callum didn't recognise, before grabbing the bag containing the egg and pulling it on.
"We need to go. Now."
Callum grabbed the bag containing his sketchbook, the primal stone and a draconic dictionary, while Ezran picked up Bait, before all three sprinted into the secret passage behind Rayla's wardrobe.
"I know our way out." Ezran said, before leading them through a series of tunnels under the fortress, some of which were dripping with water. Rayla hesitated before darting through one particularly damp section of tunnel.
It won't collapse on me. It hasn't collapsed on anyone, and it's been here for Moon knows how long.
And then they began running away from the castle, with a stolen dragon egg on their backs, looking to just make as much ground as possible before stopping.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
When they stopped for the night, Rayla, somewhat dimly, took a look at their supplies.
"So, we have one half-drunk vial of moonberry juice, a handful of squashed jelly tarts, a few sweets, a squashed pie, and three paper wraps of sugared nuts."
"That seems to be the case." Callum responded, somewhat despondently. "We should be able to pick up some supplies at the Banther Lodge, though. And there's some sort of magic item there that might help."
"Oh, ok. You want to go to one of the first places that everyone will look for us, so we can collect up whatever's in the kitchens, and some magical trinket."
"Why would they look there?"
"Oh, I dunno. Maybe because it was where the pair of you were supposed to go anyway, and it's close to the castle, and there might be supplies there. Or because it's good shelter close to the castle. Or maybe just because the universe hates me."
"Why do you think the universe hates you?"
"You don't? I go from being an assassin on the biggest mission going, to being nearly killed by my own uncle for being too nice. And then I go to redeem myself, and end up killing my own kin, to save some human king who literally turned the King of the Dragons to stone! And then I get chained up in some stupid dungeon and nearly used as spell components to resurrect a dead human! And you think I'm not cursed by the damned universe or something?"
"Shh!"
"Oh, you're going to shush me, are you! I suppose you think being a human and a prince gives you that right!"
"No, I don't!" Callum responded, as Rayla balled her fists on her hips. "That's a ridiculous thing to say. I'm your friend, Rayla. And there are probably already soldiers searching for us, so keep it down."
"Oh, you don't want to be found out in the woods in the company of an elf!"
"No, that's not what I…"
"Oh, so what did the genius human mean, then?"
"If they find us, at best, you'll get thrown in a dungeon for kidnapping us and stealing the dragon egg. At worst, we get thrown in a dungeon, and something worse happens to you. My dad is a reasonable guy, for a king, but he has a temper."
"Oh." Rayla responded, the anger seeping out of her as she processed Callum's words.
"So, if we can please stop jumping to conclusions, let's sleep for the night, and then we can head for the Banthar lodge in the morning."
Rayla glared at him, before wrapping herself in her cloak, and apparently going to sleep almost immediately.
Callum sighed, before waiting for Ezran to fall asleep, still clutching the egg.
Even if he did like Rayla, and perhaps even liked Rayla, he didn't fully trust her yet. And that meant that he wasn't going to leave her alone with Ez and the egg.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
After Callum had fallen asleep, a silent shadow drifted into the camp, crossing over to Rayla on silent feet. It hovered for a moment, brushing hair away from her face.
"You were always going to do the right thing." The shadow whispered to himself. "Vincula mortis iniuste adhibebantur. Innocentium mortes poscunt. Dimitte officium."
The bands around Rayla's wrists turned a brilliant, shining white, luminating the hidden campsite, before the glow disappeared. They fell away from her wrists.
"Bi gu math, leanabh mo pheathar. Gun toir do aislingean thu gu cagailt bhlàth fo ghealach bog." He whispered, before disappearing as silently as he came.
AN: Well, that was a longer delay than I had originally planned for this story.
Covid, lockdowns and assorted life things got in the way, as did finding the thread of where I wanted the story to start heading, and getting it on a track to there.
My muse has not cooperated.