Hi people! Officer Avery Simons is in this chapter. If you have read the Guard, then you know exactly who he is.
All rights to Kiera Cass!
Love you amazing readers!
Chapter Twenty One
Zeena's POV
I walked into Celeste's torture chamber, thinking I would find her as she usually was—in the corner, covered in bruises and bloody scars; barely alive, let alone conscious. She didn't deserve this. No one, good or bad, deserved to be repeatedly tortured every day. She was always so bloody and disheveled. Her hair would be tangled, sweaty, and all over the place; Her eyes were blood shot and watery; Her face was deformed from the lashing it took; and her once-beautiful and curvaceous body was starved and covered with fresh blood, scars, bruises, puss from infection, and dirt.
At first I had thought that this torture was a good idea. She was unkind, selfish, conceited, and had lied about her virginity to the palace. She was a dirty and unwanted girl in our minds, and although we knew that the prince liked to have 'fun' with her, and that she was an asset in the Selection when we needed the prince to look bad, she was the least important girl when it came down to who would be queen. Kriss was on our side ever since her fight with Maxon and the ruined first kiss, but whether she knew it or not, the rebels were not there to help her become royalty. We wanted another girl—specifically one with fiery red hair to take the crown. America was perfect; Especially after the philanthropy projects were broadcasted on the Report. We knew that if America really did feel that way, we wouldn't have to intervene as and kill as much as before. She would change things for the better. She would give both rebel groups exactly what they wanted whether she knew it or not. She was a rebel without even knowing it yet. She had the same views as us in the North, she knew the hardships faced by the lower castes or the unwanted. She had all of the values of a great new leader, and that's what we wanted: new leaders, no caste system, and the ability to travel wherever we needed to go inside or out of the country.
Kriss may have thought that she could do what America could, but her loyalty to the royals, especially to the king, made us worry. We hated King Clarkson. His inhumane and dictatorial ways made the country suffer in so many ways; we could not keep a tally anymore. He used up most of the queen's money for her charities, including the ones that helped educate the lower castes and feed them, and spent it on more military machinery and personnel. He has also made the castes more divided and harder to move into than any other King Illea has ever had. He manipulates people into believing he is good, and while they aren't looking he beats his own kin. Kriss had turned a blind eye to this, thinking only of hurting Maxon and America instead of focusing on the main problem—the king.
Her blatant disregard for the king made us believe that she was unfit for the title of queen. Her only goal was to avenge that stupid kiss, not to help us change the country. She was almost as narcissistic as Celeste.
I shook my head, walking farther into the room. Then, as I looked around, I realized something. Our prisoner wasn't here.
"Sound the alarms!" I yelled out as loud as I could, "Lady Celeste is gone!"
Officer Simon's POV
It wasn't like I planned on infiltrating a rebel camp today. Prince Maxon had said to scout the woods for any footprints or broken tree limbs and to follow them. I did as commanded. I followed northeast, at least twenty kilometers from the palace, and finally, the broken branches and footprints stopped. It confused me how one second I could have a trail on our targets, and the next I could be stuck in an abandoned area of the woods with nothing to go by. I started searching for anything that could lead me towards the rebel camp, when I noticed a lever on the ground. I ran over to what looked like a trap door in the ground and pulled the handle. Quietly, I took my shoes off, so I would not make any noise when I walked, and I climbed down around forty rungs on a ladder. My feet hit the ground after a minute or so, and I quickly and agilely ducked into a shadowed area for cover.
I was in an underground cavern by the looks of it. It sort of looked like the one I knew and loved back home in Kent. The locals there knew it as its old name—Mammoth Cave—but the name was unknown by most outside of our province. It had been since Gregory Illea took over seventy years ago. This cave was a lot smaller in every way, but what it lacked in Mammoth's height, it gained a bit it width. Small, three-foot wide passage ways led to different areas of the camp, but I could tell that beyond those small corridors were large and airy rooms.
When we were recruited into the military, every guard in the palace had to undergo extensive training, including investigative. We learned how to tell if a person was in a room, how to know if the room held an object, different ways to find clues in cases where we needed to track people, and much more.
This whole cavern felt open, almost fresh. I could tell by the way the sound carried that they didn't store much down here. People's voices echoed from every side of the passages. Sound was not blocked by absorbers such as cushions or cabinets. That gave me some clues to point me in the right direction. They didn't sleep on beds. Most likely, they had roll up mats, so they could carry them everywhere and leave at a moment's notice, but also so they could hear if there was an intruder…like me. If they did hear an intruder though, they wouldn't come through this main entrance. There had to be other ways out.
Because we always learned that it is better to think of your enemy as smarter than you, I decided that I would give them the benefit of the doubt. They were clever, so they knew that the best way to keep a prisoner in, and still be able to get out at a moment's notice was to keep them in the most confined and smallest area. I turned toward the four paths in front of me. Automatically, I knew which one was right. Inching my way around hanging stalactites , I crossed to the second tunnel from the left side. It was smaller than the rest in every way, and judging by the air and the way it smelled, it was the only room that was hard to get into.
That one room must have been used for an infirmary or a torture chamber, because it smelled like blood and burnt metal. My heart raced. Was my Celeste in there? Would I be the one to save her? It almost seemed fair, like poetic justice, that I would be the one honored with finding her. No one knew of the affair we had in the palace, but if they did… well I was sure that the guards would laugh and applaud me at this irony. I slid through the narrow space and bent my head down so I could watch for any loose pebbles or rocks on the cavern floor. One misstep, one faulty move, and I knew I would be taken as a prisoner or even killed.
I entered the chamber on the other side of the tunnel and almost puked at the ransid smell. It was a pungent mixture of stale air, blood, waste, vomit, and sweat. I looked to the ground and searched for Celeste. When I saw a small lump in the corner of the room, I gasped. There laid the girl I used to know as Celeste. Unconscious or dead, I couldn't tell. I stared in shock and held back the tears I knew were forming in my eyes.
"Celeste," I whispered, drawing nearer to her, "Celeste, please."
Nothing. I scooped her up in my arms and kissed her forehead. It was cold and covered in blood, but I still had hope that maybe she was alive. I hugged her to my body and stood up.
"It's time to get you out of here, sweetheart."I murmured, nudging my nose against her hair and kissing her again on the cheek.
Carefully cradling her to me, I fit us through the opening and towards the stairs. I was almost there when I heard the shout.
"Shit," I said under my breath, "Hold on Celeste, we're in for a bumpy ride."
"Don't worry! Don't worry. Hang on. Please, god, please! Celeste, please you need to hang on. We're almost there. We're almost there."
I was running not just for my life, but for Celeste's as well. Gun shots sounded all around me and it was hard to concentrate on what was in front of me.
How did I find her?
That was my only thought. How had I found her? How had I found the one girl they made sure to hide in a spot they knew no one would ever find? Was it cheesy that I thought it was our love that brought me to her? Screw it, I didn't care if it was or wasn't, that was what I believed.
I picked up my pace, breathing heavily as I did so. I was pushing myself to my limit, but what else could I do to save her?
"One more kilometer, babe, then we're home free. Just hold on for me. Hold on."
She hadn't stirred yet, but I was beginning to think that she was just unconscious. The worst possible outcome of this in my mind—she could have been comatose, but at this point, I could feel a steady heartbeat when she pressed into me as I ran. I was not going to cause her any more trauma than she had already faced.
A few rebels had followed us with semi-automatics, but I was hoping that their aim wasn't as good as my ability to run faster than most men in this country. I wove between trees, under branches, over small holes in the ground, trying to lose my tails, but they just came after us at a stronger pace. I couldn't shake them to save my life, and finally, when I was so close to making it back without a scratch to my side, a gunshot went off, and I felt something in my side. I bit down a cry of pain and kept going. If I didn't get her inside and back to safety, she would be captured again.
After maybe three minutes of sprinting the palace was in view. Sighing with relief, I gave my legs one last push and flew through the doors, running as fast as I dared toward the hospital wing.
"I have her! I have Lady Celeste!" I shouted, bolting through the doors.
Every head in the room turned toward me and the dying girl in my hands and almost every doctor available rushed over to us.
"Andie, check her vitals. Joseph, get a bed ready. Tams, I need sterile wipes, disinfectant, and cotton balls. Taylor, I need an IV drip and an OR ready to go. She might need surgery. Lily, you're in charge of the blood bags. We need a lot, so try for O negative. That's the most compatible blood type there is for her here. Molly, why don't you get Officer Simon's a drink? And fetch the prince while you're at it. They should know what's going on." Doctor Lawerence said, "Don't worry, Celeste. You're in good hands."
I believed every word he said. I knew he would do a great job and fix my girl, but the pain in my side was killing me, and I couldn't hold her anymore.
"Doctor," I said, starting to shake, "take her from me, NOW!"
He ran to me and took Celeste out of my arms.
"What is it, Avery?" he asked, setting Celeste down on her newly- made bed.
When I knew she was okay, I screamed. Had I held my agony in that long? My muscles tensed, and in an instant, I was on the ground convulsing.
"Avery! Avery!"
My hands shot to my side. Something was seriously wrong. It felt sticky and something hard was lodged in next to one of my ribs.
"Ah!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
My hand fell to the ground, aligning itself in my range of sight. It was covered in blood. My vision was becoming tunneled.
"What's going on in here?!" someone shouted, bursting through the doors.
"Avery, I mean Officer Simons..." the voices muffled together, but I could understand most of it. Prince Maxon and Lady America were here and yelling at the doctor. It seemed that my blood was slowly occupying more and more tiles on the floor. I rolled around shaking.
"P-p-prince Max—" I choked out.
"Yes? Yes, officer, I am here." He rushed over to me and grabed my hand.
I shuddered. If I was right, it was too late to save me. I took a deep breath.
"Watch over her for me. Tell her I love her. Her life means more than mine does any day, and right now…" I coughed, blood spraying out of my mouth, "right now, I know she needs the doctors more than I do."
"Don't say that, Avery!" Lady America said shakily, "We will help you."
I turned my head to the side and it was met with blood. I closed my eyes and shuddered.
"I believe it is too late." I said coughing some more, "I'm sorry, Prince Maxon. I wish to tell you one more—"
"Please. Don't say any more. You will be honored. I will make sure the whole country knows your name."
"But sir," I choked out, "the place I found her."
I could feel him squeeze my hand tighter.
"Yes?" he asked in a very anxious tone.
"Northeast. Twenty kilometers, maybe a bit more. It is underground, sir. A cavern. You'll need to be careful. There are multiple entrances and exits, so scout the area before attacking. As you can see, they have guns." I laughed, causing my throat to gurgle with blood.
My last words. I thought, Better choose them wisely.
I pushed out the very last words I could muster up.
"You will be a great king—the greatest."
I shook once more, not feeling the pain any longer, and slowly let my last breath out.
Good-bye, my Celeste. I thought as darkness, and then blinding light swallowed me whole.
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-Property of Illea