Soldier in Blood Splattered Uniform
Chapter 9
Upon entering the room, Walter practically burst into song.
"You did it! All of you! Together!" he beamed.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Walter," Toby said, lounging on the tattered furniture, making himself at home. "It's easy, so long as Skye stops being a brat for two seconds."
Skye didn't know whether to glare at him or flip him off.
Looking slightly alarmed, Walter decided to ignore their squabble. "Page, this is Toby, the prince."
"Oh great, another royal," she said, seizing him up.
Toby grinned sarcastically, baring his teeth to Page. Surprising, she also had a smile on her face. Sort of. The corners of her mouth were ever so slightlyupturned, and to Skye, that constituted a smile in Page's book. She must have been happy.
"You know, for a princess, you're actually a decent person," Page said.
Skye was positively stunned. "Oh, thanks."
"I knew you two would get along in the end," Walter chortled, the corners of his eyes crinkled in happiness, and also a slight hint of relief.
Page rolled her eyes. "Thank you for taking an interest in my social life. But, we have bigger problems -"
Walter nodded. "Reaver."
Page fists clenched, her eyed clouding with anger. "Apparently, there have been some strange goings onat his secret parties."
Ben raised an eyebrow. "Strange goings on?"
"Some guests go in, but don't come out," Page said.
Ben snorted. "They're probably just fulfilling Reaver's sexual needs, they're probably still there in some weird sex dungeon or something."
"My men have been kidnapped!" she snapped. "I'm fairly certain they wouldn't stroll in to be a part of Reaver's sexual needs, as you put it."
Ben coughed as he tried to make his laughter subside. "Are you a hundred percent sure –"
"Yes!" she hissed, turning her back on Ben to ignore him. "We sent men to Reaver's mansion, to investigate and they haven't returned. We're going to rescue them."
Skye inhaled a sharp breath and almost choked on it. "Us? Won't we be putting ourselves in danger?"
Page frowned. "These people need saving. And Reaver needs to be stopped. Our safety comes second."
Skye immediately regretted what she's said. Worrying about herself in a time like this seemed incredibly selfish. How could she ever be a good ruler if all she cared about was her own wellbeing? It runs in the family.
"Y-yes, of course," Skye stumbled, trying to get her words out quickly. "It's important we save them."
Page gave a small smile, however she quickly changed her face to a neutral expression when she realised. "You'll also need this." Page handed Skye a brown package.
Skye crinkled the package – inside was some sort of material.
"Great! Where's my costume?" Ben piped up. Page glared daggers at him. "What? I can't come? Honestly, I never have any fun around here."
Toby lifted his head, "I always knew you loved wearing dresses, Benjamin."
"We can go try some on together, Toby, since we're not allowed to party with these," Ben grinned.
Page cleared her throat. "Now, everyone out. I have a party to dress for."
Ben smirked. "I'll stay here to make sure no-one spies on you."
Suddenly, Skye felt her stomach churn.
"Everyone. Out." Page ordered.
Skye followed everyone else as they left the room, but she felt like she could upchuck the contents of her stomach at any moment. Why did she feel like this?
Skye quietly stared at Ben, trying to understand the surge of emotions that were rushing through her.
Ben continued to smirk. "What?"
Skye shook her head. "Nothing." She marched quickly out of headquarters, heading for the nearest pub.
Skye looked in the mirror. She looked amazing - if amazing constituted looking like a fat armadillo being stuffed into a toilet paper tube.
Partying at Reaver's mansion may prove difficult providing she could barely breathe. She was in two minds whether to ask Page for a change of outfit, but any extra effort might just make her eyes pop out of her skull. She wondered how she would ever get it off her body, as it seemed currently that all its patterns and frills were indented in her skin.
As quickly as she could, Skye made it to the mansion.
After hours of bone-achingly painful fighting, courtesy of Reaver, they exited the wretched mansion and were accompanied by sunlight.
"You're actually a nice person." Page puffed, strained from the battle with the balverines.
Skye smiled at this small compliment. It meant a lot, especially coming from Page. At first, Page was reluctant to trust Skye, her being the princess and all. But lately she seemed to grow fond of Skye - in the only way Page can achieve.
"And you really do want to help the people of Albion," Page continued. "You're nothing like your brother."
Page gave a wheezy cough. "So I'll join you if you promise that when you become queen, you'll stop the people being exploited."
Sounds fair enough. Skye promised.
They both shook hands, and swiveled around when they heard the sound of bells.
"Everyone to the castle, King Logan has got an important message," the Town Crier shouted, his hat slightly disheveled.
Page looked concerned. "That's never good," she said. "You go to the castle, Ben'll be there as well."
One on one missions with Ben, it sounded slightly daunting when she thought of it like that. It isn't like that, Skye reminded herself. He was buddies with her brother, whom she was unable to tolerate at the current moment, meaning Ben was off limits. She hoped. Or did she?
She was at the castle in less than no time, and it felt... odd. This had been her childhood home. She had great memories of running around in the gardens with Toby, playing wizards with James, storytime with Logan and combat practice with Walter. And the bad memories - she broke her leg when she fell out of a tree, aged eleven; being woken up for school in the mornings. Funnily enough, she had no good memories with her mother or father. Their space in her mind was reserved for fragments of ugly flashbacks, and bad memories alone.
She hadn't opened up to anyone about the Royal family secrets. Well, Skye had never had any close friends, and obviously her siblings already knew. She had already wondered, even if she did have a best friend, would she ever tell them? Probably not. The truth was just... horrifying. There was a reason nobody knew.
Skye easily spotted Ben, due to his bright red soldiers uniform. Probably not the best idea. He nodded, his shoulders tight with tension, as he acknowledged her presence.
Logan's deep voice boomed from above them. "Traitors walk among us." Logan said, in his usual deep voice. Skye peered up to look at him - his sunken eyes were tinged with red. Accompanied by the puffy bags under his eyes, she wondered if he'd gotten any sleep at all since she left.
"They plot to end us." Logan seemed to look directly at them. "Traitors would have you believe that their cause is noble. They wear many masks. They may look like your friends." He paused as some of the Royal Guard came out holding a figure.
Skye gasped. It was Major Swift.
"They may even look like your most loyal servants."
Her stomach twisted into knots; she fought hard not to scream. Her head pounded and she quickly became dizzy. How dare he.
"This is the face of a traitor."
Ben's eyes swelled with tears. "Swift."
Swift didn't look at them, he just stared into the crowd. He didn't even try looking for them, yet he didn't seem like he was avoiding them. It seemed like he didn't even know who they were. He wasn't acting like Swift.
"He has been plotting against us," Logan sneered. "He was found trying to turn loyal soldiers against us. And is thus charged with espionage, treason and conspiracy."
And then it happened. Logan's eyes scanned the crowd and landed directly on Skye. her heart imploded into a million little pieces. This was it. She knew it was over. All those gruelling months of building up their own army, and getting everyone's hopes up, all for nothing.
Only... he did nothing. Logan knew she was there - Skye could tell. The way his pupils widened as he spotted her, and his shoulders sagged with what seemed like sadness. However he made the conscious decision to leave her where she was.
"Yet, there are still others darkening our land with their betrayal," he paused. "We shall hunt these traitors down." Skye flinched and recoiled.
"And they shall suffer the same fate as Major Swift," Logan said as the guard pointed a gun at Swift's head.
Bang.
Skye felt as if the whole world was closing in on her. She was shaking. This was a decent and honourable man, and he had been brutally murdered by her own brother.
"He has to be stopped," Ben breathed, tears threatening to fall. They walked outside the palace grounds, and sat down in a Bowerstone alley, Skye letting Ben cry on her shoulder.