The Queen (3 POV)

The hall was lit just enough to see a young boy darting through them. He stops at the kitchen and helps the cook and a few servants collect travel supplies before telling them to get to the stables as fast as they can. Once he passes off the message, he is off again, darting through the halls looking for the queens’ midwives. He ran for a while through the dimly lit halls before finding them and some slaves heavy with bags, making their way slowly to the stables.

“Come on, hurry,” the boy yells grabbing a few bags to lighten their load as he starts to lead them at a faster pace to the stables.

“Jace… is there time for us?” one of the midwives asks besides the boy slightly out of breath. Jace, the boy born and raised in the castle, that worked in the kitchen, simply smiled at the woman.

“Do not worry, Mama Grey, we will make it,” Jace reassures the older woman, the one that helped his mother give birth and raise him after she passed. The other two midwives smile at the nickname of the other, even as they turn into the hall for the stables, just in time to see Veatrice opening the stable doors. Jace runs to the carriage smiling at the queen and her children before holding the door open for the midwives, cook, and a few of the older servants and slaves. The two male slaves, that had helped Veatrice open the doors, jumped on the back of the carriage with Jace. The guards, in the drivers’ seat, slowly pull the carriage out of the open doors.

“Go I will catch up,” Jace hears Veatrice yell as she starts to close the door behind the carriage. The guards pick up speed as the sound of fighting increases. Jace looks to the door just as Veatrice closes it. The guards push forward faster as the sound of foot soldiers and the sight of torches come closer.

“Jace, get ready. We may have a fight on our hands soon,” the younger of the slaves says as he stands with a sword in hand.

“Arin, try not to scare the boy,” the other older slave says as he also stands at the ready. Jace looks at the road behind them as the carriage slows a bit before speeding up again. The carriage pushes past what Jace could only describe as a massacre. Bodies of enemy soldiers litter the ground just after the hill, all slain not a few minutes ago from what Jace could tell, as he watched blood still pooling from the corpses. Jace jumps from the carriage just before the willow trees running to the wall. As he approaches, he sees that it is not solid, so he waves to the guard still on the carriage before passing through. The carriage passes through not long after, just as Jace sees enemy soldiers crest the hill behind them. Jace prepares to run back through to defend his queen when the grinding of stone stops him. He steps back watching the stone wall solidify cutting off his vision of the soldiers and protecting them from the enemy. The guards had stopped just before the fork in the tunnels, lighting more torches and handing them out to the servant and slaves that exited the carriage to walk. The carriage slowly makes its way through the tunnels, taking a right at the fork, with the queen calling out directions.

“Two rights and then the third left. Make sure to be careful, there are creatures and it is very easy to get lost in here,” Jace hears the queen say from inside the carriage. Jace follows on foot with a torch, making sure to stay by Arin and the other slave, behind the slow-moving carriage. The guards follow the directions with one in the driver’s seat and the other guiding a few feet in front of the carriage. It was not long before everyone with the carriage enters a carven filled with pale moonlight. The ceiling was barely there letting moonlight spill into the cavern, lighting up the waterfall, its’ basin, and the small meadow there. On the other side of the meadow was another opening to more tunnels.

“We will set up camp and rest until night falls again to leave,” one of the guards states as he drives the carriage up to the crystal-clear waters of the basin. Jace and the other slaves and servants help the cook set up camp and prepare food. The midwives and guards set up the queen and her children beside some fires, in between the carriage and the waterfall. Jace brings the queen some food for herself and her children.

“Thank you. I saw what you did and it was very brave Jace,” Queen Izabella says to Jace, smiling at him.

“You are welcome my Queen,” Jace replies bowing before going to get his own meal. Soon the meals and dishes are done and everyone had settled for the night, or should Jace say morning, as the lights of dawn begin to fall through the ceiling. The guards set up a watch rotation with Arin and the other male slaves before falling asleep. It was going to be a long journey for everyone in the coming days.