Chapter 67

 

This chapter has been copied from the original and may contain typos and grammatical errors.

~*~

Montoya caught the attention of the next guard to come past Gloria’s door and assigned them to guard her door, giving the same directions that he had been given.

He tried to act nonchalant, something that he had perfected over the years of seeing all sorts of things pass by his eyes. He quietly tried to make things better by pulling small strings from the shadows, slipping keys here, moving information there. When he had aided Liam, it had been his largest act of rebellion he had ever committed, but now it was time for him to firmly take a side, and to show where his allegiance truly lied.

He had heard word from the rebellion. Lady Krista had heard news in the capitol that the heir had been found and recovered, and the rebels had formed their plan. They were going to make their move in the next few days, hoping to save Seneca and kill the king, but they cared for no one else’s lives. It was a coup, after all; they only cared for themselves and their goals.

He quietly and calmly put on his jacket and boots for the cold outside, and walked to the trio’s cabin. He knocked on the door three times, and made sure to stand where he could be seen from the window.

The door opened for him. Anwyn was cooking in the kitchen, and Romeo was helping set the table. Liam stepped back from the door, looking expectantly at Montoya.

“We have two days to be ready,” he said.

“Two days?!” Romeo and Anwyn said in unison. Romeo stopped putting dishes down mid-motion, and Anwyn spun around from the stove.

“Yes, two days. The rebellion heard that Gloria was at the palace, so they’re worried their position will be compromised and their window of opportunity will vanish. If we don’t act within the next two days, everyone in the palace could be killed or taken prisoner. We have to get Gloria out during the chaos while they attack. Any sooner and we’ll be caught, any later and she’ll be assassinated.”

(I love this picture)

Anwyn went pale, eyes defocusing, and Liam and Romeo went quiet.

Liam cleared his throat, “Well, I guess we need to pack up and act like we were never here. Do you have any weapons we can borrow?”

“I have a whole armory full. That won’t be a problem.”

Anwyn’s hands drifted to her stomach, and it didn’t look like she was simply hungry.

~*~

Dawn came, and the household started to move again. It felt… odd, but Illia couldn’t put her finger on it. Several key minds were asleep, so she couldn’t read them, but she didn’t have much need for that anymore, did she? They were all so predictable. She had them under her thumb like a pin in paper.

Stretching and putting on her best smile, she walked up to the king’s office, letting herself in.

“What are you doing in here?!” the king asked on edge. “You’re not allowed in spaces that you haven’t been invited into.”

“That’s a vampire, love, not me. I find myself in all sorts of situations. I have some very… interesting news for you,” she said with a smirk.

“You may be able to see things, but I doubt you know anything I don’t already know.” He looked back to his ledger.

“Do you know who’s in your dungeon?” she asked innocently.

The king looked up at her, wrinkles drawn all over his face. “And I suppose you do?”

She sat down in one of his chairs, relishing the moment. She loved watching empires fall. “He’s your son, the true heir, son of King Galant and Queen Rosa.” She said each word as if revealing a winning hand of cards.

The king’s eyes narrowed. “The queen wasn’t pregnant when she was placed in exile. You lie.”

“I rarely lie, darling. Have you seen him? He looks a bit like you - a good mix of his mother and father, from what I hear - but I honestly don’t see much of a resemblance myself. But I can tell you with certainty that he is your son.” She stood from her chair and stalked over to his desk. “And here’s where the fun bit is. I have Lucian Blake’s hair, I have your son’s hair, and you are a powerless old man. I am going to claim the throne, like I have been trying to do for the last three generations, and I’m going to take your son as my husband, the true heir, making me the most powerful woman in the known world.”

He looked at her as if she were mad. “The prisoner in my dungeon can’t be my son. Lucian would have recognized him if he were. I don’t believe you,” he didn’t seem as certain now. How could the seer be so calculative of a plan if it were all lies and deception? The prisoner could be one of her goons, a proxy.

“Well, then why don’t we go down to the dungeon then?” she asked, reading his mind. “You can ask him yourself. I’ll make him tell you the truth. I have that power with a few strands of his hair. Then there’ll be no doubt, and this farce you have with the girl will be over. Did you really believe that she was your daughter?”

He looked at her as if his world was going to crumble if he moved. If the boy in the dungeon was his son, that would mean that Gloria, his rose, wasn’t the heir. She could still be his daughter though, so all he would have to do is kill the boy-

“Don’t even think about it. I can snap your neck in one flash of a spark. You’ll not harm him. Now, let’s go.” With her power, she tilted him out of his chair and onto his feet, taking his arm and leading him down to the dungeon. “Think of this as your exercise for the day,” she said sweetly.

Snapping her fingers, she unlocked the door leading down, but something wasn’t right. She couldn’t read the boy. No thoughts were present, not even dreams. She dropped the king’s arm and hurried down the stairs, rushing to his cell and halted when she saw the pool of blood under her prince’s body. Her ticket to power was slaughtered and left where he lay, not even taken to be buried, as if he were trash discarded on a city street.

The king reached her, looking into the cell with her. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked. “I didn’t give authorization to have the prisoner killed! Who did this?”

“My, my chance… my one chance in forty years!” she bellowed. “Your son-in-law will pay for this!” She hadn’t seen the possible work around in her command. She had thought that Blake would be single minded enough to cease his involvement if he couldn’t carry out his orders, not kill the prisoner outright. He must have found out who the boy was, that meant that the girl must have blabbed about who he was to Blake, and he acted rashly.

The king started laughing. “You’ve been stopped again, Illia. You’ll never win! You’re destined to try over and over, but you’ll never win what you want. You’ll never be queen!” he sneered.

“...Then I guess I’ll have to wait a few more years, won’t I?” She pulled out a vial of fair hair, took a few out, and whispered words into them. They turned black and curled as they were used, and she dropped them onto the floor, squashing them under her boot. “I will be queen,”

~*~

This section contains violation of consent.

She had a bruise on her arm from where Blake had grabbed her. And on her knees from where she had hit the marble floor. They smarted, but she couldn’t stop worrying about how the words she said had jeopardized everything. Would Blake spare Seneca the way Seneca had spared her? She hated to think of it, but she couldn’t think about anything else, and everytime she did think of it a new wave of grief came over her. She hadn’t been responsible for his death on the island, but she could be responsible for his death now. What had she done?

Her door opened and she wiped her face. She was undoubtedly a mess, and a glance at the mirror showed a swollen and red face.

Blake came around the corner, oddly robotic and walking slower than he normally did.

“Blake, get out of my room. I can’t even look at you right now,” she said, starting to cry again. “Please leave. I have nothing to say to you,”

“A new heir must be made,” he said, grabbing her wrist. She winced under his grip

“What are you talking about,” she said, trying to draw away from him, but his arm was like that of an iron statue, unmoving.

“A new heir must be made,” he said as he pulled her closer, not registering in his unseeing eyes that she was struggling to get away from him.

“No, I don’t love you. Stay away from me, let go!”

“A new heir must be made,” he said again, pushing her down.

~*~

As Midshore drew closer to the Palace Island she could feel the dread like a damp cold land on her skin. It was hard to see while teleporting, and it wasn’t easy to notice all of the details, but she thought she’d seen more boats than would have been expected in the capitol harbor as she passed it.

She had really been getting the hang of teleporting long distances, and she only stumbled a bit when she hit the ground instead of rolling.

But she had never been here before. Obviously the palace was a bad idea to approach right now, but where were Anwyn, Liam, and Romeo? They would have made it here before she had. She hoped they hadn’t been taken by the palace guards and locked in a dungeon somewhere. That would be the worst case scenario. She needed their help to be a united front, not to be scattered and weakened. If she had to save more than one person, this was going to get much harder than she wanted it to be.

I need to calm down, she thought. Maybe not fully meditate, but I need to listen and feel. In the immediate area she didn’t feel anyone, so she carefully sat down on a rock and focused on feeling the little things. Things that she had once tried to teach Gloria to listen for, to sense.

They were here. They were all here. Anwyn’s group was in a cabin nearby, worried but unharmed., Gloria was in the palace, in great distress. Midshore ached and wanted to go to her immediately, nearly breaking her concentration and bolting, but she knew that if she acted rashly and without a plan she would blow any cover they had.

She felt Blake, and she felt the Sorceress, Illia. Her power was stronger than it had been the last time she had felt it, and Midshore hoped that she would have the strength to face her if it came to that. There were also numerous other minds in the palace, working, talking, eating. Perhaps 20 in total.

She stood up, dusting off her apron, and walked to the cabin. She knocked, not wanting to scare them.

A face was seen through the corner of the window, and the door was hurriedly unlocked and thrown open. “Midshore!” Romeo pulled her into a strong embrace, something she hadn’t expected she would ever want from Romeo, but she realized that she was just as happy to see him as he was to see her.

“Did you say Midshore?” Liam asked, coming out of a room and trying to see whom Romeo had clobbered. “Midshore, what are you doing here?!”

“I’m here to help save Gloria, why else would I be here? And to tell you that you’re up against a very powerful sorceress,” she mumbled into Romeo’s shoulder. “I felt her power all the way on the Islands, or rather a spell of hers. She’s dangerous, even Mrs. Frogwater didn’t want to face up to her. I can get us away from this island, but it’ll be easier if we all help in getting Gloria out. Do you have a plan?”

“You came just in time, we act tomorrow.”

Aw, I didn't know how much I would love Romeo hugging Midshore, But looking back a the picture it gives me the feels. I love family ties so much, playing with my family fragmented makes it hit all that much harder when they're together.

We're getting down to the wire, aren't we? It's scary, I don't know if I'm ready to let this story go! I'll come up with something afterwards, something I'll need characters for, preferably eligible young men😏. But more about that at a later time.

In the mean time, here are just a few extra pictures I took.

^The sky was so clear, It was so pretty. Winter is one of the prettiest seasons in Sims.

^I used this shot, just a slightly different angel in the chapter. I liked the idea of Illia being between the king and his happiness, literally standing between the two things.

^ It can be hard to get the pose player to levitate, so I wanted to at least show you guys these pictures XD

^I saw this out of the corner of my eye while taking screenies, and wow, it's just so pretty, if you don't mind the jagged shadow line.

^ Taco!

^Oh Midshore, my cinnamon roll.

By the way, I don't think I ever said that I didn't make the base for Midshore! I downloaded her from a simblr. It's by Nolan-Sims, Ingrid. Here's the link! Link

^Again, winter so pretty