Huge thank you to Hunny for editing this ♥
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Chapter 147:
Big Happy Family
Having found the queen and Clarence's siblings safely in the palace, it was time for them to plan their escape. Thankfully, Clarence was able to keep his siblings calm by interacting with them, looking every so often towards Silas, who was curious to see Clarence's siblings in person.
All the rebels were aware of the young children, but neither was considered a large threat due to their age. Malcolm may have had plans to eliminate them, but he could only imagine the queen's battle to keep herself and her children alive, much like him and his family.
"How are we going to get out of here? The battle won't subside for a long time, too long for us to wait anyway." Silas sighed, running his fingers through his hair, thinking hard as he plotted out their entrance through the palace. "The way we came will most likely be covered by rebels. We can't guarantee that's the safest way."
Maeir chimed in a hushed tone. "Besides that, having you all escape in your current clothing would be a death wish." Maeir sighed, speaking from the back as Silas led the group back through the way they came. "Is there a servant's room or somewhere else we can find other clothes? That's a good place to start."
Clarence, staring at his mother's increasingly bitter expression, spoke up without a fight. "One of the servant's quarters is just across the hall from where we came in. There should be enough plain clothes to disguise everyone. I can't guarantee that they'll fit well."
Everyone fell into agreement except Queen Racliffe, who remained silent throughout the discussion, her expression black as the bottom of a scorched kettle.
Peeking out through a crack behind the painting in the wall, Silas could only hear the faint sound of fighting in the empty hall. There were some trails of blood, but no visible bodies, which made him feel more at ease. If anything, he did not want the children to see it. With a wave of his hand, Silas quietly lowered himself down to the ground. Clarence held the back of the painting, watching the hall as Silas moved across the hall to the simple wooden door.
With his sword unsheathed, Silas pushed open the door and hurried to clear the room. Finding the room empty, full of scattered items and other belongings that were half-packed on the beds, he moved back to the door and motioned for Clarence to move forward, bringing everyone with him. As fast as they could, Clarence stood in the hall and ushered the children forward into the room, hurrying his mother along as Maeir entered the room last, making sure everyone was safe and no one was seen.
Once everyone was secure, the door was bolted shut and supported by a heavy wooden armoire Silas and Maeir moved together, ensuring no one would attempt to enter the room while they were hiding. Though it was only a brief stop, and the castle was still in shambles, they had enough time to change, if not rushing the clothes on.
"Mommy, what's happening?" Eloise, not sure what was happening, tugged at the bottom of her mother's skirt, her hands trembling.
Julian stood to the side, wanting to approach his sister, but the queen solemnly shook her head, patting the crown of Eloise's head. "We have to leave our home now. We're going somewhere safer, but you have to be patient and listen to mommy, okay?" Eloise nodded while Julian looked over his shoulder and glared at the two unfamiliar elves, unsure what was happening.
"Silas, Clarence, go help the kids get ready." Maeir said, waving her hand with a dismissive frown. "The Queen and I need to have a conversation before we go any further."
Clarence stared towards Silas, who looked towards Maeir with a knowing nod before he patted Clarence's back with a natural lift of his hand, "Let's go. It's better that they talk out their grievances before we move forward."
After the children disappeared, only Maeir and the queen stood in the abandoned space, the awkward atmosphere heavy. The two women held a distaste for each other, but it would not impede their desire to survive.
"We only have a short bit of time, so let me get to the point." Maeir's eyes were dark, full of the protective instincts of a parent that had nearly lost their child once before. "I'm sure you're aware Clarence is an elf, aren't you? Or were you too busy trying to hide it still?"
The queen's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You have no idea what I've been through, or what I had to do to hide my son's identity." She spat, her eyes nearly reddened. "I did what I had to to protect him!"
"Protecting him or not, your attitude to the elves can never be forgiven." Maeir growled, her eyes narrowed with a piercing glare. "I've never hated humans, but the royal family? My husband was murdered by your knights, our home destroyed by your son's foolish actions, and my son nearly killed in the palace, toyed with like a slave. You've allowed this all to happen under your nose under the guise of 'hating the elves'. When this is over, you need to take responsibility."
"If I face retribution, please keep my children alive. My actions are not their own." The queen's heart fell. "Even Clarence. I will take the blame for his actions before, but please do not let him die. More than anything, I know the rebels would love to watch us all parish, but I would only hope that my children can make it out of this mess alive."
"Speaking of Clarence," Hearing her next words, the subject was then abruptly changed by Maeir. "You know Clarence has feelings for my son, don't you?" Unworried either of the two boys would hear her words, Maeir spoke frankly, having held back her tongue long enough.
The queen's face grew pale, her lips contorting as if she were ready to refute, but Maeir interrupted. "While I do not approve of that halfling, I will not stop what fate desires. Stopping such feelings will only cause them to grow stronger." Maeir said simply, staring at the queen with a heavy, knowing gaze. "Rather, life has been too difficult not to enjoy the company of another. I won't stop them, and I would hope you are as willing as I am to leave them alone."
Queen Racliffe did not respond immediately, but her falling expression expressed her thoughts as she said with some bitterness. "It seems my son is set on traversing the path of his mother."
The room fell silent once again, before the queen parted her lips again.
"Why are you helping us like this?" Queen Raliffe asked, having already said more than she wished.
Staring at the queen's shrunken, dirtied figure, Maeir felt some pity for her at that moment. "Because it's what my son wants." She began, adding with a low voice, "Maybe my thoughts will change once I know my son's feelings. But, for now, they both wish to keep you all alive and safe, and I plan to respect their wishes." Maeir stated, her expression lax, as if her words did not affect her in the least. "Your retribution, however, will be up to the people who started his rebellion. Maybe you can speak for yourself then."
There was a brief pause, as if the queen was taking in her words.
"Ecaterina." The queen said suddenly.
Maeir paused, "Your common name?"
"If I am no longer ruling this kingdom, it would be best to use my name." The queen said with some finality, her eyes warm with tears as she shook her head, walking towards the door. "I suppose you go by Maeir, then? Even I know elves do not have surnames."
"That's right." Staring at the fallen queen's weak figure, Maeir could only respond. "Hopefully you live long enough to remember that name."
A chill ran down the queen's spine at the thought of dying. After sending so many to their deaths, the mere thought of facing death was enough to make her wish for her servants to protect her, to ensure her children's safety, and to wish for her loving husband back at her side as he was when he was alive.
"My son and I will protect you to the best of our ability, but you better cooperate. Otherwise, I won't try to save you." Maeir said finally, her words falling silent. "Sometimes absolving your wrongs means taking action."
After the conversation ended, the room fell quiet, and the queen was able to find a dress close to her size strewn across the bed in a rushed fashion. The detailing was simple, the brown fabric coarse, and the blouse was a thin white fabric. Held in the queen's arms, it was too out of place, like a regal painting matched with the landscape of a barn. With some reluctance, she put the clothes down on the bed and began to attempt to undress.
While the queen stood, struggling to unwind herself from her cumbersome dress, she soon let out the tense breath she held and stood still, finding the resolve to ask for help. The queen's face was red, her expression nearly falling as she relented, asking the elven woman for help. "Please help me remove this."
Walking to the queen, Maeir lifted her hands and began to work on the dress. "I used to wear Yursinean dresses often when I was younger." Maeir said, assisting the younger woman to unlace her intricately-wound corset. "But that was a different time."
The queen's dress was quickly changed, and Maeir and Ecaterina spoke only silence, staring at the other with a newfound understanding. While there was still very much a strong lingering of distaste, there was enough of a desire to cooperate to make them want to work together if it meant saving their children.
Shortly after, the door to the side room was opened, and Julian stepped out next to Clarence, glaring daggers at Silas, whose hand was being held with an adoring gaze by Eloise. Feeling the tense atmosphere grow, Clarence walked towards his mother and Maeir and said, "Is everyone ready to go? There's not much time."
"It's about time we got out of here. Do you know any way we can get out of here?" Silas asked, propping open the window to the outside balcony.
Clarence nodded, a small smile on his lips from being acknowledged by Silas. "That carriage, down there-" His eyes fell outside, running over the nearly abandoned stables, where an abandoned cart laid to rest, full of a very useful tool. "We'll get out using that."
As the group stared outside, their expressions mixed, there was a loud bang against the door, and wood splinters went flying around the room, the tip of an axe wedging into the door, nearly breaking the corner of the armoire off. The axe was pulled back and another heavy strike hit the door.
"There's some inside here!"
"Break the door down and kill those bastards!" It was impossible to tell if it was friend or foe by the voice outside the door, but their threatening attitude was enough to get everyone into motion.
"Go!" Maeir hurried the children forward, and Silas jumped from the window first, helping the children onto the balcony as Clarence held the gem in his hand, quickly transforming his appearance back to the elven image he had taken on before. When his siblings saw his appearance change, they were in shock, wondering what elven magic the elves had used on him before they were hurried out onto the balcony with Silas, quickly followed by Clarence, the queen, and then Maeir.
There was no chance to hide the children from the bloodshed now. Running past the dying men and dead bodies, Eloise hid behind Silas as he dodged fighting enemies, keeping a hand on Eloise's upper arm as he moved her away from the battle. Julian was stuck to Clarence, still not well-enough versed with a sword to even attempt a real life or death battle.
Maeir protected the queen in a similar fashion, running her forward with abrupt movements. Fortunately, Ecaterina was quick on her feet and moved as Maeir motioned, avoiding stray arrows and other attacks directed at others as they entered the fray, moving towards the fringe of the fighting towards the abandoned stables, their eyes glued to the carriage below the stone surrounding wall.
"How do we get down?" Julian yelled, staring at his brother, who looked too unfamiliar in his disguise.
Clarence stared down the wall, their current location only a twelve-foot drop to the ground, and an even shorter distance to the stables. "We'll have to jump."
"What? That could kill us!" Julian shouted, his eyes wide like saucers.
Silas shook his head, his eyes bright. "We can use the mana in our bodies to reinforce our fall. I'll go first. Clarence, throw the children down to me. I'll catch them."
Queen Racliffe looked panicked, "But what if you don't catch them? They could die!"
Maeir shot back quickly, "Any moment longer and the soldiers will kill us! Silas, go!"
With a glance over his shoulder, Silas channeled his mana towards his feet and legs and jumped off of the wall, directing his feet down as he braced for impact, unable to see the start of another ferocious battle behind him.
…
"Wow, it seems like we missed out on quite a lot." Holland began, whistling aloud with a sarcastic smile as he looked at the piles of death bodies surrounding the palace, littering the space with the smell of blood, fresh flesh, and rot. Some of the wild animals had already begun to linger around the outskirts of the nearby forest, waiting for the safest moment to strike unseen.
The sounds of distant battles chattered quietly in the still breeze, carrying a damp chill to the stench of the air.
"This kind of feels like a date, doesn't it? Quite romantic." Holland's awful jokes landed him in hot water repeatedly during their short journey back to the palace, but the captain seemed used to the banter, refuting Holland Joey's words with sharp comebacks of his own, leading to an amusing journey between the two arch enemies.
Captain Laurent's face contorted with disgust. "I'm not that desperate." He said, stepping up to a tall wall just outside the palace. The area was devoid of any life, having already been cleared by the rebels long before their arrival. Holding a long line of rope in the crook of his arm, the captain began to look for a place to anchor their rope. "Are you?" He raised a brow, staring at Holland with pity.
Holland, hearing his words, appeared offended. "I like tall, beautiful, busty women. Not-" He gave Beau a once-over, his eyes scanning the other man with a sneer. "-men built like a palace wall. Gross." He stared up the palace wall, pointing to a spot where they could anchor their rope. "Throw it there, right on that gargoyle. Looks kind of like you too." He laughed, pointing mockingly at the captain.
The captain threw a line of rope, catching the end of one of the stone decorations. Pulling it with a hard tug, it was secured. "Stop flirting with me then." He smiled sarcastically, his words dripping with venom.
There was no response Holland could provide to the smirking man, so instead, he began to climb the wall, using the rope Beau had used to catch the stone decoration. Now, all that was left was to safely scale the wall
"Be careful." Beau said to Holland as he climbed, watching for enemies from every direction. Scaling the wall like a rambunctious child, Holland moved his feet swiftly and deftly, nearly approaching the top edge of the stone wall after a short moment of climbing. Captain Laurent watched from the ground, humming to himself, feeling mildly impressed. Once Holland scaled the wall, he threw the rope back down, keeping an eye for any enemies in the empty area as Beau climbed, his movements slow and steady.
Beau's climb had only begun before a loud sound shook the upper wall. There was the sound of a body falling, matched with a loud scream. It was impossible to see the far portion of the outside barrier, but he could see a child being held by an elven woman, held in a way that suggested she was about to throw the child to their death.
He opened his mouth, ready to yell, but he stopped as he watched with a strange fascination. "What the hell was that?" Holland yelled, his head flying to the side as he watched a child get thrown into the air, their limbs spread out like a bird as they fell forward, landing into the arms of a figure below, dressed in familiar armor. The man with his arms up, a blonde elf, was far too eye-catching for him not to notice, even from the distance.
Beau's eyes narrowed from the top of the stone overlook, quickly realizing who the group was. "Are they with you?" He asked, well aware of the ongoing rebel riot.
Holland, staring at the two children on the ground, nearly laughed as he watched an older elven woman carry a human in her arms, jumping down the short distance to the ground. Staring at the dark hair on the human woman's head, he raised a brow and turned to the captain, about to ask the identity of the strange humans, but he was stopped short.
Beau opened his mouth first. "What the hell?" He muttered, standing over the wall as he watched the elves hurrying towards the stables, their figures beelining for a manure cart. "They're heading towards that cart of shit."
Staring at the distant manure cart with a mischievous wink in his eye, Holland responded, "Wish I could say the same." He stood, helping Beau up the rest of the wall with a hand.
Taking the man's free hand, Beau hoisted himself up the wall. "You're doing a lot of fucking around for someone whose trying to locate a person in the middle of a riot." The captain was beginning to lose his patience. He felt as though the other man was dead set on killing him just by making him wait rather than throwing him to the fighting rebels and knights inside.
The captain was not wrong in his conjecture. Holland had a feeling what he was looking for would not be here, but the thought of his little brother's safety weighing on the line, he felt it was important enough for him to come in person, to see the damage caused during the rebellion and to see for his own very eyes that that person was no longer here.
"You're right." Holland said, fixing his sword as he followed the sound of fighting. "Come on, let's go check out the inside." He stared at Beau's still-empty hands and said with a smile, "Good luck finding a sword."
The captain's face fell as he continued behind Holland, more concerned about who Holland was trying to find, than his lack of a weapon. Anything could be a weapon in the right circumstances, Beau had learned.
…
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This chapter gave me a lot of feels. Maeir may hate the queen's guts, but she wouldn't harm a kid, expect maybe Clare if he hurt Silas... And y'all..... calm those Beau x Holland ships, that's not happening!
Important note, there will be no chapter next week (August 12th) due to con! We'll be running the panel about the history of Japanese fashion and cosplay at Fan Expo in Chicago, so come see us if you're there! I can tell my fatigue is at its limit too, so con will be a great, much needed break for sure. I look like utter hell, so it's time to step back and take care of myself :)))
Can't say there won't be other breaks, as I have a work trip scheduled the week after con, then I work the entire next weekend after that for work, so it'll be touch and go until September. I should be getting back into streaming here soon as well, and hopefully back with a nice anniversary special for this year as well >y< ♥
Thank you all for the continued support, and happy 30k views (almost) on Scribblehub!! ;u; See you all soon