Once again the Ronans gained victory over the remaining soldiers who were in the court, some of them had surrendered, and they were held captive with the civilians in the court. Donna walked in unsheathing her sword, one of her men approached her and whispered,
"My Lady, there is no sign of the Queen"
"Quickly inform Naevus" She ordered. The soldier left with one other man while she gazed around, trying to figure out where the queen might be hiding. She moved toward a hostage,
"You!" she pointed her sword at him, "Where has your Queen hidden"
The man sneered at her in disgust and said "I will never tell you!"
"Hmm, tough" She lent a cruel smile at him and swung her sword across his neck. He dropped dead on the ground, with blood oozing from his throat. The others shrieked in fear, and the parents covered their children's sight from the gory scenario. Donna turned to another person standing behind her and asked menacingly,
"Tell me where the queen is, or I'll end your life quickly"
"I don't know, My Lady" The teenager replied nervously.
She glared down at him, then lifted the blade to his neck, an old man yelled across the room,
"Please spare the kid, I have an idea of their whereabouts"
"Very well" she kicked the young man to the ground and approached the old man.
"I saw them go towards the old crypt, I think it leads to a tunnel entrance to somewhere outside the city, it is probably a good place to hide" The man explained. She nodded to herself and turned to her guards,
"We're going in."
The elderly man led the way as she accompanied by four other soldiers followed as they moved toward the throne room.
Meanwhile, Vitus had toured the streets with him still recalling his childhood, after six months from exile he's finally home and not just home as a common royale but as King. They must have learned about his treachery, but he will be the leader they have never had. They will thank me for having me, he thought to himself. Suddenly, his head shot up when he heard the sound of horses galloping and coming from the direction of the castle. Two of his men were advancing toward him, he halted his horse and waited for them to come near. When they were near, they descended from their mounts and kneeled, crossing an arm across their chest.
"Go on" He commanded quietly,
One of them spoke hesitatingly,
"My King, Their Queen is nowhere to be found inside the castle" His voice faltered, as though he was unsure if he should continue speaking. Naevus clenched his fists and his eyes narrowed,
"Then where is she?" he demanded angrily,
The second guard hesitated before answering, "She disappeared, We cannot find her anywhere"
Naevus felt rage rising inside him,
"Find her, NOW!!" he growled in a dangerously low tone, and he watched the men get into action. He called them back before they were out of sight, they cantered their horses back to him. He gave an austere glare at the two which made the men nervous as they looked at each other.
"Follow me" he mumbled, scrambling off and running toward the gate leading out of town and away from Mediopolis. The men raced after him without questioning.
***
Finally, they made their way towards the other side of the crypt, it was relieving that they found the door to the tunnel, it's a round door made of stone, and they have to roll it away. To their disappointment, the door was locked and time was not being nice at all. They heard noise echo from the other side of the crypt.
"They are here" whispered Cameron.
"We don't have enough time" Rufus informed frighteningly.
Cameron took a deep breath as their eyes were fixed on him for an answer, he looked around him as he searches for answers. He found a rusted sword laying on the ground and proceeded to claim it.
Irene grew concerned with Cameron's action, her face filled with worry. She gripped onto his shoulder tightly.
"What are you doing?!" she murmured with a breaking tone.
He turned to her and smiled softly but sadly,
"I need to delay their coming"
"They will kill you" she sniffled and wiped a dropping tear from her cheek, Cameron placed an arm around her shoulders.
"Do you want this to end like our last moments?" he asked sincerely, she shook her head and pulled her hand away from his coat.
"No, but it's better to die fighting than to live like this!" She exclaimed with tears falling down her cheeks, Cameron chuckled at her determination.
"I will find my way back to you" He reached up to brush her tears away gently with his thumb and placed a warm kiss on her forehead before retreating, giving her a soft smile. She nodded in response and returned his smile.
The others gave a sad expression as they watched Cameron leave their side. It didn't escape Irene to notice how everyone's face hardened when Cameron disappeared; she could see that they were struggling to keep their emotions in check.
The four of them laid their hands on the stone and with the youthful strength of Rufus and Irene added to that of the delicate force of Valeria and Vitus, they rolled the stone out of their way revealing a dark cavern. Vitus and Irene grabbed the torches that hung on the wall and entered the silent cavernous tunnel.