[Marcus POV]
As I headed back to the palace, wounded and bruised by Nicholas's sword on my arm, with only a few men who survived,
I couldn't stop thinking about what the queen would do to me as punishment for failing such a simple mission.
"When I next meet Nicholas, I swear I'll give him a slow and painful death," I said in my mind, but the anger was obvious on my face.
I knew my men looked up to me as a leader, so I felt ashamed because I had been defeated for the second time by Nicholas.
He was born more than 20 years before I was, and served as a knight in Norrich before he was declared wanted for stealing the dragon's tooth, so he obviously had more fighting experience than I did.
He used his magic so quickly, unlike others who used spells; it felt like he said them in his mind, and he could launch them more deadly and fast.
As we approached the Kingdom gates on our horses, I noticed the security was tighter than usual. The guards were doubled.
As they let us in, I saw some soldiers dragging dead bodies away; I also saw some of our men lying dead on the floor.
The streets were quiet, and there were guards mounted all over the city walls and gates, covering every possible route of escape, while some were searching houses, but I didn't know what they were after.
But the bodies they dragged away were certainly those of slaves; I could tell from how they were dressed. As we walked through the streets, I could smell death and blood.
I saw some slaves being beaten and chained; some women cried and cursed the queen for her cruelty.
I reached the middle of the kingdom, which was the marketplace, and at the center, I saw a long pole with the head of a slave on it.
"Oh my God," one of my men exclaimed. All our eyes were fixed on it; I was in shock and confused at the same time.
I stared so long that I became lost in my thoughts; then suddenly, someone touched my shoulder from behind. I turned and saw that it was one of the senior guards, Grimgold.
His face was badly bruised, his armor had black patches of burns, and Grimgold was also missing a hand; I saw the bloody bandage wrapped around his wrist.
"Your prisoner escaped, Marcus," Grimgold said with fear in his eyes, because the rage was clear on my face.
"And what about him?" I said, with my fingers pointing to the direction of the man's head I saw hanging on the pole, "and the bodies on the floor?"
"They aided Richard in escaping, along with a slave girl from Elyndor," Grimgold said. "This man you see on this pole led them to rebel against the queen, so his head has been placed here for everyone to see, as a reminder for anyone who dreams of any rebellious act. Queen's orders!"
Grimgold said these confidently and looked me in the eyes, despite his injuries he smiled as if he enjoyed their deaths.
Reaching the palace gates, I told my men to get to their chambers and get some rest, with some food and treatment. They saluted me by smacking their hands on their armor and took a bow, then they left.
I stood at the palace doors for a moment and sighed; then I pushed open the large doors. And I saw Queen Helen sitting on her throne.
Beside her stood two guards, their faces emotionless, holding their tall, sharp spears.
They were dressed in black armor with a silver dragon emblem on their chest, a symbol of nobility. "Do you have it?" the queen asked, her face emotionless, as if she knew something wasn't right.
I took a deep breath, recounting the events at the temple, my voice barely above a whisper due to my injuries. "Your majesty... we were ambushed by Savoyen... We were outnumbered... but they didn't take the journal; Nicholas did."
Two elderly men, said to be the advisors of the late King, Helen's father, one of them questioned her with reason, "The traitor still lives!?" Helen stared into my eyes with anger, ignoring the annoying old man, "You had one simple task, one!"
"But your majesty, I..." I tried to explain to her, but immediately she echoed, "Silence!" and calmly asked me to leave her presence.
I sighed after I had turned my back to walk out; I was lucky she didn't have me locked up or killed as punishment, given how angry she was.
While I was behind the palace doors, I heard Helen's voice loud; she was in the midst of an argument with one of the elders because he was against her evil plans.
So I hid behind the doors to listen to what was happening. I heard him say "I won't be part of this madness!"
Then I heard footsteps coming towards the exit where I was hiding, and immediately, there was a blast that sounded like an explosion of flesh. Rachel, her sorcerer, killed the man.
Then Helen asked, "Who else has any problem!" I didn't know what they were talking about, but after she said that, the whole room became quiet. Then she said, "Good!"
Out of curiosity, I tried to get a view of what was happening in the palace, so I tried to peek in without being caught.
I saw the man's body scattered into pieces on the floor. But unfortunately for me, my hand weighing heavily on the door made it move, and there was a small sound.
Immediately, Helen caught that movement and echoed, "Reveal yourself!!" I was lucky not to be seen, so I ran away from there.
My curiosity was wild; I kept thinking of what she was planning as I made my way to my quarters. I didn't know what she and Rachel's plans were, but I could feel that it was going to be bloody.
I entered my quarters. It was a dimly lit chamber with stone walls, a soft featherbed for me to rest, a crackling fireplace, and a small table holding a candle.
This had been my home for as long as I could remember. My dad was also a knight of Norrich; he served as the king's champion, an honor given to the best knights in the kingdom.
He was sent to battle and never returned, so I never really knew him much. After his death, I was taken under the care of the king's maid before I grew up and was able to fight.
I took off my armor and kept it beside my bed and placed my sword in my holster and hung it on the wall, then I sat on my bed thinking of what just happened, trying to figure out what they were talking about.
To be honest, I also didn't like Helen that much, so I was curious to know her plans.
After almost an hour of pondering, I decided to sneak into the palace at midnight and go into Rachel's chambers.
All this while, I'd been at her service without knowing her true intentions. My thoughts couldn't let me sleep;
I'll wait till the whole palace is asleep, then I'll make my move.