(From the author's POV):
Marcus waited till it was midnight when the whole palace was already asleep before he made his move, he knew the weight of what would happen if he was caught.
Although he was the type of person who held strongly to his beliefs and ethics, he had always remained a loyal member of the Queen's knight, and this is something he struggles with everyday because no matter what happened in the kingdom, he was still bound to be loyal according to their customs and the oath he swore to the kingdom: never to betray, never question orders, and to protect the life of the person who wears the crown of Norrich with his own life.
If all these were broken it would cost him his dear life.
Marcus first studied the palace guards movement and routine while he stood outside his chambers, he was dressed in a black long robe with a hood attached to it, and fixed a dagger into his left sleeve. As the palace grew quiet, he moved forward, approaching the two guards that were mounted at the entrance.
Guard 1: "Hold it! No one is allowed into the palace at this hour".
One of the guard said while they both pointed their spears at him, then, he pulled down his hood revealing his face to the guards, And when they recognised him, they both saluted with the traditional smack on the chest.
Guard 2: (lowering their spears) "Sir Marcus, we're sorry we didn't know it was you"
Marcus: "It's okay, at ease.
Guard 1: (with a low voice) "But what are you doing around the palace at this hour?, the queen has ordered us not to let anyone in or out of the palace during late hours".
Queen Helen had taken serious security measures since the rebellion that was led by Elora and some of her people who were held captive in Norrich. Marcus had forgotten about the curfew so he had to improvise in order to get in.
Marcus: "I'm aware of the curfew, but uhm, the Queen specially sent for me. (Turning his back at the guards) Or.... you can just explain to her why you defied her orders tomorrow morning."
Guard 1: "Alright wait wait, you can go in".
Marcus: (passing through the guards) "Highly appreciated, carry on men".
Guard 2: (watching Marcus go) "wonder what that's about...."
Guard 1: "Certainly none of our business".
Marcus then walked in headed straight towards Rachel's chambers, but before he made the turn to her hall way, he heard two guards speaking so he instantly stopped, glued his back to the wall and hid himself in the shadows and watched them.
Inner Guard 1: "Yeah I heard the grandson of Elias krios, Richard, was killed while escaping from the rebellion with some slave girl from Elyndor".
Inner Guard 2: Yeah I think, they said he was working with Sir Nicholas, the man who used to be the greatest knight in all of Norrich, but now a wanted criminal it's so unfortunate".
Marcus patiently watched as they stood by, waiting for them to move so he could find his way to Rachel's room when all of a sudden, the wall behind the two guards opened like a door, like what seems to be a secret passage. He looked closely to see who would come out of it and behold it was Rachel herself.
"Where could that possibly lead to"? Marcus said in his mind as he watched.
Rachel stepped out and ordered the men to go back to their posts
Rachel: "Keep yours eyes open".
Inner Guard 1&2: "Yes ma'am"!
As Rachel and the guards disappeared down the hallway, Marcus approached the spot where the wall had opened. He examined the stones closely, pressing against them one by one until one of them worked, When he pressed It, the wall slid open silently, revealing a dark passageway within.
He walked into the passage, feeling the cold, and darkness around him as the entrance shut behind him. Marcus pulled down his hood and started moving forward. As he climbed down he could hear growls and the sound of flapping wings. He could sense something waiting for him in the shadows.
Suddenly, he heard the sound becoming louder, and before he could react, a winged creature flew right at him from the darkness. It was a hawk lion, with red eyes, the body and teeth of a lion, big wings and mighty sharp claws. Marcus ducked just in time, feeling the creature's claws slice through the air where his head had been moments before, leaving a scar on the wall.
Quickly, he rolled to his feet, gripping his dagger tightly. Another hawk lion, flapping its wings and screeching as it attacked him.
Marcus grabbed the hawk lion's wings, holding tight as the creature flew down and twisted. He stabbed the head of the creature repeatedly while they were on the air, but the dagger could barely pass through its thick skull.
The hawk lion flew downward, carrying Marcus deep into the cave. They crashed to the ground, the impact of their landing made the hawk lion pass out, and left Marcus's rib broken.
Though he was in pains, Marcus stood, believing he'd finally killed the beast. But the hawk lion twitched, its claws swiping wildly. It struck Marcus's abdomen, sending him stumbling back.
Hitting his dagger out of his hand. He became lost in the confusion. The hawk lion grawled as it slowly moved towards him.
Then as it took a stance and jumped to attack again, Marcus carried a nearby torch hanging from the wall, and swung it with all his might. The flames from the torch destroyed the hawk lion, and it bursted into ashes.
He became Breathless, Marcus stumbled backward, while he was holding his wounded abdomen. He had never seen anything like it. It seemed like the creature was resistant to blade, but required fire to be destroyed.
"What the hell...?" He stared at the ashes "I've never seen anything like this."
He looked around with the torch in his hands and found a door which he opened and went into.
On the walls, there were sculptures of mythical creatures, Griffins, minotaurs, and hydras.
Marcus walked up to the table in front of him and opened a book, revealing pages filled with sorcerers language. So he couldn't understand it, but from the illustrations he understood that it was a mythical ritual to transform a human into a dragon.
The illustration caught his eye and the words underneath it read: "Drazet Neh hra".
Marcus couldn't understand any of it so he quickly carried a scroll and a pen, took down the words and tried to copy down the illustration. After he did that he carried his torch and dagger, and immediately left before Rachel would come back.
(As Marcus approached the hall way)
Inner Guard: "Sir what happened to you"?
Marcus:(Clutching his abdomen)"It's nothing, I just fell I'll be fine just.... Get back to work, okay".
Inner Guard:(Watching him leave)"Well.. okay sir."
And then immediately after he left, Rachel came back, coming from the opposite corner of the hallway where she couldn't possibly see him and went to the cave. She was heading for her secret room where Marcus had just left. She went through the passage. But then she stopped, she noticed the ashes on the floor and knew that someone had trespassed, so she quickly ran into the secret room, thankfully she found everything intact.
"Wait a minute" she saw blood on her table, then she smiled
Rachel looked closely to examined the bloodstain on her table. "Let's see who this trespasser is." She smiled.
Then she collected the blood sample into a small vial and began to murmur incantations, and the vial began to glow, releasing wisps of smoke.
As the smoke settled, a vision was presented before her:
It was Marcus, wounded as he was rushing back to his chambers outside the palace.
Rachel smiled. "The Queen's loyal knight. How...quaint."
"Now, Marcus," Rachel whispered, "you'll dance to my tunes."
Little did he know he had given control of himself over to Rachel through his blood.