The Union

Lucia turned to the pa.s.sage. It was dark and long. She lowered her body into the darkness and hoped that she will see the light again.

She patted on the walls of the pa.s.sage and made a visual construct of the place. It was a tunnel, probably an old one because the hardened stones can be chipped. It was also cold. Lucia didn"t have time to change her clothes so she was wearing a dress. She crossed her arms to prevent heat from leaving her body.

Lucia started to walk. The ground was dry and she was thankful for that, but it was dark. Lucia had always been afraid of the dark. She detested not being able to see anything.

She trudged on, trying to find the exit of the tunnel. It had been a while but Escanor and Bisham were still not behind her. She started to worry. What if something had already happened to them?

Lucia shook her head. No, she declared. She mustn"t think like that. Even if situations are dire, she must think of solutions rather than wallow in despair and worry. There"s no point to worry, worries only cloud judgement.

She then thought of Tim. What will be his reaction to this? Will he be angry? He will be worried for sure. She doesn"t want him to worry. But at the same time, knowing that he will worry about her gave Lucia joy. If there was a consolation in all of this, it was that she will see Tim again. After a month of separation, Lucia missed him dearly.

She heard the sound of marching from above. It was probably the patrols. This means that she was somewhere below the wall. It seems Escanor"s horses were tied outside of the city. Lucia looked behind but still couldn"t see Escanor and Bisham. She turned forward and continued.

After a few more minutes of walking, she encountered a crossroad. Escanor didn"t say anything about crosscroads so she was confused on which path to take. She saw faint light emitnating a few meters away in the path to her right so she went that way. It must be the end of the tunnel, she thought. Even if she made a wrong turn, she would just go back to the tunnel and go the other way. Her footsteps became hurried. She couldn"t wait to see the surface again.

She reached the source of the light. Above, there was a small wooden door. This must be it since there was also a ladder leading to the wooden door.

Lucia pressed her foot on the ladder rung and tested its durability. The ladder was high and it would be a long fall if one of the rungs broke. Lucia couldn"t afford to be injured right now.

After making sure that the ladder was strong enough to support her weight, she climbed it. Slowly but surely, she ascended to the top. After tapping the wooden door with her hand, she pushed it open. The cold night wind blew against her face. Her already cold body trembled. But she didn"t mind the cold because at last she saw light. After nearly an hour inside the tunnel, she could finally see her surroundings again. It was a pleasant feeling to have. Even though the moon wasn"t bright tonight, this was better than being inside the tunnel.

Lucia exited the tunnel and fixed her clothes. She then saw three horses tied on a huge tree. She made the right decision. Also, Escanor wasn"t lying. She was actually a little afraid earlier that Escanor would betray her to the Tulosans. Escanor was loyal and helped her before, but the merchant could just easily betray her. It seems Escanor didn"t.

Lucia looked around. She could see Nirvana"s walls at the distance. There was an old tower nearby that was covered with vegetation. Even if the location was somehow remote, she decided to hide while waiting for Escanor and Captain Bisham.

Nearly an hour pa.s.sed and the two were still missing. Lucia was anxious. Being a few minutes late was understandable, but the two were missing for nearly two hours now. Something bad must have happened.

She heard footsteps. Lucia lay on the ground and remained frozen. A single movement could reveal her presence.

"You failed to catch her?!" a female"s voice said.

At first Lucia didn"t recognize the voice. It was familiar but not in the way she remembered. And then Lucia realized the ident.i.ty of the woman. It was Sylvie. Her voice was the same, but the way she spoke now was different from the way she spoke before.

"The Royal Guards are tough. They held us for a long time." Said a male"s voice. The accent was unmistakable, he was a Wismarine.

Lucia cupped her hand on her mouth to hush the sound of her breathing. She was hiding behind a tree near the horses.

"I thought you are smart. Of course they are tough. Those soldiers were the best of Vanadis. You should have expected that and made a more cunning plan."

"Listen here Sylvie." The footsteps stopped. Lucia peeked and saw them standing near the horses. "First, you should realize that you are in no position to question my decisions. Also, this was all because of your failure. You failed first so don"t blame us for this."

"You think you can intimidate me Amir? You can"t!" Sylvie shouted "I want her dead! She must suffer, her family must suffer for what they did to me." She then laughed crazily and looked at the man with a crazed expression "I want to do it myself Amir. I want to make her death as slow and painful as possible"

The man looked at Sylvie with disgust "You"re crazy" he said.

"I am" Sylvie laughed again.

Lucia detested that laugh. It was both terrifying and uncomfortable to hear.

The Wismarine must have also felt the same because he covered his ears "Crazy b.i.t.c.h" he commented. The man then went to one of the horses and mounted it.

"Do whatever you want for tonight. Search for her, rest, whatever. But tomorrow you must come with us. We can"t have a witness running around." The Wismarine then commanded his horse to move. In a few moments, he was gone.

Sylvie didn"t move. She just stood with her mouth curving into a wide smile. She was mumbling something, but Lucia can"t hear it. Lucia listened carefully and her eyes went wide after hearing Sylvie"s mumbles.

"Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill" Sylvie repeated the word like a prayer. Lucia couldn"t hold her shock anymore. This was too much. The Sylvie she knew was so different from the real Sylvie. Even though she knew that Sylvie was a traitor, Lucia never expected her to be this insane.

Lucia"s then made a mistake. Sylvie"s craziness was such a shock to her that she moved a little.

"Who"s there!" Sylvie shouted and approached her location. She then saw Lucia.

"Lucia!" she smiled and laughed again. "Thank the heavens you"re safe. I thank all the G.o.ds the Wismarines didn"t catch you" She then gave her a cold stare. "Because now I have my chance to get my revenge"

Sylvie sprinted towards Lucia and grabbed her hair. She was so fast that Lucia didn"t have time to react. Sylvie dragged her.

"Sylvie stop this!" Lucia demanded and tried to free her hair from Sylvie"s grasp.

"I will kill you with my own hands Princess. Finally! Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep myself from killing you in the past? The people of Holm cheered your name. They love you. But what about me? Your family took everything away from me yet the people cheer your name!"

Sylvie lunged at Lucia and strangled her. Lucia could feel the pressure on her throat. She struggled, but Sylvie was stronger. Lucia was dying.

And then she remembered that she still had that knife. Lucia took the knife she had hidden in her dress. It was a small knife, but she needs to try anyway. She stabbed towards Sylvie"s neck, but her vision was already blurry and the knife hit Sylvie"s face instead.

"AHHHHHHH" Sylvie let go of Lucia"s neck and covered her wound. Lucia didn"t waste time and kicked Sylvie"s chest.

Lucia mounted one of the horses and rode away. She turned her head and took one last look at Sylvie. She was still on the ground, trying to remove the knife from her face.

After riding for a while, Lucia heard the sound of horses. Her encounter with Sylvie scared her so much and she shivered upon knowing that she was being chased again.

"Princess!" an old voice called to her. Lucia turned around and saw that it was Captain Bisham and Escanor. Lucia wanted to cry. Seeing familiar faces was a relief. At long last, she was not alone. She slowed her horse and let them catch up.

"I"m so sorry Princess" Escanor lowered his head "I forgot to tell you about the crossroad. It seems you took the wrong way. I really apologize."

So that was it, Lucia thought. They weren"t missing, she was the one who"s missing. She thought that she was in the right place just because she saw three horses tied on a tree. What a grave coincidence.

"Well, I did almost die. I was also very scared. But it doesn"t matter now. We need to hurry and escape this place" Lucia gestured for Escanor to lift his head.

"She"s right. Let"s go" Bisham said to Escanor.

The three then continued their journey towards Solon.