How Journeys End Chapter Twenty-One: Duty

How Journeys End by Pineapple | Content warnings

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Viola had seen them leave together. She was awake, on guard outside the barracks. The royal guard had been on high alert lately—really ever since the battle with General Helianthus. Everyone was tired, everyone high-strung, and everyone was… suspicious.

Seeing Chrysan leave with Camellia made Viola’s stomach flip unpleasantly. Viola trusted them both, would fight to the death for or with both of them. But the way that Chrysan smiled and waved without a word to her made something solidify in her that she couldn’t name. A feeling of unease. He knew something that he wasn’t telling her. He wasn’t breaking any rules by leaving, but Viola felt like Chrysan was doing something he shouldn’t be doing. Like whatever he was doing could hurt everyone here.

He could hurt the kingdom to achieve whatever it was he wanted, and he would.

Viola thought about following them. She took a few steps after them, once they were out of eyesight and earshot. But… Chrysan could handle himself, and Camellia could handle him, too. It was whatever they were going towards, whatever they’d bring back that would be the problem.

Whatever they brought her way, the people here would need her help.

She thought of Chrysan’s words before, when he’d first come to the castle after his unit was dissolved. He’d wanted her to leave. He wanted her safe and she’d believed him when he said that, at least.

Whatever was going to happen was dangerous, and she would be ready for it. She would protect those who needed it. She would do her duty, she would do what was right. So she stayed put, standing guard at her post.

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General Narsi was shaking her awake.

“—ola—Viola!” he shouted.

Her head throbbed when she pried open her eyes.

It was bright. Orange, like the sun. Was it morning?

“Get yourself together!” the general yelled.

She was being hauled up. Her feet found their way beneath her, and she staggered to find her balance.

“What happened?”

She squinted up at him. There was so much noise. So much light. “What?” she croaked out.

Once she could focus on his face, she saw the creases in his forehead, between his brows. The smear of black across his face. The sound of shouting surrounded her—the sound of crackling. Viola dragged her eyes away from General Narsi.

The barracks—her home—was on fire.

She felt her heart sink. She felt the back of her head throb again, in time with her heartbeat.

“I…” she stammered out.

Soldiers were pouring out around her. Organized, but fast. The general must have given orders already. And she…

“What happened?” Viola asked.

“We’re under attack,” General Narsi said. “I know you aren’t this careless. Whoever got you must have been a master of stealth.”

Viola cocked her head. “Sir, I’m sorry, I failed to—”

“Did you see anything suspicious?”

She put a hand to her head. When she pulled it away, there was blood. “I, um…” She blinked rapidly.

General Narsi called for a medic—for Yarrow.

“Camellia and Chrysan—” Viola said—“they left earlier in the night together. They didn’t report to me where they were going. I didn’t see anyone enter, so…”

General Narsi nodded in acknowledgement. “Whoever came in must have scaled the walls.”

When Yarrow rushed over, his face flushed from running, General Narsi passed Viola over to him. Yarrow held onto her with both hands, one on each shoulder.

“Yarrow, patch her up. I’m going to check on the other teams.”

“Sir,” he agreed, and General Narsi darted off.

“It’s just my head,” Viola told Yarrow.

“They could have killed you,” Yarrow noted, looking over her with tired eyes. He was armorless, likely woken up in the middle of the night from her blunder. He was already covered in blood, his hands pink from scrubbing them clean. He dug for bandages in his bag without looking away from Viola. “Why didn’t they?”

Viola shrugged. “Maybe they thought they did.”

Yarrow tied bandages around her head. “Careless,” he muttered. He leveled her with a stare. “That goes for you and them.”

She stifled a short laugh at the reprimand. “What are your orders?”

“At the moment, I’m trying to keep as many people alive as I can,” Yarrow said. “The general didn’t give me any direct orders.”

“Who is with Her Highness?”

“Sir Cera.”

Viola nodded slowly. “If General Narsi is here, who is with His Majesty?”

Yarrow shrugged.

“Lady Via?”

“I don’t know, Viola,” he answered. “I know little more than you.”

“I understand,” she said. “Go. I’ll find out.”

“Good luck.”

“You as well.” Viola grabbed her sword, left forgotten in the dirt from when she’d been attacked, she supposed. It was chaos around her. She felt a calm purpose set over her. This is what she was expecting. Not quite this way, but…

She had stayed for this reason.

Yarrow and Tarra were trying to keep anyone else from entering the castle. Other soldiers were starting to suppress the fire as people fled from the invaded castle. The General was protecting civilians from stray intruders. There were too many bodies for Viola to keep track of who was on what side, where everyone was moving.

His Majesty and Her Highness were likely still inside—it was the safest place with the fewest people. Cera was with them, however… they would need as much support as they could get.

Viola ran to the castle. Inside, she found a few of the rebels who had managed to get past the front lines. They were fighting with the guards who had been stationed inside—and the magicians who lived there.

Lady Hyssop, Princess Siana’s lady-in-waiting, was fighting off a rebel. Viola quickly joined her and the two of them took down the attacker easily with her magic and Viola’s precise bladework. Once he was down, dead, bleeding out on the polished floors of the castle, Viola got a closer look at his face.

“Viola,” Hyssop said, her voice stern.

Viola understood immediately. “Someone released the prisoners?”

When Viola looked up, Hyssop nodded. “Cera is with Her Highness,” she said. “He’s aiding others escape.”

“And you?”

“I’ll be fine,” Hyssop said. “Lady Via’s lab is close to the dungeons, go check on her.”

“But why did they release—”

“I don’t pretend to understand how their evil, traitorous minds work,” Hyssop spat. “This man was a thief—killed the baron of his city. Releasing him simply added to the chaos they’re making of this place.”

Viola bowed her head. “Lady Hyssop.”

“Go,” she ordered. “Take care of it.”

Viola nodded and turned, running towards the dungeon and basements. They didn’t keep many prisoners, but those that they did were dangerous. They were usually murderers of officials, those close to the king and awaiting a trial or a meeting with the court. Traitors of the kingdom, though those were harder to come by since they’d organized themselves.

When Viola got to the underground, she found all the cells open. She felt a rush of panic—the castle and the kingdom were in danger. They already were, but seeing the emptiness of the cells, hearing the silence of the dungeons made adrenaline surge up in her like bile. She knew her way around these floors. She had been down here enough to know them even with the light extinguished, but she felt uneasy walking through them now, her footsteps echoing back at her like a trick.

She found Lady Via’s lab. It was empty, as she suspected, but it was also cold. Lady Via normally kept it at a specific temperature, warm and humid, which was good for the potions and the spells, according to the magician. It was for this reason that she kept her lab in the underground. Lady Via must have been gone for a while (or dead, Viola’s mind supplied) for her lab to have cooled to this degree. Nothing looked out of place, though. So, Viola left the room and headed to the grounds.

If the imprisoned had escaped, it was likely through this door. It was an easy entrance for servants to use for cleaning or for soldiers to use while doing rounds. The king occasionally used the space just outside for execution of prisoners, when he felt it was called for.

She pushed her way into the open air and stopped in her tracks.

All the prisoners were now accounted for, dead on the ground around her.

One person stood, a few yards in front of her, staring upwards at the sky.

Viola recognized the person in front of her. It was the one from Chrysan’s unit who had betrayed them and fled. Her hair had grown out a bit since then, but it was the same straw brown color. When she turned to look back at Viola, her eyes had the same striking pink irises.

“I thought you might still be alive,” she said casually, like she was commenting on the weather, like she wasn’t standing knee-deep in bodies.

“Why—” Viola started.

“They should see the outdoors one last time before they die,” she said.

Cori, Chrysan had called her, Viola remembered suddenly. Her name was Cori.

“I am not an enemy of Nastur,” Cori said, her eyes scanning the bodies between them. “I wouldn’t unleash such heinous criminals on my own people.”

“Then why—”

“They shouldn’t die like animals in captivity,” she said. “I’m not fighting for Gladiolus. I’m not fighting against Nastur. I’m fighting for freedom. If I should die, I’d hoped it would be like this.”

Cori sighed into the breeze that started to blow.

“You understand, don’t you?” she asked, looking to Viola, almost imploringly.

“You could have killed me twice over now,” Viola said instead of answering. Her sword was a heavy weight in her hand. “You even helped Chrysan and me… I don’t…”

“I have no reason to kill you,” Cori said. Her gaze fell. “Chrysan is… was a friend. I have no quarrel with either of you.”

“I am a knight of Nastur’s military, Cori.”

Cori smiled wryly. She took a few steps back. “I think we both know you’d best me in a fair fight,” she said. “I’d rather not, okay? Just pretend you never even saw me.”

“Cori!”

The rebel took a few more steps backwards before spinning and darting towards the castle’s outer wall. Viola chased after Cori, losing ground as they ran.

“Wait!”

Cori leapt into a tree, then onto and over the wall without another word. All Viola could do was watch her graceful escape. She swore, kicking the grass. Then she turned around and went back to the castle.

She shouldn’t have hesitated. She shouldn’t have given into the conversation—it was only meant to distract her and confuse her. It worked. Viola’s head was fuzzy with the interaction. She pulled the door open again and reentered, locking it securely.

She found Princess Siana and Cera looking just as surprised and uneasy as she had felt first seeing the unopened cells.

“One of the rebels let them out,” she said.

Cera and Siana startled, raising their weapons defensively, but relaxed once Viola was a bit closer.

“She let them out and then killed them once they were outside,” Viola explained. “She escaped.”

Cera gave her a confused, pitying smile. He looked alright. The princess had a bandage on her arm that was already showing blood and… Cera was setting Camellia down in a cell as he explained that she was bewitched.

It must have been a powerful spell to do something like this to their comrade, Viola thought.

“Have you seen Lady Via?” the princess asked.

Ah. The cold of her lab. If all of her power was going towards overcoming Camellia’s mental fortitude, then…

“You think she’s the one that…?”

“I believe so,” Siana said.

Viola’s heart felt like it was twisted in her chest. There were few things that made sense, and more and more truths were becoming muddied with betrayals. Between Chrysan and Lady Via… all Viola could do was arrange her priorities. She was here to protect Her Highness—at least she knew that.

Siana continued, “What about my father? Cera said he’s missing.”

She hadn’t seen him. She thought Chrysan and Camellia would still be together, but… maybe he hadn’t come back at all. She could hope so, but she knew that wasn’t the case.

Whatever was happening here tonight and today… Chrysan wouldn’t miss it. She knew that now also.

Together, Cera and Viola led the princess back to the ground floor. Many of the battles had been worn down by now—few lacked the stamina to continue fighting for so long. Survivors were helping each other, pulling each other up and patching up each other’s wounds. Yarrow was likely somewhere nearby with the castle’s doctors, mending what he could.

Siana directed them to head to the king’s secret room. They went to the throne room first. With the blood of a royal and a spell, they could open the door to a hidden nook that could act as a safe room for the king and his court. The door was hidden behind a portrait of Queen Ann, Siana’s mother, but…

When they arrived in the throne room, the portrait was on the ground, and the door had already been swung open.