A Game of Crowns

“And for once bravery looked a lot like running away.”

-Kat Savage

I was currently messing with the note Rowan had sent. I’d folded it repeatedly throughout the day until the words started to fade. I’d read it between breaks with Trixie. I read it at lunch and dinner. And here I was rereading it in front of the door to the place Rowan asked me to meet him in. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong soon and yet here I was.

I hadn’t bothered to change and instead used the journey as an opportunity to train. I jogged the two miles to the cottage with ease. I was a sweating mess when I arrived but who cared right?

I inhaled deeply before knocking on the purple door. The twins had their own cottage on the palace grounds. It was a mile further from the orchards Lucas had shown me. Apparently, the twins enjoyed their privacy.

“Finally,” answered one of the twins as she opened the door. Her high cheek bones and full lips screamed beautiful.

Her sister joined her at the doorway. They stared at me with an identical smile on their faces. They then proceeded to look at each other and shared a meaningful look.

I rolled my eyes. “Is Rowan here yet?”

The twin on my right chuckled before moving aside to let me in. Now that I wasn’t running I felt every ache in my body. Thankfully, Trixie hadn’t punched my face so no bruises were visible but almost every inch of my body was scattered in bruises. Some were dark and fresh while others were healing and yellow. I walked into the cottage trying not to give away the aching I felt with every step.

The twin eyed the visible bruises on my arms and lower calves. She muttered something about looking forward to the next trial. It was hard to believe I would be on a first name basis with The Trinity.

“You know Ivy and I had a wager going on. She bet you wouldn’t knock on the door. I bet you wouldn’t make it to the door. Only Rowan was confident you’d come,” said the one not named Ivy.

It was as if she sensed my thought. “My name is Willow.”

I nodded. I looked around their cottage and was surprised to find it cozy and warm. I didn’t know what I expected. Lilac couches matched perfectly with the light color of the walls. Little accents of trees and ships were placed around the room which added personality and I found myself enjoying the living space. It was sort of random but it worked.

I looked back at the twins who continued to watch me. I tried not to show my unease.

“So, how do I tell you guys apart?” I asked.

“You don’t. No one has been able to do it besides Rowan,” answered the one on my left.

The one on the left grinned. They were playing a game with me and they were enjoying themselves. I couldn’t even participate because I didn’t know what they were trying to accomplish.

“Right, speaking of Rowan. Where is he?” I asked. It was weird to think I wanted Rowan to help me feel at ease with these two.

“I knew you’d warm up to me,” he said from somewhere close behind me.

I turned around. He leaned against a doorway as he watched me with a sly grin.

“Stop doing that. It’s not polite to sneak up on people,” I chided him.

He chuckled. “I see you’ve met my sisters, Ivy, and willow. The secret to telling them apart lies in their eyebrows.”

He didn’t even bother to try explaining that. I rolled my eyes.

“Now that you’ve got me here, now what?” I asked.

Ivy or maybe it was Willow answered. “We wanted to meet you. We wanted you to know we’re not as bad as we come off.”

The other one continued, “Especially after that stunt Rowan pulled on you in the last trial.” Her disapproval was apparent.

Rowan had the decency to look ashamed.

The sisters now lounged on their lilac sofas, in full-length white cotton jumpsuits, completely at ease. Rowan preferred to sit on the carpeted floor with his legs crossed beneath him. Today he wore white skinny jeans with a tight black shirt and an off-white leather jacket. The siblings seemed to enjoy white when they rested and black when they had a show to put on. They looked beautiful and here I was a dirty sweaty mess.

I looked from the couch to the floor debating on where to sit. I didn’t want to get my sweat on either of them.

“Just sit somewhere, will you? You’re starting to give me a headache,” said one of the twins.

I plopped down on the floor, forgetting about my aches, and quickly regretted it. A whelp of pain escaped my lips but I bit down hard to keep in the curse words that threatened to leave my mouth. I gratefully leaned my back against one of the walls.

The twins and Rowan looked on with amused grins.

“Are you wearing your amulet?” Rowan asked.

I pulled it out from beneath my shirt. He nodded in approval.

“I didn’t think you’d give her that amulet Rowan,” growled one of the sisters.

He gave her a warning glare. “It was mine to give,” he said defensively.

The twins said nothing else.

“Willow, will you get Penelope a glass of water?”

She nodded and left the room.

“We wanted you to feel comfortable around us, Penny,” Ivy said. I rolled my eyes at my name. There was no point in saying anything. People always called me what they wanted anyway. “My brother has told us he’s explained everything to you?”

I nodded as Willow came back. She handed me a glass of water and sat back down.

I chugged the glass greedily. After I drank every drop, I smiled happily. “Thanks, I needed that.”

Rowan grinned. His sisters rolled their eyes.

“Like I was saying,” continued Ivy, “We are close to finding the temple. On the fourth trial from now, the remaining participant couples will be visiting all the territories over a two-week span. It’ll be then that we’ll need to find a way to get you and Tobias into the Hidden Realm.”

“Speaking of Tobias, where is he?” Willow asked.

“I haven’t told him any of this. We’re not on speaking terms at the moment.”

It was Rowan who responded. “As much as I love that, we need the both of you. If you’d like I can approach him.”

I was stunned by the admission he slyly threw in that sentence. I shook my head. “No, I will do it. He won’t believe you. I barely believed you.”

“Fair enough,” he answered.

A loud alarm sounded throughout the cottage. The siblings were on their feet within seconds. I covered my ears and yelled, “What’s going on?”

Rowan yelled, “Someone is attacking the palace.”

My blood turned cold. I quickly jumped to my feet all aches and pain forgotten. Thelonious was attacking the palace again. One of the twins ran to shut off the alarm in their cottage. The ear-splitting noise finally stopped.

“The only reason that thing would have gone off is that the attackers have made it into the palace grounds,” said one of the twins.

A look passed between all three of them. They all moved in unison. The twins went to a heavy oak chest and began removing weapons. My mouth fell open. I thought guns were rare. Not only did they have some but so did the attackers. My memory went back to the noises I heard from the last attack. Well, they had two guns. The rest of their weapons were sharp pointy things.

Rowan had removed his jacket and had strapped on a black belt that went around his waist and snaked down his thigh. He had at least thirty daggers on him. I hated myself for thinking it but sweet Priestess he was sexy as hell.

He came and whispered in my ear. “Not that I don’t appreciate the ogling, but I don’t think now’s the time.”

I blushed. “Shut up and give me one of those things,” I said pointing at his daggers.

“Do you know how to use them or are you more likely to stab yourself with it?”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“That’s what I thought,” he said, smirking.

“Fine.”

“Just stay behind us if anyone comes our way. We are duty-bound to protect you anyways.”

Hmm, I didn’t know that.

“Alright, enough dallying. Ivy and Willow, protect Penelope. I’m going to patrol the perimeter of the cottage.”

Both Ivy and Willow nodded firmly.

Rowan didn’t have a chance to open the door. It was forced open with a loud crash. Someone had kicked it down. Rowan roughly pulled me behind him.

The next few moments moved at a snail-like pace. I watched as it all unfolded from behind Rowan. Ivy and Willow didn’t have their guns aimed at anyone like I’d imagined they would. Their guns were securely holstered at their sides.

What were they doing?

Two men stood at the door, guns raised. I counted at least another two behind them. Before they could get any shots off, they fell to the ground hands on their throats. Rowan had thrown two daggers at an alarming speed.

The second set of attackers pushed forward without any fear. While they struggled to get through the narrow door and over the bodies of their comrades, Rowan gave his sisters some sort of hand gestures. They disappeared, leaving Rowan and me alone with the two new intruders.

Rowan threw another pair of daggers and killed those guys easily. No one else followed them.

“Stay here, Penelope. I need to go and check the surrounding area. If someone comes in here run. Do not fight. Understand?”

I nodded. The events of the last three minutes had left me mute. He rushed out of the cottage. I wandered over to the pile of dead bodies in the entryway. One of them still had their eyes open but I knew they were dead. His eyes were void of life.

A pressure built up at the base of my throat and I couldn’t hold the contents of my stomach down. I turned away from the bodies with a second to spare before the remnants of my lunch forced its way out.

After several seconds of dry heaving, I controlled it. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and dared to look back at the bodies. They all looked immensely different but all had one identifier in common. A small teardrop tattoo laid at the outer corner of their left eye.

A noise from another room snapped me back to the situation at hand. Someone was in the house. They must have snuck in through the back door.

My mind was racing but time seemed to be in slow motion. Someone was coming this way and I had no weapon. I looked around for something, for anything.

My eyes landed on the bodies. Each one of their bodies held a weapon. I almost gagged again just thinking about what I’d need to do. I had to get it over with. I leaned down over the body and with one swift motion I pulled out the dagger. I turned away from the corpse but not before seeing blood shoot out from its neck. Blood squirted me, landing on my chest and lower jaw before I could move out of the way.

I almost passed out right there but I knew I had to keep my wits about me or I’d end up dead too. I held the dagger-like I would a knife, which was probably wrong but I didn’t care. I had a weapon.

I hid in a small storage closet and left it slightly ajar so I could see out. A medium built body walked quietly into the room. They wore all black; including a black mask. Why was this person different? They were trying to hide their identity but why?

It hit me like a bolt of lightning. They were a traitor. A gasp slipped through my lips before I could stop myself.

The masked strangers head snapped to my direction. He began walking towards me sure of his destination. My hiding spot was blown. I groaned not caring if he had heard. He already knew I was there.

I should have run like Rowan suggested but my mind seemed to forget that instruction immediately.

To hell with it. I ran out of the closet yelling like a woman on a pixie dust high. Trixie would be embarrassed at my technique. The figure stopped shocked that I had revealed myself.

He cursed under his breath.

Why wasn’t he trying to kill me? I didn’t have time to think much of anything else.

I had somehow lost the weapon I had made such an effort to retrieve. Oh well, Trixie had shown me basic close quarter combat techniques and I hoped it would be my salvation.

The figure did not raise his gun. I attempted to jab him with my right index finger and middle finger towards where I thought his eyes would be but he expertly blocked it. He continued to block my attacks and refused to make a move towards me. What the hell?

I’d had enough. I caught the gleam of the blade I’d lost near one of the couches and I dived for it. He must have seen what I was going for because he dived for it as well. My hand nearly wrapped around its hilt when he landed on top of me. I got a good jab at his face but he still refused to budge. I let out a shrill scream as the dagger sliced my upper arm. That made my attacker halt. I punched his esophagus but not nearly as hard as I needed. The next thing I knew I was falling into darkness but not before I heard Rowan’s terrifying yell of fury.