Page 6

I let out a breath of relief when, after some time, my feet finally felt the soft ground beneath me. I took a few minutes to catch my breath and let my burning muscles recover before I made the next move.

The guards marched the castle grounds in shifts. I had a very short window of only a few minutes while the guards met on the east end to rotate shifts. I wondered if I missed that window, as I suddenly felt like eyes were watching me. I slowly ducked down behind a hedge and waited a moment. I heard no sounds of heavily armored feet and saw no signs that a guard had caught me. I brushed off the feeling and hastily made my way to the tall stone wall that surrounded the castle.

Climbing the wall was the easiest task of the night, if only because it was made up of the same stone structure as the castle, but nowhere near the height. I took one last look behind me, ensuring that the guards hadn’t yet finished their shift-change, and began the last climb.

I landed on the ground outside the wall and smiled, the excitement only building from there. Now I had to make my way through Oreross, our main city, to the abandoned theater where my uncle would be waiting. The walk usually took an hour, and consisted of mostly dark, dimly lit streets where I would not be recognized, if anyone was even awake at this hour.

Even in the darkness, I couldn’t help but marvel at the stone buildings that made up Rimor. Even the lowest classes lived in stone houses. Those with more wealth had intricate statues and designs molded into the structure of their homes. There was so much beauty, so much art put into every building that I felt like I was seeing something new every time I was in the city…which was rare.

I stopped for a moment to trail my fingers over the head of a lion that was jutting out from one of the buildings, when I thought I heard a shuffle behind me. I spun towards the noise, hand on the hilt of my dagger. But I saw no one. Heard nothing else. So I reluctantlybrushed it off.

As I walked through the streets with haste, the eerie sensation that I was being followed nagged at me. But every time I turned around, I would see nothing and no one. At one point, I even slid into a back alley, waiting for someone to pass in search of me, but no one ever came. I shook it off, convincing myself I was just on edge after the other night.

Within an hour, I reached the edge of Oreross and found the abandoned theater which looked as untouched and disheveled as ever. The theater was the lone building on that stretch of cobblestone road. My mother and I used to come here often when I was a child. After she died, it seemed the happiness surrounding the theater slowly turned bleak, and it eventually shut down. The bittersweet memory of the place in its prime halted when I reached the large door. I pushed back the overgrown shrubbery and turned to take one last look behind me to ensure I wasn’t followed. The nagging feeling remained, but I saw no one and continued through the door.

I stepped inside and was met with the familiar stale air and cobwebs of the abandoned building. There were three levels, each with multiple sets of benches and seats, and a balcony overlooking the stage. I wouldn’t dare go to one of the upper levels – not in the current state the building was in. Splintered wood lined the grounds where wooden beams had fallen. I carefully stepped over them, kicking up dust with each movement.

I started heading towards the stage where my uncle and I trained when I felt someone grab me from behind. Quickly, I dropped my weight and slammed my head backwards causing the attacker to loosen their grip. I forced one of my arms out from the hold and launched my elbow backwards into the center of the attacker’s chest. They exhaled a startled breath as they let go of me and staggered backwards. I whipped myself around to face my foe, hands up infighting position.

“Nicely done,” said my uncle, his hand on his chest as he leaned forward in discomfort. “I wasn’t expecting you to get free so quickly.”

“Never underestimate your opponent,” I smiled, repeating a phrase he had said to me many times.

Balor laughed, standing up straight and bringing his hands up, mirroring my fighting stance. “Keep your feet steady and your body balanced.”

I rolled my eyes. “I already know the basics, Uncle,” I scoffed. He grinned, and as quickly as he grabbed me before, he launched himself towards me for another attack. I brought my arms up, defending his punches. When the opportunity struck, I hit back, hurling fists and high kicks at him with everything I had. He always told me never to hold back, even in our trainings. We often both came out of them bruised and battered, although he made sure not to hit my face where I would be unable to hide the bruises.

We continued to fight with little to no conversation for half an hour. Sometimes I felt I was going to come out victorious, then he would hit me with a surprise move I was unfamiliar with. He humbled me, reminding me that I still had much to learn. After our initial combat ended, we moved to the stage and Balor spent the next two hours teaching me the moves he had used on me during our brawl. I relished every second of it.

Time moved quickly, and I had to keep track of when the sun would be up. It would take me an hour to get back to the castle, and maybe another hour to scale the tower walls with sore muscles. When we finally stopped to take a break, I sat at the edge of the stage with my feet hanging down.

“Something is on your mind,” my uncle said from the center of the stage. He could always tell if something was bothering me. He made his way towards me and sat down at my side.

“Yes, a lot is on my mind actually,” I answered. I reached over to the satchel that sat at my other side and pulled out the book. I placed it in my lap and took a deep breath, wondering where to start.

“What is that?” Balor asked, curiously eyeing the book.

“I got it from Rimor Library. I was looking for something that might help with a dream interpretation.”

Balor’s brow rose. “Callum finally let you go to the library, did he?”

“No, I snuck in,” I answered. Of course my father wouldn’t have let me go.

“They lock up pretty tightly at night from what I remember. How did you get in?” he asked.

“I didn’t go at night. I went during the day.”

Balor paused for a moment before breaking into laughter. “You escaped your guards,” he said as a statement rather than a question. “How pissed was Callum?”

I cracked a smile. “Well, he threatened to be my personal escort himself if I do it again.”

My uncle’s laughter continued, and he covered his forehead with his hand. “Of course he did. And you better believe he meant it.”

“I know,” I answered. My father did not bluff, and his threats were always serious. My uncle knew firsthand, being exiled by his own brother.

Balor paused and I turned to look at him. He was handsome for his age, with shoulder-length, sandy hair that he had tied back and out of his face. Despite being an exile, he looked well taken care of. The strength of his movements alone proved he hadn’t lost any muscle during his time away. And he didn’t appear as aged and weathered as my father, although the resemblance of their features was still uncanny. With strong cheekbones, a slender nose, and thin lips, there was no mistaking them for anything but brothers. But his eyes, unlike mine and my father’s emerald green, were as gray as the stones thatmade up our kingdom.

“You say you had a dream of some sort?” Balor shifted back to my earlier remark.