Scouting The Palace

Back at the hill, the men were beginning to feel lethargic. There wasn't much they could do other than hide out from the Flori and stay away from the cave. With Evanna gone, they would all hear the whispers every few minutes, the man's voice grated at them. If they slept, their dreams took on a bizarre turn; either they were nightmares, or their memories would resurface in a disfigured way, ending with the voice trying to lure them into the cave.

The three of them sat apart; Axel rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced between the other two. Their postures were stiff, and they refused to talk to each other, like a pair of children fighting over a toy. He couldn't understand the dilemma; he interrupted the near fist fight earlier and clipped them both behind the ears before yelling at them.

Since then, the pair stayed quiet. This was not what they needed right before entering the lion's den as it were. He also began to feel quite protective over the princess; he didn't want either of them to have her. Nobody was good enough for her in his eyes. 

"You two better get your shit together by the time they're back. We need to focus solely on the quest at hand. That lass is out there right now, probably getting herself into more trouble and doing who knows what to make it easier on us when we make it to that place," Axel spoke sharply, making both men flinch at his words.

Axel already felt guilty for not coming with her and providing some backup, but he was not the lightest on his feet nor the quickest and knew that it was best the girls went by themselves.

"You're right. I'm sorry I attacked you. I am just protective over her," Ger said sincerely with his head in his hands as he pulled some of his dark locks out of his face. He contemplated putting it in a small bun, his hair was becoming quite long, but when he looked at Axel, he saw his hair was put back in a rough half-up hairstyle to keep his long strands out of his face. It must be hard as well with his long beard.

"More like you are jealous you didn't pick up the courage to do it yourself," Ronan muttered under his breath; Ger heard his response, pulling him out of his reverie about his hair.

"What was that?" Ger growled; he heard what he said, but he also knew that Ronan wouldn't dare repeat it to his face.

"I said I'm sorry too. I promised you I would only flirt with her. I don't want to jeopardise this quest. So, I will back off," Ronan said in a strained voice, forcing himself not to grumble the words.

The pair looked at each other then Ger stood up and held his hand out for Ronan to take as he approached. They grabbed each other by the forearm before Ger patted Ronan on the shoulder roughly and broke apart.

"Now, hug it out," Axel demanded, with his hands crossed against his chest.

"Shut up, Axe!" The pair shouted at him. Axel burst out laughing, his voice hearty.

**

In the palace, Evanna followed behind Cilv at a steady pace, their footing light. She tried not to stare at everything in awe, for it was such a beautiful palace. Evanna would not have dreamed of their own being built in such a way.

Walking past the high arched walls, she looked to one side and saw a view of the curved bridge that semi-circled the palace, along with the views of the treetops in the distance. The space was so open, she speculated on how the wind didn't breeze through halls. The constant sound of the waterfall was also very lulling; it almost made her body relax, which was the worst possible outcome when they were to reconnaissance the place. 

As though Cilv could see the thoughts passing through her head, she smacked her in the shoulder and motioned her forwards. They hid behind a pillar, and when Evanna pressed her hand against it, she felt a rush of power surge through her. Pulling back, Evanna looked at the white structure and realised it was a tree; the roots were formed into the white floor, and the branches above connected to form the high arch.

There was no railing to stop a person from falling such a drop to her right side. At the bottom was a small water feature surrounded by trees and shrubbery. It was beautiful.

"Pay attention!" Cilv whisper-shouted. Evanna nodded and mentally slapped herself in the face.

Cilv was also awestruck with the beauty of such a place, but she was used to climbing into luxurious homes and stealing from them. This was no different, so she put her thoughts aside into a small box of actually giving a shit and kept herself vigilant as she assessed the areas. Their plan was to scout the place and check to see if there was a treasury.

From the looks of it, the elves definitely would. It was just the case of finding it. If they couldn't, Cilv's second plan was to find the architectural drawings of the palace. But who left that sitting around? Unless they had a study of some sorts.

The girls crept in and out of rooms for the remaining day, luckily without any noble or servant running into them. Evanna was grateful to have Cilv come along; unlike her, she was not used to such criminal activities. The most she did was escape her own palace and learn how to fight, which of course, was not very ladylike.

Unfortunately, they were uneventful in finding the treasury or any study that could help them. When they next looked outside, they saw the sun setting, and they took that as their time to leave. Having less light was both beneficial and at a disadvantage. There was a lot more cover for them to sneak around in, but their escape was something that would take the utmost skill.

They were quick to escape from the building, but the only route for them to take was the singular bridge or a drop to their death at the waterfall. This time they were not fortunate enough to get into a cart, and they were not aware of the guard's routines. They crept and sprinted around the building, passing the area that led to the cellar and found a stunning water fountain that a carriage used to turn around at.

Once the carriage was gone, they ran from behind the shrubbery next to the white wall and hid behind the water feature. A guard suddenly appeared across from their open hiding spot, stopping them from moving any further. He came forwards and stopped at the other side of the fountain, talking to another guard. Evanna felt slightly sick; their cover was not that great. If anyone were to look outside from the palace windows, they would see their figures hunched over across from the statuesque entrance where more guards were based.

The guards split up, and the first one continued on his stroll, rounding the fountain. Evanna kept glancing around for a means of escape, but panic struck her as she couldn't see any. Cilv tapped her on the shoulder and motioned her to follow.

They darted to the side, still out of the view from the approaching guard, ran and flipped over the railing that connected to the bridge. They held on by their fingertips as their bodies dangled off the side. If it weren't for the grip provided by her gloves, Evanna swore she would slip and fall.

She glanced down and felt dizzy seeing how far the drop was from where they were hanging and to the bottom of the waterfall. The wind blew aggressively against her face as she heard the now thunderous sound of the cascading water below.

Cilv dropped to another level below and clung on again to the bottom part of the railing. Evanna gritted her teeth and followed suit, but her heart was racing in anticipation of dying. However, she trusted Cilv would not get them killed before her payday, and so, she followed her every move.

The pair found themselves climbing underneath the bridge; instead of their usual quick pace, they were cautious and took their time. If their grip slackened, lost their footing on the wooden stirrups, or lost their concentration for a second, then they would fall into the running water below and to their deaths. The pair were tense and took deep breaths each time they moved from a safe position.

Evanna breathed a sigh of relief when they made it to the other end of the bridge; they jumped off to the side where the land met the water. She wanted to stop for a moment to breathe and calm down, but Cilv sprinted off into the cover of trees. Evanna done the same and immediately climbed a tree as soon as she saw approaching guards. She felt exhausted from the day's adventure, but her adrenaline and motivation kept her strong. She never complained as she followed Cilv back to their camp.

Once they made it back, Evanna reiterated what the elf said, making the group beam in excitement. It was the perfect time for them to sneak in, it was risky, but the whole quest was. They just needed to get the finer details of the palace's design, find out where the gem was, investigate the guard's rotations and anything else they could find before the big day.

For the next couple of days, that was how their routine went. The girls left in the early hours, scouting the palace, finding out as much information as possible, even minor details that may help them, before returning at nightfall. On many occasions, they found themselves hiding in a dire state to nearly being caught. Still, Evanna found it amazing how easy or not so easy it was that they roamed unfamiliar grounds without getting caught.

The day before the big evening, Evanna leapt up to a tree after sensing danger on their route back to the camp. Although her' alarm system' wasn't that useful now, they were always surrounded by the Flori, and it was hard for her to pinpoint if they were in immediate danger of getting caught. Luckily, she went with her gut and hid in the trees this time.

Cilv followed suit after hearing the approaching footsteps. As they looked down, Evanna stilled after seeing who it was. In all his arrogant beauty, the white-haired elf marched forwards with Garrett by his side, the leaders of the small group. They were not dressed in the elven armour, meaning they were going out to explore. At this time? The sun was going down, and the creatures of the night were coming out.

Evanna kept her eyes on him as he passed her tree; she held her breath the whole time while her body tensed. She knew it was ridiculous, but she didn't want to take any chances of him finding her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but Evanna felt this odd sense that if he found her, she would never be let go again. He suddenly stopped once he passed her tree and turned his head in her direction, she tensed again, but another elf ran forwards and spoke quietly to him, which in turn he nodded his head once and continued on their route.

Cilv landed next to her, making Evanna nearly fall off her branch in alarm. Releasing a breath, she looked at her and gestured with her hands, 'what do you want?'. She could see Cilv's eyes light up in amusement, but the rest of her face was hidden behind the black mask, just like hers. She tiptoed towards her so they were close, making Evanna's brows furrow in confusion.

"Hmmm, somebody has a little crush.." Cilv winked.

Evanna's eyes widened, "What!? NO!"

Cilv shushed her, covering her mouth with her hand, and looked around before tutting.

"You shouldn't say stupid stuff then where we could get caught!" Evanna whisper-shouted back, making Cilv giggle and sit down, so her legs were on either side of the branch. Evanna looked around before sitting down and looked at her questionably; she could see something was on the shapeshifter's mind.

"Raven, all jokes aside.." Cilv looked off in no particular direction as she tried to put her thoughts into words in a delicate way for someone such as the princess, "you know when we were on the other side of the river with the faceless and Scarecrow.."

Evanna nodded as she tried to suss out what Cilv was going to say.

She sighed and continued, "Scarecrow beat the living shit out of you.. I mean, it's still evident with the bruising on your face. He kept asking you what you were.. and that you tricked him.. you weren't affected by their mind games at all.. You have these weird senses which pick up on things that not even I can pick up on… So, what I am trying to say is.. Whatever you are.. it's okay to confide in me as I have confided in you with what I am.."

Evanna stared at the red-haired woman and then burst into a fit of giggles before covering her mouth and checking their surroundings before replying, "Cilv, I have no idea! Seriously, if I knew I would have told that monster, I don't have a high enough pain threshold to put up with what he did to me. I may be able to fight, but I am still a princess at the end of the day. I'm not used to pain! I think, though, I am just an odd human.. Nothing else."

Evanna shrugged and watched as Cilv's calculative gaze dropped, and she nodded her head, "Okay.. Well, I am not sure if you are human, though. Maybe you're a witch!" She joked before pulling herself up and leaping to the next tree over.

Evanna stood back up and watched for a few minutes as the shapeshifter disappeared from her view. She bit her lip as she began to worry about Cilv becoming suspicious of her. Evanna cursed in her head at how much Cilv added up and put things together. Relief flooded through her that the shapeshifter didn't get as far as working out what she truly was.

Evanna could never tell someone like Cilv about what she was. That information could easily be used AND possibly put not one but a few kingdoms into a riot. Chaos would erupt through the realms at what the princess of Dunhurst was.

Evanna snapped out of her thoughts and quickly caught up to Cilv, leaping between the trees with the safety of the coming night. By the time they made it back to their camp on the final evening, the group had gone through their plan thoroughly. The men were pumped and ready to leave the hillside they had to stay while the women left them daily. They weren't just restless but needed to get away from the cave.

The Flori never visited the area, making Evanna wonder if they knew about the creature in the cave. Either way, it kept them hidden from the elves in their small-time there and come up with a plan to break into their palace.