Chapter Sixty Seven

Then I waited.

I counted the hours till it was past 10pm. I slowly opened my door and stepped out. Serena’s and Julianna’s voice had long quietened down and I knew that they had gone to sleep. Serena had come in earlier to check on me in the medicine room where I was pretending to work on something when clearly I couldn’t do anything. My chest was in disarray and I could only look forward to seeing my sister. 

I pulled the cloth on my shoulder upwards and covered my head and my face with it as I hurried down the walkways. I had never been out at this time of the day and because I was too much in an hurry and in distress, I had forgotten to check how the guys patrolled the palace but the truth was that, there were fewer guards patrolling the palace, very few people could dare to attack the king or even try to infiltrate the palace. The Berg kingdom itself was imprentable so there was exactly nothing much to raise their guards against. The Berg kingdom was also deep in the forest, if any kingdom wanted to wage wars against them, the spies stationed over 500 kilometers would have warned them in advance and that was their advantage.

I was right and I easily maneuvered through the palace and got out as soon as I could. I walked swiftly and easily across the fields as I crossed the borders into the woods, my chest thumping heavily in my chest. I couldn’t get caught. If I got caught, I would be risking Triss, so I had to be extra careful. Most of the guards patrolling the border were Alphas and their sense of hearing was superb. I walked slowly till I came to a large clearing while I squinted my eyes trying to find where Triss would be and then all of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I immediately brought out the dagger hidden in my left pocket and pointed it at the other person as I turned.

The latter immediately raised my hands up in surrender, her veil falling off and revealing a face that was very similar to my own.

“Sister” she breathed and I immediately lowered my dagger breathing heavily as I stared at my sister. She looked the same but she looked mature. Her neck was bare of any jewelries and even in a hooded and covered clothing, she still looked stunning. We stared at each other for seconds before Triss immediately jumped on me hugging me while my hands hung beside me limply.

“I was so terrified, I was so scared” Triss whispered and I heard a crack in her voice and I slowly hugged her back slowly.

“I’m sorry” I whispered as well. Ignoring the lump that had grown in my throat. I had thought of all the emotions I would feel when I finally saw Triss but nothing prepared me for how I felt. 

I missed her.

I wanted to go home.

Triss pulled back from me slowly as she wiped her tears from her cheeks, "We need to leave this area for a while, the guards will soon be here” she informed me and I nodded and we walked away for a further thicket.

Triss held my hand tightly and I found myself smiling at the action.

“How did you find me?” I asked as soon as we reached a more suitable place and Triss shrugged.

“It was hard. I got married” she replied and I stared at her in horror.

“You did what?” I exclaimed and Triss quickly covered my mouth.

“Keep your voice low” Triss said with a frown and I nodded my head as she slowly dropped her hands looking somewhere else.

“You got married? To whom? How?” I asked so many questions in quick succession and Triss sighed.

“I had no other option. With father gone, we were open to all sorts of threats not to talk to those bastard Berg people hiding in our kingdom” Triss spat and I swallowed.

“How’s mother?” I asked and Triss’s eyes softened, “She’s much better now” she replied and she sighed.

“Father died and you were taken, Mother suffered a lot. She fell ill and she often was in a comatose state for days. The royal family descended into chaos and Uncle Stephan wanted to start a war to bring you back but those Berg bastards…” Triss trailed off, “We had to find a way to keep other kingdoms eyes off us so i got married to stabilize the royal family and we’ve been planning hard to get revenge on these bastards” Triss added her voice getting harder and I swallowed.

Here I was thinking that my family must hate me for causing my father’s death and so many more things but they were worried about me and even tried to save me. And yet I was finding it hard to make a decision.

“How are you?” Triss asked and I smiled at her.

“Alive” I replied and her eyes shifted at my reply.

“We are ready to go to war. We have sent several scouts to scout the Berg kingdom and they’ve been unsuccessful. They never came back until recently” Triss revealed and I nodded.

Jonathan had been right. My people were not oppressed people, they would surely fight back and this was them fighting back.

“When we finally found a way, Mother’s first task was to bring you back but I refused” Triss said and I stared at her in shock.

“What?” I breathed and Triss grabbed my hand.

“It’s not what you think, sister. We need to crush the Berg’s so that they never raise their heads ever again, so that they serve us all their life and suffer for killing our father” she said, her eyes red and I closed my eyes, slowly opening them.

“What do you mean?” I asked even though I knew what was coming next.

“We know that you serve that bastard in close quarters so I need you to help us bring every information that you can on their battle and war strategies. Everything that could help us win this war” Triss said and I stared at all.

“That’s all?” I asked and Triss nodded.

“I don’t want you to escape like a rat, you aren’t a rat. You are the First Princess of the Zadok Kingdom, if you are to leave the Berg Kingdom, you must leave with your head raised high” Triss said firmly as she stared down at the metal ring around my wrist.

“Those bastards” she gritted her teeth and I chuckled.

“Okay” I replied and Triss nodded at me.

“Let’s meet in seven days” she said and I nodded as she pulled me into a hug.

“It’s good to see you again sister” she whispered and I hugged her tighter.

We both stood up and Triss pulled her cover over her head nodding at me as she disappeared into the wind. I pulled my own hood over my head as I hurried back to the palace.

I had made my decision.