Chapter 21: Prisoners of a Not so Friendly Palace

As Silva was being marched away from the temple, she felt disappointed being betrayed by the priestess of the temple. Silva just hopes her friends were able to escape and leave before getting captured by these lunatics. Silva continues walking with the guards finally reaching the main gate of the palace where the guards were waiting for their newfound prisoner.

“What business do you have for bringing a commoner to our great palace?” the guard asked.

“This young lady has been summoned by his majesty and wishes to see her privately,” the other guard explains.

“Very well, processed to the throne room, his majesty is waiting for you,” the guard said, giving the guard clearance.

The gates soon opened and they continued to walk through the palace.

As Silva was walking, she heard a commotion going on at the other end of the palace, so she turned around and noticed it was Lisa struggling to escape.

“Lisa!” Silva shouted.

“Silva!” Lisa shouted in tears seeing her friends captured as well.

Silva turned around and began to cry. Not only was she captured, but all her friends as well and that was getting a little too personal. Silva had to think of something quickly to free her friends before it was too late.

Silva and her escorts continue leading her to the throne room while the people of the court continue to stare at her like some criminal. A few minutes later, they arrived at the throne room and she was greeted by someone she tried to forget from her past.

“I never thought I would see the day where a dumbass will be sitting on the throne,” Silva greeted the king rudely.

“How dare you address his majesty so informally!” the guard yelled, hitting Silva.

“It’s fine. It is good to see you again, “Silva of the Desert,”” the king said.

“Like wise, so how did you know it was me?” Silva asked curiously.

“In every gate entrance there is a full body scan along with ID scans to keep out criminals and they are transmitted here. When I saw you coming into the city, it did not take long to figure out you were here,” the brat king said.

“I demand you free my friends at once or I will reveal the secret you have kept from your people and you know what I mean,” Silva yelled, warning the king.

“You wouldn’t dare…,” the king said angrily.

“Try me,” Silva warned.

“Very well, what do you want?” he asked.

“I want you to release me, my friends and our belongings to us or you will have the Guild King to answer to,” Silva warned.

“Very well, I will release them only if you do me a favor.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to steal from the neighboring kingdom. It seems they stole something from us and I will like it back. Since I seem a bit generous, I will allow you to take two of your friends. If you do not do what I ask, then I will have all of you executed in front of the entire city in three days.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Do your job right and I will keep my promise to free your friends. You must be tired, the guards will take you to the dungeon to see your friends before heading to your special cell, guards take her away,” the king said, turning away.

Soon after, Silva walks out of the throne room with the guards to a strange gate to a hidden corridor leading to the dungeons. Leading down the steps, Silva counts how many stairs there are to use them in her plan to escape.

“Alright you have one hour, so you better use it well,” the guard said as they left her with her friends.

“Silva! You are ok, we were so worried about you,” Lisa yelled through her cell.

“Yeah, I am fine, but what happened to you guys?” Silva said worriedly.

“Well, let’s just say when we didn’t want to talk they wanted to play rough, so we gave them what they wanted,” Julius said, trying to be macho.

“I am glad you can fight for yourselves, listen there is something I have to tell you and you might not like it,” Silva began saying.

“What is it?” Rufus said wanting to know what it was.

“Silva, before you answer that question, answer mine, why are you the only one not wounded and what is your history with this place?” Terrance asked curiously.

“Well…alright…I guess you have the right to know. About ten years ago I was sent by the Guild King to investigate the Intel-City information system since it seems they were knowing a little too much for their own good. They may be the guardians and keepers of knowledge, but it seemed to be a bit off. Since I was on my own for this mission, I had to keep a down low. When I arrived in the city a few days later, I went to work. My first stop was the palace. I thought going to the palace first for answers was obvious and I was right. I saw a group of guards escorting small children down somewhere, so I decided to follow them. I arrived at the basement areas of the palace and the children were forced into magical cells. I stayed hidden to watch what was going on and it was horrible. It seems they were killing these innocent children by sucking out their life force and knowledge, as they were slowly turning into dust. It was horrifying to watch this happen, so I went to work destroying the machine. I managed to destroy most of the machine, but when I arrived at the main energy unit and saw two little baby girls inside gaining all the knowledge stolen from the children. I couldn’t kill them and they were babies, so I destroyed the machine. I did not want to leave the girls there, so I took them with me. I did manage to save as many children as I can that did not die. I managed to escape without the king trying to kill me, but he only let me go because of his secret. Afterwards, I reported to the Guild King about my discovery, but without any evidence we couldn’t charge them of the crime, so we had to let it go. In the meantime, the children I managed to save were adopted to other guilds for their protection and I adopted the baby girls and raised them in my guild. After a couple of years, I did everything I could to protect them since their magic was growing and they would be easier to find. Later on, I thought it would be too dangerous for me to stay, so I left them in the care of the guild and went on to join another guild for their protection. Ever since doing that, I have missed them every day. I should pay them a visit when I have a chance.” Silva explained in great detail.

“Oh…that explains why you always avoid coming here because of what they stand for and what they did to your daughters,” Lisa said, trying to put the pieces together.

“Yeah….,” Silva plainly said.

“So…what does this have to do with us?” Julius asked.

“Well, since you are all my friends, he thinks the best way to get to me is through all of you, but I will not allow anything to happen to any of you,” Silva declared.

“Right, Silva, so are you going to tell us why you are not trapped in a cell with us?” Julius said, getting impatient.

“Well, the dumb ass king wants me to steal an artifact for him in exchange for your safety, so I am here to tell you I can only bring two people with me and I have to choose by tonight. I know this does not give us very much time, but thinking it over I decided to go with Scout and Rufus,” Silva explained, a little sad.

“Why those two? I can help you do this job,” Terrance yelled after being voted out.

“I am sorry, but Scout is the best thief I know and Rufus has the best tracking skills, so they will be perfect for the job,” Silva explained plainly.

“My lady, please take me with you, I can help,” Rajah said impatiently.

“I am sorry Rajah, I would take you if I could, but I can’t, please watch over the others,” Siva said, bending down to kiss his head.

“Alright your hour is up, it’s time to leave,” the guard shouted.

“Alright, take care of you guys, see you tomorrow,” Silva said as she was walking out of the dungeon.

“Have you decided which of your friends you are going to take with you?” the king asks.

“Yes, I have,” Silva plainly responded.

“Very good, the guard will give you the details in the morning, so get some rest because I doubt you want to screw up your job and your friends pay for your mistake,” the kind evilly said.

“Come along girl,” the guard said, grabbing her and taking her away.

It did not take them long to reach Silva’s room, the guard opened the room and let her in. She had everything she needed and was alone, so she had to come up with a plan to save her friends.