He Runs Into Him As Well As Someone Else

A few hours ago...

Rook and Zatus walked up the main staircase towards the throne room, both armed and armored. Rook a few inches shorter and years younger than Zatus, looked up to him as both a leader and a brother. While he too was raised by King Vikis all his life, Zatus was the one person that he felt like he could truly trust and rely on for anything. Despite the closeness, the men couldn't look more different, Rook's hair was short and jagged, sporting a dark black color, while his eyes were near crystal blue. Even their armor differed, while Zatus sported the standard Berin armor with he the traditional blue and gold inlay, Rook chose to dawn the colors of the previous empire, bright red with white outlining on each piece of armor.

"The hold is surrounded by Luton forces, we need to prepare ourselves for a long-lasting siege, guards will be stationed at every entrance and we need to make sure the larder is secured, food is about to become more valuable than gold," Zatus explained to the younger man,

"I understand," Rook nodded back, "Do you think we have a chance Zatus?" The young man asked with some slight worry in his voice,

Zatus halted as they reached the top of the stairs and let out a long exhale, "I don't know, I'll be truthful here and say, it doesn't look good. Luton tore through our whole Kingdom and they did it without cause, so I doubt they will be willing to talk but..."

"But?" Rook pressed with a raised brow,

"Octavious and Vikis were good friends as kids, he always told me stories about his childhood, how he took care of him. Maybe...maybe he will be able to talk some sense into him," Zatus replied,

"I hope you're right, Zatus, we don't have the forces...I know that." Rook muttered out,

Just then, a soldier came jogging towards the pair, "Zatus, Rook, we've gotten word that a possible thief is inside the palace. Have you seen anything?"

"No," Zatus replied while turning and looking around the upper hall, "Are we sure it's a thief and not a spy?"

"Unlikely sir, the gate has been sealed for the last week, and the battlements have been constantly manned," The soldier explained,

"I'll join the search and meet back with you and Vikis later," Rook spoke up,

"Rook-" Zatus began to dismiss,

"We need to keep our food under check, if one thief gets away with it, more will come," Rook reminded his friend,

"Fine, a fair point, search the palace but be quick, Vikis will be waiting for you," Zatus finished be heading off with the soldier back towards the throne room.

In the meantime, Rook began to scour the palace, searching for the said thief. Of course, he first searched the kitchen and main hall, thinking it was someone hoping to fill a sack full of food for themselves but there was no one to be seen. Next, he began to search the bed chambers, expecting to find the thief stealing whatever jewels or valuables they could find, and even still he couldn't catch a glimpse. It wasn't until Rook found his way into the library he finally caught sight of someone who shouldn't have been there.

As he pushed opened the large wooden door into the library a cloaked woman stood in front of the fireplace, papers spread all over the table, frantically looking them over. Rook put a hand on the hilt of his sword and walked forward into the room causing the woman to swiftly look up at him, "Hold there, no sudden moves," Rook ordered, the woman hesitated for a moment, almost rushing off but instead she did as told, "Remove your cloak, now, and state your name,"

The woman easily move her hands up and pushed the black hood down off her head, revealing her golden blonde hair put up in a bun, and blue eyes clearly. "My name is Sara, please, I'm not here to cause any trouble, I just...need these," She explained while glancing down to the table,

"That's property of King Vikis, and I will not allow you to be taking them," Rook firmly retorted,

"You don't understand, they won't be King Vikis's much longer, Luton is breaking in!" Sara exclaimed, "I need these maps to escape Berin!"

"What are you talking about, we're under siege but Luton hasn't breached our walls!" Rook shot back,

"They have! King Octavious has power, something far stronger then the magic you or I know, he's leading his troops, he himself was breaking through the gates, we need to run!" Sara explained in desperation,

"W-What?" Rook stammered back, his eyes wide in shock, "How long ago did this happen? We didn't receive any word that they got through,"

"Most of our men were killed, I saw it from my house, please, just let me take the maps and I'll go, I just want to survive!" Sara pleaded,

"I-" Rook began to reply only to hear a commotion from outside the library, he quickly pulled out his sword. He looked out the doors and saw dozens of men marching through the palace and up the stairs towards the throne room, "Zatus..." He whispered out under his breath.

Rook quickly shut the door and looked back to Sara, who was now brandishing a curved dagger, "Step aside, I don't want to hurt you, but I will not die here," She hissed out, all sense of fear and worry gone from her voice, replaced by firm desperation for survival,

"We're in the same boat here, if they find me, they kill me too, so put it down," Rook snapped back, "Help me block the door with one of the bookshelves,"

"How will we get out?" Sara frowned,

"This entire castle was built many years ago, this room was originally the main dining hall before the expansion. There still is a small servents tunnel that will lead us right to the kitchen," Rook explained while sheathing his sword and walking to the nearest bookshelf. He took hold of it and grunted while starting to push it. Sara watched for a moment before letting out a huffing sigh and running over, assisting him in blocking the door, "Follow me," Rook said while taking a long breath,

"Hang on," Sara replied while running back to the table by the fireplace, Rook followed her and watched as she began to stuff half a dozen maps into her bag, "Okay, let's go,"

The pair moved to the far side of the library, Rook took a moment, looking the far wall over before moving to another shelf and pulling it forward. The pair moved behind it and entered through a long-abandoned door, entering a dark servants hallway. While they were half stumbling over themselves in the dark, the pair could hear the sound of banging then fighting before a final loud crash. When they finally emerged into the kitchen, Rook could only expect the worse.

However, to his shock, Zatus burst into the kitchen, the man looked at Rook in pure relief while he shut the door behind him, "Thank the gods, I hoped you'd be down here, the rest of the palace is crawling in soldiers, we have to go right now,"

"Vikis?" Rook asked making Zatus only lower his head and shake it no,

"How are we getting out of here?" Sara interjected,

"You're the thief, aren't you," Zatus spat out reaching down and planting his hand on the handle of his sword,

"She's not the kind of thief you or I were thinking Zatus, she's just a survivor...like the both of us," Rook replied holding up a hand to halt his friend,

Zatus stared Sara down for a long moment before letting go of his sword, "I suppose it doesn't matter now anyway, the hold is gone," Zatus grunted back, "Follow me, there's an exit in the wine cellar we can take."

Rook turned to follow Zatus as he walked to the wine cellar door, flung it open, and quickly climbed down, "Sara, you coming?" Rook asked glancing back to the girl,

"Yeah, hang on," Sara replied while pulling off her back and quickly shoving food into the bag as well,

"What are you thinking?!" Rook snapped back,

"We're on the run, we'll need to eat won't we?" Sara sarcastically replied,

Rook let out a scoff, "Whatever, just...come on, will you!" Sara finished grabbing a few more bread rolls before running over, following Rook down the ladder and then both him and Zatus down into the sewers and out of the burning hold.