He glanced back, seeing his friends were still right behind him. He had considered bringing twice as many men, but he figured if he brought more than two strapping young revolutionaries, the group might cause suspicion amongst the Empire soldiers who patrolled the streets of Delos at night. If he brought fewer, they wouldn’t be able to ward off any potential Empire soldiers guarding Ceres’s tower and the rescue mission would be a failure.
August was a new friend, young, happy, and built like a combatlord. He had joined the rebellion a mere month ago, and had told Rexus that he left his father – an advisor to the king – because of the way his father mistreated their slaves. Crates was one of August’s father’s slaves, and the night August left, August took him with him, making Crates a free man.
Crates was tall and lanky, but exceptional with the bow and arrow, and having lived in lack his entire life, he had a fire about him that Rexus loved, the young man embodying the spirit of the revolution.
Clouds had started to roll in when they reached the city, and as the night darkened, Rexus led them through the back streets in silence, passing crowded houses, some intact, others demolished by the Empire.
By the time they paused in an alleyway across from the palace, the heavens had cleared again, the moon and stars bringing welcome light.
Anka descended from the horse, and peeking out from behind the wall, she pointed out the tower Ceres was imprisoned in.
“I have to go back inside,” Anka said. “If anyone finds out I have been gone…”
“Yes, go,” Rexus said. “And Anka…”
Anka turned around and looked at him.
“Thank you,” he said.
She nodded, and he watched as Anka vanished into the night down the street, around the stone wall toward the back entrance of the palace.
Rexus took a moment to study the Empire soldiers who marched around the wall, noting that they passed by approximately every five minutes. It should give them ample time to climb the wall and not get caught.
Hurriedly, they tied up the horses, took the weapons and rope, and just as the next Empire soldier marched by, seeing the coast was clear, Rexus led August and Crates toward the outer wall.
The wall was slick, but with ropes tossed over the wall, anchored in the trees on the other side, the climb took no time at all.
After they had descended the wall, making no sound as they hopped down onto the soft, green lawn, they stole toward the palace, hiding behind trees and bushes.
Once at the bottom of the tower, Rexus peered up the side of the rounded wall. The structure was higher than what he had initially thought, but he was confident he would be able to climb it and bring Ceres down with him once he had freed her. Any thought of slipping and falling he forced away, knowing uncertainty could cause him to fall.
“Wait behind the bushes while I get her,” Rexus said to August and Crates. “If any Empire soldiers approach, warn me with a quail call.”
He removed his cloak and handed it to August.
“Be safe,” August whispered, vanishing into the shadows with Crates.
Rexus attached a rope to the end of his arrow and shot it through the partially opened shutter. He paused, looking up, hoping Ceres would come to the window, but he saw no movement.
He tugged on the rope, and seeing it was secure, he wedged his foot between two rocks and started the climb. One foot after another, pulling on the cord, he inched his way upward, his hands clamping, the muscles in his arms flexing, his feet digging into the niches of the stone wall.
Halfway up the tower there was a generous ledge, and Rexus paused to rest, panting heavily. He looked down and saw nothing but bushes and trees and shadows. August and Crates were certainly hiding well, he noted.
Once he had caught his breath, he continued to climb, and soon his heart was again pounding from exertion. Or was it from the thought of seeing Ceres?
He strained, climbing faster, just trying to reach her, to see her smile again, her beautiful eyes, feeling her soft skin.
A few inches from the top, he stopped, thinking he heard something below, but when he looked, he saw nothing.
Finally, he reached the ledge of her window and peered into the room.
“Ceres,” he whispered.
“Rexus?” he heard Ceres speak, amazement in her voice.
Then he saw her face – a desperate expression – and that she wore a royal gown that was torn and filthy. When she gripped his hands, he felt how cold she was, but how strong she was, too. She pulled him inside.
“You came for me,” she said, throwing her arms around him.
“I’m sorry for what I said,” he said, gripping her tightly, never wanting to let go. “I love you, with all that I am.”
“I love you, too,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
He pulled back and stroked her hair, gazing into her eyes. She rose up onto the balls of her feet and pulled at the back of his head so their lips met. He kissed her passionately, pouring all of himself, all the longing and regret, into that kiss. Her lips were soft, and he knew they were destined to be together.
They parted.
“We have to hurry,” he said. “There will be time later.”
She nodded.
He drew the dagger from its sheath around his waist so he could free her from the shackles.
Suddenly Rexus felt an excruciating pain in his back. He couldn’t breathe.
He looked down and, to his horror, saw an arrow tip protruding from his chest, running all the way through his body.
Then, before he could register what was happening, there came another.
He was being attacked from behind, he realized. The guards below must have spotted him. He had been shot from behind.
Rexus reached out for Ceres, but his world was already darkening. Before he could sever her bonds, he found himself instead losing balance, falling backwards.
And then he tumbled out the window.
Rexus fell as if in slow motion, the wind in his ears, the sound of Ceres’s scream following him, the air so thin and warm. There was no resistance. It seemed a long way down, as if he were sinking into the earth and the earth swallowed him whole. Would not the ground soon come?
The last thing he saw before he hit the ground was Ceres’s contorted face, looking down, wishing, as he, that everything had turned out differently.
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
Thanos, standing at the bow of his ship, the scent of the ocean filling his nostrils, spotted Haylon in the distance, and immediately regret brewed in his chest. With every breath he had taken on this trip, every inch he had sailed, the regret had only grown stronger. Now, with the destination in plain sight, it suddenly became crystal clear: he knew he had made the wrong decision not to take Ceres from the castle and run from his uncle, from everything he knew.
And in this moment, his regret turned to shame. Yes, he felt ashamed for letting the king play him again, this time pitting Ceres and him against each other.
Waves crashed against the ship below, drops of salt water splashing onto his overheated face. A steady stream of brisk sea breeze ran through his hair as he watched the gulls dive into the sea only to rise from the ocean with fish in their beaks.
If only I were that free, he thought.
He still felt seasick, and had since the day the ship left the shores of Delos one week earlier to sail south. Now, seeing Haylon, it made him want to jump into the ocean, swim to shore, and worship the white sandy beaches surrounding the isle. Land, solid earth, he thought. He never realized he would miss it so much.
A sense of awe went through him as his eyes scanned the paradise in the near distance. The isle, a hub of trading between all western nations, was dramatically beautiful, he could see as they approached, with towering verdurous mountains behind the city, rising from the sea, the buildings glistening golden in the evening sunlight. It was his first time here, and the closer they sailed, the more he wished his first visit were under different circumstances completely – not to kill the inhabitants, or to destroy the beautiful architecture of their most magnificent buildings.