Hollow Kingdom

The castle was in chaos when Lily arrived. Guards were absolutely everywhere. Lily's heart pounded as she tore through the palace in search of Angie. She must already know the rebels were coming. Lily didn't have much time to convince Angie to flee Little Aveling with her.

She was out of breath and feeling on the verge of hysteria when she reached Angie's room. A guard was posted outside the door.

"Lady Belmont," he said in surprise. "The Queen is busy-"

"Leave us," Lily fairly shouted at him. "I need to speak with her and its urgent."

He opened his mouth to protest but stopped when Lily glared at him. He nodded slightly and edged further down the hall. Lily burst into Angie's room.

"Angie, please. I can't watch you die. I love you. Come with me, we can leave, right now."

Lily froze as she saw Evan standing across the room with Angie, a look of pleading on his face. Angie looked like she'd been crying recently.

"You...love me," she repeated. "But you're a rebel."

"I was. But I'm not anymore. Angie please, I'm begging you. Just run away with me. We'll start a new life together far away. Just you and me."

Lily was so stunned by the scene in front of her that she didn't see the knife in Angie's hand until it was too late.

"No!" Lily cried, lunging forward. But Angie had already plunged the blade into Evan's chest. He fell back, a look of shock etched on his face. He hit the floor, clutching the wound.

"Angie, what did you do?" Lily demanded, kneeling on the floor and shoving her hands against Evan's chest to try and stop the bleeding. His sad gaze stayed locked on Angie's face.

"He asked me to run away with him," Angie murmured. The hand gripping the knife was trembling and Angie looked vacant, like she didn't even know where she was anymore.

"But why did you stab him?" Lily asked incredulously. "Angie, he said he loves you."

"No. No." Angie shook her head. "He can't...that's not...I had to stab him, Lily. I had to."

"Why?"

"Because I almost said yes," Angie whispered. "I wanted to say yes. I wanted to run away with him. But I can't."

"Evan, stay with me," Lily said, still trying in vain to staunch the blood flow. His eyes were still on Angie and Lily thought he was almost smiling.

"Tell Alec...I'll see him on the other side," he said hoarsely.

"No. No, Evan, come on. Don't die, please. Alec needs you. Angie needs you. Evan. Evan!" Lily shouted. She shook him but she knew it was no use. Evan had gone frightfully still, and his hazel eyes had taken on a glassy look.

"No! Dammit, Evan!" Lily smacked her hands against his chest, tears pooling in her eyes.

"It's better this way," Angie was murmuring. "He would have been hanged as a traitor. He never would have let me exonerate him while his friends were imprisoned."

"Angie why didn't you just agree to go with him?" Lily moaned.

"I can't. I made a promise. To you, Lily. To myself. This castle is ours. I have to protect it at all costs."

"Angie...you could have gone with him. I came racing back here to tell you the same thing he did. We need to leave. Now. We can just escape through the tunnels."

"No. I will not run away. I already have other rebels in custody. I'll make sure everyone in Aegaera knows they can't take what's ours."

"Other rebels..." Lily repeated, heart sinking. "Angie, what are you going to do?"

Angie set down the knife on her breakfast tray, using a napkin to wipe blood from her hand. Then she strode into the hall.

"What about Evan?"

"I'll have him buried properly when this is all over," Angie replied. She called for several guards. Then she turned and smiled lovingly at Lily.

"My sweet little sister. I know you're in love with that silly boy. That's why you must stay here. I don't want you to have to see this."

Realization dawned on Lily. Angie had Alec.

"Angie please. Don't hurt him," Lily begged. But Angie had turned away.

"I love you, Lily. And m putting an end to all of this."

"No!" Lily sprang for the door but it slammed in her face. She heard a key turn in the lock. Lily banged on the door, screaming Angie's name.

"I'm doing this to protect you," Angie said. Then lily heard the soft click of Angie's heels as she walked away.

"Angie don't do this!" Lily banged on the door and cried until her hands were bruised and her throat raw. But she knew it was no use. Angie was gone and surely had guards stationed outside the door.

Lily draped a sheet over Evan, whispering an apology to him. Then she sat on the bed and tried to figure out what to do. She could hear the sounds of guards milling around and barking orders, but all she could see from Angie's window was the gardens. Dawn began to creep Ito the sky and Lily began to panic. If Angie wanted to make an example of Alec she would do it soon.

Angie's chambers were at the top of a tower; Lily's room was a ways below it. It was a sheer drop down, Lily's window ledge the only foothold the whole way down. Lily tore all the remaining sheets and blankets from the bed, taking a few of Angie's shifts from her drawers too and tying it all together to fashion a rope. If she slipped or the rope didn't hold, she would plunge onto the cobbled garden path below and Alec and probably Belle and Tobias and all the rest of them would die.

Lily tied her makeshift rope to one of the posts of Angie's bed and tossed the rest of it out the window. She swung out on the ledge, testing her weight. The rope held and with a deep breath Lily dropped down, clutching tightly to the sheets and climbing carefully down. Her arms began to shake from the effort and her window ledge looked miles away.

Her hand slipped against the silk of one of Angie's shifts and Lily slid several feet before catching herself again. She let out a breathless cry as her side slammed against the stones of the tower. She forced her arms to keep working until she felt her feet touch the ledge. She swung away from the wall, aiming her feet at the glass as she swung back. It shattered as her boot heels hit it. Lily lowered herself a little more and swung into her room, hitting the floor and rolling, wincing as bits of glass cut her arms.

She didn't stop to dwell on the stinging. She seized two daggers from her nightstand and tore up the trapdoor beside her bed, dropping into the secret tunnel. The sun was halfway risen and she knew the executions would begin soon.

Lily came up through the floor of one of the shops in Little Aveling. Thankfully it was deserted. Everyone was probably in the square; she could see a huge crowd already gathered at the gallows. Lily hurried out of the shop and joined the throng of people, pushing her way forward. Angie wasn't in her usual place above the square; she was standing beside the executioner as he knotted a noose.

"Lily!" a familiar voice hissed. She turned and found a pale, disheveled Belle reaching for her. "I was sure you were dead," Belle said. "They came and took Alec and Evan." Belle's bottom lip quivered.

"I know," Lily whispered. She clutched Belle's hand.

"Bring out the prisoner," Angie ordered. Lily's heart nearly stopped as a guard led Alec roughly up the gallows steps. He had a black bag over his head but Lily knew it was him even before the guard removed the bag. There was a bruise on his cheek and his hands were bound but Alec stared defiantly back at Angie as she moved to stand in front of him. Belle let out a sob and gripped Lily's hand tighter.

"Alec Spaulding, you stand accused of treason against the crown and will hang from the neck until dead. Do you have any last words?" Angie asked. She looked eerily calm as Alec met her gaze.

"I'm not afraid of you," he said.

"Well that was your first mistake, Mr. Spaulding."

Angie gestured to the hooded executioner, who slipped the noose around Alec's neck. Belle wailed and nearly collapsed. A stir went through the crowd and some people started yelling and shouting. Lily squeezed Belle's hand once before shoving through the crowd. Lily drew one of her knives and hurled it as the platform dropped from under Alec's feet. Belle screamed Alec's name. The rope fell harmlessly after him as Alec toppled through the hole in the platform. The rest of the crowd quieted, craning their necks and murmuring as Lily slowly climbed the steps, looking imploringly at Angie.

"I should have known you'd need more than two guards at the door," Angie sighed. "Lily, I didn't want you to see this."

"Don't do it," Lily said. "Just let him go."

Angie's lips turned down. "Why are you protecting him, Lily? He's only going to hurt you. If he hasn't already."

"I don't want either of you to die, Angie. There's still time. We can leave Aegaera for good. Just leave this place behind and start somewhere new."

Angie shook her head. "No," she said fiercely. "All our lives people have done nothing but take from us, Lily. I swore to you when we were children that I would make our lives better. I promised to protect you, and that's what I'm trying to do."

"I know. But not like this, Angie. Please."

"I don't know any other way." Angie looked suddenly lost, seeming very much like a young girl instead of a fierce queen. Lily moved to reach for her and one of the guards nearest Angie drew his sword, slashing the blade across Lily's side as she stepped forward. Lily let out a gasp and clutched her side as blood stained her dress.

"No!" Angie screamed. She knocked the man's arm aside. "You idiot! Don't you ever hurt her! Get away!" Angie smacked at his chest and the startled man hurriedly backed up, looking perplexed. Angie rushed to Lily, fussing and trying to look at the wound. Lily waved her hands away.

"Angie," she said desperately. "I am begging you. We need to leave."

There was a commotion at the edge of the square and in the small turrets flanking it. The uncaptured rebels had arrived. And with so many magic users in their midst, it seemed Angie's guards were being overpowered. Lily felt sick as she realized that soon the rebels would reach Angie. Angie seemed to realize it too, her gaze taking on that calm, resigned look again.

"It seems your dear rebel's friends have arrived in force," Angie remarked. Lily spotted Warren fighting a guard on one of the turrets, and Tobias in the crowd hurrying to his children. Some of the people in the crowd had turned on the guards too, fighting alongside the rebels. Guards surrounded the platform where Lily and Angie stood, but it wouldn't be long before the crowd broke their ranks.

"We can still run," Lily whispered. Angie smiled slightly, shaking her head.

"No, darling. It's much too late for me to run. They'll capture me, and I've had enough torture at the hands of strangers. I will not go on their terms."

Angie pulled something from the bodice of her dress; a small vile filled with dark purple liquid. She downed it in one swallow and it wasn't until she swooned that Lily realized it was extract of crushed Nightroot; a deadly flower.

"Angie!" Lily fell to her knees as Angie collapsed onto the platform. "Angie no, what did you do?" Lily cradled her head, trying not to smear blood on Angie's face.

"It's okay, Lily," Angie said, voice already growing hoarse. The poison would stop her heart in a matter of moments.

"No," Lily choked, tears spilling across her cheeks. "Angie don't leave me, please."

"You'll be okay, my sweet little sister." Angie smiled, her voice soft. "I think I'll go somewhere filled with lilies, to remind me of you. Do you think Evan will be waiting for me there?"

Lily managed a nod. "Yes. I'm so sorry, Angie. This is all my fault."

"No." Angie's eyes fluttered closed. "I love you, Lily."

Angie went limp in Lily's arms, her head rolling to the side. Lily let out a sob, burying her face in Angie's hair as she felt her heart break. Someone touched her shoulder, trying to pull her away.

"Lily dear, you need to see a healer," Tobias said gently. Erwin scampered onto her shoulder, trying to dry her cheeks with his small paws.

"I can't just leave her," Lily said brokenly. She held onto Angie's body tighter as Tobias tried again to pull her away.

"I won't leave her!" Lily screamed. She wrenched away from him, ignoring the pain in her side, ignoring the blood. Her world was unraveling before her and she thought it might be best if she just laid here on this platform with Angie until she died, too.

"I won't leave her," she repeated. "I can't. It's all my fault."

The last thing she was aware of was Tobias gently lifting her, and muttering a spell. Then Angie's face blurred, and everything spun before going dark.