The closet door opened without a sound, the hinge maintained perfectly despite the apartment being empty. Kentario edged around to the door, scanning the living room carefully.
“It’s all clear,” he informed Ryu in a whisper.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to your apartment. Out that infamous window in the spare bedroom. We can make it to the ground from there, then get out of the palace grounds via the back gate, through the garbage bins.”
“The gardens are going to be swarming with these assholes.”
“We’ll make it,” Kentario said, and Ryu didn’t have the energy to argue.
A quick dash across the hall led them back into the royal apartment, the door now hanging off its hinges. Ryu cringed as he saw what they’d done to the place. Chairs overturned, cupboards flung open, the contents strewn about.
“This way.” Kentario rushed him through the living room, not giving him time to take in the scale of the destruction. “Get down. I’ll check the window.”
Ryu crouched by the wall as Kentario peered outside, then opened the window. “Down to the ground. Once you’re down, stay in the bushes until I get there.”
Keeping as low and as quiet as possible, Ryu clambered out the window, Kentario holstering his gun to do the same. There were shadows moving about in the garden, and Ryu was terrified of being caught, imagining all manner of horrors they could do to him before they killed him.
But he was equally terrified that the men inside the building would come back again. So, instead of lingering on the roof contemplating his options, he jumped without hesitation, knowing he’d never find the courage if he stopped to think about it all. He landed hard, jarring his knee and rolling sideways. But before he could find his feet, Kentario was hauling him back into the cover of the bushes.
“Where do we go when we get out of the palace grounds?”
“One of the diplomats lives three or four miles from here,” Kentario said. “Oris Izarius. You know him?”
Ryu nodded. “He works with Dad a lot on trade deals and stuff. But why there?”
“He lives outside the palace, and from what I’ve seen, he’s as loyal as they come. Even if the rest of the city’s in the middle of a revolt, he should still be willing to help us. Even if it’s only as far as to get us out of the city.”
A shout sounded from out in the gardens. “Over to the west side! You three, down to the south exit. Cut them off before they get to the cottages!”
“That’s Maro!” Ryu whispered urgently.
Gunshots suddenly fractured the night, the blasts making Ryu’s ears ring.
“Freeze! Down on the ground!” one of the guards yelled. More feet came running, thuds suggesting a fight had broken out.
“Shouldn’t we get to Maro?” Ryu said. “If the Guard’s getting things under control, he’d be the safest place to be.”
Kentario shook his head. “We still don’t know what’s going on out there. This could be a revolution. You saw the videos about Arctesia, from back when they had theirs. The Guard’s going to be helpless if the entire city is trying to storm the palace.”
Revolution? That meant that not just the palace, but likely the whole of Azrahn was in chaos.
“But Maro could help us escape,” Ryu insisted. Years of being drilled in what to do in case of an emergency were echoing in his head. The Captain of the Guard was their best line of protection from here. He glanced at Kentario, shocked to see the dark scowl on his face.
“You think Maro’s such a fucking angel then answer me this: how the hell did armed men get all the way inside the palace? How did they get intothe same roomas the king and queen? That kind of shit only happens if someoneletsthem in.”
It was true, Ryu realised. The same thing had happened in Arctesia thirteen years ago. Both the king’s guards and the Arctesian army had abandoned the king, leaving him to be slaughtered by civilians.
“Are you sure they’re dead?” Ryu asked, referring to his parents, because he couldn’t help himself. “Have you seen them?”
“Felix told me. He was wounded. He was trying to get to you.”
“Where’s Felix now?” For all his disagreements with his tutor, Ryu dreaded the thought of him being hurt.
Kentario didn’t answer, though his eyes met Ryu’s for a brief moment… and Ryu swore fluently under his breath. He cast a glance across the gardens again. Maro was disappearing around the eastern wall, a flock of guards at his heels… but Kentario’s point made sense. How had the attackers gotten so far into the palace? And if Maro really cared about protecting him, why wasn’t he searching the royal apartment, instead of dashing about in the gardens?
Beside him, he heard Kentario sigh. “What do you want to do?” Kentario asked, eyes following Maro’s path towards the main hall. “I have my doubts, but if you really think Maro’s the best option…”
