Before Darcy could step forward, the floor trembled again. There was a metallic click and the door swung open. Darcy was grateful for it. He did not want to expend more effort using magic than he had to. He was already tired.
A scene of disorder greeted them. Soldiers and servants in livery were running around in all directions. No one even noticed the Prince Regent.
“Over here,” said the prince. “Stay with me. Is the shield still working?”
“It is, Your Highness.”
They had just reached the column when the ground beneath them lurched. The column swayed. The prince gave a cry of terror as it toppled in his direction. Instinctively, Darcy threw up a net around it, trying to hold it back, hoping to allow the Prince Regent the time to escape.
"Quickly,” he said, between gritted teeth. He did not know how much longer he could hold the net. His magic was weakening. “Go with him, Redmond.” Darcy held on, every muscle in his body straining.
The prince ran out of the column’s reach towards the wall with the secret entrance. Just as he reached it, the ground gave a shudder and slanted, and the prince fell to the ground. The wall began to crumble.
Darcy let go of the column, darting out of the way as it crashed behind him. He threw out a Ward to prevent the bricks and masonry from falling onto the prince. It was weak, but Darcy held his breath, hoping it would succeed.
It toppled over with a loud crash, sending a plume of dust into the air.
Darcy stared at the spot where the prince Regent had been. The lower part of his body was covered with rubble, but his head and shoulders were unharmed. Darcy ran over, his legs shaking with exhaustion.
"Your Highness!" shouted Darcy. "Your Highness!"
Darcy felt for a pulse. At first, he thought there was none, but then he felt the faint echo of movement beneath his fingers.
"He's alive," he said. "Just barely. We need to dig him out. See what you can find. There are plenty of objects around that we could use. Maybe some pieces of wood or metal?”
While Redmond was gone, Darcy built a Ward around the prince, something that would prevent anything else falling on him.
Redmond returned with a large piece of paneling. They lodged it under rubble and tried to shift it, but the paneling cracked and broke. Darcy felt the prince's life draining away the longer they kept trying.
"Go to the garrison for help. Hurry. I will strengthen the Ward.”
There was a rumble. The building shuddered and pieces of plaster rained down on them.
"The ceiling! Wards!! Hurry!!"
They Bonded frantically, and Darcy screamed out a spell just as the ceiling collapsed.
Miraculously, the Ward held, protecting them and the Prince Regent. They were surrounded by debris. Above them, there was a gap, showing the sky.
The terrible weight of so much rubble pressed down on them.
"The bubble is too big," said Darcy, trying to stay calm. "We need to move closer to the Prince Regent so we have a smaller area to maintain."
They made their way through broken pieces of Ming vases, paintings of former Prime ministers, and broken decanters, moving inch by inch, trying not to shift the rubble, until they found somewhere to stand, an arm’s reach from the prince, where the bubble was small enough to control.
If the Imperial Mages did not attack again, they might stand a chance of surviving this.
Darcy lost track of time. He did not know if hours or minutes had passed as they moved closer to the Prince Regent. The bubble was their whole world, the only thing between them and certain death, the only thing keeping the Prince Regent alive.
At some point, Darcy began to lose hope. The prince had not stirred at all. What if all this was for nothing and he was already dead? He was tempted to go and check his pulse, but he could not risk tipping the fragile balance. There was no choice but to continue.
Darcy had no more reserves. How much longer could he hold on? Stars were dancing in front of his eyes, and the edges of his vision were turning dark. His whole body was shaking with the strain of maintaining his position. If only there was some way to rouse the prince, to discover if he was alive, but he could not spare his breath to call out to him. His magic was running dry. If a French mage attacked him now, he would not be able to lift a finger to defend himself.
His eyes met Redmond’s, and he saw the same exhaustion and despair mirrored in the boy's face, along with the recognition that, sooner or later, one of them would buckle under the strain and the whole edifice would topple and crush the three of them.
The Prince Regent was dead, and his Elizabeth was gone. She could not possibly have transported herself over such a great distance and survived.
His legs were shaking so badly, he could no longer stand. He sank to the floor, and Redmond followed suit. Darcy had tried so hard to protect the palace, but it lay in ruins around him. ThePrince Regent was dead. All was lost. Everything was gone. It was all over. The Kingdom had been defeated.
