The Adventures of Emily Tual Book Four: The Rising
Chapter Four

At the Dark One’s palace in the past…

Seraphina was watching the villagers from her room’s balcony. It was the same as any other day. Her father’s Black Hands marching around, stealing whatever they wanted and getting away with it because they were her father’s servants while the villagers cowered in fear. The Black Hands intimated everyone in the village. She hated it and would go to her father to see if he would do something about his men but her father always did nothing to help. He said the villagers were paying the Black Hands for their services.

Seraphina saw several Black Hands dragging a few young men towards the palace. The young men were begging to be released but Seraphina could hear the Black Hands laughing wickedly. She knew that the young men were being forced to join her father’s army of Black Hands. The Dark One always wanted new soldiers so he could spread his evilness out like a plague and expand his empire’s border. Seraphina knew that the next time those young men left the palace, they would be wearing the armor uniforms of the Black Hand either willingly or without a trace of emotion or feeling.

Seraphina turned towards her door as it opened, her heart was beating quickly. She was always worried it would be her father’s general, the dreaded Malachi. She knew that he fancied her greatly and would always try to get her alone with him. A young servant girl came in. Seraphina sighed. It was just her close friend and confidant Esmeralda.

“My Princess.” Esmeralda said, curtseying to Seraphina. “I have news for you.”

Seraphina rushed to her friend. “What news do you have for me Esmeralda?” She asked. There was only one thing that she wanted to know about and she hoped that Esmeralda had the news she was after while giving her a report. It was important to her.

Esmeralda closed the door behind her before turning back to Seraphina. “Your father’s men have started to take away boys as young as thirteen to have them trained to become Black Hands.” She told Seraphina. “There was a little resistance from some of the farther villages but the Black Hands were ruthless against them, forcing the survivors to surrender before taking the boys and wiping out half of the survivors that were left.”

Seraphina’s heart sank. Her people were suffering at the hands of her father’s evilness. She would do something about it herself but she was always locked up in the palace. Her father insisted that it was for her protection but Seraphina knew that her father wanted her with Malachi and that her father did everything he could to try to get them together alone. It made her sick when he did that. He didn’t care about her. To the Dark One, she was just another pawn in his game to gain power.

Seraphina turned and went to her desk. She took out several small pieces of paper. “Where are the Black Hands taking their prisoners?” She asked Esmeralda as she started writing on the first piece of paper.

“To the tower.” Esmeralda answered.

Seraphina realized that she should have known that. The tower was in the coldest part of the empire. It was far north, a few days’ ride from the icy water. She finished writing on the first piece of paper before writing the same message on the rest of the pieces of paper. “Bring me Rook.” She ordered her friend. Esmeralda brought over an eagle. Seraphina rolled the pieces of paper around Rook’s claw and tied it tightly so none of the papers would fall. She took Rook to the window. “Take the message to the Resistance groups that you can replace Rook.” She told her eagle before releasing him.

Esmeralda joined Seraphina. “Do you think that the Resistance will get the message in time to save those young prisoners?” She asked Seraphina. It seemed like such a long stretch to her. She knew that the princess would do anything to help the Resistance fight against the Black Hand but she didn’t see how the eagle could get the papers to the Resistance groups before the messages fell to the ground. A tight string could only do so much before they were loosened.

Seraphina watched Rook fly away. She had been doing this for a few months now. She wanted to give her people the chance to fight back against the Black Hand. Sure she was trapped in her father’s palace but she had to do something. Besides, if the Dark One was lowering the age to thirteen, it must have meant that the Black Hand was suffering at the hands of the Resistance. She had gotten reports from Esmeralda that supplies meant for the Black Hand were disappearing, certain Black Hands disappeared only to reappear somewhere else dead with no weapons on them. Prisoners were disappearing before they reached their intended destination.

“I hope they do Esmeralda.” Seraphina answered. “For the sake of our people, I hope they do.” Seraphina turned to her friend. “Has there been any word on when we can try to escape the Dark One?” To escape her father was really important to Seraphina. She wanted to be free of his palace and to try to unite the different Resistance bands. The Dark One wasn’t even her real father according to what the Librarian had told her. Apparently, the Dark One had taken her away from another kingdom after conquering it and he had killed her real family so there weren’t any royal family members who would try to take her back. The Librarian only knew about this because he had been the one who had to record it in the Chronicles of the Dark One, a large black book that was kept in a secret location.

Seraphina had searched for it after she had learned of its existence. She had hoped that there was a secret to defeating her father’s power in it but she couldn’t replace the book. She had even searched her father’s throne itself for the book in case it was hidden in it. She wondered if her father moved it constantly to keep it safe from everyone. The Librarian had mentioned that her father had taken it right after he had written about how she had been taken from another kingdom.

“Esmeralda, do you know of when we can escape?” Seraphina asked again. She had to get out of there and Esmeralda was the only one she knew who could get close to the gates and not raise suspicion.

Esmeralda nodded. “The guards are going to be taking extra-long tonight with changing guard because of the prisoners they’re forcing to become Black Hands. I figure that that is our best chance.” She replied.

Seraphina went to her balcony and looked out towards the village. Once the two of them escaped the palace, it was just a matter of stealing disguises and walking out of the village to a safe haven. Seraphina didn’t want to steal from her people but she knew that in the end, she would be saving them all. She planned to get to a Resistance cell along the outskirts of the empire. If the two of them could do that, she could unite the Resistance cells under her leadership and declare war against the Dark One. People would want to follow her once word spread that she was the one who sent messages to the different Resistance groups on where and when to attack.

That night, Seraphina and Esmeralda were sneaking towards the gates. The Black Hands that had been standing guard had already left. Seraphina knew that a regular changing of the guard took about fifteen minutes. If this one was really going to take a lot longer, she was counting on more time. It would give them more time before anyone noticed that she was gone. The two of them were wearing black robes to blend in with the shadows and darkness. Hoods covered their faces. The closest light was in the center of the courtyard where the firelight couldn’t even reach them. If anyone did see them, they would assume they were members of the Black Hand religious sect.

Seraphina could sense Esmeralda looking around them nervously. “It’ll be okay.” Seraphina whispered to her friend. “No one can see us with these robes on.” Seraphina was holding a sword in her right hood. The tip of the blade was hiding mere inches away from the opening. If it came to a fight, Seraphina wanted to surprise her enemy and kill them before they could do anything to the two of them. She had given Esmeralda a sword as well but she knew that Esmeralda had never used one before and was nervous about wielding it.

Seraphina saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head slightly before cursing under her breath. It was Malachi. He was walking towards the centerfire with the Phantom. That just made things trickier. Malachi wasn’t so easily tricked by anything and he could hear just about everything around him.

Seraphina looked over her shoulder at Esmeralda. She motioned for Esmeralda to be quiet before pointing subtly towards Malachi. Esmeralda’s face fell when she saw Malachi. She knew what Seraphina was saying. The two of them started to walk faster towards the gates. The gates were still opened and there was no sign of the new guards coming. They were so close to escaping the Dark One’s palace.

That was when it all went wrong. The alarm bells began to ring. Black Hands began to shout. “The Princess is missing!” Seraphina heard one of the Black Hands shout.

Seraphina cursed again. “We have to go Esmeralda.” She said quietly. The two of them ran for the gates. They both heard something coming down. Seraphina looked up at the gates and her eyes widened. The iron gate was coming down. If they didn’t move fast enough, they would both be trapped in the courtyard with freedom just on the other side.

As they were running, Seraphina heard someone shout, “The Princess is trying to escape! She’s at the gate!” So much for the disguises. Seraphina removed her hood and looked over her shoulder. Malachi and several Black Hands were running after them. They had their swords drawn.

“Kill the servant that’s with her but keep the Princess alive!” Malachi shouted. “The Dark One will kill us if anything happens to her!”

Seraphina knew that Malachi would also kill anyone who harmed her. He still wanted her as his prize to prove even more that she belonged with him. She refused to let that happen. She held her sword up, ready to strike down any Black Hand who tried to stop Esmeralda and her.

Esmeralda then cried out and Seraphina heard her friend fall to the ground. She stopped running and turned to her friend. To Seraphina’s horror, Esmeralda had an arrow sticking out of her back. Seraphina ran back to her friend. “Come on!” She cried. “We’re nearly to freedom!”

Esmeralda looked up at Seraphina. “You need to go without me.” She told the Princess. “If we both get captured, the people will be without a leader.” She was touched that Seraphina wanted to save her but she knew that the people needed Seraphina more than she did. “If anything happens to you, then the rebellion against your father is over before it can even begin.”

Esmeralda got up and raised her sword up. “You need to go Your Highness.” She told Seraphina as she turned to face the Black Hands. “I can try to buy you time.” Hearing the gate coming down, she added. “You don’t have much time left.” Before Seraphina could do anything, Esmeralda started walking towards the Black Hand.

Seraphina shook her head. She knew that her friend was right but it didn’t mean she had to like it. She took a step back. “Your sacrifice won’t be in vain my friend.” She told Esmeralda. “I will avenge you one day. I swear it.” Seraphina turned and ran, making it out of the courtyard and out of the palace right before the iron gate came down.

Esmeralda didn’t make it long before she was shot down by more crossbows. As she laid dying on the ground, Malachi went up to her and knelt. Malachi looked at Esmeralda. “You’re the girl’s servant.” He said. His eyes glowed red as he grabbed Esmeralda’s neck. “Where is the Princess going?” He demanded. He would capture the Princess and bring her back.

Esmeralda looked weakly at Malachi. “You won’t capture her.” She said. “When you see the Princess again, it’ll be when she defeats the Dark One.” Those were her last words. With an angry growl, Malachi snapped the servant’s neck, killing her instantly.

The Black Hands looked nervously at Malachi. They knew that they were all in danger and that it would be worse if they tried to leave. Everyone there was wondering what Malachi would do. Malachi looked at the Black Hands. “Find the Princess and bring her to me!” He shouted angrily at them.

Outside the village, Seraphina ran to a cave and looked back. She knew that she would be hunted down by the Dark One’s forces. There was only one thing she could do. She had to keep going but she needed to rest first.

Seraphina leaned against the cave wall and sat down. She thought over what had happened. She thought for sure that Esmeralda and she had had more time to escape. Where did it all go wrong? How did her father know that she had planned to escape? She shook her head. Because it had gone wrong, Esmeralda was either dead or locked up in the dungeon.

Seraphina wrapped her robe closer around her. She had to get going if she was to get to a Resistance cell.