To Catch a King
Prologue

It was dark, cold and the giant clock in the middle of Sarae Square had just ticked one o’clock. Three shadows passed through the square, heading toward the royal castle, which sat in the middle of Hena, Ferilis’ capital. When reaching the castle, one shadow signaled the others, and they took out the four royal guards that guarded the gate. At the top of the gate, one of the shadows beckoned for the others to follow. One by one, they scaled the wall at an amazing pace.

The inside of the castle was magnificent, with over two hundred years of history. Great tapestries hung along the ceiling, and paintings of famous warriors, kings, and queens graced the walls. The halls were marked by a long red rug, leading its way up to the throne room. The shadows did not follow the rug, instead heading to the residence area of the castle, on the opposite side.

Making sure there were no guards watching, they snuck into the Royal Suite, which housed the Terassi family. The three shadows split up, heading into different areas.

The first shadow, nicknamed Red, headed to the personal cooking area. Learning the royal family’s schedule had been important; they needed this plan to work. Red knew that at this time, half past one, the queen required a soothing tea that would help her sleep. The shadow quietly knocked out the servant and took its place, pouring a heavy sleeping serum in the tea so that the queen would fall into a heavy, deep sleep that would last until the job was done.

The second shadow, a rare mage nicknamed Wick, slipped quietly into the prince’s room. Wick made sure the prince was sleeping soundly, and then opened a trap door in the prince’s room. The prince hadn’t known of this, and would never know of it. Wick chanted a low spell that had the prince levitating. Before leaving the room and ensuring that they wouldn’t be caught, Wick left a note written in the prince’s handwriting. Both left without a sound.

The third shadow, nicknamed Way, was waiting outside of the king and queen’s room. For the plan to be a success, the queen had to be sound asleep and there were to be no disturbances. Red came out, signaling to Way that the queen was asleep and Way could move in. Walking into the room, Way pulled out a syringe filled with clear fluid. Syringes were a new thing, part of the development of vaccinations. They were very useful for assassinations. The shadow moved slowly across the room, careful not to make any noise. The shadow crept up to the bed, pulled up the sleeve of the king’s nightshirt, and injected the monarch with the fluid. In less than a minute, the fluid would be at the king’s heart.

The clock chimed two o’clock. It was time for the remaining two shadows to leave. Way slipped out the window while Red, still dressed in servant’s garb, left through the same trap door as Wick.

The next morning, there was a scream. Five guards rushed to the Royal Suite, and saw the queen kneeling at the king’s side, sobbing. One guard rushed to the prince’s room while another checked the pulse of the king. Two other guards rushed to search the rest of the suite, leaving one guard to go get the castle’s physician. When they all arrived and congregated inside the queen’s room, there were two things clear:

The prince was missing and the king was dead.