In the woods
“Did you do it?’’ John asked.
“Yes, in some hours’ time, the guards will be served and they’ll all fall
asleep’’.
“That’s good but we still have a problem, the main guards inside the palace
don’t eat from there. Theirs are made differently’’.
“Mmm but at least the dungeon guards would be asleep right’’?
“Yeah but how do we get out of the palace’’?
“Through the staff quarters. I can distract the guards over there and you both
can leave’’.
“Wow, you’re a genius. How didn’t I think of that’’?
“So what was your second plan”?
“Blackmailing Derrick but that boy is too noble and will never fall for a
blackmail especially when he knows he didn’t do it’’.
“What are you going to blackmail him for?”
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“Having an affair with Angela”.
“No, that won’t work. You don’t have proof’’.
“My spies have spotted them talking a lot of times’’.
“But it’s still nothing’’.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get him one day. As for now, let’s stick to our plan.’’
“Alright”.
*
John and Penelope sneaked into the dungeon and all the guards were fast
sleep.
“It worked” Penelope exclaimed.
“There’s no time to rejoice now”, he said to her.
They looked through all the dungeon till they found Fredrick’s dungeon.
“Fredrick “, John called out. Fredrick turned around and was shocked to see
them.
“What are you both doing here?”
“Breaking you out “
“You will get caught, leave now”, he said.
“You think we’re stupid? Just cooperate with us. Which of the guards has
the key?” He asked and Fredrick described the one who had it.
John quickly ran to the guard and searched for the key and he found the
bunch of keys.
He went back to Fredrick’s dungeon and he tried all the keys till he found
the right one. He unlocked the dungeon and Fredrick stepped out.
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“What now?” He asked.
“Penelope will distract the guards at the staff quarters and we will leave
through the entrance “, John said to him.
“Penelope you’re up now”, John said and she took the lead.
Penelope walked past the guards that were at the entrance to the staff
quarters and she intentionally slipped and fell.
“Ouch!” She yelled and the guards ran to attend to her.
“My ankle hurts”, she said to them.
“How do we help?” One of the guards asked.
“Please run to the cleaners and ask them if they have ointment “.
“Okay. I’ll go and he’ll be with you”, one of the guards said.
“No, you two should please go so that you can get it faster”, she said and
they bought ran off.
Penelope whistled and John came out with Fredrick. The three of them
quickly ran past the entrance and ran into the woods.
They kept running till the got to the tent where John and Penelope were
hiding out.
“Thank you so much John and Penelope”, he said, panting.
“We’re always at your service my Prince”, Penelope said to him and he
smiled.
“You look so tired. Please go inside and get some rest and I’ll prepare
something for you to eat”, Penelope said to him and he nodded.
He went inside and John followed him.
“So what next?” He asked John.
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“I left a letter in there. I made it seem like you were abducted. I asked the
queen to get rid of Hope in exchange for your life”, John said.
“Are you crazy? My mum will never do that”.
“You don’t know how much she loves you. I know she won’t kill you but
she’ll think of a way to get you back. She might send her away again and in
that way, when you get back, the throne will be vacant and you’re the only
one who can ascend it”.
“You’re a genius!” Fredrick said to him.
“It was all Penelope’s idea”.
“She’s really smart”, Fredrick said.
“Yeah”.
“But my mum knows I was responsible for my father’s death. I don’t know
if she would let me become the next king”.
“She has no choice”.
“Hmm. I hope it works out”, he said, yawning.
“I’ll leave you to sleep now”, he said, and he left.
*
The Training center
All those who qualified for the semifinals were in the class room writing
their semifinal test.
“Remember if you fail this test, you won’t be able to take part in the main
fighting competition”, the examiner said to them.
They were all writing till Kierra fell of her chair.
Kayden was sitting close to her, so he ran to help her.
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“Kierra!!!” Joshua and Gabriella exclaimed, running to help her too.
“Are you okay?” Kayden asked, lifting her off the ground.
The examiner quickly sent for help and she was taken away.
“She’ll be fine. You three should get back to work”, he said and they both
went back to their seats.
Kierra was taken to her room and the nurse attended to her.
“How are you feeling?” She asked her and as Kierra tried to speak, she
passed out.
*
The palace
The whole palace was in an uproar due to the disappearance of Fredrick.
The queen was frustrated when she read the note. She was mad and furious
at the guards.
No one knew how he was abducted. Everyone was confused.
“My queen, I just received a letter from the training center”, her messenger
said.
She took it from him and when she read it, she panicked and also passed
out.
The training center
For three days now, Kierra wasn’t waking up. The training center had tried
everything they could and she was still not waking up.
Kayden and her friends were really worried. During those three days,
Kayden refused to train.
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He always told the trainers that he didn’t want to cheat Kierra. He wanted
to win fair and square.
He was sitting in Kierra’s room and wiping her forehead when Gabriella
walked in.
“I can’t believe that this is happening to her”, she said sitting on the floor
close to Kierra’s feet.
“Have they reached out to her parents?” Kayden asked.
“I spoke to Miss Rose and they are sending in troops to come for her”,
Gabriella said and Kayden’s face changed.
“She’s leaving?” He asked.
“Yeah. She has to. Her people will take good care of her”, she said.
“And what of her training? It hasn’t ended”.
“She can’t continue her training in this state”, Gabriella said.
“Hmmm!” He said, staring into thin air.
“I know you care about her but she has to leave”.
“I just want to have my last fight with her. I can’t leave here knowing that I
was defeated by her”.
“Stop lying to yourself. I still see you to be the big bad wolf but within these
few days, I’ve seen another side of you. You care about her Kayden”, she
said and he didn’t say anything. He just looked away.
“Have you heard what exactly is wrong with her?” Kayden asked her,
changing the topic.
“It’s food poisoning. They suspect that someone outside this training center
is responsible for it”.
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“Hmmm”, Kayden said, remembering how she was attacked by that man
some time ago but it still didn’t make sense that she’ll get poisoned because
they were all fed the same food.
“But I don’t think it’s someone on the outside”, Gabriella said.
“You think it’s someone in here?” He asked and she nodded.
“Who do you have in mind?” He asked her.
“Lucy”, she said and Kayden shook his head.
“She’s crazy but not that crazy”, he said.
“You just don’t know how crazy she is”, Gabriella said and she told him
how Lucy stabbed Kierra intentionally during their last fight and how she
threatened her some days ago.
“I should have believed her when she said you didn’t sleep with her but I
was just so upset and now she’s lying here looking lifeless”, Gabriella said
tearing up.
“I should have believed her and fixed things with her”, she said and Kayden
was just quiet.
*
Kierra’s troops arrived in the training center and was ready to send her away.
Kayden, Gabriella and Joshua were in the room with her.
“Her people are in. She has to leave now”, Miss Rose said and Gabriella
burst out in tears.
“She’s really leaving?” She asked, getting up and Miss Rose nodded.
“We’re sad. She was a lovely girl but it’s unfortunate that this happened to
her”, Miss Rose said and Gabriella continued to cry whiles Joshua
comforted her.
Kayden was still sitting by Kierra and didn’t bother to move an inch.
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“Kayden, we have to take her away”, Miss Rose said to him and he got up
angrily and left.
“Can we see her off?” Joshua asked.
“You can’t. Remember we have to keep everyone’s country confidential”,
Miss Rose said.
“Can we at least leave a note for her to read whenever she wakes up”,
Gabriella asked and Miss Rose nodded.
They both wrote down their notes and handed it over to Miss Rose.
Some workers walked in and they took Kierra away.
Kayden hid in a room and watched as they took Kierra away.
He was so sad and annoyed. He couldn’t watch her leave, so he went back
to the training field and trained on his own. He got so angry that he started
destroying things and punching the trees.
After a while he just laid on the floor and drifted off to sleep.
*
The palace
Ever since the queen gained consciousness, she had locked herself up.
She was so frustrated and devastated because she was at the point of losing
her two children. She honestly didn’t know what to do and for once in a long
while she turned to God.
She cried out and prayed to him. She prayed for hours till she fell asleep.
When she woke up, she quickly summoned her son, the Bishop, priests, her
trusted Lords and advisors to a meeting.
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“I know you’re all aware of what’s happening and I know I’ve shut you all
out but I finally have a plan to solve our problems”.
“We’re listening”, the Bishop said.
“The troops are on their way back with Hope but I plan on letting them take
her back to Maxwell and Mary”, she said and they all looked at her,
confused.
“The person who abducted Fredrick wants Hope gone. So we can repeat
history again and declare her dead from the food poisoning. I’m sure the
Janricans or whoever poisoned her wants her dead, the people who also
abducted Fredrick also wants her gone. So we can just kill two birds with
one stone and presume her dead. In that way, Hope will be safe and Fredrick
will be released”, she said and they all nodded.
“And how do we treat her? And protect her over there”, the Bishop asked.
“I’ll send Warrick to be at her side. We know he’s one of the strongest in
the country. He can protect her, I’ll also send the best doctors to treat her.
Hopefully, she’ll get up and continue her training with Warrick and when
she’s ready, she’ll be back to take the throne”, she said and they all
applauded her.
“Wow, we’re blessed to have a wise queen”, the Lords said and everyone
smiled.
“Warrick will need a cover too. We don’t want attention getting drawn to
him”, Derrick said.
“Mmm, he can be Mary or Maxwell’s nephew”, the Queen said.
“Hope’s cousin? Yeah, cool”, Derrick said and they all smiled.
“I’ll need the two fastest riders prepared. One has to get to Warrick and let
him know about this and the other has to get to the troops to let them take
Hope back to Mary and Maxwell”, the Queen said.
“I’ll see to that”, Derrick said and she nodded.
“Alright. As at now, Hope is dead”, she said and dismissed the meeting.
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*
The Training center
Kayden walked into Miss Rose’s office.
“I need a favor”, he said to her.
“What is it?”
“I want Lucy as my new opponent for training and for my semifinal fight”,
he said to her.
