The Message

The soldier quickly turned on his heels and power walked through the hall and around the corner. Katherine kept close and followed him, and Jasper was not far behind either. They walked past several doors until they reached her father's office.

Katherine's heart was beating so hard that she could feel it in her ears. Red blurred the sides of her vision as she anxiously awaited what the soldier was taking her to see.

She desperately hoped that it was her mom.

The soldier opened the door and Katherine practically ran inside. There she found Eric as well as some of the Royal Guard, and they too had devices, maps, and paperwork all around them.

When she came into the room, they all looked up fast to see who had joined them, and when they saw it was the Queen, Eric came forward and yelled at her. "Where were you? I've been calling you for the last half hour!"

Katherine felt her heart drop. "I left my phone in my room, I'm sorry. Where's my mom? Was she in one of the mines? Is she here?"

At the mention of the Queen Mother, everyone, including Eric, froze. They all looked at her as if none of them wanted to be the person to tell her what they had to tell her.

Finally, Jasper walked forward from behind Katherine and angrily said, "Well? Your Queen asked you a question."

Eric's throat bobbed, and he let out a small breath before he went over to the table and picked up one of the tablet devices. He looked down at it as he walked back over to Katherine.

He paused for a moment when he reached her before he looked forward to meet her eyes. It was then that Katherine noticed the wrinkles in his forehead from how he kept it pinched, and how his eyes were bloodshot.

Whatever he was about to say, Katherine knew it was not going to be good.

"We sent fleets to each of the four mines in our territories. Two of them were empty and showed no signs that anyone had been in them since they were abandoned apart from maybe an occasional homeless person or vandal. One of them had signs of people having been staying in it recently. Some old clothes and yellowed papers were left behind, but nothing of significance. The rebels made sure to clean up after themselves."

Eric stopped talking again, and Katherine had lost her patience at that point. "What about the last mine? You said there were four. What did they find, Eric?" she asked with clear frustration and worry in her voice.

"By the time our soldiers arrived, the rebels had been waiting for them. They were hiding and had set a trap. It was like they knew we were coming."

"The spy," Katherine whispered as her eyes widened.

Eric did not even acknowledge her realization as he continued, "Our men were outnumbered. They didn't stand a chance."

The tension in the air grew, and Katherine felt like it would compress her until she exploded.

"Did anyone survive?" she asked in the calmest voice she could muster.

Eric nodded slowly and explained, "They let a young soldier named Lyle go. He was the only one of thirty-two. They only let him go so that he could deliver a message for them." When he finished speaking, he held the tablet up for Katherine to take.

She blinked down at it and took the device from him. She turned on the screen and saw that there was a video downloaded onto it.

While her heart raced and her fingers trembled, Katherine used all the courage she had to hit play on the video.

An image of a man, one of the rebels, enlarged on the screen and Katherine felt the bile rise in her throat.

The traitor was dressed in all black but had a dark green bandana tied to his bicep on an arm that held a gun. He wore a ski mask, so every inch of his body was covered apart from his striking green eyes that peered out at Katherine.

He stood in a cave, presumably the mine, and he was the only one present in the video. He moved slightly and began to speak.

"Hello Katherine Mors," said the man. The hairs on the back of Katherine's neck immediately stood, and although she was terrified, she could not peel her eyes from the man on the screen. "I'm sure by now you're wondering who I am and what my intentions are, so let me tell you. I'm a wayward of the rebellion against the crown and what it stands for. Since you are now the current holder of the crown, that would make you our direct enemy. I'm sure you can put the pieces together and have realized already that we are the ones responsible for the attack on the castle that killed the King and his guards. While we are proud of that accomplishment, our true goal was only half complete after that day."

Katherine felt herself leaning towards the screen as she held onto every word. Even Jasper was looking over her shoulder to see the rebel on the screen.

"Our purpose is to eradicate the crown and its royal families. Had we been fully successful, you would have died that day too."

Upon hearing that, the blood felt like it drained from Katherine's body, and a coldness swept over her as she continued to listen.

"Our efforts were not in vain, however. Since we could not find you that day, we took your mother, the former Queen, instead. Don't worry, she is perfectly fine," the man said with a dark laugh, "but you don't have to take my word for it."

The man looked off screen and suddenly rustling could be heard in the background of the video. Katherine felt sweat form on her forehead as she focused intently on the screen, too afraid to blink and miss something.

A figure started to be dragged into the view of the camera, and it was someone Katherine recognized immediately.

"Mom," Katherine choked out as the woman appeared next to the rebel on the screen. She was still in the dress that she must have worn the morning of the attack, and it was ripped and covered in dirt. Her usual beautiful dark curls were tattered, and her skin that was usually pristine looked grey and dull. Katherine immediately noticed how thin and frightened her mother looked as she kicked and screamed at the men who were dragging her about.

"Why don't you say hello to your daughter?" the rebel asked as he looked down at the former Queen who was thrashing about on the ground.

At that, her mother immediately looked up with wide eyes, searching for her daughter. "Katherine?! My darling child! You're alive? Please stay safe my love," she frantically said as she started sobbing.

Tears filled Katherine's eyes at the sight of her mother like that. She had never seen her look so small and scared before. All too quickly, the same man who had brought her mother in front of the camera pulled her away as her mother screamed and continued to cry out for Katherine.

Then, the rebel continued to speak. "You can have her back if you want. We know that even when we manage to kill you that she cannot be Queen again since she married into royalty and was not a royal herself. The line of succession will die with you since you don't have a child of your own. So, Katherine, I have two options for you."

Katherine tried not to get her hopes up. She knew that he said she could have her mother back, but she knew that there was probably a steep price that came with it, and although she would do everything in her power to, she did not have confidence that it was a price she could pay.

"Option one is that you can step down from being Queen and write into law that the people of Helios have power over themselves, not the monarchy. This needs to be done for Eos and Selene as well, so you have to convince their royals to step down and give their people freedom. Titanus will be the way the old Americas were, but even better this time since we have learned from the mistakes of the past. If you do this, we will return your mother to you in the condition she is in now-- alive. Option two comes along if you decline the first offer. That option includes us waywards hunting you, and the rest of the royal families down until we have killed every last one of you, including your mother. We might have failed at killing you the first time, but I promise you that we will not fail again. The choice is yours. You have four days to broadcast your decision. I'll see you very soon."

With that, the video ended, and not a sound came from anyone in the room. Katherine looked up from the video and saw that everyone was watching her to see her reaction.

"Someone go get me Charles," was all she said.