The Night Watch | The Nocturnal Chronicles {Book One}

xi. the prince

"Bravery comes from a man's heart, not his mind. Wisdom comes from a man's mind. The grey area is when it comes to making decisions."

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The Plan. It was simple enough. They had to get someone into the throne room to watch the Coronation. Grimm believed that it was the best way to figure out if Rowe was going to be a threat. Erudessa already had a strong feeling concerning that, but she decided it was best not to bring it up yet. Their plan only had one flaw. Grimm had been assigned to study ancient texts all night, Reyna was considered a peasant, and Erudessa had been dismissed from castle grounds. They had no other Watcher who had the status to go in.

     Erudessa wondered if she could grab the arm of a young, single councilman. They were always looking for arm candy to bring in as their plus one. That would be a bit hard and complicated. It was their only option at the moment. She rubbed the hem of her dress between her finger as she sat curled up on the couch by the hearth. The glow of the fire cast shadows across her face. She watched Grimm as he went over various ways they could get into the castle with Reyna, but she proved none of them would work.

     There was no way into the castle aside from the front entrance and one or two servant entrances. They could only get into the throne room through a single set of grand doors. Only royalty and nobility can pass through those doors for the Coronation. She was neither, no one in the Watch was. They were stuck on this side of the doors. Forever stuck just out of reach. Things just kept getting harder, and as the sun began to set, they were running out of time.

     Erudessa got up and walked over to their table. "We need a plan, and we need one soon."

     "There is no way into the castle that leads to the throne room undetected. Whoever built the castle knew what they were doing," Grimm frowned, looking over the schematics for the castle.

     Reyna shrugged, sinking into her seat. "We just don't have the resources."

     "Do you have any ideas?" Grimm asked Erudessa.

     "No," Erudessa sighed. "I'm going to go for a walk through the city. Maybe I can find a plan out there, and before you say anything, I'm going alone, Grimm."

     He turned away from her. "I wasn't going to say anything except, be careful."

     She smiled. "I will."

     "Good luck," Reyna said.

     Erudessa grabbed her cloak and headed out to the city. The streets had finally calmed for the most part, but there was a loud rumbling approaching. It sounded like hooves and wheels on the cobblestone. She whipped her head in the direction just as a carriage came into view. Her eyes went wipe as it came at her with incredible speed. Fear held her to her spot on the road. Something, or someone rather, came crashing into her, knocking her out of the way.

     A blur of light brown hair came into view before her eyes locked with a pair of dark green eyes. She was being crushed under the weight of this individual. He didn't seem too keen on moving yet. The carriage rumbled past without a care in the world.

     "Are you alright, miss?"

     "Well, I'd be better if I weren't being crushed by a stranger," She said with a playful grin.