Dark Secrets of Time

Chapter 4

(BRUGHTON KINGDOM - MORNING)

Soldiers were on training grounds; getting ready for battle, while weapons were being prepared as well. The Guard who knew about the secret organization; David was beside two other Generals; General Arnold and General Shaw.

General Arnold was putting on a battle armor, designed with black colored metals, and silver lines were on it, while Shaw’s had no silver design; he was of lower rank compared to Arnold.

Their helmets were dropped, and David was speaking,

“Hudderham has taken some villages in the far north… and they will strike anytime; the King says this war will be quite different, and he has also called in tacticians to help… so, he asked me to invite both of you for a meeting with him”

Arnold sighs deeply, “Okay… we’ll be there”, she replied.

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General Arnold, Shaw and David came into a library room, where the King was seated. The three bowed on getting in; they were about to speak when the King started,

“I’ll be going to the frontline too…”, he gazed at them sharply,

“I want you to assemble skilled guards in order to protect Queen Alice; her safety is very important…”, he continued, “Do not allow strangers to meet with her, except she asks them to come in after verifying their identity…”

Shaw bows sharply and raised his head, “Yes, Your Majesty… she’ll be safe; safer than the kingdom itself”

“Exactly”, the king said with a smile.

“May I ask you a question, Your Majesty?”, Arnold asked immediately, as the King approved of him, “Yes, go ahead”

“We heard rumors about Hudderham having magicians who will accompany them in this battle…”, Arnold said, before asking, “do we even have a chance against them?”, he looked worried, but the king moved closer and held his shoulder, while he answered,

“We will defeat them; be it the truth or just lies, we will win… we’ll figure something out… just put your mind at rest, and don’t think too much about things that happen in the dark, focus on things that can be seen by everyone”

Arnold bows sharply, and then he left with General Shaw.

David moved closer to the King, and whispered,

“Shall I stay behind to protect the Queen…? In case Olivia tries to do something drastic”

King Hudson heaved a sigh, and replies,

“True, but we need you at the front; though I need you to stay more than to come with us… it would be awkward as to why you didn’t come, and you’re always gonna be watched cause you’ve been seen coming in with strangers many times… the ministers might begin to suspect something”

David nods in agreement, “Then I’m coming too”, he said.

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Judith was putting on her deep blue cloak, which had a hood, she was walking with her head slightly bent forward. She continued walking alone till she arrived at a small house nearby bushes.

Looked at the left and right before going in quickly. On entering the house, she took off the cloak, and was now only on her blue fitted assassin like outfit.

But someone was in that house; an aged woman who was lying sick on a small bed, it looked like she just woke up; there were some herbal mixtures beside the bed, and Judith went on her knees, as she moved closer to the woman,

“The… war…”, she stammered in a shaky voice, but Judith replies, “Grandma, don’t say a word please, you need to get better”

The woman coughs twice, then took a deep breath before she continued, “I see the downfall of Brughton… Hudderham are too powerful…”

Judith gasps, she had a look on her face that expressed trust in her grandma’s words. It looked like this isn’t her first time of prophesying about the future. Judith asked,

“And what will happen to our secret organ…”,

The woman cuts in before she could complete her statement,

“Will be torn apart… open to everyone, but might have a ray of hope to rise again; hope from Emily’s side… a young man… the queen must live… must live. She must be protected”

Judith sighs, “Yes, I hope Olivia doesn’t try to kill her when her memory is about to be altered”

The woman had gone silent suddenly, her body had suddenly become cold, and her dry lips were very white; Judith sobbed softly, flashbacks of her past, as a young girl ran through her mind; she was raised most of her life by her grandmother, because her parents were sentenced to death for being a part of an uprising treacherous faction.

Judith whimpers, and wiped her tears; her grandmother was gone… she’s the reason why she wasn’t always punctual, but still regular to the secret meetings.

“I’ll do everything in my power to restore the reputation my family lost, by saving Brughton from total destruction… I need to meet Emily, and also ask Eleanor to be with her sister; the queen”

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(EMILY’S HOUSE)

Harry was seated opposite Emily; she was having a tea from a small cup, while Harry stared at her, she noticed him, but pretended not to.

“We’re walking together today”, she said as she dropped her cup on the table; it was still filled, but half of the tea was left in it. Harry smiles and replied,

“I have a friend to meet with today; I need to tell her this is where I work now”, he said while taking his eyes off her.

Emily smirks and replied, “So you have a lover, huh?”

Harry scoffs, “Kind of… I haven’t spoken to her, neither has she told me how she really feels; she only shows it”

Emily’s face looked pale suddenly, and she asked again,

“She’s not a noble, is she?”. Harry shakes his head, “she’s not; she’s just like me”

“Disgusting,” she scoffed

Emily stood up abruptly, and Harry did the same, then they heard a voice from outside,

“ma’am, a young woman wishes to see you”

“let her in”, Emily said, and she sat immediately, but Harry didn’t.

Approaching footsteps could be heard, as the door was opened by one of the workers of Emily’s; so as to allow the visitor come in.

It was Judith; putting on her dark blue cloak, and its’ hood covering her head, and slightly her face. She took off the cloak dropping it on the floor.

“Judith,” Emily exclaimed; she was surprised by her unlikely visit.

Harry stared at Judith like he knew her, and she hadn’t noticed him who had moved to the side. Judith was about to speak when she saw Harry, both stared at each other without saying a word; then Emily stood up saying,

“This is my new cleaner, Harry… and this is my friend; Judith”

Judith gasps in surprise, “I know”, she smiled sheepishly, while Harry walked close to her, she also moved closer and immediately hugged him tightly.

Emily was stunned by this. As they broke off the hug, Harry said,

“She’s the lady I was talking about… and it turns out you know each other”

Emily replies, “Yeah, we do… we do, very much”

Judith signals to Emily with her eyes; cause both of them were members of the secret organization, and Harry didn’t know.

“Harry can you excuse us please”, Judith requested, but Harry asked, “how’s your grandma?”.

Judith sighs, and answered, “she’s… dead”

Emily sighs sharply, while Harry’s mood changed from joy to sadness; he went outside, while Judith sat beside Emily, and began to speak in a low tone;

“She left a prophecy before she died… the downfall of Brughton, because Hudderham are too powerful…”

“Oh no”, Emily exclaimed.

“Our secret organization will be torn apart and open to everyone, but she said we might have a ray of hope to rise again; hope from Emily’s side… a young man. The queen must live, she must be protected”, Judith finalized, like she was just repeating it word for word.

“A young man; Harry?”, Emily asked

Judith nodded, and said, “I’m not too surprised it’s him; cause my grandma had said he would play a big role in redeeming the kingdom when it falls; she said that the first time she saw him”

“He doesn’t even know about us yet”, Emily said, “if he knows, he will die!”.

“We have to keep him in the dark for now,” Judith thought aloud, “and we should meet Eleanor; cause the queen must be protected at all cost”

Emily sighs,

“So, I met the guy who’s gonna save the future for us… and took him into my house; that’s epic. But he can’t even defend himself, he knows nothing about such things”

Judith smirks and replied, “Oh, you think so? I’m guessing you met him on an occasion whereby he was being chased, and was probably running like a coward”.

Emily nodded, but Judith continues, “he pretends a lot; he’s good with sword, and other weapons, but doesn’t like using them over petty issues… he’s always after peace”

“Oh, I see… so, my new friend is your lover, huh?”, Emily asked.