The tightness on Eliott's shoulders didn't let up even as he rolled and stretched them. Why was the whole day filled with meetings they could have otherwise drafted in advance? Most of the issues he attended to today were all minor and tedious tasks. Wait until Edge heard about it, though.

His footsteps echoed in empty peals across the corridor. He knitted his eyebrows. Wasn't it too...quiet? Where were the servants? They usually were in this area, attending to their duties. He passed an alcove and frowned. Where were the guards? Should there be one posted in this particular point where the corridor met and branched into three separate ways?

Eliott pursed his lips and tackled the northeastern corridor. It was going to take him to the room he shared with Edge. It was still a little awkward, living with her and existing in the same space as her. They were still learning each other's routines and how to best work around it. Sometimes, they would bicker over the silliest of things, like who gets to use the baths first or who has to call the servants whenever they want to eat inside. Edge would almost always win and Eliott didn't mind. He liked her happy anyway.

When he reached the room, he noticed the door to be slightly ajar. Edge disliked leaving any door she went through open. She always scolded him for not shutting the door whenever he went out of the room. So why...

His gut twinged. Something's wrong. Within seconds, he was running, tearing through the rest of the corridor and throwing the door open. There was nothing amiss inside. The embroidery Edge was obsessed with for the past month slathered over her worktable. A candle stuck inside the lamp still burned, casting a faint, eerie glow over the beige canvas.

Edge wasn't the type to leave small fires burning either. She would either douse it with a drop of water from her own magic or she would blow on it. Her reasoning was always because she didn't want to be the cause for a house fire. Safety would always be her priority. So...what was she telling him now?

Judging from the way she left her tools scattered on the table, she left in a hurry after being distracted. She wasn't given the time to pack so it must be urgent. It meant that she took nothing with her, not even a weapon to defend herself with. Eliott glanced at the door. Leaving it ajar meant she went out.

Was she with someone? Who would call the Princess Consort at this point in time? Her duties finished a few hours after lunch. It was a point past five now. She would always be waiting in this room for him at this hour.

Eliott stormed out of the room, eyes searching for a familiar face, a friendly face. His heart thundered in his chest as he tore through the corridors. It didn't matter that he was out of breath nor that his leg hurt from running up and down flights of stairs, winding corridors, and bumpy patios. He passed by servant after servant, asking them about where they last saw Edge. All they gave him were vague and often conflicting answers.

Sir Geoffer was coming out of another meeting when Eliott surged past him. Eliott pulled himself off his course and stopped in front of the manager. "Edge's missing," he reported. "I checked the palace twice. She's not here."

The man stared at Eliott from head to toe, no doubt noting his disheveled hair and rumpled clothes. It had also occurred to Eliott that his chest was heaving large breaths and sweat dripped down his face and neck in a faint shower.

"Find her," Eliott ordered, even though his voice sounded strangled and forced. "Don't stop until someone does. Lock the whole castle down. Don't let anyone out unless I say so."

Geoffer nodded and ran off in the opposite direction while Eliott burst forward once more. Just to be sure, he combed through the palace's numerous wings and rooms once more. By the time he had finished and retired to the front gardens, his head pounded with exhaustion and his knees felt like it was made of pudding.

"What is this preposterous thing I hear about not being able to leave?" a familiar voice bled into Eliott's ears. He turned towards the source of the voice to find some members of the Council clamoring behind a line of soldiers blocking the gate leading to the bridge. At the head was Linus Coppers, frowning with his arms crossed. "My carriage arrived an hour ago and I need to go home. My family expects me for dinner."

"I am sorry, Esteemed Advisers," the soldier with tufts of red sticking out of the tip of his helmet. He must be one of the commanding officers. "Until I get the direct order to open the gates, I will not."

More clamors erupted from the nobles. One reasoned his horses wouldn't get watered. Another contributed his succulents would starve without their sustenance. Eliott rolled his eyes and decided to address this situation himself. Despite his aching legs and tight shoulders, he mustered a smile and trudged to the small crowd.

"Good evening," he made a small wave and turned to the soldier. "What seems to be the commotion here?"

The soldier gave him a quick salute before raising his visor to give Eliott a view even if it's just his eyes. What a sharp shade of brown they were. "The Esteemed Advisers are expressing their wishes to go out of the palace," he said. "But the order was to—"

"Let them out as they wish," Eliott interjected, making the soldier blink. He turned to the man and with a smile, repeated. "Let them out as they wish. I'm sure they're not concerned with the case of the Princess Consort going missing."

Eliott heaved a dramatic sigh. He glanced at Linus Coppers who had such a clueless expression mapped out on his face. Out of the two of them, the adviser had always been the better actor. "I am beside myself with the search for my wife," he said. "I could use some relief by not dealing with trivial matters such as this."

He jerked his chin to the barricade of soldiers. "Open the gates, just for them," he said.

With reluctant movements, the soldiers raised the gate and let the advisors through. Most of them muttered under their breath, unaware of each other's movements. Eliott turned away and pretended to talk to the soldier about the various escape routes in the palace. In reality, he watched one person who spearheaded the group ducking out of the gate.

He could swear Linus Coppers smirked at him. Even from that distance, he could tell the adviser had something up his sleeves.

"I need you to do something for me that only you and a handful of others would know," Eliott said, cutting the soldier off the sentence he hadn't bothered listening to in the first place. "Send a tail to all those advisers who went out. Don't get seen. Report to me every hour regarding their activities. Relay all messages to Sir Geoffer. Use as many soldiers as possible. Be discreet."

The soldier nodded and went on to gather the men around him. Judging from their blue tufts, they were of lower ranks.

It seemed like Eliott was playing a game with the enemy, with just a few pieces on the board. Linus was sure to be involved with all of this but Eliott couldn't ascertain who else from the council was abetting that twisted excuse of a man. The rest of the council was against the charter about the fae from the beginning. It's highly likely they've made their move now.

Eliott clenched his fists. He had promised Edge she wouldn't face any more hardships if she's with him and he had just shoved her into the most deadly game he had ever lived through. Someone took her out of the palace and brought her somewhere. And they did it without being sniffed out. One of the servants said she saw Edge with a soldier near the gardens. That's the farthest radius anyone had ever reported since he started questioning them.

The gardens...

Eliott's mind snapped to attention. Of course. The gardens. There was an old passage there, one used by the gardeners in going in and out of the palace when it's time to trim the bushes. It's to never get into the nobles' way or even stumble upon them at all. Servants used different systems of getting through the castle. Whoever took Edge knew of that. It only meant they knew the palace like the back of their hand or they were tipped by someone who did.

Think about that later. For now, he had to find Edge. He shoved his exhaustion down to the recesses of his system and dashed to the gardens. When he got there, the rusting gate was left open. The grass near it showed signs of struggle, or of someone slipping against them. Tracks belonging to a palace guard peppered the space.

Eliott glanced behind him. There were two sets of trenches carved through the carpet of grass blades starting from the gardens until the gate. From there, only one remained, disappearing through the bend as it led out of the palace's constraints. He clenched his jaw. They hurt Edge. knocked her unconscious so they could haul her somewhere.

He stormed through the path, ignoring the thick bushes and the unkempt undergrowth slowly crowding over the roof and the walls. The winding trail spat him in the middle of the town, complete with the rumbling carriages and bustling people going about their day. The sun was beginning to set, slowly plunging the sky into a faint shade of pink and orange.

No time. Eliott barely had any time left. Edge could have been there for a long time. He had to find her, wherever she was. Without any leads, it's next to impossible to map out where they took her. He didn't even know if there was a carriage waiting for her at the end of this road. If it lasted more than a day, then they could move her from place to place and he would never find her.

That's why he had to find her now.

He burst forward, straight into the fray. He sidestepped neighing horses and muttered endless apologies as he elbowed people out of the way. His boots slapped the dusty cobblestones, eyes scanning the houses, the fountains, the status of kings and queens of the past. Not a fae in sight.

A glint of gold caught his periphery. He turned to find himself in a rotund of some sort. The torrent of people had thinned, meaning he had somehow diverged from the main road and came to this secondary one. He stalked towards the glimmering object on the ground. His fingers closed around it and his heart stopped when he brought it to his face.

A symbol resembling the sun, cast in a faint shade of gold.

In the dim light cast by the moon, Eliott stood there, holding the necklace he had given Edge all those years ago. From where he had found it, it looked like it was chucked out of a moving vehicle. It was a message. A warning.

It was Edge telling him something. To do what? To hurry? To not come? He looked to his left then to his right, closing his fist around the pendant until its serrated edges bit into his palm. He's coming to save her. By all means necessary.

And he's going to make those responsible for this pay a thousand-fold.