Kitanna
Chapter 149: FALCON’S MESSAGE

Chapter 149: FALCON’S MESSAGE

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: YESTERDAY ~ ALAN WALKER FEAT ALI GATIE]

....Earlier...

Kitanna looked closely at the small room she was trapped in; it was not easy for her to move freely, but her eyes caught something sharp at the other end of the room. It was the missing doorknob, which Kitanna assumed her abductor must have disconnected from the door so she wouldn’t be able to escape.

She carefully rolled herself so that her hands were now very close to the wall, then she started rubbing it roughly, trying to untie the rope. Each rub caused harsh friction on her wrists, making her wince.

"Urgh!" Kitanna cursed under her breath as she felt her skin cracking open with each rub. If only she could get closer to the sharp doorknob. She looked around; if she continued with this pattern of rubbing her hands on the wall, it would cause her a lot of pain and a scar that wouldn’t heal easily. And she didn’t know how long she had before anyone who kept her comes back.

"This won’t do," the princess muttered as she pushed herself up, moving slowly until she got closer to where the knob was. She carefully used her leg to push it to the wall, then she proceeded to keep her hand on top of the nail used to hold the knob to the door before it was ripped away. Kitanna inhaled softly; she needed to place her hands where the rope held directly on top of the nail; any mistake would lead to her hurting herself.

After a few moments of waiting, she finally rested her sweaty hands on the nail, and slowly the rope came apart. She moved her hands immediately to her mouth, then down to her leg, untying the rope that was used to bind her ankles together. When she was done freeing herself, she walked towards the door, but as expected, it was locked from outside. Kitanna turned to look at the window; it was very high, but that was her only option.

Gathering a few things she could find in the small storeroom, the princess used them to elevate her height before breaking the window with her elbow. Kitanna looked at the height she was about to jump, but it was a better option than to stay in the storeroom, waiting for whoever it was that locked her up to come back.

She carefully climbed the window; after giving herself a mental pep talk, she jumped. Luckily, the other side of the storeroom was the stable, Kitanna landed on the shrubs used to feed the horses, so it reduced the impact of the fall, but her joints still felt it. Looking around, everywhere was still very bright, but with the hours she had spent sleeping, she felt it was already night, and she was still in the palace. Which idiot held her in her own home? Kitanna scrunched her face in annoyance.

Limping slowly, she walked towards Nix’s quarters, looking around to know if someone was following her behind. Her body was still weak from the jump and the sudden long sleep she had; she couldn’t risk engaging in a fight with anyone yet.

Getting to the isolated quarters, she held the door before pushing it open. "Nix," Kitanna called out, but he was not alone, and the room was dark, making the people in it not able to see her.

She walked closer to where the candlelight was flickering, making her presence known to the three men.

"Kitanna!" Nix stood up from his chair, pulling her into a tight, warm hug. A hug that spoke volumes of how worried he had been since morning.

"Princess Kitanna, oh my God." Hieron heaved a sigh of relief.

Cortez also got up from his chair, looking behind the princess to see if his sister or the maid was back with her.

"Who did this to you?" Nix asked, holding her head gently as if it would fall apart if he didn’t.

Kitanna shook her head, "I don’t know, all I know is the person is still in the palace. I just found myself locked up in the storeroom; let’s keep the details later. For now, we should find the most suspicious person." She remarked, licking up the blood that was on her lips.

"I agree with you; I have one person in mind we should question, but what I’m not sure is what motive she would have to abduct the princess." Cortez was the one to speak.

Kitanna quickly changed into better clothes, wrapping her wounds for the moment, as they would be treated later. Nix briefed her about the happenings within the palace as they made their way to Panha’s room, who was the first person on the suspect list.

"Chief Cortez, what brings you to my room? Have you heard any news about your sister or the princess yet?" Panha asked when she opened her door, the first person she saw was Cortez, who then moved to the side to allow Nix and Kitanna to step inside.

Panha was dumbstruck for a moment, standing before her was the same princess that was proclaimed abducted. She tried to guide her expression to avoid giving anything away, but she still looked shaken with the sudden entrance. She needed to quickly tell Almaria and her crew to fall back because there was a flaw in their plan, but she needed to first find out why they came to see her.

"Oh wow! Princess Kitanna, you’re back! This is good news, and Lady Larel?" Panha tried to compose herself, putting up a fake smile that was a little shaky.

Kitanna ignored what the young woman was saying. Since the first day she arrived, Kitanna had an unsettling feeling about Panha. And now with the events unfolding in the palace while she was here made her even more suspicious. She looked around the room, checking if anything was out of place.

"Someone locked the princess up in a storeroom; she never left the palace," Cortez replied, tilting his head to the side as he watched Panha try to gather her thoughts together.

It was then Panha was able to settle in the information, that who they actually abducted was the princess. She almost palmed her face; she paid those men to dig her own grave. And as if to move up her funeral, the foolish maid was heard shouting.

"Lady Panha, she escaped, Lady Larel escaped!" A maid rushed inside shouting.

Panha gritted her teeth; if she had a stone, she would have used it to knock some sense into the maid. Why was she screaming such information out so loud? Well, it can’t be helped, Panha sighed; one person had to take the blame.

"Catja, you were a minute late. If you had told me earlier that you hated the princess, I would have advised you properly; now your sins have caught up with you."

Kitanna scoffed; who did this pelican take to be a fool? But she decided to watch how everything would play in the end. Obviously, who they said escaped was Larel and not her. Does it mean Larel too had escaped? And according to what Nix briefed her, Axilla and someone else who they concluded to be Larel, were abducted from the palace. It only meant it was different persons who tried to harm them.

"Pri... princess Kitanna?" Kitanna smiled when she saw the look of horror on the maid’s face. It was like she had seen a ghost.

Panha, who didn’t want the lousy maid to talk any further, decided to talk, "She has been acting suspiciously, I didn’t know it was something that had to do with the princess’s disappearance. Locking the princess up and leaving her in a tight storeroom? You are a traitor!" The young woman clicked her tongue in distaste.

Kitanna’s eyes moved to look at the pelican, mirth dancing in her eyes. The corner of her lips curled, and she was about to say something when another person interrupted.

"Lord Nix, there is a bird causing a ruckus outside the palace," Chantal rushed inside the room. He stopped halfway when he saw the princess standing beside Lord Nix.

Nix frowned, "What now?" He was tired of the countless dramas already.

"What type of bird?" Cortez asked, as if he had a slight idea already.

Chantal rubbed his hair gently, "Homing pigeon, but it won’t nest anywhere; it keeps flying round the palace. With something tied on it’s leg," he replied.

"Lady Hash’s Falcon is here!" Cortez quickly rushed outside where the bird was still causing a ruckus, as the guards tried to bring it down.

"Stop!" Cortez called out, putting his two fingers to his mouth; he whistled, and the bird flew to his direction, resting on his shoulder.

"Good girl, Falcon well-done. Let’s see what we have here," Cortez retrieved the parchment and pouch that was tied to the bird’s leg.

"Go on Falcon," Cortez used his hand to pet the bird as it gurgled before taking flight again.

Cortez walked back to the room where Nix and Kitanna stayed back to wait for him. He handed the parchment and antidote pouch to Nix.

"That is the Stinger Nightworm antidote; we need to go to Ferrer kingdom, we have a wedding to crash." Cortez announced.

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