Ifan had no time to lose. The Elf Prince started running towards Ilithya and Kolthen’s bedroom. His heart was beating fast with anxiousness as he got closer and closer to it. He didn’t see any more guards in his way as he made sure to use a path that they usually don’t use a lot. Ifan knew the castle like the back of his hand, and he knew the fastest route to get to his little siblings.

He finally got to their bedroom, panting heavily as he opened the door slowly, making sure not to make too much noise. The last thing he wanted was to scare them and alert the guards. He slid himself inside, pulling the door gently as it made a faint clic when it completely closed. He then turned his head towards their beds. Even if the room was dark, he could see that they were empty as if they got out in a hurry.

Were they already… He hoped not. Maybe they were hiding somewhere in here. He had to make sure of it before going out to find them.

“Kolthen? Ilithya?” Ifan whispered, a hint of worry in his voice. “It’s Ifan.”

For a moment, there was no sound at all nor in the hallway or the room. The Elf Prince was beginning to fear that the guards got to them before he did. 

Suddenly, he heard the soft creak of the wardrobe door in the corner of their room as it opened slowly. Ifan let out a loud sigh of relief when he saw Kolthen coming out of it, Ilithya was holding his hand tightly.

“…Ifan?” a clearly scared Kolthen asked.

“Yes! It’s me! Thank the Gods, you are safe!” Ifan whispered as he ran towards them and hugged them tightly. Ilithya immediately grasped him, making small whimpers. She was terrified.

“W-What’s going on, Ifan? We heard screams… A-and I-I was so scared! I didn’t know what to do so w-we hid in the closet…” Kolthen said, his voice was shaking. “A-and then guards entered, but-but they looked mean… I was scared, Lily was scared…” his little voice was trembling. “Did we do something bad?” he asked, his eyes watering with fear and incomprehension.

“No, of course, not. You did exactly the right thing, Kolthen.” Ifan petted his little brother’s hair tenderly. “You protected Ilythia, you are very brave.”

The little Prince reached for his brother and hugged him tightly, burying his head on his chest. Ilythya was still clasping at him as she trembled.

Kolthen said he heard screams. That meant that the maid he saw earlier wasn’t the only one that had been killed… Ifan was as terrified as they were at this very moment. He didn’t know what was happening, but he had to stay calm and composed in front of them as he didn’t want to scare them even more.

He let go of them as he looked at them both with a soft reassuring smile. He put a hand on Kolthen’s cheek and his other on Ilithya’s cheek.

“You did well, both of you. I am proud of you.” Ifan's expression became a little bit more serious, but he still tried to remain comforting. “But now, we have to get to father and mother. I’m going to ask you to be extremely quiet. The guards that came inside your room are looking for us and they cannot get us.” He explained to them.

“Wh-why do we have to hide from the guards, Ifan?” his little brother asked.

“Because they are bad guards. Think of it as the game we play together; Hide and Seek. Remember how you need to be silent so I won’t find you? Do the same thing now. But now we need to hide from the guards, you understand?” Ifan explained to them calmly.

“What is going on, Ifan?! I don’t like this…” tears of fear were watering his little brother’s eyes and he saw that Ilithya also wanted to cry, but she held it in, her small lips trembling.

“I know. You just have to be brave one last time, alright? Everything will be over soon, I promise.” He reassured them, patting both of their heads.

Kolthen sniffed and nodded slightly, Ilithya stayed silent, but Ifan knew she understood.

“Now, we are going to get out of the room. You are going to be as silent as you can possibly be and you are going to listen to everything I say, understood?”

They both nodded at the same time.

“If I tell you to run, you run. Even if I am not with you. Go hide in the east wing like you always do, alright?”

“But… I don’t want you to leave us alone…” Kolthen sobbed.

“You won’t be alone, Ilithya will be with you and you need to protect her. Don’t worry, I will come find you there as soon as I can. But it is only if I tell you to run, alright?” Ifan wiped a tear from his little brother’s eyes giving him a gentle smile.

“A-alright, Ifan…” Kotlhen finally agreed.

“Good. Now, we need to go.” Ifan instructed.

Both his little siblings nodded as Ifan took both of their hands in his. He was completely terrified. He knew he wouldn’t be able to defend them if they stumbled on the royal guards. And Ilithya and Kolthen’s magic hasn't appeared yet either. He had to get them to his father or Athelan, they had powerful magic and he knew they would be able to protect them unlike him.

He told them to stay where they were for a moment as he slowly opened the door, looking and listening to make sure no one was around. He didn’t hear anything. The hallway was frighteningly silent and completely empty. He gestured to them to come as he took back their hands in his. They got out of the room and started walking fast towards their parents’ bedroom. It was the closest to where they were. He just hoped his father and mother were safe. Surely his father was already fighting the rebellious guards. He was strong and it was hard to take him down.

Ifan’s heart was pounding fast and loud in his chest as he heard more screaming coming from all around the castle’s walls. He could feel the grip of his little siblings tightening in his hands as he did the same. He could hear Ilithya making small squealing noises every time a cry was heard. She didn’t like to hear them and she was terrified. Ifan was only thinking about one thing; get them both to safety as fast as possible.

Whenever Ifan would see a dead body laying on the ground, he would change his route to make sure his little brother and sister didn’t look at it. They stopped whenever he heard guards passing by. Luckily enough for them, they were loud and didn’t seem to care if they were heard. It made things easier for Ifan and his little siblings to avoid them.

At every step they made, Ifan's senses were on full alert, and he was extremely cautious. He didn’t want to have to face the traitorous guards. If they get caught, he would not be able to protect Kolthen and Ilithya.

They were close to their parents' bedroom, but as they turned the corner, Ifan’s worst fear happened. He hadn’t heard them in time and he ran face to face with a group of royal guards that had just assassinated two other servants of the castle with cold blood.

For a moment, they were all surprised. They surely didn’t expect to stumble on three of the royal princes and the Princess. They were four guards staring dumbfounded at them. Sweat started running down Ifan’s forehead. Then the guards got a hold of themselves and stared menacingly at the trio.

He immediately placed himself in front of Kolthen and Ilithya to protect them and to avoid them seeing the dead bodies on the floor. Ifan’s expression was as serious as he tried it to be at the sight of this butchery scene. There was blood everywhere and he could see entrails coming out of the victims’ open stomach. He had to stay calm for the sake of his little frightened siblings.

“Look what we have here.” One of the guards suddenly spoke up. “Do you think we’ll get a reward if we bring those three to him?”

“It’ll be easy. They don’t have any magic and the crown Prince is weak.” One amusedly said as he cleaned his blade on one of the servant’s clothes.

Ifan’s mind was thinking fast. He had to find a way to allow Ilithya and Kolthen to run while he distracted them. As the guards were approaching with their swords in one hand and magic in the other, the Elf Prince saw a spear on one of the decorative armors. Without thinking, he quickly grabbed it and pointed it at the guards. He had no idea how to use it but it would at least help him buy his little siblings some time to escape.

The guards looked astonished for a moment, but they soon burst into laughter. “What are you trying to do, pretty Prince?” another guard had spoken. “Do you intend on stopping us with that stick?” he snorted.

“RUN!” Ifan cried out to Kolthen and Ilithya, ignoring the guard’s taunt. He held the long weapon in a defensive position, a determined look on his face, and yet, he was so terrified as all of his body was shivering like a leaf. He saw in the corner of his eyes that his little siblings weren’t moving. They were frozen in place. “Kolthen, take Ilithya and run. NOW!!!” he roared this time.

Kolthen looked at Ifan with panic in his eyes for a quick moment and immediately grabbed his little sister’s hand as they ran away to where he told them to go hide. One of the guards tried to go after them, but Ifan stopped him by motioning the spear in a large circle, hitting him right in the stomach with the staff part of it, making the guard fall back in pain a few feet away.

Ifan was confused for an instant as he didn’t know how he managed to do that and where did he get the strength to push him away. But he quickly came back to the present as another guard tried to hit him with his sword. The Elf Prince hardly blocked his attack, staggering back from the force of the impact. He had to hold them as long as he needed to buy his little siblings enough time to go hide. No guards knew of their secret hiding place as no guards ever went to the east wing often. They were safe there.

He put himself back in a defensive position when, suddenly, he heard a familiar voice coming from behind the guards.

“What is this?” the voice calmly said.

All of the four men that were attacking him immediately stopped and a worried look could be seen on their faces. The silhouette of the voice got out of the darkness of the night to finally come into the light of the only crystal that lit the hallway faintly. As it got closer to him, Ifan recognized the tall slender figure of his best friend. It was Orian. 

He could help him.