Nightfall
386 Words
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*Chapter 3: Nightfall*
The king didn’t stay.
“Nightfall,” he said, then left with Alpha and half the guards trailing behind him. The water shifted as they moved off, leaving only two guards to watch the post.
“Fail, and Alpha finishes what he started,” the king’s voice echoed one last time before he vanished into the blue.
The second he was gone, the post erupted.
“Silence!” one guard barked, his trident slamming against rock. “No moving. No talking. You wait here till nightfall.”
But he couldn’t watch everyone. The gate post was wide, and the other guard was already distracted, eyeing Dove’s haul of coral.
Beatrice felt Mom’s fingers dig into her arm again.
“We have maybe four hours,” Mom whispered, pulling her behind a pillar of coral where the guards couldn’t see. “Bale won’t hold. He’ll talk before the deadline.”
Beatrice’s heart pounded. “Then what do we do?”
Mom glanced at her belt, at the faint outline of the comb under her tunic. Her face was pale.
“We run. Now. Before Bale breaks, and before those guards decide to search us.”
“But where? The king owns this sea. Every post will turn us in.”
“Not the reef,” Mom said. “Not the old caves. No one goes there. If we make it, we hide till morning and figure the rest out.”
Beatrice glanced back at Bale. He was still on his knees, head bowed, but his eyes weren’t closed. They were fixed on her. Waiting.
He knew she had the comb.
And he knew nightfall was coming.
“Beatrice!” a guard’s voice snapped. “Get back in line!”
Mom shoved her forward. “Go. Act normal. We move when their backs turn.”
Beatrice stepped back into line, legs shaking. The comb felt heavier with every second.
Across the post, Bale lifted his head just slightly. His mouth moved. No sound came out, but Beatrice read his lips.
_I’m sorry._
The sun sank lower. Shadows stretched across the sand.
Nightfall came, and running felt impossible.
But staying felt like death.
Mom’s whisper hit her ear one last time:
“When I drop the coral basket, you run. Don’t look back.”
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- Writer
