The Faintest Ink (Watty Winner 2015)

Chapter Fifty-Five

"What now?" asked the princess.

The walls of the brotherhood stretched out before them. It stood high on the edge of the cliff, the moonlight making its pale walls glow.

John cleared his throat. "I suppose we just ring the bell," he said, pointing at the large bell hung conveniently next to the gate.

"Don't you think it more appropriate to wait until morning?" There seemed something unsavory about waking a brotherhood of scribes from their slumber.

"Nah. This is probably the most exciting thing to ever happen to them. They'll be talking about this for years."

"I'm sure they will," said the princess. The loss of their most treasured piece of work would be something that would haunt them for centuries. That is, if they managed to last that long. What family of good breeding could ever trust the production of their name books to such an organisation as this ever again? "So, is this where it is? This book you're going to steal."

"So they say."

"They?"

John turned to her, and laughed. The princess looked back at him with utter bewilderment.

"Sorry," said John. "It's just... a thing. Like, who are they?" He waved his arms expansively.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Who are they?" the princess persisted, wondering which one of them had gone mad. She was pretty sure it wasn't her.

"I haven't the faintest idea."

"Right." The princess nodded and looked away so that he couldn't see her expression, which was currently somewhere between bemused and horrified. "Well, regardless of the identity of the mysterious 'they', I don't think anyone is going to hand over this book of yours just because you knock on the door in the middle of the night."

"That is exactly what's going to happen."

"Really?" said the princess, condescension dripping from both syllables. "How?"

"You're going to help me."

The princess felt her throat tighten. "What do you mean?"

"Just follow my lead."

And with that he took hold of her elbow and dragged her towards the gate, and before she could protest he reached for the bell pull and swung it hard. It clattered loud enough to make her ears ring, and even when he let the rope drop, her ears vibrated from the echoes.

They stood, peering into the darkness which lay beyond the gate, waiting for the approach of footsteps. It was the princess who broke the silence.

"Are you going to let go of my arm now?" she asked pointedly.

"Uh, sure," said John, letting go. "Just, try. You know?"

"I haven't the faintest idea what I'm supposed to be doing."

"You'll see."

They waited.

"No one's coming," said the princess, before being hushed by John. She relapsed into silence.

After a few minutes, she grew impatient. "This is silly. No one's coming. Why don't you just explain the plan so I can tell you how ridiculous it is."

"Shh!" hissed John.

"How dare you hush me!" she hissed back, realising too late that she was still whispering.

"Seriously. Shut up. Someone's coming."