The Princess's Secret [completed]

36: Escape.

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Kioto.

He watched from the top of his home as the six awaiting warriors moved across the fog covered moat. That was the signal, they had Caspian in sight. He turned and hurried into the lower room of his house to where his wife was packing his bag.

He grabbed it and said farewell, leaving and mounting the waiting horse. He headed for the docks where he kept his ship. But the sea wasn’t his destination, it was just a rouse. He commonly headed for the sea at odd hours, so this route wouldn’t raise suspicion. Hopefully.

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Caspian.

The cold air hit him as the group moved out of the tunnel, nearly taking his breath away. Herschel was at his side, careful to ensure he could keep up. Hiram lead the group quickly and silently.

Caspian had rarely seen a group of men move so efficiently. Not a word was spoken by any of the group, yet through occasional hand signals, there was zero confusion. Hiram stopped them with a raised fist.

Moments later, a group of six more knights approached them, adding to the layers of bodies surrounding him. Then they were moving again, crouched low. Caspian found himself listening for the normal sounds of a group this size moving as such a pace, but there was nothing except the breathing of the men.

Hiram made another signal, barely pausing. All the men around him pulled a cloth from their necks over their mouths, still keeping the pace. Caspian almost smiled as he remembered the trick; they were hiding their frosty breath from enemy eyes.

He glanced around, realizing the thick fog that hid them. There was no wind thankfully, which allowed the fog to hover over the moat, blending the air with the snow on the ground.

Suddenly, Hiram threw up a hand, showing first a fist, then the flat back of his hand. Caspain hardly had time to glance at the knights around him before Herschel was grabbing his shoulder, squeezing it three times fast. That he understood, it was a code that he had used countless times. He hit the ground silently and lie still.

Then he heard it. Crunch. Crunch. Footsteps! Peering over his arm, he saw a soldier walking slowly, scanning the mist. The man was just ten feet from them!

Caspian lowered his head slightly, making sure his arm covered his frosty breath from sight. All around him, the knights looked as though they were dead, not moving, and hardly breathing.

He watched as the soldier got closer, still unaware of their presence. He did his best to look around, and could see nothing else. It’s not smart to let the men partoling lose sight of each other, but I guess Thaddias feels that he’s eliminated all the danger.

He swallowed as the soldier passed Hiram, missing him by just three feet. The knight suddenly leapt to his feet, grabbing the man by the head. The soldier didn’t even have time to cry out as his throat was slit. Then, they were moving on, leaving a body in their wake...

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Hiram.

They reached the safehouse without further incident. He was glad, it prevented a trail from being made. The house was in the mountains, on the opposite side of the castle from which they had entered Adrelawin. Thaddias’s men would not suspect them to move away from Rayndra. He hoped.

It was nearly dawn by the time they reached the little stone home, which was partially built into the mountainside, almost behind a waterfall. It was thanks to the natural rock that the water didn’t destroy it during the summer. But now it was frozen, and what remained was huge icicles hanging down the side of the mountain, disguising the house.