The Princess's Secret [completed]

50: One Step Ahead.

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Hiram.

There was no one. They had been there recently, but by the looks of the tent, they had left in a hurry. He checked the other tents, finding similar scenes.

The pit of his stomach began to churn, the growing prospect that they had missed Thaddias sickened him. He signaled to the men waiting, watching as they warily came out of hiding, eyeing the tents. Hiram shook his head, and they relaxed slightly, attention turning to the castle.

A quick glance over told him that the castle hadn’t been built for war, but for beauty, it’s large, previously broken windows an easy target to invaders. He gestured for the pair and put his hand together like a stirrup. The older knight placed his foot in it, and Hiram lifted him to the window, waiting as he climbed in.

He misjudged the younger knight’s weight a little, and ended up launching him into the window. Luckily, the knight was stealthy like a cat and landed as though he’d been expecting it, in silence. Once the two had cleared the room and hall, one located a thin mat within the room, placing it against the wall to keep armour from scraping against it.

Hiram leapt, grabbing the ledge and hauling himself up. The mat did it’s job perfectly, though he doubted it was neccissary. Once inside, he glanced around, squinting in the darkness. A thick layer of dust covered the remaining furniture, indicating that Thaddias had not been there long.

A quick search of the upper floor confirmed as much. They moved to the bottom floor and found it in the same condition. “They’re gone.” Hiram broke the silence, dismayed. They were too late.

He paced away to a window, glancing out to check with the men on the cliffs. Still no signs of danger. It wasn’t an ambush, and it wasn’t even that they were hiding. They just were not there. Any hope of finding Herchel was gone. He growled in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. Was there no such thing as victory anymore?!

He spun around suddenly, anger renewed to a whole new level. “Search the building! We must find out where they went!” Just then a sound came from above them, like a sword scraping out of it’s scabboard!

The pair had disappeared before he had even finished the order, and hadn’t heard the sound, eager to put distance between themselves and his wrath. He didn’t bother calling to them, running to the stairs and up them. By the time he reached the top he had hardly broken a sweat, and unleashed his fury on the door, raising his foot and kicking it as hard as he could.

There was the satisfying sound of wood splintering as something snapped, the door flying open and hitting the wall. He found himself face to face with a blade, but had no time to stop, his momentum carrying him forward. The barbarian clumsily swung at his head, taken aback by the speed of his attack.

Hiram ducked, ramming his shoulder into the man’s stomach, hearing the air leaving his lungs. He didn’t stop, shoving the stumbling barbarian across the room and ramming them both against the wall. He could hear the crunching of bones as his shoulder flattened the man’s lung. Finally the impact shot through his own body, and he stumbled back a step.

The barbarian didn’t raise his sword again, crumpling to the floor. Dead. Hiram blinked. He’d just killed a man with his shoulder. Footsteps rushing up the steps brought his attention back to the situation at hand.

He turned around, taking it the scene around him. It was a torture room, recently used. And strapped to the wall- “Herschel!” He drew his long knife, rushing forward to the apprentace.

In seconds he cut through the thick leather straps that held him, catching the kid as he began to crumple, lowering him slowly to the floor. “Get some water!” He ordered, glancing at the knights who had just arrived to the scene. The younger one took off, but he was already turning his attention back to the apprentace.