Chapter 16

We hid the two unconscious guards and cautiously made our way through the castle corridors, avoiding the areas where we could hear other guards. It was a terrifyingly slow process walking with Kyne and Erwin, who were both considerably weakened and needed support. Turning a corner, we came upon a staircase that ascended to a battlement, offering a view of a particular section of the castle. Here, the five of us crouched in the shadows and waited with bated breaths.

I gripped my stolen blade, expecting to use it at any moment. The faint murmur of guards’ voices carried on the evening air. It was cold, damp, and miserable—perfect conditions for another one of our ill-advised adventures.

“This is ridiculous,” Laine whispered, shifting uncomfortably against the wall. “I didn’t sign up for skulking about. I’m a man of dignity.”

“You’re literally a thief,” I muttered back. “Skulking about is in your job description.”

Ghis held up a hand, signaling for silence. His serious demeanor was a bit ineffective since I had seen him knock a man out with a baguette a while ago.

We could just make out the guards running across the estate from our vantage point. Their movements were hurried, but none of them were running in the direction of the dungeon.

“Something’s up,” Ghis murmured, narrowing his eyes.

We fell silent as two guards passed directly beneath us, their conversation drifting over.

“—the advisors’ guests, the Crimson Fang and her men! It's them!”

“They’re the ones attacking Lord Erwin? Why?!”

I exchanged a glance with Ghis, who looked grim.

“So, it’s not us they’re after,” Laine said, a touch of relief in his voice. “Good. Let’s leave while we can.”

“No,” Erwin said sharply, suddenly full of energy. “If they’re after Eris, we can’t stand by. He’s been working tirelessly to keep the Duchy together while Father—” He stopped, shaking his head. “If something happens to him, the entire Duchy will collapse.”

Kyne, Ghis’ father, nodded in agreement. “Eris is the only reason I’ve been holding out hope. Without him, there’ll be nothing left but chaos.”

I shot them a look, my displeasure clear.

“Look,” I said. “I came here for a rescue mission, not politics. This isn’t my business.”

Erwin simply gazed at me, his face a wall of stone. He would not be convinced. If I refused, I could tell he would simply crawl his way to his brother himself.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “I can tell you’re not going to listen to me anyway. But just for the record, I hate this.”

“We’ll live,” Ghis said.

“Debatable,” I shot back.

Erwin quickly outlined the plan. He knew of secret tunnels underneath the castle, some of which led out into the main city.

“My brother and I used to play in them as kids,” he said wistfully. “I know of several entrances to the tunnels.”

Ghis and Kyne would head to one such entrance, located in the gardens where we had first entered, beneath an oak tree. Meanwhile, Laine, Erwin, and I would head toward the commotion. From there, we would save Eris, preferably sneakily. After this, we were to reunite with the father-and-son duo at the secret entrance, and Erwin would guide us to the main city.

“Fine,” I sighed. “It’s an alright plan if we want to work quickly. But I have one condition. You, Erwin, must go with Ghis & Kyne. I don’t want a fresh dungeon escapee on this. You can’t even walk without help right now. I don’t need the extra weight.”

Erwin opened his mouth as if to argue but quickly shut it, nodding reluctantly.

“Wait a minute,” Laine spoke up. “Why do you need me to risk going into danger with you?”

“Think of it this way. You get to keep stealing,” I said.

He didn’t look convinced but seemed to not have any more arguments.

I nodded to the others as I left, Laine in tow. We began weaving through the estate’s labyrinth of hallways, walking in the direction where the guards' noise was the loudest.

“I still think we should have taken the passage,” Laine muttered, pocketing a decorative letter opener as we passed a writing desk.

I ignored him, continuing to follow the noise. As we got closer, I caught snippets of conversation from the guards.

“—Crimson Fang. Deadly as they come.”

“Of all the mercenaries to betray us…”

“Wait until the Duke hears about this—”

I stopped in my tracks. “The Crimson Fang? That sounds ominous.”

“Sounds like a problem for someone else,” Laine said. He looked like he wanted to bolt.

“Couldn’t agree more. But now that we’re here, might as well, right?” I said dryly.

We rounded a corner and stepped into chaos. The grand hall we had entered was likely stunning during the day, but it was a scene of utter pandemonium at that moment. Guards fought desperately against a group of heavily armed mercenaries. The air was thick with the sound of clashing weapons and the shouting of men.

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At the center of the melee stood Eris, a blade in each hand, rallying his men around him. The soldiers stood in a tight circle around him, shielding him from the attackers.

In the distance, watching from a gallery, was a towering woman clad in blood-red armor. She had an eyepatch over one eye, and her remaining one squinted at the battlefield. I had a feeling this was the person the guards had referred to as the ‘Crimson Fang.’

“A lot more people here than I expected,” I muttered.

“Let’s leave,” Laine whispered urgently.

“No,” I said, my gaze fixed on Eris. “Not until this stupid job is done.”

Laine began to argue as I reached one hand into his heavy rucksack of stolen valuables. Grabbing a hold of something that felt throwable, I pulled out a ruby the size of a child’s fist.

“What are you doing?” Laine asked.

“Creating a distraction.”

I was planning to grab the mercenaries’ attention, then keep throwing Laine's ill-begotten goods at them as they charged at me. This would pull some enemies away from Eris, who would hopefully be able to counterattack and escape. It was a poor plan, but the only one I was capable of at the moment. My magic was too unreliable, leaving me with no better option.

I hurled the jewel as hard as I could, and it sailed through the air, hitting a mercenary square in the back of the head.

The mercenary was holding a crossbow, which he waved around in surprise. In his panic, he pulled the trigger and shot a bolt into the air. There was a clink as it struck the grand chandelier.

Time seemed to slow as the massive fixture groaned, its chains snapping one by one.

Everyone stopped their fighting to look up. An expectant silence fell over the hall, broken only by the creaking of the chandelier as it mildly swung about.

Suddenly, it came crashing down, right into a crowd of mercenaries.

I looked at Laine and said, “All according to plan.”

The groans of the injured men seemed to echo as Laine raised an eyebrow at me. He didn’t buy it.

“Never mind that. Someone’s looking at you,” he said, pointing his finger behind me.

I turned to see the Crimson Fang jumping off her vantage point and landing in the hall. She stepped forward, her boots crunching against broken glass and debris. Her eye was drawn on me.

“Oh, fantastic,” I muttered as I unsheathed my sword.

The Crimson Fang smiled as she approached, her sword drawn. She walked like a predator sneaking up on its prey. Her blade gleamed ominously in the fractured light of the hall.

“You,” she said, her voice low and commanding. “I can feel it—your strength. A duel. Here and now. Show me your worth.”

Up close, I noticed the Council of the Eye symbol emblazoned on her eyepatch. A memory resurfaced—Ghis had once told me that the Council’s higher-ups were known to occasionally sacrifice one of their own eyes.

The Crimson Fang raised her blade, and I threw mine at her.

She swiped it away effortlessly, smirked, and kept walking. I reached into Laine’s rucksack again and started yanking out the heaviest objects my fingers could find.

"Catch," I said as I began throwing various objects at her.

She swiped them away easily at first, but I picked up speed, and a look of concern spread across her face.

One lucky vase sailed through the air and smashed into her head with a dull crack. Her confident stride faltered as her good eye rolled back, and she crumpled to the ground in an unceremonious heap.

There was silence.

Laine let out a horrified gasp. “Do you have any idea how much money you just threw away?”

“Should I have let her kill us?” I asked.

“That vase alone could have fed us for a year,” he whined, clutching at his head like I’d hurt him personally.

I didn’t waste time arguing. Instead, I grabbed Laine by the collar and dragged him toward the nearest exit.

“Why are we running?” he asked, stumbling to keep up.

“Because I’m sure the guards could take it from there. Don’t forget, we were supposed to be escaping,” I said. “Let’s go!”

As we darted through the hallways, dodging the occasional frightened maid, we skidded to a halt when a familiar figure stepped into our path.

The veiled man.

“Stop,” he commanded, his voice muffled but sharp with authority.

Without missing a beat, I rushed forward and knocked him with my elbow. He crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.

“What are you doing?” Laine asked, his tone edging into disbelief.

I heaved the man over my shoulder. “Taking him with us.”

“Why?”

“Because I need answers,” I said, gritting my teeth. “This mess isn’t going away unless we figure out what’s going on. And I have a feeling this guy was working with the mercenaries.”

Given that both this man and the Crimson Fang bore the symbol of the Eye, it was clear he was somehow connected to the attacks.

Laine raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want to be a hero, but you’re kidnapping people for interrogations now?”

I sighed. “Look, I don’t want to be a hero. But I also don’t want Baran to implode. If we don’t sort this out, Kyne and Ghis won’t have a peaceful life no matter where they go. They'll probably be chased across the Duchy.”

We continued running and soon entered the garden. I saw a man walking about, dazed. It was the guard we’d knocked out earlier, our escort. He was staggering around and rubbing his head. He turned toward us, his eyes narrowing in recognition.

Before I could react, Laine jumped on him, wielding his frying pan like a knight’s blade. The poor guard raised his arms in defense, but Laine rained down relentless blows.

“Would you stop?” I said, grabbing Laine by the back of his shirt. “He’s had enough.”

Laine stepped back, panting, his frying pan slightly dented. “Just making sure he doesn’t follow us.”

I glanced at the unconscious guard, who would definitely have a splitting headache tomorrow, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity.

We reached the oak tree Erwin had mentioned earlier, its gnarled branches spreading like skeletal fingers against the night sky. Hidden at its base was a trapdoor. With some effort, I managed to push it open.

The narrow tunnel was cold and damp, the air thick with the earthy scent of mildew. The faint sound of voices echoed from further in.

“Let’s go,” I said, leading the way.

We didn't have to go far before we found them. Ghis, Kyne, and Erwin crouched near a tunnel bend, their faces tense.

Erwin’s eyes widened when he saw who I was carrying. “What have you done?”

I set the veiled man down gently—well, as gently as one can drop someone they just knocked out. “We brought a guest.”

“That man,” Erwin said. “Why is he with you?”

“Never mind that,” I said. “Who is he exactly?”

“My father’s advisor! The Duke began to change after this man joined the court. He wasn’t always like this—cruel, paranoid. I’m certain this advisor is responsible, somehow. He must have him under some kind of spell.”

“Huh… well we got the main culprit I suppose,” Laine muttered.

Ghis waved a hand to grab our attention and said, “The tunnel leads outside the inner walls. Let’s move before we’re caught.”

Carrying the veiled man again, I followed the group as we navigated the twisting passage. Eventually, we walked out into the moonlit streets of the city, and for a moment, the world felt calm.

We made our way to Ghis's house, huddled together in the darkness of the empty streets. As we entered, Sheila—Ghis's mother—rushed to embrace Kyne, tears streaming down her face. The reunion was warm but tinged with tension.

“I’m sorry,” Kyne said, holding her tightly. “I didn’t mean to put you through this.”

“You’re home now,” Sheila said. “That’s all that matters.”

Dinner that night was a somber affair. Erwin barely touched his food, his gaze distant. Ghis, Kyne, and Sheila sat close together, speaking softly. Undeterred by the mood, Laine ate like it was his last meal.

After a long silence, Erwin spoke. “We can’t stay here. This house will be the first place they search when they realize Kyne and I are gone.”

Sheila’s hand tightened around Kyne’s. “Then what do we do?”

“I know a place,” Erwin said. “A safehouse run by loyalists to Eris. It’s not far, but it’s secure. We can regroup there and come up with a plan.”

I sighed, leaning back in my chair.

At this rate, I was never going to get a moment of peace.