"It's not there..." I whispered after returning to the ninebark bush where I left Kristya for a moment.

"But... you used it just a few weeks ago, it has to be there," her attempts to keep her voice down were almost turning into panicked squeaking.

"Maybe they did look for ways the assassin could have gone in after all and found it. Or it was the assassin himself... I mean... a rope attached to a window of a guarded tower is quite convenient..." I really hoped that wasn't the case. It would make me even more guilty of the king's death...

"So the guy probably has a debt with us now, but what do we do?"

I sat down on the cold ground, looking up at the tower's massif in dismay. "The ivy isn't strong enough to hold us, I already tried... And there are not enough carvings in the wall here..."

"Maybe you could just walk back in there and pretend for a while to get answers?"

"No..." I shook my head before Kristya even finished the sentence. "I don't think I'd be convincing enough now that I know the truth. Calthraval is who got me this far, but from now on, it's Sigrian who has to take care of the rest..."

Kristya looked down, probably a little ashamed of the bold suggestion. "Maybe... we could try sneaking in through the kitchen?"

I glanced to my right, where the entrance would be, but sighed after a moment. "We'd probably cause everyone to flee for their lives thinking I'm a ghost at first, which would make it easy to enter, but I don't think would help us in the long run..."

"Wait..." Kristya interrupted my waterfall of thoughts. "That's actually not a bad idea."

I gave her a confused look. "Which thing?"

"The ghost part."

"... eh?"

In response, Kristya glanced around before quietly heading for a different bush that grew nearby. If I remembered correctly, there were some holly plants growing in that corner of the gardens. She soon came back and opened her palm, showing me about two dozens of blood-red berries.

"I still don't follow, I'm afraid..." I mumbled.

"It's easy," Kristya took one of the berries between her thumb and index finger and squished until it popped, releasing a small amount of juice. And confirming my suspicions that I won't like what was about to come. "There's just one guard at the door of the tower, as usual. If he were the only one to see you, then even if he runs off to tell someone else, they'd just laugh at him or think he's too tired or drunk and send him to bed. Best case scenario, he'll just curl up somewhere and wait until dawn, not telling anyone."

"You can't be serious..."

"Do you have better ideas?"

Wincing, I glanced towards the spot where the door at the bottom of the tower was around the corner. "I already feel bad for the guy..." I let out a sigh of surrender. We had more important stuff to worry about...

Kristya took a few minutes to artistically smear the juice from the berries over the skin of my face, and I rolled up my sleeves so she could add some on my forearms for good measure. I didn't allow her to touch the shirt itself, not tempted to explain this to my father later. I deemed that once the guard would get the soul scared out of him, he wouldn't pay much attention to detail. And who knew what ghosts really looked like anyway.

Once Kristya was satisfied, I quietly circled around the tower so I could approach the guard from the front.

I opted for a slow walk, a little unsteady, so the man wouldn't feel threatened but could spot me easily. I didn't head directly for him either, instead choosing a path towards the main gate.

"Hey, you!" I soon heard the man's shout and stopped. I didn't look at him. "Who are you?"

Instead of answering, I slowly moved my head to look at the guard. He squinted, his halberd lowered so it was pointing at me. When I kept quiet still, he decided to approach me.

"I asked you something, lad. What are you d..."

The gardens echoed with the clang of the weapon hitting the graveled path.

I tried my best to give him a tiny smile that looked tired and sad. The fact that I felt sorry for doing this to him probably helped achieve the right expression. "Good evening..." I whispered, and the man took a step back.

"Y-young... master is... that really you...?" he stuttered, his face paler than the moon.

I let my eyes drop to the ground. "I'm sorry... I wish... I could be there... for you all... now that my father... But I can't..." The guard backed away further, and I realized I have to make sure he doesn't run away before he could do us a favor. I looked up at the tower that cast its cold shadow on us. "Would you... allow me to... see the kingdom from above one last time... before I go...?"

"Y-yes... yessir...!" the guard ran to the door at incredible speed, took the keys out of his pocket and started attempting to open it with trembling hands. I didn't move until he managed, not wanting to stress him further. He opened the door wide and inviting, hesitated for one more second, and then ran for his life towards the front yard, his weapon forgotten.

I followed him with my eyes until he disappeared around the far corner, then let out a deep sigh.

"You could be an actor," Kristya's amused whisper came from the bushes.

"Leave me alone... If I still had something to say in here, I would have given him three days off at least..."

"Yeah, poor guy didn't even think that ghosts should probably be able to go through doors even if they're closed... Oh well, let's offer a soundless thanks and keep going."

We reached the top of the tower in no time. I approached to the window opposite the one looking out towards Ioreth and took a moment to assess the surroundings. The tiles on the main part of the castle didn't look too steep, the surface rough and dry, leaving little risk of slipping. Smiling, I pulled myself up to sit on the windowsill and swung my legs to the other side. As I looked back at Kristya, wanting to tell her to be careful nevertheless, I froze for a moment.

At the edge of my vision, through a slit in the planks, I spotted the spine of my book, still hidden above the ceiling... Maybe... maybe I could take it with me on the way back...? Without another word, I climbed out onto the roof.

Checking the stability of each tile before every step, we made our way towards the opposite side of the castle, where I remembered the king's chambers were located. As we reached the rooftree, a sudden blast of night wind hit me in the face, almost throwing me off balance. It wasn't strong enough to blow us off the roof fortunately. And I bet it didn't change much about my hairstyle anyway.

Once on the opposite edge, I carefully lied down on the tiles and looked down. The distance to the ground almost made my head spin, but I tried my best to focus on what was closer. There were two balconies right underneath, quite a bit apart, one smaller with some ivy wrapped around the supports, the other much wider, rounded. From what I remembered, it wasn't as much a balcony as it was a small, open terrace, with the door to the room hidden a little deeper in.

I carefully shifted in the direction of the second balcony and glanced down one more time before slowly sliding off legs first. Then I grabbed the edge, dangled for but a second and let go, darting to the deepest shadow as soon as I touched the floor.

The glass door and the two windows that flanked it stayed dark. No sound came from inside. No screams, no rustle of anyone getting up to investigate the noise. Crouching, I peeked through the glass of the door.

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"Looks clear," I whispered, craning my neck.

I quickly helped Kristya down before taking a small rock out of the pouch by my belt. I picked it up in the gardens so we could tap out a hole in the glass. Before I could get to work though, Kristya pulled at my sleeve. In response to my questioning look, she pointed to the window on the opposite side of the door. It stood slightly ajar...

"I don't know what you think..." I muttered, "but for me, it's going so perfect it's scary..."

"Yeah..."

A few seconds and I was already opening the balcony door for her from the inside, allowing the night to flow inside as well. It didn't change much about the temperature of the room though. It was cold... abandoned...

"Have you ever been here?" asked Kristya quietly, walking along the tall bookshelf next to the dead fireplace.

"Only twice, at the very beginning. Now that I think about it, it should have struck me as odd. No father would be so cold-hearted as to let his son in so rarely to comfort him... or pretend to... Especially when the son needed every stimulus possible to remember..."

I soon managed to find the desk in the darkness and a candle on it. When the tiny flame brought some warmth to the interior, Kristya joined me like a moth lured in by the light.

"I wonder if he even kept anything that could help us..." I muttered, opening a drawer and starting to look through a small pile of documents that seemed to concern mostly this year's harvest and my 'coming of age ceremony'. "I mean, if it was something he wanted to keep secret, he might as well have burned everything connected to it straight away."

"I hope he didn't..."

"If only I could just ask someone without getting put on the throne before I can explain or causing someone to run away screaming..."

"It would help, but for now, let's use some brains..."

I watched in confusion as Kristya kneeled down, opening the door of the small cabinet on the left side of the desk. A few books were stacked in there, a bottle of what looked like wine behind them. Kristya ignored them though, instead reaching somewhere further behind...

Suddenly, she held a nice handful of papers and a tiny notebook in her hand.

"What the..." I crouched down. There was a very thin, small shelf attached to the roofing of the compartment in the very back.

The former maid gave me an innocent smile. "I've cleaned more than one room of the higher-ups here. A lot of them seem to hide important things this way, thinking it's flawless."

"That is kind of brilliant actually..."

"Yeah, I discovered one by accident, then kept looking in other rooms for fun."

"You're a little demon..."

Not exactly bothered by that comment, Kristya brought the candle from the desk to the floor, spreading the papers on it. There were about a dozen of them, written in at least three different handwritings. Skimming over them, I spotted Calthraval's name, as well as the name Caydranth...

"That's definitely it..." I smiled, relieved.

"Maybe let's not read it here," Kristya stopped me when I reached for the bottom most document. "We lost quite a bit of time because of the funeral, it should be dawning soon... let's just take them with us."

"I guess... not like anyone will be looking for them now..." I took the rock out of my pouch again, rolled the documents together and stuffed them in there. The small notebook I had to tuck behind my belt. "I hope things will be equally easy on the way back..."

Kristya blew out the candle and put it back on the desk. Heading back to the balcony, I looked around some more, wondering if there could be anything else that might prove useful to us, but soon dropped it. I wasn't tempted by the idea of running into anyone starting their morning routine out there...

My arm suddenly shot out in front of Kristya in a jerky motion to stop her, my legs freezing.

The glass of the balcony door... A small spot on it was fogged up, at a level where an adult's face would be...

A horrible chill went down my spine. I knew it. I knew things were going far too smoothly...

I was so thankful that Kristya didn't decide to ask something out loud, which would tell whoever was there that we noticed. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her to a dresser standing by one of the windows and crouched behind the curtain hanging next to it. She followed my lead without a word, but I could feel her body starting to shake ever so slightly.

A minute passed, then another, my eyes fixated on the door, the small fragment of which I could see through the narrow gap between the dresser and the wall. Was I being paranoid? Was what I saw just a random smudge on the glass? Or was...

The glass door opened. Slowly. Soundlessly.

I held my breath as a shadow passed my vision, heading deeper into the room. None of us dared to look out to see who it was. It didn't matter. We didn't need to know, we just needed to get out of here in one piece...

I could hear the intruder walk around the room carefully, clearly looking for something. The question was: was he looking for us, or for something else, unaware of our presence?

A small gust of wind came from the balcony, playing with the curtain and almost stripping us of our cover. Thanks to that movement though, I caught a glimpse of the intruder entering the adjacent bedroom... I figured we wouldn't get a better opportunity than this.

Not letting go of Kristya's hand, I quickly circled around the dresser to get to the terrace.

And came face to face with another shadow.

Well, 'face to face' wasn't the right expression. The features were covered with a hood that was part of a pitch-black cloak. It waved in the breeze coming in through the door, bringing the faint scent of incense to my nostrils...

This time Kristya wasn't able to hold back a panicked squeal, her hand squeezing mine so hard it almost hurt. Immediately, hurried footsteps came from the bedroom behind us, followed by a: "Hey!"

Both ways were cut off now. We had nothing to defend ourselves with. No ideas were popping up in my fear-frozen mind...

Then the figure in front of us reached behind its belt and pulled out a dagger. Somehow, my brain reconnected to my muscles upon seeing that and I let go of Kristya's hand, stepping in front of her. I didn't think I would be able to accomplish much, but maybe I could at least give her a chance... We couldn't allow the information we had to die with us...

As the figure drew its hand back, I squeezed my eyes shut, awaiting sharp pain. What would it be...? My chest...? My stomach...? What came a second later was a sharp...

... scream coming from behind our backs.

I looked over my shoulder just in time to see the first intruder stumbling backwards into the bedroom again, whining and cursing almost inaudibly. The second shadow walked past us without a word, drawing another dagger.

No one had to tell me twice.

I grabbed Kristya's hand again and ran for the terrace, straight to the balustrade guarding the edge. The balcony on the same floor was too far to jump to it, but there was another below to our right... I climbed over the rail, held onto the supports and let myself hang for a second, assessing the distance. Deeming it fine, I let go and landed heavily on the cold stone, my knees warning me with but a slight discomfort.

Not even checking if my sudden appearance could have alarmed anyone inside, I extended my arms to Kristya. She mimicked my movements, but as she tried to slide down and hold onto the beams, she lost her grip and fell right on top of me, knocking me from my feet and the air from my lungs. It was a good thing she wasn't very heavy and I was able to quickly regain my bearings to cover her mouth before she could start apologizing. I glanced towards the balcony door. It was open...

I didn't waste time on thinking whether it was one of the intruders that opened it or someone who lived there that wanted to let some fresh air in while they attended the king's funeral. I just thanked the heavens and headed for safety.

My memory of how we got back to the gardens is quite hazy... Shouts of guards rushing past on the way to the king's chambers, one maid who ran away screaming upon noticing me when we switched from one hiding spot to another too hastily...

Once we ran out into the open through the kitchen door, the small notebook that I had stuffed behind my belt finally decided it had enough of my wriggling and I felt it slip out, landing on the path behind me. Reflexively, I turned back to pick it up, but froze for a moment upon hearing some screams above our heads.

It was too far to see details clearly in the semi-darkness of approaching dawn, but I could just about make out the silhouettes of the two men, their backs to the terrace railing, facing a row of halberds pointed at their chests. There seemed to be something small and light-blue hovering next to them too. And then they both... no, it couldn't be... was my mind already too tired, or too messed up from all the agitation...?

They both vanished into thin air. And whatever the blue thing was, it darted away towards the forest like a jumpscared bird.

I just stared for a good few moments, my jaw hanging. Then, something small suddenly swished past my vision and a tiny, innocent chime of something landing on the gravel jerked me from my daze.

Next to the notebook that I dropped, my frozen hand still hovering over it, laid a small, dark stone, a thin leather strap attached to it. I hesitated shortly, but then picked it up. No, it wasn't a mere stone. It was a crystal... triangular in shape, the sharper tip of it slightly curved, like a claw...

"Sig..." came Kristya's panicked whisper from my left.

I quickly grabbed the notebook as well and joined her in the shrubs.

We soon found ourselves outside the castle's premise again, under the protection of the trees' shadows and just ran for a while, not looking back. Eventually though, Kristya stopped, leaned against one of the trunks and closed her eyes, trying to calm her breath. I walked up and wrapped my arms around her, because her legs were clearly about to refuse listening to her. She accepted it gratefully, leaning her head against my heaving chest. I could feel her heart hammering against mine, the fear still shaking her small body... The sky above us started to turn a pale, golden-grey...

It felt nothing short of a miracle that we both stood here now, unharmed. These two men... they were mages... and they definitely were not working together. What were they looking for there, tonight of all nights? Was one of them the assassin...? If so, why would he come back...? I could have sworn I've heard the voice of one of them somewhere before, but just that one 'hey' wasn't enough for my mind to conjoin it with any face that I knew...

I opened my palm behind Kristya's back and stared at the strange crystal resting in it. What was it made of that it stayed intact after falling from that height...? Now that some light was available again, I could see that it wasn't black like I first thought. It was a very dark, deep shade of forest green...

Which one of them dropped it...? Our enemy or our ally...?

Was one of them even our ally...? If I met him again, should I thank him, or run away...?