I’m telling you,” said Mattief, repeating himself, “They are up to no good. We have to kill them now.”
“Now you listen here young Mattief, I understand that you are new to the guards, so I will try and make this very clear to you, I am in charge here!” finished Draycott with a roar. “I am aware of their treachery; they will be dealt with accordingly. Even now Guardsman Birkett is taking care of our friend Wayte, and it will only be a matter of time before Arcaedus returns and we can put the final stage of our plan into effect.” By this time in Draycott’s rant, his eyes were wide and his every word was accompanied by grander and grander gestures, his mouth foaming and spittle flying as he entered a frenzied state.
‘My Lord,” said Mattief warily. “I understand your desires, but I regret to inform you that Wayte has returned to the castle.”
Draycott launched to his feet, “What? How do you know this?” he demanded darkly.
“I ran into him in the hall on the way here,” he replied meekly facing Draycott’s ire.
“Then that is the first thing that you should have reported!” roared Draycott. “When I can find a reliable guard, you will be used as an example for all guards to follow.”
“My Lord, I-“ started Mattief dropping to his knees.
An enormous roar drowned out the rest of his sentence as the entire castle shook under the effects of Claudia’s explosion.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Coughing through the dust in the air, Draycott rasped, “Come with me guardsman, you may redeem yourself yet.” Then he bellowed to any guards within earshot, “To arms! The prisoners are escaping!”
After Mattief had left guardsman Thomas to guard the door to the prisoners, Thomas had relaxed somewhat. New guards had the tendency to be overzealous in their duties and it simply made for more effort than was required in simple guard duty. It was why he had let the fool report to Lord Draycott, let him find out on his own the care that needed to be taken around the madman. The other guards had since taken on the saying ‘Stay out of his way, live to get the pay.’
When Wayte had stormed up, covered in who knows whose blood, it seemed the best thing to do was to let him in. No use holding him there, by letting him in, he could do what he wanted and Thomas could get back to resting. As long as Wayte didn’t kill any of the prisoners, all was fine. He did try and ignore the screams from the woman, but it was hard. She was such a pretty woman, she reminded him of his little niece, all grown up.
But when the explosion rocked the castle and dust filled the air, Thomas sprang into action and fumbling with his keys, he opened the door. He was greeted with a scene of chaos, one section of the wall had a gaping hole in it, and the prisoners were leaping out, being led by Wayte.
The woman looked back and saw him, she smiled and waved. Numbly he waved back. He stared in confusion as she tossed something at him. Dropping his keys, he caught the object. Looking down, he saw that it was a fat little jar with green liquid leaking out of it. Suddenly he found it was hard to breathe. Clutching his throat, he fell to his knees, looking over at the hole. She was still there, the pretty woman, looking for all the world like his little niece, all grown up. Then darkness took him.