by AJ Martin
As he made his way along another passageway he stopped and clutched to his head as another snapshot of the city flashed into his head like a bolt of lightning, sparking his brain. Another creature had triggered yet another trap he had laid. It was closer, nearer the palace.
How many creatures are there? He thought nervously. The trap had been triggered not five minutes away. As he reached the princess’s chambers another guard stood outside the doorway. Seeing Matthias he threw down his pike, its sharp, pointed end aiming directly at Matthias. The wizard threw out a hand and a bolt of lightning struck the pike, sailed up its wooden haft and surged into the guard, who contorted and collapsed to the floor like the others. Matthias hopped over him and burst into the princess’s chambers, smashing the door inwards with his arm and blundering into an antechamber that was filled with maids and servants. They began screaming as he thundered towards them and one tried to halt his path: a bulky great woman with hips the size of tree - trunks. He skidded to a halt in front of her, her burly arms outstretched to catch him.
“Get away you ruffian! Selphie, raise the alarm, quickly!” She growled to one of the maids, a tiny little thing with a face like a mouse, and she ran off at speed to get help. The woman advanced forward, no fear in her blazing eyes. “I’ve looked after this babe since she was sipping at her mother’s teat! There’s no way you’re getting past me!”
Matthias took a step back. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry!” he said, a remorseful look on his face, as he outstretched an arm. The space in front of his hand shimmered like heat waves, and a green blob of energy spluttered out of his open palm, wrapping around the woman’s arms and waist and legs, and pinning her like a skittle. She toppled over onto her side with a grunt, and strained against her bonds. “It’ll dissolve in an hour,” Matthias said. The woman growled absurdities back at him as he passed through the other maids, who parted in fear. One fainted clear to the floor. He reached another door and threw it open. The princess was in bed as he skidded towards her.
“Mister Greenwald! What the-” Josephine started from within pulling her bedcovers up to her neck. “Get out!” she commanded.
“I’m sorry princess, but you’re in danger. We have to leave the palace right now!”
“What kind of danger?” she asked, pushing herself as far away from the wizard as she could, until she was pressing heavily against the headboard.
“Demons are inside the city. They’re on their way here. They’re after you. They know what you are! We-”
A heavy hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Thadius punched him in the face. Dazed, Matthias stepped back, but the burly man came at him again. ”You bloody-” the knight began, but Matthias interjected.
“There are demons in the city!” Matthias cried to him, and he stopped as he drew his fist back again.
“What?” Thadius growled.
“I laid traps, invisible markers that could only be triggered by these creatures. They started being sprung a few minutes ago. They are after the princess!”
Thadius stared in surprise. “I- I-”
“We don’t have the time!” Matthias exclaimed. “They could be inside the palace right now! We have to go!”
Thadius paused a moment, but then he lowered his fist and nodded his head. “Alright. I will get the men together who are coming with us.”
“There isn’t time for that!” Matthias hissed. He spun around to face the princess. “Get dressed, Your Highness. Quickly. And find something to cover your face up with.” She nodded and darted to behind a wooden divider, where she hastened to change.
Matthias turned back to Thadius. “Is there a secret way out of this palace?” he asked. “Some way that no one else would use or suspect?”
Thadius nodded. “There’s a hidden exit. It isn’t far from here. It was designed to get the king and princess out in an emergency.”
“Good. Then there’s no better time to use it!”
“I… apologise for hitting you. I thought…”
Matthias shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. How are you getting along princess?” Matthias called to the girl as clothes flew across the top of the divider.
“I am almost ready!” she exclaimed, panting as she hurriedly pulled on her clothes.
“What have you done to Lady Pombar?” Thadius asked, looking through the open door to the lump on the floor outside.
“Oh Gods! I forgot,” Matthias said. “She got in my way. I didn’t think.” He darted out of the door. The woman was in the next room, being propped up by the other maids.
He approached her with Thadius in tow. “I apologise,” Matthias said. “There was no time to explain.”
“Who is this man, Thadius?” The lady asked, her plump face red as a tomato and her eyes burning with rage.
“He is a friend, my lady Pombar,” Thadius said, placing hand on her shoulder. “Of sorts.”
“Some bleeding friend!” she winced. “Look what he has done to me!”
“You did well to try and stop him just the same.” Thadius turned to Matthias. “Can you release her?”
Matthias looked sheepish. “The bonds can’t be released until they dissolve. It will take a good hour at least.”
The princess emerged from the previous room, a black hooded overcoat worn atop a purple dress that appeared beneath. “I am ready, she said. “I had several bags in here for the journey that my maidens had begun to pack, though I doubt we can carry them all now.”
Thadius moved to where the bags were piled in the corner of the antechamber, and grabbed two, thrusting them around his shoulders.
“But what about your own bags?” the princess asked.
“I need only the clothes on my back and the sword at my side,” he replied. “I can carry these two.”
“We need to leave,” Matthias said.
The Princess nodded. “Thadius, would you lead the way, please, my good knight?”
The burly man nodded, and turned to go. He paused at lady Pombar and the maids that were piled around her. “Tend to her well,” he instructed them, and he nodded to her. She snorted. “Tell no one anything of this,” he said “-save the King. He must be alerted when we are safely away.” He left the room, followed by Josephine. Lady Pombar stared daggers at Matthias who took up the rear.
“I am so sorry again,” he said, and quickly moved out the room.
“Is my father not being told we are leaving?” Josephine whispered as they made their way down a dark corridor. Thadius snatched a flame from the wall.
“We will send word to your father once we have cleared the city and reached a safe harbour,” Thadius replied. “From the sounds of things, we will be lucky to escape here alive tonight.” The torchlight flickered on his square face. His eyes watched the corridors carefully. “This way,” he said, beckoning to a dark corridor. “There will be no people down here, and it is the quickest route to the hidden exit.”
“Oh gods,” Josephine breathed. “It is real, this threat that you spoke of. They want to kill me.”
“You still assumed I was over – exaggerating?” Matthias asked.
“No. I mean, I had hoped.” She shook her head. “Perhaps a little.”
They moved through the darkness and turned a juncture in the corridor, heading down another otherwise dark, thin passageway, at the end of which stood a thin, spiral staircase. Thadius led them down, the torch flickering and purring in the silence, and they emerged in an abandoned wing of the palace, making their way through one of the many kitchens, this one not used for several years if the cobwebs were anything to go by. Quickly and quietly they wove through the ancient maze.
“This used to be the old queen’s wing. It was used by your great grandmother, princess. When she died suddenly and painfully in the night, your great grandfather, King Athelbert declared this part of the castle cursed, and banned anyone from living or working in it. It’s been abandoned ever since.”
“And now we are making our way though it? But what
if it is cursed?” she hissed.
“There's no such thing as curses,” Matthias said as they made their way through more cold, abandoned corridors.
“How do you know?” Thadius sniffed.
“You don’t think being a wizard makes me qualified?”
“Then how do you explain strange deaths with no explanation? Ghosts that roam hallways, moaning and groaning.” The princess asked.
“The world is complex and filled with wonders and patterns that aren't always easily seen by us. Sometimes strange things just happen, but there's always a rational explanation at its root.”
Josephine sniffed. “That's just a long winded way of saying 'I do not know.'”
Matthias smiled. “Very well. I don’t know. What I do know is that a curse of the kind you speak of is borne out of fear and fantasy blurring together. You could lay traps with one of the powers, but that’s the extent of it.”
They carried onward. Everything was deadly silent apart for their footsteps. Quite suddenly, Thadius stopped at a doorway, and Josephine bumped into his back, snapping to with a start.
“Ouch!” she grumbled.
“My apologies your Highness,” Thadius said.
“Will you be quiet, the pair of you!” Matthias hissed.
“I beg your pardon?” Josephine growled, baring her teeth. She turned to Thadius, who eyed Matthias severely.
“You forget yourself, Matthias,” Thadius advised stonily. “You are escorting royalty here.”
He took a calming breath. “I apologise Your Highness. I am just a little on edge.”
“You’re not the only one,” Thadius added, peering into the gloom from which they had ventured. “But let’s keep our heads cool, alright wizard?”
Matthias nodded and bowed his head to Josephine apologetically. She acknowledged his apology with a nod of her own.
“Why have we stopped?” Josephine asked, changing the subject.
“The stairs beyond this door should take us down and out of the palace.”
“Once we are outside, we will need to move quickly to reach the exit to the city,” Matthias added.
“Right then,” Thadius said taking a breath. “Let’s go-“
As he spoke the torchlight began to flicker, and Josephine yelped.
“It’s the oil. It’s going out,” Thadius grumbled. As if hearing the words, the flame whimpered and snuffed out.
“It’s alright,” Matthias said, and outstretched a palm.
There was a fizzle like a wet firework, and then a popping sound, and a small ball of light hovered excitedly in front of Matthias. It shimmered in the shadows; a pure white light leaving a trail of sparks spiralling slowly down from its body to the flagstone floor, where they died out instantly.
“Perhaps I should go first,” Matthias said, his sapphire - tinged eyes burning through the darkness almost as brightly as the ball of light in front of them. Thadius nodded and took up the rear.
Matthias walked forward into the dark stairwell, and the ball moved with him, hovering around like a tamed firefly following its master. Taking a deep breath, the princess followed after him. Thadius took one last scan of the area behind them and then followed, dropping the used torch and closing the door behind. The stone steps below lit up with the new light from Matthias’s hand. They were extremely narrow - barely wide enough for the heels of their feet to rest comfortably on the tiny stones - and in the dark, navigating down them was awkward.
Josephine ran her hand along the outer wall for support, as did Thadius behind, the multitude of bags thrust about his back slowing his progress. Matthias, in spite of the light, used his staff to check for the next stair in front of him before he stepped down. It seemed time slowed to a crawl as they made their way down the never - ending stairs.
“How high up were we?” Josephine asked. “This is ridiculous!” she said in a haughty tone.
“Have patience, Your Highness,” Thadius replied. “It can’t be far now.”
Finally, as if prompted by the words, the outline of moonlight on a doorframe came into view beneath the final stone step as they rounded the corner, and Josephine breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank the gods for that,” she breathed. “My feet are killing me.”
“It’s not over yet, princess,” Matthias replied, peering over his shoulder. He caught her eye a moment. They were like deep pools in the gloom, and for a moment he held her gaze, before smiling encouragingly. “You’re doing well,” he added, as her brow creased and she swallowed.
“This door needs a key,” Thadius muttered. “I didn’t think about that.”
“I don’t need a key,” Matthias replied confidently, waving his palm over the lock. The door clicked and creaked open.
“Mahalian tricks,” Thadius whispered with a grumble. “What’s the point in having a lock if people can just open it like that?” Matthias grinned and pushed it open a notch. Moonlight shone through the opening. The ball of light that had guided them fizzled into nothing, and the shadows that had danced around them from its aura subsided.
They emerged from the building slowly, looking around hesitantly. They were in a garden area, overgrown and filled with brambles and weeds.
“We should be at the southernmost part of the palace grounds. This is a small garden, a space in a corner of the grounds hidden by bushes. Ah! There,” Thadius said, pointing to a tall hedge. “We need to go through there and we should be able to make our way around and down. There’s a walkway about quarter of a mile from here that leads to a ladder into the habitual quarter.”
“You expect me to climb over that?” The princess asked with a scoff, nodding to the hedge.
“Oh come on, I’ll give you a leg over,” Matthias said with a grin. She rolled her eyes and turned to Thadius, who obliged instead.
“Have it your way,” Matthias said with a shrug, as he grappled with the hedge and hoisted himself over its branches, landing on the other side gracefully. The princess was having more problems. Her dress was catching on twigs, and as she swung her legs over to the other side to drop down there was a tear, and her black cloak ripped. She began to fall to the ground, but Matthias caught her before she hit the floor.
“Got you! Safe and sound!” Matthias said.
The princess was surprised and for a moment she sat in Matthias arms, before her dignity got the better of her and she flapped at him until he let her to the ground. “Get off! Get off!” she spluttered.
“You’re welcome,” Matthias said as she brushed herself off and inspected the tear in the side of the cloak.
The princess opened her mouth to retort, but then there was a large thud from behind them, and Thadius landed awkwardly on the ground. He looked up at them sheepishly.
“It’s been a long time since I climbed any trees,” he muttered, getting to his feet.
“Come on,” Matthias said as he laughed silently, and beckoned for Thadius to once again lead the way.
They crept through the moonlight, ducking into shadows made by the buildings surrounding the Palace.
“Have any more of the creatures set off your traps?” Thadius asked Matthias quietly.
“No,” Matthias replied from behind, his eyes scanning every which way. “There were only a couple more, and they could have dodged them. If they are in the palace they might take a while to realize we’re gone.”
“Let us hope that my father’s men have caught them all!” The princess added. “Perhaps then we can start this journey the way it was meant to have been undertaken! I was meant to be accompanied by a full guard!”
“One thing at a time,” Matthias whispered.
“Do not act as if you are not pleased,” the princess whispered back. “You never wanted to bring soldiers along on this journey, did you?”
“Thadius is here and he’s a soldier,” Matthias rebuffed.
“You know what I mean,” Josephine sniffed.
Rina was even more of a maze at night than it was in the day and the la
dders and stairwells that stretched all across the city were even more perilous for it as they made their way down. Trying to get Princess Josephine down ladders with her dress was particularly interesting, and her slipper – like shoes kept sliding off the stairs leading to more than one close call. Eventually though, as they descended the city, they dropped down into Market Road, where Matthias had encountered the stalls the day before. It was empty now, and lamplight glowed through some of the windows of the houses lining the street. They were halfway down the empty road when Matthias paused and held up a hand. He craned his head.
“What’s that noise?” he asked. The others strained to hear.
“What noise?” asked Thadius, his eyes darting back and forth.
Josephine leaned her head to one side. “I don’t hear anyth-” she was stopped short as a rotting wooden gate a pace behind them burst open, and a creature lurched out of the debris towards them. Its head was rotten and its body disintegrating. It was a corpse of a creature, and it stunk like one. Its eyes were wide, twisting limply in their bony sockets towards Josephine. It snarled at the princess.
“Thadius!” Matthias yelled from where he had been knocked to one side, struggling to get to his feet. The creature lunged towards Josephine.
Thadius had his sword in hand already, and struck at the creature with his blade. Its head fell to the stones, black blood smattering the cobbles, and a second later its body followed, dribbling more fluids from its open neck. “You don’t need to tell me wizard,” he huffed. The creature’s mouth worked silently for a moment before its eyes closed and it fell still.
They looked up to the sound of scuttling along a wall, and another creature dropped down a pace behind them; a large, furry insect - like with segmented eyes like a fly, analysing them with interest. It flexed its six – fingered, suckered hands and then sped towards them. It opened a toothy mouth, saliva dribbling across the path as it attacked. Matthias held out a hand but Thadius got to it first again, his sword ready. He threw the blade behind his shoulder as he ran and swung hard. The creature barged into him, narrowly missing the blade, and sent Thadius sprawling to the floor, his weapon clattering uselessly away. The creature clicked through its mandibles with triumph and carried on towards the princess.
