They are escorted out. Aramis approaches his Lieutenant, Cryodon. “Lead them out of the gates safely. When they are safely out of castle walls, return and await further orders.”
“Ai, Captain. Set watch and warrant it so.” Cryodon returns to leave.
After they leave, Aramis returns to Aramon’s side. “You are not Tellenius. I would have trusted his council above all others. But I trust you most among the rest of my men, certainly above any of the Sandonistas and you are intelligent above all others.’’
Aramis bows. “Flattered, your grace. I would not presume to counsel you, but if my opinion is of any account, you may ask.”
Aramon holds out his hand and gestures Aramis to approach. “Here is the proposal. You may read it for yourself.’’
Aramis approaches and begins to read. After gleaning it for several minutes, he turns to Aramon with a sour look on his face. “What do you think?”
“I would ken that it would be a wild gamble. These coups are by no means simple. The proposal is written as if the successful coup is a foregone conclusion. We know otherwise. Herod-Sai is a powerful councilman, but he has much to accomplish.”
Aramon nods. “Ai. It is so.”
“And any profits to be gleaned from mines is contingent on the successful coup. I don’t believe you are in position to risk so much, not the least of which is the chagrin of the Orachai. And there is the complication of brokering a deal with a traitor like Herod. He betrays his own countrymen. Why should we trust him? That agreement is as worthless as tits on a bull.”
Aramon nods and smirks conspiratorially. “Ai. I have surmised such as well.”
“So, why not expose the traitors and earn the trust of Gilleon? That trust could go a long way in terms of leverage for future relations. You ken?”
“Ai.”
“Your thoughts are well-intentioned and prudent beyond your heritage and age. So, let us pretend you are noted council to loyal King. What would counsel have me do?”
“Make example of traitors. Let Gilleon see that we will not abide by their kind in our midst. Arrest them, torture them and hang them in public display.”
“Ai. An excellent plan. See it done.”
“Set watch and warrant it done.” Aramis turns to go and then pauses for a moment. He looks at Aramon and they both seemingly have the same thought in their head.
“Felinius is deadly beyond measure. I do not believe he will submit of his own accord. Do you ken?’’ asks Aramon.
“Ai. More slippery than sea serpent and just as deadly. I will set an elaborate ambush for him and have my most elite assassins kill him. He is too dangerous to bring in. I have heard of his ability to escape shackles is limitless as well.”
Chapter 28: An Act of Subterfuge
Felinius exits the castle with his riding party. Though his expression is deadpan and inscrutable, underneath is a maelstrom of jumbled nerves.
Jaden enters in through the castle via the moat. He puts the exact replica of Felinius’ clothing in a large plastic bag and swims through a large opening in the castle wall. A prisoner had once escaped and painstakingly made that hole to escape. He later died of hypothermia, but the hole had never been patched.
Jaden uses several of the locksmith tools Talonius had acquired in Buck’s General Store to enter several unlocked doors in the castle, using the schematic from City’s Hall of Records.
Felinius passes one of those shadowed alcoves and hears the unmistakable ‘tsst’ sound. It is Jaden. He walks in the alcove, unbeknownst to his party or Aramon’s men. “I am here,” whispers Jaden.
“Well met. Now go. Godspeed.”
“Ai,” responds Jaden.
Jaden walks out with the rest of Felinius’ party. The whole exchange between him and Felinius lasted only about thirty seconds. For all Aramon’s men knew, he could have been taking a piss, and so they give his momentary absence little thought. When he approaches the soldiers along the drawbridge, he averts his eyes at the last second to avoid detection, thanks in part to a large top hat. They barely look in his direction, happy only that the situation had safely diffused; and in truth, they are intimidated by the dangerous man who subdued Aramon’s most lethal soldier.
Felinius wastes no time in executing his plan. Jaden had done well. He had succeeded in bringing in a methane lantern, which would provide ample light yet not be so overpowering that it would attract the attention of guards from afar. He turns the crank on the lighter and looks at the schematic. He had memorized his plan for absconding with Felipides, Aramon’s only son, but he is obsessive about minute details. He has to be sure. He cannot afford to linger long in Aramon’s castle. Even with his abilities, he will inevitably be caught and killed.
Without even looking at the schematic, he knows there are six stairwells. Two of them are dead ends and if he chooses one of them, he will be traversing up the stairwell for over an hour the wrong way. And while Aramon maintains his chambers and great halls quite well, the interior of the castle is rumored to be in disarray.
He could even fall several feet to his death on a poorly maintained stairwell. Two of them end up in the King’s chambers, where there will be a number of soldiers. One of them descends, so that one is easy to eliminate. He chooses the third one on the right and confirms with his schematic.
He ascends the iron railing stairwell and hears the echoes of his own footprints bounce back with every few steps. After several feet, he listens for the tell-tale echoes of someone else. When he doesn’t hear any, he resumes. He hustles as quickly as he can while being careful to gingerly step on each step. Unfortunately, the railing creaks with every step, no matter how lightly he steps and once he even hears one of the metal springs give way under his feet. Instead of stopping and panicking, he picks up the pace.
If someone were at the top of the stairwell, no doubt they would hear his footsteps. But, he has one advantage. The castle is not on high alert. They don’t know there is an intruder. If someone were at the top and hears his footsteps, they will call out to him, curious to know who is there. They won’t assume the worst.
After what seems like hours, Felinius reaches the top. He peers up over the railing and notices a group of men drinking ale and playing spades. They are inebriated and speaking with slurred speech. Good. They will be easy to subdue.
The men are unconcerned. “That you Hollstyn? Supposed to make your round a might pint ago, so you were. As usual, you’re late. Why don’t you share a game with us here?”
“Don’t mind that I do,” responds Felinius. He casually walks over to them. Two of the men look up and start to protest. “Who the fuck-” Before they can utter anything more, Felinius pulls two razor sharp daggers from his coat pocket and flings them at the two men. The daggers are ultra-sharp and lodge deep inside their throats, causing them to choke and gurgle blood uncontrollably. The other men look up in alarm, but it is too late.
With lightning quick ferocity, Felinius pulls an even larger dagger from his pocket and throws it at the man next to him. It penetrates straight into his Addams’ apple, causing the man to choke. Blood gushes from his neck copiously. The last man at the table tries to reach for his pistol, but alcohol dulls his reflexes; and even if he were sober, he would never have been a match for Felinius. As he begins to reach for his speed shooter, Felinius grabs his hand and twists it violently, emitting a cracking sound and a cry from the man.
Less than a fraction of a second later, Felinius brings down his elbow violently, shattering the man’s bones in his arm and rendering it useless. The man wails in agony. Felinius then finishes the man by reaching for his head and violently twisting it unnaturally, snapping his vertebrae. He lets go of the man and he slumps to the ground.
Felinius saves his guns only as a last resort. The sound will carry far inside castle walls, and he will have a gunfight with more men than even he can handle. He retrieves his weaponry and takes each one of the downed men and throws them off over the edge of the stairwell. The heaviest man is weighted
down with several gold pence. Clearly, he is the winner of Spades. Felinius relieves him of the burden and then tosses him over as well. He removes the large man’s jacket and wipes up the bloody mess on the table and the cement floor.
Felinius knows there are four main elevator shafts, which all work off one main water-wheel generator, located in the lower catacomb. Two of them are large enough to accommodate horses, so he surmises they are likely the most maintained of the elevators. The downside will be that they would also be the elevators with the largest amount of traffic and he would very likely meet several of Aramon’s soldiers. He would have to kill several more than he is comfortable killing. And the more dead bodies he produces, the more difficult it will become to hide them.
Two other elevators are situated along the Eastern corridor of the prison and are seldom used, at least according to Chatsworth’s account, one of the retired guards they had gleaned their information from for a pretty gold pence. There are also two other staircases situated along the Southeastern corridor and by Chatsworth’s reckoning, they are used even less than the eastern corridor elevators.
It will be unlikely that he will meet someone if he uses those corridors. Even if they aren’t well-maintained, they are large and the chances that they will malfunction with him on them are slim. The only downside will be that he would be that much further from Felipides’ rooms in the castle, which are located on the Northern side.
Fellinius cautiously walks up one of the stairwells located on the southeastern corridor. Even though it is seldom used, it appears to be in much better shape than the extremely narrow staircase he walked up on from the level of the drawbridge.
As he makes it to the top, he looks around and listens for the echoes of boots. He hears some in addition to voices but the sound is faint and muffled, indicating some distance. He skulks around the corner and peers intently. After confirming it is clear, he walks up to the next stairwell.
Felinius reaches the next floor and pauses when hearing the tell-tale sounds of several footfalls in close proximity. He reflexively reaches for his knife, readying himself for anything.
“Did you not hear the latest, Licention?”
“Does it concern our recent guests, Copal?”
“Ai. That it does and it’s a tall one ‘at that.”
Licention raises his eyebrows curiously. “What is it?”
Copal smirks and intentionally pauses. “Speak it now,” demands Licention.
“Well, appears we’re gonna have a public hanging with our recent guests. “
“And where pray tell, did you hear that from?”
“From that Astra-Gaul pube, Candice. She bumps in the night with Aramis. Seems he’s privy and loosens tongue during drink and yankee play. He talks a well in his sleep, to be sure. It’s not for certain but seems he’s intent on ordering them apprehended. Seems King Aramon is leaning that way.”
Copal looks at Licention and allows such a haughty rumor to sink in fully. Licention is stunned, partly by the fact that Aramis would casually reveal such information and partly by the fact that Aramis managed to seduce the pube they all had their eye on.
“How did that old man get a pube like Candice?” asks Licention.
“Get over yourself, Copal. You never had a chance with her. But forget such. Did you not hear what I spoke of?”
“Ai. Did so and I am stunned. By everything, so I am.”
“They’re gonna arrest the soft ones in the group, but that feisty Felinius they gonna kill him. He is a mark dangerous, so he is.”
“You hear what he did in the great hall?” asks Copal.
“Ai. So I did. He killed Tellenius in one fell swoop. Not an easy task,” responds Licention in awe “By the gods! Confounded blast.”
“Ai. My sentiments too.” Copal looks at Licention with a slight pleading scowl. “You might want to keep such a privy tale to yourself, to be sure.” He cautions.
“Will do,” promises Licention.
“May chance I shouldn’t have told you, either,” says Copal regrettingly.
Licention looks at Copal dubiously. “You think so?”
“Just take caution of who you tell. We can’t be spreading unfounded rumors.”
“Ai. I will take caution.” The two lads walk off down the hall, discussing the innocuous things boys are prone to discuss like games of spades and all the girls they had or wanted. The important conversation was already had. Felinius sighs to himself. Though he was expecting such an outcome, he did not expect it to happen so soon. He nods his head, feeling the tingle of desperation course through his veins. His sense of expediency just went up about ten notches.
Maybe he had acted too brashly. Perhaps he could have removed his weapons, but he would have been vulnerable and he could not abide by such. He could not change anything now anyway. He knows that given the choice, he would have done the same thing time and time again.
After confirming the young men are out of ear shot, he cautiously exits out of the stairwell and ascends the next set of stairs. Only two more stories to go before he reaches Felipides’ floor. With the King’s son residing on that floor, there are sure to be several soldiers he will have to subdue. He will have to be cautious but quick. There is now a ticking clock.
Felinius ascends the next flight of stairs with more expedience. His heart begins to race, anticipating the imminent fighting. Although the stairwells are seldom used, they are well lit; and he has no problem in reading his schematic. He pulls it out and consults it for confirmation.
He hears the unmistakable pattern of boot stomps on the cement floor and the mindless chatter of soldiers. Good. They’ve discovered nothing. He slowly peers around the corner and looks out. As to be expected, there are several armed men on this floor. The door to Felipides’ room is perhaps a hundred yards from this stairwell, and by Felipides’ reckoning, there will be at least fifteen guards on the way he may have to eliminate. Perhaps he will not have to eliminate them all. Perhaps only one.
As he continues to observe, one man stands out above all the rest because he appears to be the same height and proportions of Felinius, standing well over six feet tall and having that wiry, defined build. He is perfect.
Felinius waits patiently for the poor sap to make his way down the hall. He is currently cavorting with one of his fellow soldiers. At last, he begins to make his way down the corridor. Alone. Felinius extracts a couple of coins he had recently acquired. He nimbly pulls them out and begins to dance them around the fingers of his same hand in a mesmerizing display, not for show but for concentration. It may have been more superstitious than anything, but for Felinius the psychological advantage it gives him cannot be refuted. He instantly relaxes and his heart slows. He focuses intently and throws the coins along the wall and watches as they bounce off.
His prey hears and looks around, a little confused and unsure by the coins. Is someone playing a joke on him?
“Who goes? What say you? Malcolm? Do you jest? What gives?” When the man receives no reply, he ventures further on. He walks around to the stairwell and reluctantly peers his head over to see. As he does, Felinius grabs his head with a sick, calculating ferocity and twists his neck forcefully, snapping his spinal cord and killing him. Mercifully, the young man barely feels a thing- the ensuing darkness his only surprise.
Felinius confirms there are no other soldiers in the vicinity and then pulls the body of the dead soldier near him and takes off his clothes. He exchanges the clothing with the dead soldier.
He looks around. He knows he can’t just leave the body directly in the stairwell for someone to discover. He spots a tiny, obscured alcove that just might accommodate the body. With any luck, even if someone were to pass along this stairwell, they would probably miss the body. And by the time the body is discovered, the abduction of the Prince will be discovered and take precedence.
With his newly acquired clothes, Felinius walks out of the stairwell casually. He keeps his head and eyes downcast. He passes a grou
p of soldiers and nods to them, careful only to meet their gaze at the last possible second. They return the nod casually.
He walks further down the corridor, counting fourteen rooms needed to make it to Felipides’ private chambers. He walks past several more soldiers in the vicinity and nods to them. They return the nod, oblivious to the intruder in their midst.
Felinius is almost near Felipides’ room when a soldier approaches him. “Hear now, private?” Was he discovered? No. Felinius remembers the complete lack of soldier emblems on his lapel and realizes the reason for this. He is a young private without rank, a lackey. He is given orders but can give none in return.
Felinius turns to him, inwardly praying that he doesn’t personally know the man he had killed. As he turns, he notices a beautiful young, girl done up in a resplendent, silk necklage and corset. She is striking and just beginning to blossom. Despite her burgeoning womanly attributes, Felinius guesses she couldn’t be more than thirteen, fourteen at the most. Felinius bites back the bile that rises to his throat and threatens to spill out in venomous backlash. He sighs to calm his seething rage.
The frightened look in her eyes tells him this may be her first meeting with the prince. She has no choice. His heart goes out to her. At least he can save her dignity and innocence for one night. “Where are you going, lad?”
Felinius thinks quickly. He knows the mess hall is not far off. “The mess hall.”
“Chow was a couple hours ago, Rankless.”
“Ai. Do ken, so I do. But I heard they were serving hard ale.”
“Appears that someone was stroking your johny, rankles. There’s no ale being served in the mess hall. Now, take this lass to the Prince’s room and wait on him in any way he asks for. Do you ken?”
Felinius nods. “Ai. Set watch and warrant it, Sergeant.”
Felinius looks over at the girl, smiles, and nods. She returns the nod and smiles, but with a far off, vacant look. “What is your name, girl?”
“Paige.”
“You look nervous. Your first meeting with the prince?”
Lycenea Page 18
