Chapter 9

The fall was harder than Charlotte had expected, courtesy of the high windows of the palace, but she managed just fine.

She stood up to examine her surroundings and almost threw her sword at the knight whom she hadn't seen before because his body hugged the wall, hiding him from view.

She heaved a sigh of relief. "Jesus Christ! I could've killed you!"

"You're funny," he said, smiling. "And you should really try to speak in a more refined manner. You will be a princess soon."

"Not if I can help it. What are you still doing here?" 

"You said to meet outside."

"I meant outside the cells! You…" she paused. "What is your name? Who are you?" as she realized she was about to go to a place where people disappeared and were never heard of again, with a stranger. But Charlotte was not worried. She did not carry a sword for decoration.

The knight chuckled. "Let me tell you on the way, huh?"

She turned to the wall and hugged it close to her body as she moved to avoid any onlookers from the window, hoping no one thought to be on this side of the palace. The knight followed closely behind her. The huge palace cast a shadow on this side of the palace, making it look almost dark.

He moved almost as quietly as she did. She smiled to herself.

"Where did you learn to move like that?" She whispered.

"I, like you, was once a child."

"Well, so was Oliver and he moves like a bull," she said with a chuckle.

"You two are close, huh? Why do you not wish to marry him," he asked. His voice was quiet. Charlotte sensed he would rather speak about anything else.

"We were, close. But things change. People grow up. We found we were different." she said darkly.

They remained quiet as they sneaked around to the abandoned vineyard, where Charlotte realized that she didn't really have a plan.

"What's the plan?" The knight asked.

"You never told me your name." Charlotte deflected.

"Oh, my God. You do not have a plan," he said slowly, his face amused. Charlotte ignored him.

She had thought that they could sneak in during a guard shift, but she now realized that the next one would be in hours, which she did not have, for she needed to get back before anyone noticed she was gone. 

She filled her partner in on her new plan, and though he did not like it, he did not have a better one.

She walked confidently to the two guards at the cell doors.

"Orientation." she simply said. They shared a look and nodded, letting them through. She had been right. The news of her new situation was confined to the palace.

That was the easy part. The hard part would be getting to the dungeons. There would be many guards down there, and if they were not lucky, an interrogation could be going on.

After a hard debate, she decided to let him in on information about the tunnels. She made sure to leave out the part about where it led, but she suspected that he was smart enough to connect the dots.

She pretended to tell him about the dungeons and he played his part as an attentive listener, as they walked past the guards stationed in front of every three cells. As they cut a corner, Charlotte stood watch as her partner attempted to squeeze through the opening. But he was too big, and his armor clanked against the walls too loudly.

"I cannot fit," he stated the obvious. Coming out and replacing the painting that held the opening to the dungeons. Charlotte knew they did not have long before a guard appeared.

"Then what do we do?"

He did not get to answer.

"Charlotte!" Charlotte recognized the annoying voice before she turned to face its owner.

"Bradley!" she answered smiling, turning to face his annoyingly handsome face. Bradley knew he was good looking and to top it all off, he was excellent with a sword. Naturally, he was proud and insensitive to everyone else because he was 'better than them'.

"Guard duty, huh?" she could not hide the demeaning tone in her voice. Only the poorest trainees got guard duty.

"Orientation huh?" he guessed, noticing her partner. "I guess today was neither of our best days."

She saw an opportunity and grabbed it. "Actually," she leaned toward him and whispered. "Could you lead us below? I want to show him the dungeons. He will lead the next battalion, he could put us in." she saw his eyes light up with excitement for the opportunity.

The knight's shining armor and his commanding posture spoke for him. His face was covered by his helmet. Bradley extended his hand to him,

"How exciting it is to have a knight visit the cells, if you wish I could show you the dungeons," he said, as if he had just come up with the idea.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, unsurprised. Bradley was always ready to take credit, whether he deserved it or not.

"That would be a pleasure." the knight said. His voice was deeper than usual.

They followed Bradley down the corridor to the door that led to the dungeons, where they took torches and descended the stairs as Bradley blabbed about the structure of the walls in the dungeons to the knight.

Charlotte decided to drone him out. Her heart was beating faster now. He was only a few feet away. She was breathing the same air her friend's killer did.

The air in the dungeons was cold and damp. There was an iron tinge in the air that Charlotte recognized as the smell of blood. For some reason, she walked silently and deliberately, as if she were afraid the floor would break from her footsteps. 

She knew that the killer would be placed in the largest cell, which was also, the furthest, and the darkest. She broke away from the other two and headed for it.

She felt eyes watch her with every step she took toward the last cell. A shiver ran down her spine. She lifted her torch, the flame did not give enough light. Her other hand was on the hilt of her sword. 

"I uh… don't think we should go that far, the last one may be occupied." Bradley was saying. But none of the two were listening. His curiosity got the better of him and he followed them, wanting to see the face that had caused so much commotion in the cells, and demoted him to guard duty.

Charlotte's heart was so loud she was surprised it didn't echo through the empty cells. As she took the last step, a battered, bloody face came into view. Its teeth were showing. Charlotte realized it was a smile. As her flame lit up the cell and the other two joined her, she realized she was calm. She would not be using Oliver's sword.

"You came!" the man said. Charlotte stared back at him, confused. What did he mean? She wrote it off as the words of a madman.

She realized she did not know why they had come this far. Why had she decided to see him?

"What the fuck is going on? What is he talking about?" Bradley asked. "Do you know him?"

Charlotte ignored him. She could see the man had once been strong, maybe even handsome, but in a day, he had been reduced to flesh and bone. She wondered what herb did that to a person.

A commotion at the door pulled her away from her thoughts. She ran to the bottom of the stairs and pulled her sword out, unsure what she would do if someone came down. She turned to find Bradley beside her, in the same position. They both heaved a sigh of relief when they realized the guards were just passing.

Charlotte turned back to the dungeons. "It was just-" she stopped when she saw the horrified look on the knight's face. She could hear the gagging and moaning from where she stood.

By the time Charlotte ran back to the last cell, the prisoner's lifeless body was sprawled on the floor, eyes wide open and a foam at his mouth.