If the Helmet Fits

Ethyn moved swiftly away from the storeroom. But he couldn't travel too fast. His armor would clang up against itself and draw unwanted attention.

The knight struggled to push back Silver's final words as he moved down the hall. He had no plans of touching Rose during this ordeal anyway. The Guardian could threaten all he liked. Right now, they really needed each other.

As Ethyn moved up a short set of stairs, he felt a wind brush past him. Even without his cloak, Silver was much faster and more covert than the knight ever could in his clunky metal shell.

'Show-off...' Ethyn rolled his eyes. He knew if he turned around, he wouldn't see the Guardian. Silver was just that good.

At any rate, Ethyn had his own task. He was focused solely on finding the princess and making sure she was safe. He looked down at his armor. The dent from the bar was visible and he was covered in the dirt of the dungeon. The knight imagined his face and hair probably looked a mess as well.

His face!

Having escaped the dungeon, Ethyn was now a fugitive. He could ditch his armor and move more stealthily through the halls, but deep down, the knight rejected this choice. While it would be convenient now, it might prove deadly later.

So Ethyn selected the opposite maneuver. As he passed a decorative suit of armor, he stole the helmet off the top and pushed it onto his own head.

Servants would see that he was a knight and avert their eyes while legitimate palace soldiers would not question him for fear of offending some nobleman's son.

Unfortunately his plan had a flaw. The helmet was a bit too snug. His nose pressed up against the front visor, making it impossible to reasonably flip it up even if he wanted to.

"Ouch," he mumbled, his voice coming out nasally. Obviously the decorative suits were never meant to actually be worn. Even their height was three quarters of his own.

Feeling the error of his choice, Ethyn tried to pull off the helmet, but it was no use, the metal was stuck tightly against his head.

Even if he got it off, he had no other real option. The knight sighed. At least he had memorized the layout of the castle well enough to function with such a limited field of vision. Only a slit of light was available for him to view. The knight had to tilt his head down to get a proper look at his surroundings.

Still, Ethyn managed to maintain a confident air as he walked through the main part of the palace. It was strangely quiet. The lack of bustle made Ethyn uncomfortable. He rushed through the outer court as fast as his dignified walk could carry him and turned toward the princess's tower.

As he got further away from the main part of the palace, there were a few servants here and there. They seemed slightly on edge, but Ethyn wasn't sure if that was due to his commanding presence, his odd looking helmet, or if there was something more going on.

Up ahead he could see the outline of two men walking toward him. Or was it a man and a boy? Two boys?

Ethyn hated how much trouble he was having discerning details through the misplaced slit in the visor. A properly fitting helmet would never give him this much trouble. At last he felt he had a grasp on who he was seeing.

It was a palace page boy and a nobleman. The errand boy walked with an easy grace until he spotted Ethyn. Then he fell into a more usual plodding.

Had he been making fun of the nobleman sauntering behind him? It was a bold move if that were the case. Mocking someone of a higher rank never ended well if they were discovered.

But the man behind the pageboy didn't seem to notice. The nobleman was a petit from what Ethyn could manage to see. It didn't help that the pair was back lit by a window, blinding him further.

Either way, his small frame meant he was unlikely to be very good in battle even if Ethyn could convince him that the castle was under a silent siege. Warning him might only lead to the man's death. Or worse, what if the man was one of Borit's traitors?

There were so many variables running through the knight's head that he passed the pair without even dipping his head.

He realized belatedly that this could be seen as a personal slight and spoke quickly over his shoulder.

"My lord." Ethyn had no idea what to call the person he could barely see, so he settled for a greater term over a lesser. His pinched voice sounded foreign to him.

"Good Sir," came the response, but it was from the page boy and not the nobleman. Perhaps the man was too good to speak to those below him.

'Too big for his tunic, that one,' Ethyn snipped silently. Then he froze. 'Wait, his tunic was much too big. And it looked a lot like mine!'

Ethyn wheeled around to get another look at the pair. They had made a great distance down the hall such that the knight was able to take both the figures into the full view of his helmet. Though their hair had been pulled back in low ponytails, there was no mistaking who they were.

'Rose! Lady Caitlyn!' Ethyn bit back his words. If they were disguised and free of the tower, then calling out their names would destroy all of their hard work. 'At least they are safe!'

The knight began running towards them.

"Sirs, wait!"

The voice was not from Ethyn. It was from another person he had not seen coming.

Both the ladies and Ethyn turned around to find four soldiers exiting from a room. The knight instinctively widened his stance to make himself a barrier between the four men and the two women.

But the soldier bowed slightly. "Everyone is being gathered ta da throne room. Da king has an announcement ta make and he wanted ta make sure everyone is dere ta witness it."

Under normal circumstances, Ethyn would have easily complied. But both the fact that he was a fugitive and that the man was a Lakylian spy meant that he needed to act quickly.

Behind him, Ethyn could already sense the two women backing away slowly. They seemed to sense the danger as well. The knight knew what he must do.

"Forgive me, but I am looking for an angel. You haven't seen her have you?" Ethyn asked the guard.

A small gasp behind him let him know he had been heard. He placed one hand behind his back and covertly shooed the two women away.

The soldier furrowed his brow at the question. "I dunno any angel. Now if ya will follow me."

"Oh, but I pine for her day and night. I have a gift for her, you see. I know she must be here somewhere waiting for me to sweep her off her feet!" Ethyn waved his arms dramatically with the large candlestick holder, causing the four men to take a half-step backwards.

"An angel you say? Yeah, I seen her. She's probably in da throne room. Let me escort ya." The soldier clearly thought the man was looney. But then he looked past the knight and frowned.

"You two, help the other nobleman and his errand boy. They seem to have gotten lost," the soldier said it politely, but Ethyn knew there was no kindness in the order.

As the two men moved to comply, Ethyn took a wide step forward, tripping one of the men into the other.

"Apologies!" Ethyn cooed in his nasally voice.

"No matter, good sir." the original solider motioned down the hall. "We must go. We da not want ta be late!"

Ethyn reluctantly agreed. He could try to take the soldiers head on, but the four of them had swords, and he all he had was the metal knick-knack meant to hold a small flame.

He would have to find another way to get to the princess.

For now he only hoped that he had given her enough time to get away.