The Lighthouse

'Ug, I didn't think that would be so tiring!' Alexa complained mentally while looking for a recess where to set her foot while climbing the lighthouse.

Following Prince Gutard and his men unseen, and without losing sight of them, had been an almost impossible task.

Luckily, she soon guessed where they were going and so managed to move to the other side, reducing the chances of being noticed and captured. The maiden was very proud of her achievement and her cleverness; unfortunately, the Greek girl had no one else to brag about, now that all her brothers were dead.

Alexa followed the small group of knights, with Prince Gutard in the center, to the outskirts of Prince Klaus's manor, Schwarzenhofhausen. Then she remembered seeing them coming from the direction of the lighthouse, the other night, and decided to cut her way there across the field. It was riskier, but it would be faster and harder to figure out.

As agreed, Blue Eyes had provided all the accouterments Alexa deemed necessary, since what he wanted was for the maiden to find out where, and what, the Kielstadt Regent went to and spoke to so often and so secretly. Father di Borghesi had arranged for her to find the bag with the dark clothing and tools that only a rogue would wear, in the royal stables; just as a horse was ready and available for her. Alexa just needed to discreetly reach both, and depart unseen.

Reaching the marshes near the coast, Alexa tied the horse higher up near the rocks, and advanced over them as far as she could, avoiding the dark wetland that would only slow her movement. Reaching at last for the narrow barren headland, she saw the small rocky island where the lighthouse and guard post was, and also the road where the horsemen were coming from, ending on a pier.

Despite the fine drizzle that had persisted since the afternoon, everything was calm in that isolated bay,

'Today is my lucky night after such a difficult day! The tide is low!' She was pleased that a large sandbar would give access on foot from the side of the promontory. Indeed a lighthouse was needed here, for although the headland formed a small bay, at first glance a boat could easily be stranded or thrown against the rocks of the coast if it came from the other, deeper, side.

Cautiously descending, she gained time by running down the compacted sandbar to the rocks near the tall building. After some rest she came closer, avoiding being seen by the small group of men awaiting the Prince's arrival outside.

Hidden by rocks and darkness, in addition to her dark hooded tunic, Alexa counted the men and saw that some were uniformed soldiers and others, possibly servants or responsible for operating the lighthouse, as they wore civilian clothing. The site had two buildings, besides the lighthouse: a large stone shed that probably served as a storage and housing, and a small pillbox, so Alexa decided to wait to find out where Prince von Donnersmarck would enter.

'What can you have in this watchtower that makes the Prince come here so often?' the maiden wondered, but Father Gianpietro's theory was the most logical: he came to visit someone.

When at last the Sovereign Prince's party arrived at the building, Prince Gutard chatted a little with someone, and then entered the lighthouse.

Sighing, as that meant, once again, a risky operation, Alexa slipped to the base of the lighthouse, and preparing some simple accessories, began the dangerous climb under the light rain.

Like every lighthouse, the tall, slender structure lacked many windows and was not designed to house anything other than the great sailor warning torch. Thus, Alexa imagined, after evaluating the structure externally, that there would be at most one or two rooms from the top of the building, below the lighthouse. That was where the person should be.

Now she had to count on luck.

Her hand slipped a few times, due to the dampness on the stones and the aged accumulated slime, but Alexa persevered. Her training, and the lightness of her nimble slender body, helped to keep the damsel from smashing against the sharp rocks below the beacon.

She, however, needed to hurry.

Looking up and feeling the cold, salty moisture falling over her face and blinding her eyes, she reconsidered whether the other alternative, dealing with the captured killer, was easier. But filling her lungs with air, the maiden decided that she would rather climb this lighthouse a thousand times than ensure the silence of the mercenary hired to kill her. As the Italian priest assured her that he would not break any of the Christian commandments, Alexa could only hope that Blue Eyes was not lying.

Her gaze even wandered to the landscape below, darkened by the night, and melancholically frightening. The noise of the sea, even at low tide, seemed to hold many secrets about Kielstadt, and Alexa now knew that this lighthouse held one of them.

The maiden seemed to see a window just above her, and tried not to get too excited to lose her concentration and plummet to her ultimate death. Alexa did not want to die anytime soon.

Like all mortals, she wanted to use all her life to the end, not die stupidly.

Rising cautiously, and feeling the fingers of her hand freeze and hurt, she stretched a little farther, now making sure there was a window about three meters above her head. From the opening, a faint light escaped, compared to the glow of the headlight a few meters higher.

'It can only be there', the damsel thought happily, as she was exhausted.

It was then that she noticed something dark by the window, seemingly wedged between the stone window sill and a cross beam just below it, which probably helped support the inner story. 'What is that? A stork's nest?' If it was a large bird's nest, and so it seemed, she knew she would have problems. 'Af, I think I bragged too soon that I was lucky!'

Her fingers hesitated, groping the slimy stones near the window sill, and the maiden grimaced in pain and tiredness, thinking she had no choice now.

That was when her hand was suddenly and tightly grasped, and she suppressed a startled scream, nearly losing her balance and falling several feet to the ground.

It was a hand, gripping hers.

And this hand lifted her to the ledge in one motion. Alexa took advantage of the thrust to steady her feet on the 30-centimeter parapet, and cling to its slippery edges as soon as she could. She was being grabbed now by the collar of her dark tunic. Turning, she met Klaus's golden eyes.

He was definitely the last person she expected to meet on a lighthouse windowsill in the middle of the night.

"You!" Alexa exclaimed, still incredulous.

"I was waiting for you," apparently Kielstadt's first-born Prince never missed an opportunity to be sarcastic. She tried to pull away, but had little room to maneuver, and he was much better positioned, actually sitting in one corner, and pulled her close to him.

"Would you rather I throw you?"

"No!" the maiden had no choice but to concede, startled. Still not understanding how far this man would go to persecute her, Alexa went still, her heart pounding so hard it seemed it would leap out of her mouth at any moment.

Klaus settled her closer to him on the ledge, so it was possible for both of them to sit down; her back to him and between his legs, and he propped one of his legs on the transverse beam. The window had checkered grilles, which allowed a little view on either side.

As they settled in, the Prince said,

"I knew Lady Saskia was a farce. But now I really got you."

Alexa just kept silent, as she couldn't argue with the evidence. But the fact that he did not immediately take her inside as a prisoner confused her. Was she captured or not?

The maiden was about to ask that when the Prince signaled her to be silent.

Prince Gutard's voice was heard from within.