Chapter 216

Cassius didn’t like to admit it when he was feeling nervous. He was doing his best to keep his emotions in check so as not to alarm the rest of their party, but once they’d stepped out of the second secret passage, the one that left them in the middle of enemy territory, his heart began to thunder in his chest, and beads of perspiration dotted his forehead.

“Are you okay?” Isla asked, looking up at him with narrowed eyes.

“Fine,” he assured her as the other three advanced down the hallway slightly. Jate and Danyen were dressed like members of the Queen’s Guard, but they could easily be recognized by anyone keen enough to know their faces, which should be at least the better part of the castle residents and staff.

Isla didn’t appear to buy Cassius’s response, but there wasn’t much anyone could do to ease his worries now. They’d worked out a plan of sorts, and since most of it had been his idea, he was determined to make it work. The entire premise hinged on him being able to pull the guards away from the door and Isla being able to convince them to keep running. It wasn’t likely to work, in which case, he had no idea what they might do next.

“We’ll get into position in the adjoining hallway,” Avinia whispered. She was dressed in her own clothing. How she would explain herself if she were caught with two alleged members of the Queen’s Guard sneaking into the restricted room was beyond him, but Cassius would leave that to her.

“All right. Goddesses be with you.” He watched the three of them take off in the direction she’d indicated, hoping the castle was still slumbering, and no one would be on to them. The three of them needed to be unseen the entire time for this plan to truly work.

“You look like you don’t believe in this,” Isla muttered, her arms folded. She, too, was still herself, as was Cassius. If the guards questioned why he was up and dressed this time of morning, he’d have to make something up.

“It’ll be fine.” He wished his gut matched his words; he didn’t think it was going to be fine at all.

Once the other three disappeared down the hall out of the dim light cast by the torches spaced evenly down the corridor, it was Isla’s turn to go. “I’ll have to back track and come all the way around the other hall, so give me a few minutes.”

“Right. I’ll count to four hundred. Will that be enough time?”

“Depends on how fast you count.” She shoved him playfully in the arm and then disappeared, heading the other direction to loop around to the hallway that ran parallel to where Cassius now stood all alone, counting as slowly as he could.

Once he was pretty sure Isla would be in position, or close to it, he took a deep breath, said a little prayer to the Goddess of Good Fortune, and took off running at full speed toward the guards standing outside of the door his friends needed to get into, hoping there were only a couple of them posted there.

He was lucky. There were only two, and both of them looked bored beyond belief until they spotted the massive Representative running toward them. “Oh, thank the goddesses! Guards! I’ve been looking for assistance for ages! I think I’ve spotted the duke!”

“What?” the guard on the left, a shorter man with a bald spot and a closely cropped beard inquired of his partner and Cassius, looking from one to the other. “The duke?”

“Yes! Yes! This way! Hurry! I know Her Majesty has been searching everywhere for her husband. Come!”

The two men exchanged glances. The other, a taller, thin blond, shrugged. “One of us must stay here to guard this room.”

“He’s going to find another spot to hide if you don’t hurry!” Cassius reached out and grabbed the closest guard by the shoulder. The man didn’t seem to like that much, as his hand went to his hilt, but the Representative was much taller and stronger than the guard who thought twice about drawing his sword. “Come on!”

Somehow, Cassius convinced them both to abandon their post, at least momentarily, and they both took off running with him as he led them away from where his three friends were hiding and down an adjoining corridor that should take them to Isla.

The three of them came around the corner to see the duchess sprawled out on the floor. “Lady Isla! Are you all right?” Cassius shouted as they approached her.

“The duke... Remont... ran right over me. I thought he was gone from the castle, but he rushed off in that direction!”

“Are you certain it was him?” the guard with the bald spot asked, his boots sliding on the marble floor as he came to a halt next to the woman.

“I believe so. It looked just like him. He went that way and turned to the left a few halls from here. He didn’t even apologize, only plowed right through me.”

Cassius stooped to help her up, and Isla pretended her elbow hurt as she smoothed her skirt with one hand and held her “injured” elbow closely to her side.

“One of us should alert the commander,” the blond stated, looking around as if there might be help nearby.

“A good idea,” Cassius agreed. “We can go fetch him while you continue the search.”

“He was running so quickly, the duke may have gotten away by now,” Isla urged.

They weren’t sure what to do. “If the commander catches us away from our posts....”

“One of us should go back,” the blond agreed.

“Would you like me to go and catch the duke while the two of you stand here and discuss whether or not you may get in trouble for leaving your posts? Whatever were you guarding? Princess Katrinetta?”

The guards did not answer Isla’s question, only glared at her. Off in the distance, Cassius thought he actually heard the sound of footsteps. “Did you hear that?”

They did. “Come along, Aln. If we can capture the duke, all shall be forgiven.”

Aln, the bald guard, nodded, and the two of them took off again.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Cassius whispered, “I cannot believe that actually worked.”

“I can’t either. But they will have to come back eventually. What shall we do now?”

“Let’s each take up a post in a different hall that leads to the secret room so that, if they return by that route, we can accompany them, loudly enough for our friends to hear and get out of there before they might be seen.”

“Wonderful idea,” Isla nodded. “I’ll go down here.”

“I’ll go back the way I came.” Cassius smiled at her and headed back down the hallway, thinking the luck of the goddesses truly was on their side for them to have managed to pull that off. Hopefully, no other guards heard the noise and had come running.

As he went back to the hall nearer the room, he thought of Seph and hoped she was able to accomplish her mission. He also thought of Kit. He had no idea where the queen might be keeping her, but he prayed she was safe and Eli would find her soon.