The castle was my home sweet home. As such, my face gave me free reign of the place!
We swiftly slipped past the gate, gave word of the ambush near Esfia Bridge, and I gave the order to arrest the traitors who attacked us. (Though technically, the soldiers had already opened an investigation since the bridge had moved without communication.)
Hugh should have returned long ago—but even though he ought to be scouring the castle alone to find Sil, who had been “kidnapped by Nathan”…it was business as usual at the castle.
According to the gatekeepers, Hugh had explained that he had returned by order of Prince Sirius. This showed off just how ingenious Hugh was; his explanation was technically not a lie. He had slipped back into the castle, and nobody we had asked knew his whereabouts.
But I had an idea of where Hugh was headed.
After giving some soldiers the order to find and arrest Hugh, I headed for a destination of interest—Sirius’s study!
It was a place only a select few could enter, and while Sirius and I were on away on our survey, it was the place where Nathan was to keep watch over Sil.
Keeping quiet and waiting for a report was the princess’s best move, but this was my home turf—I knew it like the back of my hand. What’s more, I had Klifford on my side. Moreover, Klifford and I had an Adjutant-Sovereign bond, so you could say I had all of Klifford’s strength in my hands!
Even barging in and restraining Hugh was on the table! As luck would have it, Klifford did have experience after sparring with my brother’s bodyguards at the training grounds that one time. It was a mock battle, but even if it had been real, Klifford would have shown he was leagues above the others.
We might get lucky and take care of everything peacefully…
I just had to find the shortcut to Sirius’s study—
Awaken! O, latent memories of Castle Explorations with Alec!
“This way,” I said, pushing the mechanism that opened to the nobles’ first-floor corridor. This castle was a treasure trove of traps. Secret passageways for days! If you weren’t careful where you stepped, you could get seriously hurt. But in case of emergency, all exits from each individual room fed into this corridor and led to the final exit. And if I needed to take the secret passage to Alec’s room, I knew it by heart.
Anyway, to get to Sirius’s room, I just had to take a right turn at the branch that led to Alexis’s room!
I took Klifford with me into the secret corridor. The door closed behind us with a heavy clunk. It was pitch-black. After a little while, my eyes adjusted enough that I could walk—even though there was no light, the path was lit with glowing stones. The corridor was just wide enough for the two of us to walk side by side.
Just as I was about to psych myself up to walk the rest of the way, Klifford spoke up.
“Your Highness, do you want to give me an order in advance? I sense someone up ahead.”
And with that, he stepped in front of me.
R-really?
All I could hear was the sound of mine and Klifford’s footsteps…but if he sensed someone up ahead…did that mean somebody besides us was using this corridor?
Are they with Hugh? Yeah, they’d have to be. Thinking back to the incidents at the kallum tree and Esfia Bridge, he must have some allies in the castle, too. Some of the soldiers without alibis being held in the dungeon right now might be on Team Hugh.
Wait a minute! Before we got in this passageway, I should’ve ordered some soldiers to check the dungeon and its surrounding areas…! Well, hindsight’s twenty-twenty.
We’d better hurry.
I nodded at Klifford. “Understood. Let me know if you notice anything else.”
We kept going, with Klifford in the lead. I guided him with short directions like “go straight” or “turn right.” For a while, all I heard was my own voice echoing in the corridor.
“Take the middle path up ahead.”
We came upon a three-pronged fork in the road. The left was also a viable option, but it was the long way around, so the middle path was our fastest bet!
But Klifford looked hesitant.
“Klifford?”
“There appears to be a battle taking place to the left—what do you think?”
I strained my ears.
………… Silence. I can’t hear a damn thing.
But if Klifford sensed it, the battle must be real…and I couldn’t overlook it.
“Let’s change paths.”
We took the left-hand path… Aha, now even I’m starting to hear something besides our own footsteps. Yeah, it’s high-pitched metal noises…and running feet.
Klifford’s right hand unsheathed his sword.
Then somebody came running toward us—
“Lord Sil?!”
Sil was out of breath, sword in hand, his face stern, and his hazel eyes open wide. But we didn’t have time for a heartwarming reunion. There was somebody behind him. He was raising his sword, aiming to attack Sil.
With a grunt, Sil blocked the attack with his sword—but a second enemy wasn’t far behind!
“Shall I aid him?” Klifford calmly asked as he stood in front of the tense scene.
“Of course!”
And barely after I yelled the command—the battle was over in a literal instant. (Or so I assume. I couldn’t see anything.) Just when I was starting to think, Aha, Klifford’s gotten close to the enemy, both of them were on the ground. Their sword tassels…are gold. Were they the men in the dungeon? I didn’t think all of them could be bad guys, but I really should have warned the soldiers guarding them! Why did it take me so long to remember…?!
“I knocked them unconscious for a start…”
Should I kill them? He finished silently.
I shook my head. “No. But…thanks.”
It was hard to put my thoughts into words, but—it was wild realizing that Klifford’s true fighting style was likely a lot more merciless, and that he was doing a favor by not killing them.
“Are there any other pursuers?” I asked.
“I do sense some other presences…but Lord Burks likely incapacitated them.”
“Oh! Yes, there were two other men…,” Sil explained.
I guess that means Sil defeated his own fair share of goons before we got here…
Welp, we’re safe for now. How’s Sil…? Let’s give you a good looking-over! His hair’s messed up and his face and clothes are dirty, but that must be from the fighting and running away. Good, no sign of any serious wounds!
“Lord Sil—have you grasped the situation we’re in?”
My question seemed to flip a switch in Sil. His eyes shot open. “Princess Octavia, Nathan is in trouble! After he let me escape, he ran off all on his own…!”
“Is Nathan in my brother’s study?”
“Yes!”
Guess I’d better ask Sil the most pressing question. “Hugh Roberts. He’s a traitor, right?”
Sil’s lips quivered, like he didn’t want to accept the truth, but he nodded firmly and squeezed out the word. “Yes.”
Sil joined our party in the march through the secret corridor to Sirius’s study. We could have either taken Sil with us or had him escape someplace safe. Both options had their pros and cons.
The former was more dangerous for Sil since it meant taking him to where Hugh likely was, but it was safer because Klifford was with us. And the latter seemed safer at a glance, but assuming Hugh had spies lurking anywhere in the castle, it was hard determining where it was safe for Sil to be. Going to my father or Edgar would be the best bet, but getting to them posed its own problems.
At present, I wasn’t in any imminent danger, so I did think it might make sense for me to hide in the secret corridor while Klifford whisked Sil away to safety, but Sil protested. “But you mustn’t! There’s no guarantee you won’t find yourself in danger, Princess Octavia!”
Having said that, the idea of leaving Sil on his own worried and scared me, so we wound up going with the first option.
We backtracked a little to take the shortcut. I switched on a mechanism in the corridor to close the door and block the path behind us. We couldn’t just leave the unconscious men who attacked us, so this was our alternative to tying them up.
Looks like all those past castle explorations with Alec are getting a second life today! All those times I accidentally triggered the trap doors weren’t in vain after all.
Klifford took the lead while Sil and I walked side by side—quickly, of course!
“Lord Sil, could you describe to me in as much detail as possible how Hugh was acting when he returned to the castle?”
I needed to gather intel before we burst onto the scene!
“Hugh came into the study with some other bodyguards—some of them had been in the dungeon earlier. He said he had returned on Sirius’s orders and that it was dangerous for me to be there, so he was going to take me someplace safe. Then Nathan told me to run.”
“And you followed Nathan’s advice instead of Hugh’s, I take it.”
“Hugh looked…not himself. And he drew his sword when I showed signs of running.”
I sensed Sil was about to say something contradictory.
“But?” I prompted him.
Sil thought for a moment, trying to find the right words. “He seemed…to be after something else… I didn’t sense intent to harm. I know, that’s strange, isn’t it—in fact, it’s probably just wishful thinking on my part. He drew his weapon. He was going to attack me…”
“Were you and Hugh close?”
After a moment’s thought, Sil dropped a bomb on me. “We were…somewhat friendly.”
“Somewhat friendly”…? So my assumption that Sil and Hugh were good friends like they were in the books…was wrong?
“I don’t think we have a bad relationship. Maybe it was only because Sirius ordered him, but he was always kind to me. It’s just…he was only kind up to a certain point. I sensed a wall between us.”
So…that must mean…
“Has Hugh ever shown you his sword tassel?”
“You mean, the one Sirius gifts his bodyguards?”
Judging by his reaction—the episode with Sil and Hugh’s tassel that should have happened long ago hasn’t happened at all?
Sil was different—rather, Hugh was different. His actions were completely different from the source material, and those actions brought us to where we were in this moment.
Why?
I was so confused. There were plenty of events—like Sil’s guardian ring—that I thought changed because I had gotten involved. I’d always assumed that characters from the source material like Hugh would be the same as they were…but it turns out they weren’t?
Is Hugh’s loyalty for Sirius in the source material completely different now?
No… I answered my own question.
During the time I spent with Hugh while Klifford was in confinement, at the very least, I did sense he was loyal to my brother.
“Your Highness.” Klifford turned to me and pointed at the path ahead. After the fork in the hall, a series of right turns would take us to Sirius’s study. The door was now in sight.