TUG! My cloak pulls in a specific direction, as if tiny fingers are pinching its hem. The force is so weak that I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t concentrating.
“This way?”
Moving ‘bout the castle without being discovered takes work, but it’s not impossible. Sometimes I move into the space between a wall and hanging tapestry. On other occasions, I slip into a narrow passageway between two walls, or take one of the servant corridors.
Considerin’ what I saw in the sanctuary, in this castle, the farther down the food chain a person is, the more they want to hide anything troublesome. The tighter ya clamp down, the more likely resentment will fester. It’s a great bit of luck for me right now.
I progress through the castle, letting the cloak lead me with its tugs. The force has grown weaker. Did breaking one of the orbs shift the load to the other?
If memory serves me right, up ahead is…
I head down the kitchen corridor where the pillars have become bare. Smells of meat and freshly baked bread waft from around the corner. Cracking open the small door, I peer inside. As I thought, it’s the banquet hall. The dazzling light from the candles hanging from the ceiling and the walls blinds me.
Plates, knives, forks, and cups are set on the enormous table, which is placed imposingly in the center of the banquet hall. Countless flowers decorate the walls. The banquet preparations are under way at a brisk pace.
Over the king’s chair hangs a tapestry embroidered with the kingdom’s landscape, centering on the royal family’s crest.
“…Hm?” I rub my eyes.
Funny—something’s off about the pattern I’m used to. Alien objects are mixed in here and there—they’re floating there, out of place. The difference between my memories and what’s actually in front of me stings my eyes, tearing at them from the inside. It’s seriously uncomfortable. It’s the same feeling I had when I looked at the castle outside.
“I knew it, that part’s different.” Another pattern arises like a phantom illusion the second I speak. It’s a spider web. A silver spider web has been woven above the tapestry. Pulsing in its center is a rainbow orb. “Jackpot.”
Now how am I gonna handle this? Unlike the last, this one’s in a tricky spot. I think an arrow jutting outta the tapestry’s gonna stand out.
Well, I’ve got a trick up my sleeve.
Remaining hidden, I wait with bated breath for a pause in the steady stream of servants busily coming in and out of the hall. They’re preparing for the banquet, but they’re all exhausted men and women limping and staggering; not one of them’s without some sorta injury. Given any kind of opportunity, they’ll stop to take a break.
And there definitely will be a moment where that timing overlaps—see, it’s happening now.
I open the door and stick half my body through it. I remove the shield from my back, hold it aloft, and…
At what angle and with what strength should I throw? The pause gives me more than enough time to lock on to my target.
…I chuck it. The shield flies, spinning horizontally, directly into the tapestry, right where I was aimin’! My shield breaks the orb, collides with the wall behind it, and bounces back. I catch the shield as it plummets to the ground, snatching it out of the air just before it hits, sending a pleasant vibration running up my arm.
“Huzza!” Watching the orb until it fully crumbles, I pull back into the kitchen corridor.
Whoa.
I spot someone turn the corner. I hide behind a pillar posthaste.
It’s a woman. She looks like she’s in a lot of pain for someone so young…she’s dragging her leg behind her, walking unsteadily. In her shaking hands, she carries a pitcher filled to the brim with ale. The flickering candlelight illuminates her face, and I sharply suck in my breath. Her left eye is painfully swollen shut. Somebody hit her.
Cruel scumbags!
In contrast to the banquet hall, the kitchen corridor is dark, barely lit. What’s more, since this place is outta sight, they’ve used it as an excuse to leave junk lying around. They’ve thrown trash on the ground and left stains from spilled food and puddles of oil and soup on the floor.
“AH!”
The woman’s foot slips and she loses her balance. Her hand shoots out and catches the wall, keeping her upright. Unfortunately, her left hand can’t support the cumbersome pitcher alone, and it falls to the floor and breaks into pieces. Wine splatters everywhere like blood spraying from a cut vein. The smell of rich grapes fills the corridor. Honestly, I would’ve been enticed by it if not for the time and place.
“EY! What the ‘ell did ya do, brainless wench?!” bellows a man, who comes thundering over. “How dare ya waste expensive wine! Yer life doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of w’at this liquor is worth! Die! DIE! Make it up with yer death!!”
He raises his fat hand, which is wrapped around an equally fat cudgel. The woman screams, falling onto her rump. She throws her hands up in front of her face in a last-ditch attempt to protect herself.
“DIE, damn bitch!”
My body moves faster than my mind.
CLANG! Metal strikes metal. Vibrations from the impact transfer from the shield into my hand. Her head would’ve been split like an egg if she’d taken that hit.
“You make it a hobby to hit the defenseless?”
His dirty eyes bulge and he flaps his mouth open and closed. His breath reeks of liquor. No wonder he’s so familiar with how expensive this wine is.
“Then how about you try it on me?” I invite.
After absorbing the blow, I step forward, shaking his cudgel off by swinging my shield to the left. He tumbles with it, goin’ down so easy it’s shocking. Big difference between him and the abominations I faced underground.
He’s not even worth cutting down.
Cudgel Man staggers backward like a sapling in a torrential storm. I clench my right fist and punch him off his feet.
“GUAAAGGH!”
The man hits the wall and slides down onto the floor, his cudgel rolling away from his limp extended hand.
“You all right?”
The woman nods through her trembles. I offer her my hand and help her to her feet. What the hell? She’s covered in injuries all the way to her fingertips.
“This outrageous treatment ends today. I’ll put an end to it.”
“Hunter of the Winter Star…” Her one open eye fixes on my shield. “Are you Gideon?”
“What?”
“You’re Thorn Knight Gideon, aren’t you?”
She says it just like Princess. From the rising and falling of her voice, to the vowels she stresses when she speaks.
“How do you know that?”
“I heard about you from Princess.”
It’s confirmed: she’s an ally.
“Where’s Princess?”
“In the throne room. He said the wedding ceremony will be held there.”
The throne room, huh? That fop just has to go outta his way to be bombastic. Hang on, did she say wedding ceremony?!
“AS IF I’LL LET YOOOU!” I bellow.
Blood boils in my veins. Even knowin’ that was his goal all along, hearing it aloud pisses me off!
“Um…Sir Knight?”
Cool down, Gideon. You are before a lady. Take a deep breath and release that unnecessary killing intent.
“You have my gratitude.” I take her hand once more. Wrapping both my hands around it, I drop a kiss on her fingertips. Couldn’t think of any other way to show my gratitude and respect for her courage.
“Please…save the princess.”
“Without fail.”
“God be with you, Sir Knight.”
“Thank you.”
I part ways with her and advance down the kitchen corridor. Great, finally got a little room to breathe.
“Figured out where Princess is, partner.” I speak to the scale embedded in my chest as I walk at a brisk pace. “She’s in the throne room on the castle’s highest floor. It’d be fastest for you to fly in from above…” No answer. “Oi? You listening, Spike?”
I stop.
Impossible. There’s no way that dead serious worry-wart dragon wouldn’t have something to say to me in this situation.
“Giving me the silent treatment? Not cool.” I concentrate the flow of energy to my eyes, but my visibility doesn’t change. I can’t connect to Dragon’s eyes. “No way… Oi, it can’t be…it can’t be… This is all some sorta bad joke, right?”
I want to believe that I’m just a little rusty with our connection, but my mind already understands there’s only one reason why I can’t connect. Only one reason why I wouldn’t hear Dragon’s voice now… The barrier that should’ve vanished with the second orb’s destruction is still…here.
Why? I should’ve destroyed the two black magic items. So why didn’t it work?
“What’s going on here…?”
Cold sweat covers my hands.
What should I do? What can I do? Oi, what should I do?!
I clench my fists and my teeth. The answer is obvious. If I stand here wasting time panicking, Princess will be forced to marry that fop! I have to stop them! No, I will stop them. I’ll definitely prevent it! Absolutely!
Moving my stiff legs, I get ready to rush headlong into danger.
“What’s the problem?” I tell myself, “You know where to go.”
All that’s left to do is move. Isn’t that easy? C’mon, let’s do this, Gideon Thorn.
“Princess is waiting.”