Harassing Rachel had gradually become something of an extracurricular activity for Prince Elliott and his cronies. They were back at it again today, standing near the prison and getting ready for their assault.
As Elliott was giving orders, his voice full of hope that things would work out this time, Rachel poked her head out through the barred window.
“Is Sir Sykes with you?” she asked Elliott.
“Huh? Me?” Sykes walked over to the window. “What’s up?”
“I thought I should apologize in advance. I’m sowwie.”
“You’re supposed to say that to Margaret!” Elliott interjected.
Rachel ignored Elliott and flashed Sykes a troubled smile. “You see, with the abundance of free time on my hands, I’ve been writing to all my friends. When Martina heard about the thing with Margaret, well...”
“Wha?! Don’t tell me you told Martina about Margaret?!” Sykes cried.
Rachel stuck out her tongue and giggled cutely. “I did, and, well... She came.”
Rachel started to explain that Martina had visited her the night before last, but Sykes took off running as fast as his legs would carry him.
“H-Hey, Sykes?!” stuttered one of Elliott’s hangers-on.
“Sir Abigail?!” yelled another.
The rest of Elliott’s entourage called after Sykes, but it was questionable whether he heard them.
Elliott, the only one aware of the situation, had turned pale. “Rachel, what have you gone and done?!”
“No, no, you misunderstand,” she replied. “The main topic was about how you broke off our engagement and imprisoned me. But for some reason, Martina reacted to the news that Sir Sykes and Margaret were getting along.”
“Yeah, of course she would! Everyone, back to the palace! Sykes is in danger!”
“Huh?”
The rest of the group, unfamiliar with the details, tilted their heads in confusion.
Lord Abigail, the commander of the knights, sat in a conference room with the other higher-ups and stroked his goatee as he listened to a report. Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed through the hall outside. The knights, veterans that they were, could discern that, despite how loud they were, they belonged to only one person.
“What’s going on?” asked one of the captains sitting at the table. “One of you, go look.”
A younger knight standing nearby walked over to the door just in time for it to fly open and send him sprawling.
“What’s going on?!”
The knights all rose to their feet, drawing their swords as a horribly distraught Sykes entered the room.
“Sykes?” Lord Abigail questioned.
Sykes’s father looked on in disbelief as his son leveled a finger at him and roared, “Old man! Gimme money!!!”
Seeing that it was just their commander’s idiot son here to beg for pocket money, the assembled knight captains rubbed their temples in dismay.
Lord Abigail sighed, then spoke to his son on their behalf.
“Sykes, you’re almost an adult, soon to be a proper knight. Yet here you are, disrupting an official meeting to beg me for money. Let me be clear, okay?! You’re already facing criticism for failing to dissuade His Highness about Miss Ferguson! And on top of that, you’ve been fawning over his mistress, despite having a fiancée of your own! Have you no common sense?! What’s it for this time? Another present for Miss Poisson? If you’re so generous, then get something for Martina first!”
Paying no heed to his father’s lecture, Sykes snapped, “This is about Martina! She got a letter from Rachel, and now she’s here! We don’t have time for lectures, old man! I need the money to escape!”
Lord Abigail pulled his wallet out of his pocket and threw it to Sykes. Then he looked to the other commanders and instructed, “Gather the knights and prepare for armed combat! Mobilize the troops from our garrisons outside the city and deploy them as well! If she gets in close, there’ll be no stopping her! Have the soldiers bring out the big shields we use for siege battles!”
The knights sprang into action. They shouted back and forth as they responded to the sudden crisis.
“What has our inspector in the east been doing?!” asked one knight. “He was supposed to have watchers monitoring Miss Evans, wasn’t he?!”
Another knight answered, “The cavalry company she was assigned to were watching her! That’s fourteen well-trained men!”
Lord Abigail looked at his son and pointed to the north. “Take a fast horse to the command center in Sand Valley! Borrow whatever money you need there!”
“Sorry, dad! If we both survive, let’s meet again!”
Sykes turned on his heel, ready to make himself scarce. However...
“You know I’m here, so where are you running off to without even seeing me? Well, Sykes?”
At some point, Martina had appeared in the doorway. The incarnation of love and death stood calmly blocking the exit. After a moment, she stepped into the conference room. Her trunk was solid, so she could walk elegantly without shaking the core of her tall, slender body.
Martina had glossy, waist-length black hair, which was tied back in a ponytail, and smooth, tanned skin. There were no signs of makeup on her face, and she didn’t meet the beauty standards expected of a nobleman’s daughter, but her large eyes and thin lips projected an air of nobility. She would have looked like a fine young lady, but the pupils of her large, lightless eyes were fully dilated, and the strange bloodlust that emanated from her entire body could have made a grown man soil himself.