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I was led forward while riding on horseback with a burlap sack over my head. A rare experience indeed. That aside, we were heading towards a hidden fortress. The anxious man leading me had gone completely silent. I couldn’t blame him. One of the knights had an arrow trained on him from behind.
We departed the capital in haste, yet by the time we reached the scene of the attack, it had already been deserted. When we checked the carriage that had been transporting the coffin, we found an already opened letter left behind.
“What does it say, Sir Albert?” I asked.
After he read the letter, Albert glared down at it with a frustrated gaze. “In all likelihood, Lord Reynaldo is already tracking down the enemy.”
As the knights investigated the vicinity for survivors or other evidence, a man screamed from a short distance away. A portion of the knights ran in the direction of the voice. Albert spun me around, and I waited for the bloodshed to end from inside his arms. A bit later, one of the knights returned.
“The enemy was hunting down survivors,” the knight explained. “We captured a man trying to attack one of His Grace’s guards.”
“Understood,” Albert replied.
He took my hand and escorted me towards the source of the commotion. Though I hadn’t said anything, he understood my desire to accompany him.
The captured man’s face twitched with fear as he watched everything unfold. Apparently, the Rose guard had been struck with an arrow while helping Reynaldo escort the coffin. Soon after finding a place to hide, he lost consciousness. Once he’d finally gotten back on his feet, however, a man hunting down survivors found him.
Albert eyed the captured man while listening to the details of the situation. If he was a hired mercenary, getting him to talk would be difficult.
Suddenly, the man looked at me, surprised. At first, I had no idea why he even glanced in my direction, but something occurred to me.
“Sir Albert,” I said. “He must know that I was supposed to be kidnapped.”
When I spoke with certainty, the man looked surprised again. I must have guessed correctly.
“The enemy was trying to carry out my abduction and the assault on Lord Reynaldo at the same time,” I hypothesized. “With me being here, this man knows the plan failed.”
Albert’s eyes widened. “How astute of you. In that case, he must be one of Queen Tia’s accomplices. He probably knows the location of their fortress as well. Let’s bring him with us.”
Albert pulled the man up by his rope bindings. After one of the knights put a sword to his neck, he showed no signs of resisting.
“Please wait,” I said, bringing everyone to a halt.
I proposed my spur-of-the-moment plan.
Albert vehemently opposed it, but in the end, I convinced him. As a result, I was now riding a horse with the captured man leading me, a burlap sack covering my head.
“Why not use me as bait?” I’d asked.
My plan was simple. If the knights stormed the castle all at once, Tia would escape, as she’d done during the coup. On the other hand, we could pretend as though my abduction was a success. After the captured man and I entered the fortress together, the knights could watch for an opportunity to follow. One group of knights agreed to this plan. Another group—headed by Albert—opposed it. However, allowing Tia to escape here would merely prolong the situation, forcing us to track her down all over again.
“While I act as the decoy, all of you can seize control of the fortress,” I’d said. “If you block off all paths of retreat, Tia won’t be able to escape.”
Albert shook his head. “I refuse to do anything that will put you in danger!”
“Then send another knight with me. If he takes off his uniform and accompanies the kidnapper, we should be able to fool our enemies. And once we’ve made it through the front door, that knight could guide everyone in from the inside.”
We would use the captured man until we entered the enemy’s stronghold. After my guardian knight seized control of one section of the fortress, he could guide the others inside. We couldn’t do anything drastic until we knew how many soldiers were inside the stronghold.
It may have been a reckless plan, but news of my capture would increase the odds of Tia keeping Reynaldo alive. Presumably, she wanted to trot me out in front of him.
“Please,” I’d begged. “If there’s even the slightest chance of saving Reynaldo, it’s worth trying.”
Even Albert knew my reckless plan was our best hope of saving Reynaldo under the current circumstances. Surprise attacks were risky, but if we succeeded, the odds of victory would be in our favor. Of course, I would still be putting myself in danger.
“I know you’ll protect me, Sir Albert,” I said. “That’s why I can suggest this.”
Albert would never let me come to any harm. When I spoke with the utmost confidence, Albert sighed heavily but gave his consent.
“Take the captain of the first unit with you,” he instructed. “I would be identified right away. And don’t do anything reckless. Your safety comes first.”
“Of course,” I agreed. “Thank you so much!”
In the present, I was invading the fortress as part of my reckless plan. The captured man led us forward under the captain’s threat. Speaking of the captain, he’d probably been chosen due to his frightening visage, but he was actually very nice.
Due to the burlap sack, I couldn’t see for a while. Instead, I focused on the barely audible sounds from outside. The man we captured was conversing with the gatekeeper.
“The moment you say anything to harm us, your head will roll,” the captain threatened our captive not long ago. As such, the man didn’t resist, simply reporting his capture of us. The gatekeeper didn’t ask about the captain either.