A crazy discovery part 2

Continuation of a chapter I posted a few days ago.

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He wasn’t sure what he was going to be doing, that woman looked familiar but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. As he got back to the entrance he saw the woman come back from the other side of the castle and walk up to the guards.

“Tell Erik that the Osred’s have left him a peace offering in his office when he gets back.” She walked back into the castle.

“She’s part of the staff? This complicates things.” Ilioneus wracked his brain for ideas, “If she was part of the staff, she would probably be watching out for people like me.” 

He looked out to the horizon and saw that the sun was beginning to set, “That means that the King will be back soon. I have to act now!”

He mustered his courage and came out of his cover and walked right up to the doors.

“Stop! All visitation is closed until the royal family comes back from the summit!” The guards immediately stepped towards him.

“Listen,” Ilioneus pleaded, doing his best to hide the mark on his hand, “I have to meet with the heir.”

“What business do you have with the young prince?”

“I… Theres…”

“That’s what I thought, now leave.” He commanded firmly.

As they were talking, the door opened behind them and the old woman came out.

“Guard, what’s going on?” She asked.

“Lady Evelyn, this old man was asking to see the young prince. I was just telling him to leave.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Yes, he should be leaving…”

“Does she know?” Ilioneus nervously began to walk away, “I’ll be on my way then.”

As he was walking he began to hear the fanfare of the King’s return. The town always celebrated with the king’s return with some sort of banquet in the square. Before, it always made Ilioneus sick, but now it only made him more nervous.

“I’m not just going to give up like that right?”

As he got closer to his old church he solemnly looked as the glow on his arm grew dimmer.

“No…” He stopped right at the door, “I’m not dying here tonight.”

He ran back to the castle, making sure to stay well away from the door. Using the glow as a guide he found the part of the wall where it glowed the brightest and looked up. There was a small balcony leading into what could only be a bedroom.

“How am I going to get up there?”

He looked around and saw that the walls had some loose brick that he could potentially use as hand holds.

“I really am getting too old for this…”

He sighed and started to make his way up the wall. It was slow, but the sounds of the procession getting closer only worked to make him move faster. When he was climbing around the corner came a patrolling guard. Ilioneus held himself close to the wall and tried to quiet his breathing. The guard stopped right below him, looked everywhere but up, and continued on his patrol. He let out a small sigh of relief before continuing up the wall. He soon realized the amount of hand holds he had access to quickly ran out right as he got within distance of the balcony. He looked back down and saw that he was officially well above ground level.

“The only way out of this one is jumping I guess….”

Fully committed at this point, he mustered whatever strength and courage that he had and jumped. Time seemed to slow down as he saw the balcony come closer. A sense of panic came over him, but it as quickly passed as he found himself gripping the side of the balcony. He breathed a sigh of relief before he felt the force of gravity pulling him down. After a struggle he managed to pull himself up and look down at the now comically short distance that he had to jump to make it here.

“Good thing I’m the only one here, otherwise that would’ve been embarrassing”

“Hey mister?” Ilioneus whipped his head around quickly to face the voice, “What are you doing here?”

It was none other than Hads Leppet. The boy was looking at him curiously, his platypus doing the same. Fear welled up in Ilioneus’s chest as he knew he didn’t have much time.

“It matters not who I am, you have to come with me right now, you’re in danger!” He did everything he could to not shout.

“What do you mean? What’s wrong? Who are you?” Hads spoke louder than Ilioneus wanted.

“What was that? It sounded like it came from the heir’s room.” A voice came from outside, obviously coming from a guard.

“There’s no time to answer these questions! You must come with me now!” Desperation coursed through Ilioneus’s veins.

Unfortunately he had no time to hear Hads’s response as two guards entered to room. He immediately dove for the most obvious spot, underneath the bed.

“My liege, who were you speaking to?”

“Oh” Ilioneus saw his feet shuffling, “My platypus!”

The guards took a few steps around the room, one took a cursory step right next to the bed, his feet resting right in front of his face.

“See anything?” One of the guards asked.

“No… I think the kid is telling the truth.”

“Alright then, just try not to get yourself in too much trouble, your father will be back soon.”

As the guards left, Hads seemed to stand around a for a bit until he crouched down looking at Ilioneus.

“They’re gone, it’s safe to come out now!”

“Thank you, “ Ilioneus struggled a bit to get out from under the bed, “But you must come with me?”

“Why? Tonight is supposed to be a celebration?” That confused look annoyed Ilioneus more than anything.

“There’s no time, we have to get out of here otherwise you and your parent’s life will be in dangers!”