As the old couple entered through the gateway of the chateau they were waylaid by the guards. The old fortified chateau occupied the main part of the centre of the small town which was situated on a small hill rising out of the surrounding fields of vineyards.
‘We are come to ask favour of his Highness the Count,’ said the man clearly, ‘where should we go to join the supplicants?’ the guard looked them over with a disinterested glance and without saying anything he pointed to a small door off the inner courtyard of the chateau where a small queue was formed. Danial and Chloe, gently disguised to resemble an older couple of limited means, hoping that a walking stick, some ashes in their hair and a slight stoop of the back might suffice as suitable cover, made their way quietly to the end of the queue. The door was eventually opened wide from within and a disinterested arm beckoned to the waiting supplicants.
Once inside, the chateau was not as impressive as it had promised, with its three circular towers and complicated wide tiled rooves. The high ceilinged corridor that they entered was dimly lit by a few smoking oil lamps and a couple of small windows high up in the wall, the two Guardians fell in behind the main group as they were led through the shadows towards the main hall where their petitions would be heard by the Count. They hung back and as soon as they were safely detached from the group and finding themselves in a hallway in the form of a cross, the two nodded to each other and split up in opposite directions.
Chloe’s agreed task, apart from assessing the disposition of any guards and inhabited rooms, was to discover the cell where the Scholar was being held. To this end she picked up a wooden tray which had been left on a small table and, as soon as someone, a common soldier as it transpired, approached, she lowered her countenance and asked subserviently of him, ‘Could you tell me the way to the young lady’s room as I am to collect her breakfast dishes? I am new here and I seem to have lost my way,’
The soldier rolled his eyes to show how little he cared for this encounter but duly said, ‘You have come entirely the wrong way. Continue on down this corridor to the spiral stairs, go up to the top floor and in the long corridor there is her room, a guard is there who has a key,’ and with that he swept on his way without a look back. Chloe did as she had been told and came to the corridor where a guard was sleeping, sitting with his back against the wall, his head lolling forwards, and his legs outstretched. From a pocket under her cloak she drew a small box which she opened, inside was a layer of white putty. Concealing this under the tray that she carried, she bustled up to the guard and coughed. The guard shook his head and looking up at her said ‘What do you want?’ ‘I have come to clear the things,’ said Chloe gesturing with the tray, ‘Hand me the key and there will no need for you to rise.’ The guard rummaged at the keys on his belt and came up with a large black one. He handed it up to her and shrugged himself back into a comfortable position, closed his eyes and sighed. Chloe used the key to open the door and quickly went inside, turning, she locked the door again from the inside.
The Flaming Scholar with Book
‘You are new, what is your name? Where is the usual woman, also this is not the usual time for taking the plate, why the changes?’ asked a voice from behind Chloe as she listened quietly for a moment at the door. Turning, Chloe saw an amazing sight, there sitting on a chair beneath a high window was a young woman with her hair in a bun, simply dressed in a long tunic that reached to the ground, this tunic was absolutely covered in tiny flickering flames, the flames cast a light about the woman which made her seem to glow, Chloe gasped.
‘I know,’ said the young woman wearily, ’It seems that I am destined to amaze, although I have noticed that the flames do dim slightly when I am bored, if I could only….’ she was about to continue talking, as was obviously her way, when Chloe put her finger to her lips and said, ‘Shhhh now, we may not have long,’ as she spoke she took an impression of the key into the putty, closed the box and replaced it in the pocket inside her short cloak.
‘My name is Chloe and I am come to make good your escape, you have seen me take an impression of the key with which I shall free you tomorrow night, but now you must tell me quickly of the regime within which you are kept, how many guards are nearby, also any useful information that might be pertinent to your release.’
The girl rose in excitement, mastered her emotions and sat down again. Speaking quickly, she painted a picture of the shape of her days, who guarded her, who brought her meals and what she knew of the chateau’s layout. She added that she had found that a thick cloak would almost completely stifle the radiance of the flames without causing any further conflagration and giving some measure of disguise. She claimed to know this because she had tried it with the blanket from the bed.
Having consoled the girl that she would return the next day and that she would be seeing her parents soon enough, Chloe composed herself, plate on tray and back stooped. She unlocked the door and came out of the cell into the corridor.
Meanwhile, Danial had scouted around the great hall and discovered that he could gain entrance to the minstrel’s gallery undetected. He lay there now amongst the minstrel’s empty stools, out of sight but well able to hear the conversations of the Count and the supplicants not so far below his position. The hall was not especially large but richly embellished with carved dark wood panelling and draped tapestries covering the doors to prevent draughts. A large fireplace with a small fire in it did little to make for comfort. To one side of the hall sat a long table with benches along each side and a great throne chair at the head. The minstrel’s gallery was only a metre and a half wide with a carved balustrade which afforded a view of half the hall if Danial dared to raise his head.
The supplicants had nearly finished their pleas without, it must be said, much sympathy for their problems from the Count who seemed bored and disconnected from the proceedings. When the business of the day was over the Count ordered and ate some bread and meat with two or three mugs of beer. Then, as Danial had hoped, he called for his lieutenants of the Order with the intention holding a planning session.
When they were all present, the Count sitting at the head of the long table and eight of his trusted men sitting along the benches, the Count outlined his intentions.
‘We need more foot soldiers, and to that end we need more funds to hand. We have been funded to this point from my family fortune which has been kept at my family home these last years. I have organised for the entire wealth of our organisation to be moved here tomorrow. We will be able to pay for more mercenaries and spread our influence far wider, I would also like to break down these Guardians of the Cave that keep getting in our way. To this end a covered wagon will be travelling with an escort tomorrow night, arriving around midnight bringing the funds to us, or so the escort will believe. I do not trust these mercenaries and will not entrust our wealth to them. There will be empty chests in the wagon, at the same time a large farm cart will follow, bringing us the real treasure.’
We must prepare a safe room in the dungeons, prepare a set of guards to take care of it, I am relying on you two, (Danial supposed that he must have pointed as he said this) to choose men who are either trusted enough or well paid enough to be suitable for this action.
Danial rolled quietly onto his back as he tried to take this all in, he could not believe his luck at finding himself present at the very moment that the Count, leader of the Order, revealed his weak point. He was unsure whether to cut and run with this information or wait and see if anything more valuable was to be delineated. He knew the road that the wagons would take as he was well aware where the Counts family estates were positioned.
He decided to retreat, crawling carefully backwards through the doorway at the back of the gallery. But as he turned and rose to his feet, he almost bowled over a fully armed soldier who, when he had steadied himself, was looking at him quizzically.
‘What are you doing, pray tell?’ said the guard. Danial, aware that he was still close to the door of the gallery, moved away smiling, exaggerating his stoop and leaning on his stick. ‘Wrong door, looking for the privy, couldn’t wait till we got home I’m afraid, is it down this way?’
‘It is not anywhere for the likes of you’ said the soldier, ‘the behaviour of you supplicants is beyond comprehension. Get out of here right now or you’ll be getting out on the end of my boot!’
‘Thank you, sir, thank you very much indeed,’ muttered Danial as he shuffled away quickly and made his way to the entrance door.
Ten minutes later, Chloe and Danial rendezvoused at the entrance to the small town square in front of the chateau gates and moved away into the side streets.
The Guardians of the Cave 