As Jiron slips through the gate, just feet behind the second guard, the other one reaches Uther and Jorry. Jiron hears the clashing of the weapons stop as he splits them up and tries to find out the reason they’re fighting. Whatever they tell him is lost as he passes through to the castle area.
Inside the walls, he finds the area well lit with oil filled street lamps spaced in fifteen feet intervals along the streets. Many people are still about, walking along as they go from building to building about their business.
To his left stands a large group of soldiers laughing and talking amongst themselves, effectively blocking the quickest way to where James is being held. Cursing his luck, he follows the wall as it curves westward to the right, which will take him on the other side of the castle courtyard from where the building he’s searching for lies.
Keeping to the dark shadows along the wall, he follows it as it curves around the castle area. Having to stop and remain motionless several times while someone passes nearby, it takes almost ten minutes to make it to where he’s able to see the courtyard on the south side of the castle. A quick glance shows him no one is in the immediate vicinity so he makes a quick dash across the street to the buildings bordering the castle courtyard.
Despite having oil lamps spaced about, there are still shadows he’s able to take advantage of as he makes his way closer to the courtyard. He pauses a moment when he reaches the edge of the courtyard in order to appraise the situation. To his left lies the castle, imposing and majestic. Directly across the courtyard in front of him lies the building supposedly holding James.
The courtyard is crowded, guards and soldiers are everywhere. He sees so many different coats of arms on the various uniforms, he figures there must be a meeting of leaders happening within the castle and these are their escorts waiting for them. If he’s discovered now, there’s nowhere to hide.
Again keeping to the shadows, he begins moving carefully and silently around the courtyard as he makes his way over to where James is being held. A clump of bushes here, to a darkened doorway there, he keeps to the shadows as he moves from building to building, drawing ever closer.
Once, while he was standing in a darkened doorway as he waited for several soldiers to pass by, the door behind him suddenly opens. Diving out of the doorway to his right, along the side of the wall, he lands behind a midsized bush. A quick glance reveals the soldiers hadn’t noticed him and luckily, the person opening the door had been talking to someone inside so his attention had been directed back within the building and hadn’t seen him either.
Crouching behind the bush, Jiron watches as the man leaves the building and closes the door behind him. He breathes a sigh of relief when the man turns and begins walking to the courtyard, away from where he’s hiding.
After the man has moved far enough away, he makes sure the coast is clear and then begins to continue around the courtyard. When he finally reaches the building that sits next to the one he’s after, he pauses as he figures out the best way to enter. The front of the building borders the courtyard and any attempt to enter through there would be discovered in no time by one of the many soldiers out there.
The building he’s crouched next to is the same height as the one holding James. He judges the distance between the two isn’t so great he couldn’t leap across it, roof to roof. It might be easier to gain entrance to this one and then jump across the gap.
He begins examining the exterior of the building and finds a ground floor window open not too far from where he’s standing. Moving quickly and silently, he runs to the window and then pauses while he checks to make sure no one is around. When he determines the area is clear, he grabs the windowsill and swings himself up and through to the room on the other side.
The room looks to be the office of a scribe. From the faint light coming in through the window, he sees a desk with paper and inkwells. Not taking the time to investigate further, he moves to the door and places his ear against it as he listens to the other side. Failing to hear anything, he opens the door a crack and looks out upon a darkened hallway. Leaving the room and closing the door behind him, he moves down to the right hoping to find the stairs.
All the rooms along this hallway are dark and empty so he moves quickly to the end where he finds a dark stairwell leading up. He begins moving slowly up the stairwell, all the while listening intently for the sound of anyone approaching, either from above or below.
When the stairs reach the next level, a hallway branches off to the left or he can turn and continue up the stairs. Down the hallway he sees some lights coming from two different rooms as he pauses a moment to listen before continuing up the stairs to the third level.
Again he finds a hallway extending from the stairs to the left, this time all the offices are dark, or he can continue following the stairs up to the fourth level. Not hearing anything, he continues on up to the top level.
At the top of the stairs, his only choice now is to go down the dark hallway. He begins checking room after room, searching for a trapdoor leading up to the roof. After searching the last room, he comes to the conclusion that there isn’t one. Or it’s so well hidden that he couldn’t find it.
In the last room at the corner of the building, he moves to the window and looks out. The window is facing away from the lights of the courtyard and is currently in shadow. Opening the window slowly, he carefully steps out upon the window ledge and reaches up to the roof. Able to gain a grip on the edge of the roof, he takes a deep breath and then swings out as he pulls himself up onto the roof.
The roof slants a little to allow rain or snow to flow off and makes for treacherous footing. Once up, he begins making his way around to the side across from the Councilman’s offices.
Coming to stand across from the Councilman’s building, he carefully looks down between them. Several soldiers are down there talking, giving no indication that they’ll be leaving anytime soon. Great! If he jumps, they may hear him. But what choice does he have?
He moves further up the roof to give him a little bit of distance to run. Then he takes four quick steps and launches himself across to the opposite roof where he lands with a thud. Quickly grabbing a secure hold as he starts sliding to the edge, he stops his downward slide and becomes very still while he tries to hear if any sort of cry has arisen from those down below. When none is forthcoming, he begins moving along the roof away from the well lit courtyard, and over to the darker side facing the opposite way.
Upon reaching the far side of the roof, he peers over the ledge to see if anyone is down on the ground below him. In the faint light, it’s hard for him to tell but he doesn’t think anyone is down there.
Hoping to find an open window just below him, he leans out a ways to get a better look. One of the windows to his left is partly open. Moving carefully, he scoots along the edge of the roof until he’s just above the open window.
After taking one more look down to make sure the area is clear, he swings himself over the edge, dangling four stories above the ground. He swings his foot toward the window and hooks it around the inside of the window sill, giving him some leverage. Then he brings over his other foot until he’s standing awkwardly on the ledge.
When his feet are secure upon the ledge, he leans outward and then jerks his body toward the window while at the same time letting go of the roof’s edge. One of his feet suddenly slips off the ledge and he suddenly loses his balance. He begins falling to the ground below and reaches out in a panic, grabbing the window ledge and succeeds in stopping his downward plunge.
Suddenly from below, he hears talking. Two men turn the corner and begin walking along the side of the building, directly below where he’s hanging.
His hands are gripped precariously and he’s afraid he might lose his grip but he remains still as they pass beneath him. Finally the men turn the corner on the far side and move out of sight. Breathing a sigh of relief, he readjusts his grip and begins to pull himself up.
Climbing in through the window, he pauses a moment as he catches his breath. Two floors down and I should be able to find James and Fifer. How I’ll get them out of here remains to be seen.
Very little light illuminates the room on the other side of the window and he has to feel his way over to the door. After stumbling across a stool and bumping his knee into the side of a table, he at last finds the door.
Placing his ear against it, he listens for a moment before opening the door slowly. A hallway lies on the other side, dark and quiet down both directions. Leaving the room, he enters the hallway and shuts the door quietly behind him. Remembering the way the last building had been laid out, and hoping they’re laid out similar, he moves down the hallway to the end where the stairs should be.
Sure enough, at the end of the hallway he finds a flight of stairs leading down. Taking the stairs quickly and silently, he comes to the next landing. The hallway leading away along the second floor is dark as well so he doesn’t even pause before descending toward the next level. With any luck James and Fifer will still be down on the second
