Chapter 12:
Hort POV:
"This is a horrible idea." Groused Hort.
"Shut up, and knock him out." Hissed Sophie, prodding him in the back.
Hort groaned quietly, but lifted the butt of his spear, and crept towards the guard.
"Hey." He said. The guard turned, annoyed.
"What-"
Crack.
Hort knocked him out with one swift blow to the face.
He crashed to the ground, nose bleeding, leaving Hort to rip off his armour and helmet, leave him only in his tunic, tie him deftly up, and drag him over to Sophie, who deposited him unceremoniously in an empty room.
He heard another impact from the end of the hall, and knew Tedros had done the same as him.
Once both guards had been secured and gagged in the room, Tedros and Sophie changed into the guard's armour. Hopefully no-one would notice them, but this plan had as many holes as a sieve. For starters, they didn't even know if Tempest was alive, let alone captive in the castle. Second, if she was, they didn't know where. Third, Sophie couldn't walk very well in armour, and was a lot shorter than the other two. ("Conspicuous." Snapped Tedros sarcastically, seeming to be in a permanently bad mood.)
Yeah, this would work.
Not.
Hort watched as Tedros peered over the balcony into the entrance hall, frowning.
"I thinkā¦"
He didn't finish his sentence before there was a crash, and several guards strode through the doors, dragging a limp, pale, soaking, figure with a steadily spreading pool of blood on her back, it pooling on her spine and dripping a combination of blood and water on the flagstones, her dark hair veiling her face- wait.
That was Tempest.
Hort watched the blood leave both Sophie and Tedros' faces as they watched their sister and long-time crush (hell, it was way too obvious) get dragged along, looking way too limp to be conscious- or even alive.
More girls were dragged in behind her, and Hort recognised more pirates from Tedros' descriptions- from petite Kiko to tattooed Hester, the Kings navy had captured them all.
Tedros and Sophie were both interesting shades of white and grey, and Hort swore he heard one of Tedros' back teeth crack, he was clenching his jaw so hard.
The guards kicked open the door leading down to the cells, and pulled the unconscious (supposedly) girls down the steps, and out of sight.
The trio were silent for a long time. Then Tedros straightened up, and strode over to the nearby tapestry.
"What the-" began Sophie. Her question was answered before she finished asking it.
Hort watched in shock as Tedros ripped the tapestry to one side, revealing a hidden door. He opened it, and spoke without turning around.
"You didn't think there was only one way into the dungeons, did you?"
He headed down into the dark corridor, and with a shared shrug, Hort and Sophie followed him, shutting the door behind them, and drawing back the tapestry to its original position.
None of them saw the bright blue eyes watching them from the end of the corridor.
Tedros, Sophie and Hort clanked through the musty hall, squinting to see in the dim light emanating from the end of the hall.
Suddenly, Tedros stopped, causing an array of curses and crashes as Sophie slammed into him and Hort fell over.
"What?" hissed Sophie as Hort scrabbled back to his feet, cursing. "What is it?"
"Look." Muttered the prince, and pointed through the open door the end of the hall. They could hear voices, and as they crept/clanked closer, they could see what was going on.
They were stood on a viewing platform above the cells (why there was one, Hort wasn't sure), but King Arthur stood in front of one of the cells, studying the occupant. His back was to them, but what he was saying was crystal clear;
"Now, tell me. Why did you fire on my navy?"
The cell's occupant let loose a croaky laugh. "Out with it, Arthur. There's no one here to accuse you of anything, bar me and my crewmates. Why did you fire on my ship?"
Tempest was awake, covered in blood, and had a malicious look in her eye which suggested she knew she and Arthur were on equal ground.
Arthur spread his hands.
"You're a smart girl. I thought you'd say that. Anyway, you know, don't you, Agatha?"
Tempest inclined her head. Hort still found it weird to think of her as the clever, sarcastic girl who he'd seen around the castle in their childhood, so he preferred to think of her as Tempest.
"I am a threat to the arranged marriage between Tedros and Sophie. You need me out of the way. You also generally dislike me, hate me for kidnapping your son, and whilst I'm at it, and it doesn't matter now, seeing as all the gold is at the bottom of the sea, I will admit I shot your son in the knee and shoulder."
"You lied!" spluttered Arthur, seeming taken aback by her rapid fire accusations.
"No, I merely withheld some truth from you. You never asked, therefore I never told you."
Arthur scowled, but said nothing other than one word;
"Why?"
"What? Why did I shoot him, or why did I kidnap him in the first place?"
"Both."
"None of your business."
Arthur grinned wolfishly.
"You still love him, don't you?"
Tempest remained silent.
"You aren't denying it."
Still the captain was silent.
"Well?"
"Yes. Yes I do."
Arthur's face slowly turned triumphant.
"Not that it matters." He assured her, a nasty smile spreading across the width of his face. Because you'll be executed at dawn tomorrow."
"Like hell she will be." Snarled Tedros suddenly, starting forwards-
Someone darted out of the corridor behind them, and grabbed his arms.
"No, Tedros!" they hissed. "Listen! Listen!"
Tedros froze. Arthur began to laugh below them, oblivious to who was stood in a concealed doorway above him.
"I've got a plan." Said the figure. The one all three recognised, the one who Tedros cursed for days, the one who Arthur had put a death warrant out for.
Guinevere.
