Tuesday
Celie let out a long breath, pressing her back into the wall. She sent Rufus a stern look, letting him know that he better not squawk, and that he had to be quiet, or someone would find them. She gripped a tapestry hearing footsteps and the fanciful Grathian language. She'd gotten a break between the second tournament and the ball tonight, and she was bound and determined to stay hidden, not wanting to be hugged and kissed by another one of Lulath's sisters.
She let out a small hiss when she felt something push against her back, and she pushed back, heels dug in, but the wall seemed to be moving behind her. Rufus let out a shrill squawk when he saw her moving toward him, and walked right out in the hallway from behind the tapestry. Celie cursed the Castle as she knew it was the one behind her being pushed to her knees on the hallway right in front of her brother.
"Oh hello, Cel. Hiding were you?" Rolf asked jovially, helping her up to her feet. He looked over his shoulder, and Celie could tell he was looking for Grathians. "You're just the person I was looking for. Come with me."
Celie let out a squeak when Rolf grabbed her by the arm and hustled her into his chambers. It wasn't far and Rufus came willingly. He loved Rolf's chambers, mostly because all the griffins were fond of Rolf's bed for some reason, and Rufus liked butting heads and agitating his brother, Dagger. They had quite the rivalry going.
"Someone took a griffin egg," Rolf hissed, absentmindedly tossing a ball for Dagger and Rufus who immediately fought each other for it. "And we're going to go find whoever did."
Celie jumped a bit to sit on his high bed, her heart thumping. No one had ever stolen a griffin egg before. Everyone knew that if they wanted one they just had to tell Bran or Ethan and they'd be allowed at a hatching. But there were a many great guests at Castle currently, and Celie didn't quite trust all of them, though she knew the Grathians were pure of heart.
"Does Daddy know?" Celie asked, and Rolf sent her a scowl.
"Of course not," Rolf chided. "And I expect you not to tell him. I'm dying of boredom from all of this; and I can't stand it any longer, and you can't either."
It was true. Celie couldn't greet anymore guests without going insane, and she did want to do something exciting, but she also didn't really think Rolf's plan would work.
"Don't you have to be at the feast tonight?" She asked, though she really wasn't trying to convince him out of it.
Rolf let out a sigh. "I have to be at the final draw tomorrow. But not the feast. Besides, I think we'll be through with all of this by then. I say, we take Pogue and Kalys with us, and we get the job quickly done in time to ready for the feasts. Come on, Cel, you can't convince me you don't want to."
Celie pursed her lips. It did sound like a good adventure. She and Rufus were tired of being in the Castle while it was this crowded, and if she went with Rolf, he would be the one to get in trouble if they were caught. Celie knew while there were many disadvantages to being the youngest, one advantage was that if her and Rolf got in trouble, Rolf would definitely get the brunt of the punishment, especially because he was the Crown Prince. Rolf did have to be at the feasts no matter what he said, especially because, well, one, he was the future king, and two, because he was a finalist with Lulath.
"Oh alright," she conceded. "But we escape out your window."
"Of course. Where else would we escape from?" Rolf grinned, making Celie wonder how many times Rolf had escaped out of a window.
She voiced the question, and Rolf just winked, and slid on the gambeson he wore under his chainmail. She bit her lip when she realized this could be dangerous, but shrugged it off. She'd faced her fair share of danger and lived. There was a knock on the door by the time Rolf had buckled on his sword belt, and Celie hurried to see who it was.
"You called?" Kalys asked, "or Rolf did, I guess."
She curtsied hastily when she was inside of Rolf's chambers, and both Rolf and Celie waved her off. Celie stood there, feeling awkward when Rolf and Kalys seemed to be flirting with their eyes. Rolf turned and Kalys buckled on his armor covering his sword arm, before demanding to know why she was here.
Pogue came in as soon as the question was in the air, and Rolf handed him a sword. Pogue was in his armor, and seemed to know what they were doing already.
"A griffin egg was stolen," Rolf said. "Ethan reported it to me since Father is busy, and I told him to keep quiet about it. I sent a quiet search out in the village. But it's not in the Castle."
Celie frowned. "How do you know that?"
"Because I put on the crown and ring," Rolf said causally, as if he did it all the time. "And it's not in here."
Kalys looked faintly alarmed. Celie wondered how Rolf had been able to sneak into their parents' chambers. They were certainly locked and guarded with all of the guests here. Rolf was sneaky, and had a lot of authority, but even the guards knew he could be up to some mischief at times.
Rolf just rolled his eyes at both of them. "The Castle opened up a passageway for me to do that, Kalys, so there was no chance of my brain imploding."
Celie and Pogue looked at the Hathelocke, their eyes wide. She looked back at them defiantly, but obviously wasn't going to take the time to explain. Pogue whistled at the silence, hand on his sheathed sword hilt.
"Well, then, let's go, shall we?" Rolf said clapping for his griffin to follow.
Rolf took them through the secret passageways. The Hathelocke ones of course, since the Arkish ones were gone. Kalys kept muttering in Hathelocke, obviously annoyed about something, and Pogue kept awkwardly bumping into Celie.
"What's wrong?" Celie finally whispered when Pogue accidentally bumped her with his hip.
"I'm going to be in so much trouble with the king," Pogue groaned, his voice still quiet. "I really shouldn't be here."
"Technically, Daddy hasn't said no," Celie pointed out. "You could just say you were obeying your Crown Prince. Besides, Rolf will be in the most trouble if something goes wrong."
"I heard that, Cel," Rolf called from the front, pushing on a wall, and a door opened up. "Nothing is going to happen. We're just going to search the woods."
Celie narrowed her eyes, looking at Rolf's hand on his sword hilt. "Then why are you carrying a sword? And in armor?"
Rolf grinned, before looking at Kalys, whose arms were crossed. Celie wondered if they'd been fighting. Despite their flirting, they did bicker a lot.
"In case Kalys needs to be rescued," he said, and Kalys glared at him. He just looked down at her with a wink and took a step outside.
"Balagaha," Kalys spat, and Rolf turned around, walking backwards with his hands held out in front of him.
"Kalys, is that really the way to address your future king?" He asked.
"Well, when you're the future queen," Celie snickered to Pogue and they both grinned at the two backs ahead of them.
Kalys subsided, walking in the front with Rolf as they made their into the woods behind the Castle. Kalys seemed to know her way about the woods, and Celie wondered how often her and Rolf came out here. She realized that she'd been worried about catching them kissing inside of the Castle, but perhaps it was the outside she should be avoiding.
"So we should just be looking for someone with a griffin egg?" Pogue asked.
Rolf looked over his shoulder, an annoyed look on his face. He obviously didn't want to be questioned though Celie did think his plan was rather out there.
"I think I knew who took it," Rolf admitted, making the others glare at him with annoyance. How had Rolf figured all of this out, anyway? Ethan was rather scared of the king, but he was fond enough of Rolf. Most people were fond of Rolf, and because of that, a lot of people brought issues to him first. "And Ethan agrees with me."
Pogue and Kalys made a face. Pogue and Ethan had never really gotten along, and the rivalry still stood, apparently. Kalys and Ethan had very different views on things, and often fought about how to do things. Rolf usually had to be there to work it out, hence why both of them probably trusted him the most.
"I think it was the old emissary's son," Rolf whispered dramatically. "He's been hanging around for awhile."
"The old emissary had a son?" Celie asked, trying to figure out how she didn't know that.
"Yes, Peppan," Rolf said, waving a hand. "When the Lord Emissary was arrested for treason, his wife and children moved to Sleyne City to be with his wife's brother, who is Lord Liam. Lord Liam was invited to the wedding, and he brought Peppan."
"Isn't he like eight?" Pogue asked, and Rolf nodded.
"That's why I'm going and not some guard," he explained. "But I'm armed, because bears roam these woods, and because Father would kill me if I went out with Celie, without guards and unarmed. It's really a caution."
Celie felt like Rolf was lying, but she tried to trust him as they tromped through the woods. Pogue knew Rolf was lying too, because Rolf was antsy. Normally, Rolf was a great liar, only really using the talent to cause mischief about the Castle at the chance, or to stop rumors from spreading around the Castle too early. But today the way his eyes scanned behind every tree and the way his hand went straight to his sword hilt at any noise was very revealing. Celie wished he would just tell her what was going on, but it seemed he was telling no one his thoughts on such matters.
A crack of a stick had Rolf motioning for them to stop walking, and the griffins coming to stand on defense on either side of Rolf. Arrow stayed back with Pogue who squished Celie and Kalys in the middle between them. Celie felt rather helpless as she saw that Kalys was clutching a knife in the inside of her cloak, and Celie suddenly had a very, very bad feeling. There was another crackling, and Rolf leaned his ear closer to the sound. His hand loosened on his sword hilt and he motioned for Rufus and Dagger to stand down. Pogue slowly moved in front of Celie, but Rolf took a few steps before crouching down, parting the bushes.
Pogue annoyingly made Celie back up, but the way Rufus was hissing, she chose not to argue. She couldn't see if Rolf was in any danger, but she suddenly felt like she wanted to be back in the Castle where she was well protected. She could see Rolf was talking to someone; but his voice was too soft to hear. Arrow and Dagger were flanking Kalys now, who stood just in front of Pogue.
"Celie," Pogue whispered. "If I tell you to run, you have to run. I'm more than a little angry Rolf would put you in danger like this."
"Rolf's up to something," Celie whispered.
"Yes, but I don't know why he's having you dragged into it," Pogue whispered back.
They didn't have time to figure it out, though. Rolf pulled a young boy out from the bushes, placing a griffin egg into Kalys's hands. The boy looked to be about eight, and terribly frightened. Dirt scuffed his cheeks, and his clothes, looking as if they were finely made, were tattered. Kalys was tying the egg to Dagger's back quickly and tightly in a way that only Kalys knew how to do. Rolf drew the boy in, before examining the cut that was across his cheek.
"Celie, Kalys, take the egg and Peppan back to the Castle, please," Rolf clipped. "I have to take care of some things, and I want Pogue to stay with me."
Celie watched Pogue roll his eyes before taking a step in front of her. Celie really did want to go back to the Castle, and her heart wouldn't stop thundering in her chest, increasing every second they stood out here. Kalys's eyes flitted about before she gripped Peppan's shoulder to steer him towards the Castle. If Kalys was obeying without a fight, Celie realized that she probably should too, but it was Pogue who stopped her.
"Can you just tell us what's actually going on before you send them off back to the Castle?" Pogue demanded hotly, and Celie thought it was the only time she'd ever heard him speak so harshly to Rolf.
"You will figure it out soon enough," Rolf said calmly, in the voice he used with annoying councilors. "But Peppan needs to go, and Celie and Kalys need to go with him."
"You can't just send them off without letting anything else on! What if Peppan escapes or they face danger? Why the hell are we even staying?" Pogue continued his voice getting higher. "You're making us all uneasy, Rolf, and you may be my future king, but you're not my king yet. I work for the king! I have half a mind to send my griffin back with a message to him. Just tell us what's going on."
"Pogue, for once in your life, I need you to trust me," Rolf said back, his voice as steady as ever. "And Cecelia, Kalys, you have to go. Now."
Celie hesitating for two minutes was what she regretted most. The next moment Kalys had tackled her to the ground as an arrrow whizzed past her head. Rolf swore loudly before drawing his sword. But it was much too late for that.
