Kristoff trudged out of the stables, his shoulders and back on fire as he attempted to rub the knots out of his muscles. Carrying Pabbie to and from the castle had nearly done him in. The old troll only got heavier with age. In fact, all the trolls had gotten heavier.
That or all this castle living is starting to make me soft.
Sven didn't seem to have a problem pulling the cart, so it had to be him. Sighing, exhaustion pulling him ever closer to the cobblestones underfoot, he made his way across the courtyard, looking forward to the chance to collapse onto Anna's bed and finally get some rest. It was still a few hours before dawn, and any sleep would be welcome. After the events of today the mountain man just wanted to drift into nothingness for a while and give himself time to process.
He entered through the servant's door on the other side of the castle courtyard, knowing that with such heavy guard around the main doors he'd have to wait for a squadron of metal clad order-takers to let him enter. Not that he was upset with the levels of security; he just wanted to get into bed as fast as possible. Beyond the threshold stretched a long hallway closed off by a second door that led into the castles main hall. Kristoff was surprised to see this second door set ajar, lances of golden light streaming through the gap and brightening the hallway considerably. Usually Kai was better at making sure that door remained shut, but the mountain man was too tired to care and shoulder it open. He barely had enough to time dodge a squadron of guards racing past in a triangular formation, lances held ready at their shoulders.
Suddenly alert, Kristoff followed the squad with his eyes and watched them disappear down a second hallway which lead to the kitchens and atrium where the royal food was grown during the winter season.
Maybe a training exercise?
When the sound of more metal shod feet closing in on the hall reach his already perked ears, Kristoff knew something had happened and his exhaustion was forgotten. Deciding his best chance at finding out what was going on lay with the first squadron, he took off towards the kitchen where he heard shouting voices the moment he entered the long corridor. They were to jumbled and far off to clearly make out, but the tone was recognizably angry.
"…step closer and I'll slit her throat!"
Kristoff nearly miss stepped and went down but managed to grab hold of the kitchen door's wood paneling and haul himself up. Ten guards were squeezed into the kitchen, lances clutched to their shoulders like a small forest of gleaming metal spikes. A few guards had their swords drawn, and every man was set like a coiled spring waiting to snap at a moment's notice. Kristoff slid in past the last row of men who whipped around to look at him but did not break formation.
"Let her go, Malkof!" Captain Revel demanded, his voice dooming in the closed space like a thunderclap.
Malkof?
Kristoff's mind tumbled over the name as he inched closer to where the guards were packed the tightest. Through the gaps between legs and arms, the mountain man could see there was about twenty feet of open ground between the royal Physician and the squad. He was huddled against one of the three hearths in the room, but that was the limit of Kristoff's vision until he finally managed to scoot around the last guard and the room suddenly opened up.
Malkof was indeed trapped against a hearth, pinned like a rat in a corner, his eyes wild with fear. His medical bag was next to him, its contents strewn across the floor from where it had been kicked over. Kristoff saw at least a two week ration of food there along with a few folded papers and what looked like a fresh green tunic. It didn't take a scholar to understand what the royal Physician had been planning, and Kristoff felt his blood begin to boil. So, this was the mastermind, or another pawn depending on how things worked out, but he was still an assassin's accomplice.
"Put the knife down, Malkof and come quietly," Revel said again taking a fractional step towards the man.
"Stay back or I'll bleed her dry, you just watch me," Malkof raged, pressing the tip of his dagger harder into the servant girl's throat. The Physician held her in front of him like a shield, his head barely peeking over the top of her shoulder. She gave a whimper of pain but didn't move, eyes shining with terror.
Revel seemed at a loss as to what to do, his sword and lance useless in such tight confines. He could charge the man but had no doubt the second he was close enough Malkof would kill the girl. The guards would get their man but at the cost of a life, and that wasn't a price the Captain was willing to pay. Not for a traitor to the crown.
No one seemed to notice Kristoff standing to one side watching the drama unfold with barely contained rage. Elsa may have not been family yet, but he saw her as an older sister regardless, which meant the overprotectiveness he felt towards Anna he also felt towards her. This man had tried to kill a member of his family, was now threatening the life of another innocent, and the mountain man wasn't about to let him leave this kitchen unless he was dead or in chains.
He took a quiet step forward, leveling himself with the first line of guard to his left. One of the men gave him a sidelong glance but quickly snapped his eyes back to Malkof when the serving girl gave another squeak of pain. The crazed Physician had shifted, edging his way towards the door while dragging his hostage along with him. Revel had no choice but to give ground, seething as he did. Kristoff moved with the squad until his hip bumped into a tall stack of oranges, upsetting a few which nearly fell to the floor. Quick as a snake, he caught them and an idea sudden hit as he stared down at the firm fruit in his hand. Malkof and the girl were directly across from him. The Physician was blind to anyone aside from Revel, so Kristoff took the opportunity and slid in front of the squad, took careful aim, and let the fruit fly when the little man's head popped up again. It was a blind throw that on any other day would have missed spectacularly, but not today. Today the ripe fruit caught the little man squarely between the eyes and he stumbled back with a startled squawk. That was all the opening Revel needed. The guard captain rushed in and snatched the serving girl away as the rest of his men, those close enough anyway, dove on Malkof and wrestled him into submission.
"That was an amazingly stupid thing to do," Revel said looking over at Kristoff with a series of mixed emotions on his face. Relief seemed to win the battle and the Captain smiled. "Thank you, Master Kristoff. Your fruit tossing skills continue to go unmatched."
Kristoff shrugged, "It's the least I could do." Then more seriously, "Is he the one responsible for the attack this morning?"
"My guess? Yes. Poor Elvin here walked in on the traitor packing his bags and managed to scream when he attacked her. Luckily one of my guards was close enough to hear and raised the alarm. Judging from the contents of his bag, our dear Physician was planning on a long trip across the sea."
"A long jump with a short rope seems like a better idea," Kristoff growled watching four guards haul a red faced, swearing Malkof to his feet. They began to drag him away when the Physician spotted Kristoff and struggled towards him, teeth gritted in a vicious snarl.
"There were always two! Do you hear me?! There were always two!"
The guards got the little man under control and had begun to drag him out of the kitchen when Revel called for them to stop.
"Two of what?"
Malkof's laugh was like something out of hell, the whites of his eyes glinting in the firelight like some kind of crazed demon. "There were always two. One to act as the decoy while the other makes the killing blow."
Revel and Kristoff seemed to realize at the same horrifying moment what the deranged man was talking about. In the square that morning someone had called out for Elsa to wait seconds before the assassin struck. Now, here was Malkof redirecting the attention of the castle guards so his partner could….
Kristoff took off like a shot, running full tilt down the hallway and across the great hall until he was at the base of the spiral staircase. His mind didn't even register the two guards dead on either side of the railings, dark pools of blood staining the floor, as he began to climb, taking three stairs at a time.