Meanwhile, at the courtyard
The execution courtyard was a large square building that was placed on a small hill next to the castle and had been connected to it after recent work on removing parts of the hill and adding in new wall foundations. The courtyard building was several floors high and had two towers on the corners that stuck out from the towers, giving the soldiers who were on view there a perfect view of the sea and not really a lot of interference from man-made buildings if they were to look left or right. In the middle of the courtyard was the gallows and on the right wall was a large wooden entrance door that led out onto a path that led back into the city on the other side of a smaller hill.
At the moment, the walls were mostly deserted, mainly because the soldiers that would be manning them were down in the courtyard, keeping an eye on the crowd and the force of Crusaders that were about to enter the courtyard with the prisoner, the one who had caused so much havoc in the city. There was, in fact, only one guard on the courtyard walls, him being on the wall furthest from the castle and facing the sea. The others had to be kept in the courtyard or were stationed in the city just in case this man had any friends who would probably hear about him about to be executed and tried to rescue him.
As the citizens of Corona slowly piled into the courtyard, all of this was being watched from above by two figures in a small tower window. It was Eugene and Altair. The window they were on was just a little to the right of the wall on the left side of the courtyard, easily within jumping distance for Altair. The two watched as the last of the citizens entered the courtyard.
"Packed to the full," Eugene muttered.
Altair nodded in agreement. "Let's just hope we can deal with Harry when he arrives without too much interference," he replied.
The two looked up at the guard on the wall. At the moment, he was pacing up and down with his hand on his sword, not really paying attention to the scene below. He was a perfect target and plus, where he was, Altair needed to get to.
Their plan, once they had gotten rid of the guard, was for Eugene to distract the people of the courtyard by blowing a horn, which he had attached to his belt, along with a single, tiny throwing knife, which looked more like a sharp pin and was no bigger than his thumbnail, and the short blade again for protection in case anything went wrong, and then Altair would jump down from the wall to Harry as he stood on the gallows, as he would no doubt execute the man they thought was the murderer, and kill him. It sounded difficult to Eugene, and to most people it was. Even for Altair, he had to admit jumping from a wall about twenty five feet above the ground and trying to kill somebody was mad to him, but his skills and training as an assassin helped ease him a little. However, it was not just the difficulty of this task that worried him. Like with Rapunzel, he and Eugene feared the question: what if something went wrong here? There was a chance of something going here, it had done yesterday, only this time the stakes were higher. Security and vigilance of the Crusaders and the guards of the city was going to be a lot tighter and if one thing went wrong, then Altair would find himself dead and Eugene probably along with him.
That fear, however, only made the two more determined to win against the Crusaders here. They were going to win and they were going to put an end to this Templar threat here.
"So how do you plan to get rid of that guard?" Eugene asked him.
"I'll sneak over when he turns his back," Altair replied, pointing at the wall and moving his finger along to show how and where he was going to attack the guard. "Then I'll go up behind him and try and knock him out before he raises the alarm,"
"Alright, just…just don't kill him,"
"Don't worry, Eugene. I've come to like this little kingdom of your girlfriend's,"
Eugene nodded. "Yeah, it is gr-whoa wait, what did you say?"
"Rapunzel, your lover,"
"Oh. Well…" he shrugged. "Yeah, you call us that,"
Altair stifled a light smirk as he looked back at the guard. "I can call it a lot more than that," he muttered under his breath.
"Alright, bring 'im in!" a voice barked from below.
The two looked and watched as a small path was formed in the crowd as about ten Crusaders entered the courtyard through the main entrance. In the middle of the group of Crusaders was Harry and next to him, being pushed along by another Crusader, was a short man dressed in blue robes and a white hood. Another four Crusaders were leading them along towards the gallows and behind the three in the middle were the remaining four of the ten strong group.
Altair gave a little gasp and Eugene went wide-eyed. "That's Salad!" they whispered in unison and looked up at each other. How was he found by the Crusaders? "Oh great!" Altair muttered, looking back down at the crowd, watching as they neared the gallows steps. "Looks like we have a race against time on our hands," he said to Eugene.
"Yeah," he replied. "Best go, quick, whilst we can still save him,"
Altair nodded and crouched down slightly, readying himself to jump the fifteen or so feet from the windowsill to the wall in front of him.
"Good luck, Altair," Eugene said.
He looked back over his shoulder at him and nodded. "You to," he replied before turning his head back to look ahead of him again. He took a deep breath to calm his heart, which was beating madly like a drum against his chest. His legs bent a little more, readying to catapult the body they were attached to into the air.
Then, he jumped. Eugene held his breath and watched as Altair was falling through the air for a moment. He reached his arms out as far as they would go and grabbed hold of the gap between the battlements, gripping them tightly with his fingers so as not to fall to his death. He hung where he was for a moment, though not daring to struggle in case someone looked up and saw him, before he quickly pulled himself up and vaulted over the battlements and onto the wall. Eugene, who had watched this from the window sill, breathed a sigh of relief, slamming a hand onto his forehead, and nodded at Altair as if to say "Good work." Altair replied in the same way and, keeping low, ran down the wall towards the tower at the end.
As his friend neared the wall, Eugene looked down and watched as the last few people entered the courtyard. From where they were, he could see a small gap created by the guards just in front of the gallows. A group of three people entered the courtyard and the gates closed behind them. From his position, Eugene easily recognized them to be the king, the queen and Rapunzel. He grimaced slightly upon seeing them enter, knowing that it was going to be quite sickening for them and everyone else, particularly Rapunzel, to see someone about to be put in the hangman's noose.
The Crusaders in front and behind Harry, Salad and the Crusader pushing Salad along, separated from the three and formed a kind of shield around the gallows, their hands on their swords, ready to pull them out in case they were attacked by any accomplices of the one they believed was the killer of the their commander. Salad was led up onto the gallows and pushed over to the rope by the guard. Harry gave a slight chuckle and walked over next to him.
"Ya feeling scared?" he asked mockingly, expecting him to be afraid and probably even begging for mercy.
Salad just looked at him disgustedly. "Death is a part of life, my friend," he replied. "Though I will admit I fear death that is mostly because of my coming judgement before God,"
Harry glared at him for a moment, obviously disappointed by his failed attempt to scare Salad. He would have liked it if he got on his knees and began to bawl and beg for mercy. But after a moment, he just chuckled.
"Well, let's hope you get your just desserts for what you've done," he said and stood up to face the crowd. "People of Corona!" he announced like a general addressing his troops before battle. "Today, we mark the end of this reign of this terror this man-" he moved to his side and pointed accusingly at Salad. "-Has brought among us! He is responsible for the death of two Crusader warriors, one of them being a commander and a friend of mine, and also for the chaos and destruction he has brought onto your city! But that ends today!"
Watching from above, Altair felt a hint of worry and an urge to hurry and get over to where he needed quickly in order to save his friend. He quickly glanced over at the wall across from him to check and see if the guard was facing away from him. He was, but he would not be forever. He climbed onto the battlement in front of him and jumped from it onto the next wall. Unfortunately he landed with a thud and the guard, who was a few metres in front of him, heard him and turned to see him standing there.
"Hey, who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing up here?"
Altair responded by charging down the wall towards him, clenching his fist to strike at him. The guard, however, responded quicker than he had anticipated and whipped out his sword and lunged forward, taking a swing at Altair. Thankfully, he dodged by jumping onto the battlements of the wall facing the sea and quickly jumped down behind the guard, whipping out his own sword. He jumped down and swung his weapon at the guard, who, in turn, swung his at Altair, both colliding with each other's in mid-air.
As Eugene watched from above, he took off the bow from his belt and held it in his hand, ready to use it when Altair was ready. He looked up at his friend, but went wide-eyed when he saw the guard with Altair by the throat and pushing him against the wall facing the courtyard, Altair himself struggling to force him off.
"Oh no!" he whispered in fear under his breath.
It was true! Their fears were right about something going wrong and it was happening right now! Oh, if Altair did not hurry, then they were doomed to fail not only in getting Harry but also in saving Salad. Problem was; what could Eugene do? He could get over there because he could jump as far to the wall like Altair, and even if he could, the guard would identify him and, plus, their plan would quickly collapse because there was no quick way to get back up to the tower for him to blow the horn to distract everyone. Damn! Everything in this plan was falling apart!
Below, Rapunzel bit her lip tensely as she watched the noose be wrapped around Salad's neck and tightened. Even though he was not showing any fear on his face, she did seem to feel it from him. Her heart was also beating madly against her chest as if it wanted to break out and stop this from happening. She looked up at the window, hope lingering in her eyes.
"C'mon, guys!" she mentally begged desparately. "Hurry!"
On the wall behind her, Altair and the guard struggled to defeat the other. Although Altair had pushed the guard off his throat and forced him away from the wall, enabling him to get away from it, he was now locked in a fight with this guard and it was a race against time in trying to stop him from getting to Harry and saving Salad. He was going to need help in stopping him.
"You may as well give up," the guard said to him. "Your friend is doomed for what he's done,"
"You've got the wrong man," Altair told him.
The guard looked a little shocked upon hearing his words and his mind went blank. What? They-they have the wrong man about to be executed? His sword lowered slightly, just what Altair had been hoping for.
Suddenly, he charged towards the guard and jumped into the air, launching out his foot and kicking the guard in the chest, winding him. The guard was thrown back to the floor, out cold. As Altair landed back on the floor, he looked over at Eugene, who gave him the thumbs up to say "Good work," and Altair raised his hand back at him and moved over to the wall and looked down into the courtyard.
Harry, who now stood on the gallows alone, turned back to Salad, who had been turned to face the crowd in front of him. "Get ready to face judgement, criminal!" he said to him happily, knowing he was going to enjoy watching this person die for what he had done. He walked over to the lever to pull it. Altair's eyes went wide. They had only seconds to spare! Below, Rapunzel was biting her tongue and had her hands clamped together as if mentally praying for something to save him.
High above them, Eugene saw what was about to happen and put the horn to his lips and took a deep breath. It was time to save Salad and end this.
TAP! "What the…?" Eugene turned to see what the noise was behind him, but just as he did…
WHAM! The end of a frying pan was all his eyes managed to catch a glimpse of before he was out cold. A hand grabbed him to prevent him from falling into the courtyard and another hand threw a white cloak over him, covering his body. That hand then grabbed the tiny pin needle projectile from his belt and tossed it down into the courtyard before pushing Eugene off the ledge.
Harry grabbed the lever of the gallows Salad was standing on and took one final look at him.
"Say goodbye, criminal!" he sneered with delight. Then… "AAAAHHH!"
He grabbed his side and keeled forward as something sharp cut into him. He struggled to breathe. His guards rushed forward up the steps to see what was going on as every heard turned towards him. Altair went wide-eyed. What was going on? Why was he doing tha-
"OI! WATCH IT!"
CRASH! Someone landed on top of Harry and both went right through the gallows to the ground below, throwing up a small cloud of dust. Salad coughed and one of the Crusaders who had tried to climb onto the gallows was thrown off by the force of the crash.
"What on Earth is going on?" the king asked as he, his wife and Rapunzel looked over at the hole.
Altair held his breath in shock and fear as he watched some of the crowd and the Crusaders converge on the hole. He had seen Eugene fall from the windowsill, but as he looked back up, his eagle-like vision told him otherwise. Was someone there?
Back in the courtyard, Eugene groaned and lifted himself up from…
"AH!" he cried out and jumped backwards when he saw what he had landed on, the white cloak falling next to him.
Harry lay on the ground, his eyes now empty and cold, staring motionlessly up at the sky. No movement came from his body nor did a sound utter from his lips. He was dead.
"My God!" one of the Crusaders said as he knelt down next to Harry and checked his pulse but got nothing. He looked at the cloak and then at Eugene, though when he looked at him, his shocked look turned into a look of anger and fury. "HE'S KILLED HARRY! HE'S THE ONE!" he yelled, fury screaming out of him like a supernova.
Almost simultaneously as he had shouted, another two Crusader guards rushed forward and grabbed Eugene by the arms, one punching him in the stomach to wind him and prevent him from struggling, and dragged him off towards the entrance. As they passed through the crowd, Rapunzel caught a glimpse of him and gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth as panic swept through her. No! Something had gone wrong! Eugene had not meant to do that, but it was too late now. He had been captured.
What was worse, he was being framed for the murder of Geoffrey, no doubt, alongside this one, and for two murders, there was to be only one penalty for that.