Hey all! Sorry its taken so long to get this up – basically I've written the next chapter too. I wrote it as one massive chapter, which is the part of the reason it's taken so long. Anyway, it was just too long, so I've split it in two and I'm posting the first half first (obviously). The next chapter just needs tweaking so it'll be up in a few days, what with school and all. Enjoy!
Panther stood at the prow of the ship and looked out toward the land. They'd first spotted the dark smudge on the horizon that morning, and it had grown in size and solidity throughout the day. Now the sun was setting but there was still enough light to make out the first houses along the shoreline. There was a shout from behind her and Panther turned around to see Robin crossing the deck towards her.
"Viper's called a meeting below" she called, and Panther hopped down from her perch. She followed Robin past the mast and down a wooden ladder. The galley below was normally filled with sailors but Viper had kicked them all out to make room for what remained of their company. They'd put a lot of people down at port when they'd switched ships, and only those crucial to their mission now remained. Panther saw Key, Boar and Viper sitting around a table with a map spread between them. Key was sitting on two cushions and still her little chin only just made it above the table. Boar, by contrast, looked big enough to need two chairs to accommodate him, while Viper, slim and sinewy as he was, seemed to fill the entire room with his presence. Even the lamp on the table seemed to flicker away from him.
"Ah, Panther. Finally, we saved you a seat." He indicated the chair on his right; Boar occupied the one on his left and he winked at Panther as she sat down. Robin took the seat between Key and Panther.
"So" said Viper, with the air of one finally beginning something that he's waited a long time for. "So, we're less than three hours sailing from the Leinid shore. We'll arrive just after dark, giving us good cover to leave the ship undetected. You all know the plan, so Key and Robin, I want you to head straight off as soon as we dock. Boar, follow 20 minutes behind. Panther, stay at the edge of the docks until you see the signal, then run up to the castle as fast and silently as the cat I named you for. I want you all back here by dawn with the target." Viper smiled a very snake-like smile. "Prince Greening won't know what hit him."
It was just after dark in the south-west Leinid port. A group of dock-hands caught the chain thrown to them by a large cargo vessel and secured it to one of the many iron rings that dotted the harbour deck-way. A gang way was lowered off the ship, and five people descended. The dock hands didn't even have time to get a good look at five foreigners arriving on a cargo vessel after dark before they were all knocked out cold by the nearest of the group.
"Good work Panther" said Viper. "Okay, Key, Robin, get going." Key and Robin both nodded, and sped away into the darkness.
They rapidly ascended the mile climb up the hill to the castle, arriving at the gates just as the first candles were being lit in the windows. Robin didn't even bother trying the gates, she knew they'd be locked. She led Key to the lowest bit of wall she could find -still 25 foot high - and handed her a length of rope with knots tied in it every 3 feet.
"Okay girl" she grinned. "Do your thing." Key nodded... and simply scurried up the wall. The fact that the wall was vertical with no hand holds didn't seem to worry her in the slightest. Robin shook her head in amazement. In under 10 seconds Key reached the top of the wall and threw down the rope, keeping half of it in her hands, so that she held 25 feet and 25 feet dangled down on Robin's side. Robin took hold of her end and hung on. Key threw the remaining 25 feet down into the castle grounds and lowered herself down. Once Robin felt the rope slacken, meaning that Key was in the ground, she took hold of the first knot and began climbing up the wall. Compared to Key's 10 seconds, it took Robin a full minute to ascend the wall, and then a further 30 seconds to lower herself down the other side.
"He should have... named you... Lizard" puffed Robin. "You're so... damn fast." Key just grinned and scampered off, leaving Robin to follow 100 yards behind. At the docks, boar finished counting down 10 minutes and set off at a run towards the castle. By the time he reached the spot where Robin and Key had crossed the wall, the pair were through the grounds and at the foot of the castle. Suddenly a hidden door 15 meters to their right opened, flooding the grounds with light. Key and Robin flattened themselves against the wall as a figure stepped out. It was immediately apparent that it was a woman, thought she wore a riding habit that obscured her dress, and the way she held herself suggested a royal woman at that. She looked around her but didn't spot Key and Robin, the hood of her cape having fallen, by pure chance, in such a position to cause a blind spot in their exact position. She re-adjusted her cape and set off in the direction of the stables. Robin waited until she heard her footsteps fade then breathed a massive sigh of relief.
"That was way too close" she said. Key stared thoughtfully after the woman.
"She looks like Panther" she said thoughtfully. "The way she walks, the way she holds herself." Robin frowned.
"That she may do, but come on. Thinking about it won't get us into Prince Greening's room."
"No, it won't" agreed Key with sudden decision, and set off. Within three minutes they arrived at the oak tree that stood outside the room in which the prince was staying during his stay. Key didn't say a word, but scaled the 30 foot tall tree in a matter of seconds. From the highest branch she peered into windows until she found the right one, then she braced herself... and simply leapt from the tree to the window 10 feet away. She perched on the window sill like a bird and wriggled a lock pick out of her sleeve. She had the window open in just over the time it had taken she to climb the tree, for she had no grace to help her this time, but once it was open she disappeared inside and five seconds later the rope that they'd used before was thrown down. Robin quickly climbed up and pulled herself through the window. Key had tied the rope to bedpost and set to exploring the room. Robin ignored her and took a packet out of her pocket. She unfolded the top and took a handful of the pale blue powder inside.
"Hold your nose and get over to the window" she said to Key, and began sprinkling the powder over the bed and floor. At once she was hit by the smell of lavender and something unidentifiable and her head began to swim, but she just took this as a confirmation of her concoction's potency and didn't breathe in. In the shortest time possible she'd completed her task and was scrambling out of the window and down again. Key untied the rope, threw it down to Robin, and climbed out of the window herself, scrambling down the wall unaided.
"Ok," said Robin once she'd stowed the rope in her pack. "Let's go light the signal."
"How long do we have?" asked Key. Robin pointed to the moon.
"I'd say we've got 15 minutes until our prince enters his room. Let's get Panther up here and get out."
"Agreed" said Key, and the two girls turned and began running back the way they'd come. When they came to a place where the castle roof some 70 feet above them was flat Key began to scurry up the wall. It was dark enough that after 40 seconds Robin couldn't see her, but she knew that she'd achieved her objective when a light flared directly above her. It burnt for less than 10 seconds then was extinguished. Anyone who hadn't been watching for it wouldn't have seen it, but down at the port, Panther was watching, and she began sprinting towards the castle. A few seconds later Key dropped to the ground by Robin's side.
"Ok" she said, slightly out of breath. "Panther will be on her way here." Robin nodded.
"Let's go." The two set off towards the point where they'd initially crossed the wall. When they reached it and crossed they found Boar waiting on the other side.
"Everything went according to plan I assume?" he said. The girls replied to the affirmative.
"Then get out of here and back to the ship" he said. The girls gave him their rope and slipped off into the darkness, leaving Boar to climb the wall and make his way up to the castle alone. Or so he thought. He'd just reached the wall when he paused, the hairs on the back of his neck raised. He had a split second's warning but it was not enough. He was grabbed from behind by a woman who, by the feel of her, was a well-to-do courtier. She was wearing thick layers if silk which rustled distinctively and an extremely expensive-smelling perfume.
"You've lost your touch Boar" she said softly into his ear and released him.
"Panther?" he asked incredulously, twisting round to face her. She grinned at him. In the time it had taken for Key and Robin to complete their task and signal for her to come up, she'd washed her hair, done it up in an intricate style on the top of her head and changed into a long, silk dress. All in all, she looked just like a visitor to the royal household. Which, in a way, she was.
"Ready to roll?" he asked her.
"All the way" she replied, and slipped off into the darkness.