Chapter 24. Down Once More
Two days passed in a blur. Corinne practiced her sword techniques alongside Aramina and her mother under the shadows of the apple trees. Louis would sometimes watch them from the windows in his chamber, still seething silently over the days of forced bed rest. Whenever he had complained, which was quite often, Madame Hélène would kindly remind him why they were waiting before gently applying pressure to his wounded side and changing the bandages all while claiming how well it was healing. Corinne shouldn't have laughed at his eagerness to be up and moving, but she did.
Just as they had left the city at night, they returned to her cloaked in darkness. Louis led them to the tunnel he'd brought Corinne through on the night of that disastrous balloon ride. They moved quickly and quietly through the passage, hoping to avoid as many guards as they could. Louis assured there would be none, at least until they passed his former home, or lair as Aramina called it. He was quite surprised by the four men that greeted them at the tunnel's end.
The battle ended as quickly as it had begun. Philippe's men were no match for Corinne and her friends. She watched as Louis pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wipe the blood from his sabre.
"We should split up now," he said. "Hélène, you recall how to reach the dungeon from here?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. We'll meet back at the manor when it's done. Good luck, ladies."
"And to you two as well."
They parted ways and Corinne secretly hoped that she'd see her friends as she walked down the aisle.
...
Aramina danced through the passageways alongside her mother. With desperate gaiety she was eager to reach the dungeon and her friends, eager to be tucked away in the dense forest, eager for all of this to be over.
It wasn't fair. Life had been great and was only getting better. Why did the Count have to ruin it all by taking an interest in Corinne? Then he wouldn't have found out Louis was actually alive and they wouldn't have to rescue Viveca and Renée from the dungeon. It was all his fault. Maybe if he hadn't been such a horrible person, they wouldn't be doing this. Although, it was exciting and she's be lying if she if she said she wasn't having a little fun. She hadn't fought a man in ages.
The route to the dungeon was almost completely unguarded. Only two men stood outside the cell her friends were in. Aramina wondered if Louis and Corinne had been discovered yet. It certainly would explain the lack of guards. Or perhaps the Count wasn't too concerned with his prisoners escaping. Either way, rescuing Viveca and Renée would be easy.
On her mother's signal, Aramina leapt from the passage and felled the first guard. The other followed quickly. Her mama snatched the key to the cell from his belt.
"Girls, come quickly," she said. "There's not much time."
Both girls stared at them confused, mouths agape.
"Madame Hélène? Aramina? It that- What's happening?"
"Mama will explain everything later," Aramina insisted. "But we must leave at once!" She tugged on Renée's arm.
"O-Okay…" She let Aramina pull her into the tunnel. Viveca was close behind. Her mother led them silently through the passage. They turned a corner, three more guards appeared from nowhere.
Her mother smiled. "Ready, ma petit?"
"Oui, mama." She lunged forward.
...
Corinne walked through the passageway, her sword in hand, ready to attack anyone who stood in her way. She peeked a glance at Louis as he strode confidently beside her. She envied how calm he seemed to be. Her mind raced with potential outcomes of this night and some of them weren't very pretty. She shifted uncomfortably. Where were all the guards?
Louis stopped walking and turned to her. He was wearing his mask again. She'd become accustomed to seeing him without it and something about seeing it now caused an uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"Corinne, ma chère," he took her hand. "You look positively ill. Tell me what's wrong."
She laughed nervously. "I'm frightened, Louis. We haven't seen a single guard since your old home. What if- What if they know we're here? What if we get to the end of the tunnel and there's a dozen men waiting for us? What if-"
"Corinne," he spoke gently. "Everything will be all right. Especially after tonight."
"And if we don't make it through tonight?"
"Impossible. I know what I'm doing. As does Hélène." He grinned. "And I trained you, didn't I?"
"Yes."
"Then we have nothing to worry about. Even if a dozen guards are at the end of this tunnel."
She believed him. Maybe it was his confidence, or maybe it was because she loved him, but either way she believed him. "All right. Let's do this." She stole a quick kiss and they continued through the tunnels. Still no guards found them. Louis turned the corner to at what looked to be a dead end.
"Once we push this panel, we'll be outside Philippe's chambers." He said.
"Convenient."
"Indeed, ma chère. Are you ready?"
Corinne nodded. "Ready."
Louis pushed back the panel and the wall itself moved aside. At least ten men, all armed, stood before them.
"You were right." He whispered.
"I can see that."
"In that case, let's kick some ass."
"With pleasure."
...
Can you believe there's only 3 chapters left? Or that Corinne and her merry band of misfits have stormed the castle? Poor Viveca and Renée have no idea what's going on. Wonder how they'll react to everything once they know. And what about Corinne and Louis? Can they do it? We'll see next week.