Soldier in Blood Splattered Uniform

Chapter 11

They awoke early the next morning, eager to discuss a plan after last night's revelations at Brightwall Academy.

"I still can't believe you want to break into the castle. That is insane. It's like you have some sort of death wish," Skye whispered.

"Everything will be fine," Toby assured. "Everything I do always turns out fine, have you never met me before?"

"I have met you before," her eyebrows furrowed into a frown as she twisted her face into mock horror. "And that's why I think we're doomed."

Toby smirked. "Shut up."

Skye threw the nearest object she had to hand at her brother, which luckily happened to be a sock. "How is it exactly that we're going to break into the castle?"

"Ah," Toby said, throwing the sock away from him. "We're gonna play him at his own game. I've taken inspiration from his look-alike elixir, and we're going to sneak in dressed as someone else. Castle servants or something."

"Why couldn't we use the actual potion and then there's no chance of being caught at all?"

"Are you joking? If Logan had to draft in James to mix it all up I highly doubt that we, as inexperienced as we are, could ever try and replicate it. We'd probably end up turning into a troll or something."

Skye rolled her eyes. "Fine, okay then. So, if that's the plan, are we implementing it today?"

"Well I don't see why not, we need to rescue Major Swift as soon as we can," Toby said.

"How are we going to get the disguises?"

Toby averted his eyes. "I already took care of that."

Skye crossed her arms. "Do I want to know how you got hold of them?"

"No. No you don't."

Upon reaching the towering shadow of Bowerstone Castle, the pair were kitted out in their disguises. They had done a messy job of trying to clean the stains out of the uniforms, but Skye had directly avoided asking Toby what the stains were purely for her own peace of mind. They joined the cluster of other servants entering the castle.

"Where do we want to go?" Skye whispered, smoothing out her apron.

"We want to get as close as we can to the dungeons."

With slow, steady movements, they started towards the castle's prison. From behind them a low, booming voice abruptly stopped them.

"You two."

Shit.

Skye was the first to turn around, with a startled spin that looked extremely unnatural. Oppositely, Toby spun at a snail's pace, which appeared equally suspicious. "K-King Logan," Skye stuttered. "Y-yes?"

He eyed them both with a hint of wariness in his glare. "When does the tailor arrive?"

"Two o'clock," Toby said, not meeting his brother's eyes.

Logan paused for a second before leaving, giving the two a stern, intimidating frown.

After he'd gone, they let out two huge sighs of relief.

Toby let out a huge sigh of relief once he was sure Logan was out of sight. "That was close."

"Too close," she said. "Now let's go."

The dungeons were dirtier than they expected. Grime and filth clustered along the walls in a thick slime; daylight, it seems, has never entered that part of the castle. Rats and spiders scurried along the halls, feasting on the festering corpses left to decay in the corners. As children, they had obviously never been down here. They knew it was going to be a sight - their father's favourable spot for keeping his friends, enemies and everything in between, however they hadn't imagined it to be anywhere near as haunting as the reality.

Stepping over a cluster of maggots, writhing along the damp halls, their footsteps echoed and bounced along the walls.

"What if- what if he's not here?" Skye whispered.

Before Toby could answer, the pair heard a sharp inhalation of breath, coming from a corridor to their left. Skye looked over at Toby, and with a nod they began creeping down it, with only a single candle to keep them from the dark abyss around them.

In a cell, to the very end of the corridor lay a battered body, hunched into the corner. Mud and dirt stained the distinct red uniform of Major Swift. He looked up, and his eyes swelled with tears at the sight of them.

"Swift," Skye shouted, her voice sending some insects scuttering away. She grabbed hold of the cell's bars, trying see as best she could the extent of the situation. "Are you hurt?"

Swift groaned, stretching his back. "Not really, I think I'm just dazed. Logan slipped my something in my drink when I went to report to him, and the next thing I knew, I was down here."

Skye paused, not sure how to ask the next question. "D-did you know what happened outside the castle? He had 'you' executed."

"Did he?" Swift let out a bark of laughter which turned into a violent cough. "That's nice of him."

Toby, who had been silent this entire time, took a step toward the cell. "Skye, the door to this cell- it's not locked."

"What?" Skye attempted to open the iron door, and with a large shove it swung open. "That's fantastic!"

"No, it seems too much of a coincidence," Toby said. "If you think about it, why haven't we seen any guards down here?"

Skye's eyebrows pulled into a frown. "I-"

Major Swift stepped across the threshold of the cell. "It was locked yesterday - the door. And I'm fairly certain there were guards dotted around too."

Toby's head turned slowly towards Skye. "I don't understand, it's almost like Logan knew we were going to come today-"

From the far end of the corridor, a door slammed loudly as it swung to close. A set of footsteps slowly approached them, however they were oblivious to the owner in the dim candlelight. The person stopped, their face shrouded in shadows.

"You shouldn't be here."

It was James.

The three of them gasped, however not moving closer for fear that Logan was behind him.

"James," Skye whispered, the candle's flame in her shaking hand flickering wildly. "What's going on?"

There was a long pause, the only sound that of a beating stream of rain, bouncing onto the ground.

"He knows you're here," James finally said.

"What is he going to do?" Toby said, fearing the wrath of his older brother, something that he would never had imagined in their youth.

"I think it would be best if you all left," James said, avoiding their questions. "If all three of you take the passage opposite this corridor, and carry on down that you'll end up outside the castle, and nothing else will happen." Near the end of the sentence his voice quietened to a whisper.

Skye's eyes began to fill with tears. "James, please, come with us."

James looked down, the shadows obscuring his expression. "It- it's not as easy as that, I'm afraid."

"But-" Skye was interrupted by Toby grabbing her arm.

"Let's go," he said, beginning down the corridor. Toby paused as he passed James, his fists clenched, but neither of them said another word.

Skye and Major Swift followed, they too deciding to stay silent until they reached the outside of the castle. It had lead them into a shaded area, and enabled them to return to Bowerstone undetected.

The walk back to headquarters seemed to take years, and the silence seemed to add to the slow passage of time. Whilst the two siblings were overjoyed to ensure Major Swift's safety, it was difficult to think straight when confusion was swirling in their minds. James' demeanor seemed off - he was always the one to have the most morals of all of them, it's difficult to believe he would side with Logan, especially knowing the damage he's caused. Yet, when offered a chance to escape he declined. Perhaps he genuinely thought it was be more trouble than it was worth attempting to escape from Logan, but for someone who was so desperate to escape the menacing clutches of the royal castle just a few years prior, you'd think he would jump at the chance to leave, particularly if he was being held captive. This thought revolved around both Skye and Toby's brains as they ventured closer and closer to the rebel base.

Stepping quietly down the sewers, they were all relieved to be back in one piece, however no-one more relieved than Swift; it was rare to behold a man so happy to see sewage and rotting waste. The voices of Walter, Ben and Page drifted down the tunnel. They'll probably be angry when they find out Skye and Toby risked practically everything if they failed in sneaking into the castle. In fact, they'll be very angry, but at least the two can hide behind Swift and hope that the happiness at finding Swift alive will wash over all the lectures and scoldings that are bound to come. Walter's angry voice was not pleasant, and Skye once thought that was the sole cause of avalanches and earthquakes.

Skye and Toby entered the room. All heads all turned to face them.

Page's features twisted into a frown. "Where have you been?"

Skye gulped. "To the castle."

There was a beat of silence.

"The castle?!" Walter's voice boomed across the walls. "What were you doing there?"

Toby cleared his throat. "W-we were, er, looking for someone."

Walter could only be described as pissed off. "What in the name of Jesus-"

"Not Jesus," Swift stepped out from behind the two siblings. "Just me."