Deck of Cards (13 page)

Chapter 6

Caleb had hung back from the action for most of the night. 
Eager to reach the castle, locate his brother, and capture Philip, it was difficult to keep himself out of harms way.  But now that the fighting was ended, he made his way to the front of the line, soldiers cheering him along the way, and set out to find Noel and discover exactly what was going on.

The sun was peaking above the horizon as he made his way through the rubble that used to be the castle wall. He could see the supply trains and prison wagons pulling out, making the long journey back toward Arteria.  With Blackthorn securely in their hands, they would not have to go back through the Lowetian Forest, however, they could head straight east, cut through the corner of Zurconian and back towards Castle Caine that way. It would still take about a day and a half in the slow moving wagons but it wasn’t nearly as tedious as the journey here had been.

There didn’t appear to be a lot of casualties, certainly not from his army anyway.  While there was significant damage to the walls around the castle, Blackthorn itself seemed mostly intact.  He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Part of him wanted to hold it, the other wanted to obliterate it.

Upon reaching the main entrance of the castle, he was greeted by several of his officers. He had given specific directions that, if Matthew was located, he was to be notified at once.  Because no one had informed him of his brother’s whereabouts, he could only assume that he had not been found.

As he dismounted his horse, Noel stepped out of the gaping hole that used to be the front entrance of the castle.  “Battering ram?” he asked. His subordinated nodded.  He acknowledged a job-well-done and then asked, “Well, any news?”

He could tell by Noel’s expression that his brother had not been
located.  “’Fraid not,” he said, looking down at the ground. “He’s . . . not here. “

Caleb nodded, trying to accept the news.  “Damn,” he said, punching his fist into his horse’s saddle.  “No sign of him?”

“Well, possibly,” Noel began.  “We did find what looks like it may have been his cell. It’s in that tower, up there,” he said pointing in the direction of the highest point directly behind him.  “Would you like to see?”

Of course Caleb nodded and Noel led him on the steep ascent.

“We also found this, in what appears to be Princess Katherine’s room,” Noel stated, producing a coarsely drawn map. Caleb took the paper and studied it as they walked. “It looks to us like it is a rendering of the tunnels below the castle.  There’s really no way of knowing for sure if this has any connection to Matthew, but it looks like the picture shows the secret staircase we located in the wall, the one that leads directly to the prison cell we believe he was held in.”

As they approached the secret stairwell, Caleb flipped the paper over.  “What’s this
?” he asked. “Does this say, ‘I am scared?’”

Noel had studied the paper closely and noticed that as well. “Yes, I believe so. But it doesn’t appear to be in your brother’s handwriting.  Perhaps Katherine wrote it? Maybe she was attempting to escape herself.  We’re not sure of her location at this time. We assume that she escaped with Philip but we can’t say for sure.”

As they reached the top of the stairs, Caleb was taken aback by the barbaric state of the room.  The filthy mattress, the bloodstained remnants of sheets, the putrid smell coming from the corner where Matthew’s chamber pot was housed. He was overwhelmed with emotions, knowing his brother was imprisoned here for over six months.  It was all he could do to keep his anger under control.

Noel was always the voice of reason, his careful calm tone kept Caleb
from reacting rashly on more than one occasion and this one was no different.  “It appears as if he hollowed out the back of this cabinet here and hid inside. He must have waited for them to leave and then slipped out behind them.”

Caleb glanced back at the cell door. He bent down to inspect the locking mechanism. “Is this, masticha?” he asked, feeling the gummy substance on the keyhole. 

Noel walked over, he hadn’t noticed it before. Rubbing a bit of the sticky material between his fingers and sniffing it, he realized that it was. “How clever,” he said, meeting Caleb’s gaze.

“But, he couldn’t have possibly done this one his own.”

“No, he must have had help.”

“And, if that is the case, then, someone, somewhere knows something. We just need to determine who it was that helped him plan his escape and figure out if he or she knew precisely where he was going.”

As they turned to go, something caught Caleb’s attention out of the corner of his eye. There appeared to be something other than straw ticking sticking up out of the holes in the mattress. He stepped back towards the bed and noticed a piece of paper.  Pulling it out, he could see that his brother had written a note!

To whoever may find this:

I
, Matthew of Zurconia am fleeing from my imprisonment this day.  My intention is to reach Arteria and the faithful arms of my dear brother. Caleb, should you be the one to find this, please take care of my dear Angel. She has the map and will let you know of how she rendered me aid. Should I fall on my journey home, know that I am in better hands with the lord my savior and those who have gone before me. Pray for peace for my poor tormented soul.

When Caleb finished reading the letter, he began to pull the rest of the mattress apart, hoping Matthew had left him more clues. He found only some pieces of cloth and a crude drawing of what appeared to be a pair of eyes.

Once Noel was satisfied that Caleb had covered the entire room and that Matthew had left nothing more, he gestured for the king to follow him down the stairs. “Come on, we have some clues now. Let’s go see if we can’t figure out
whom this Angel person is. Perhaps she will have some more information for us.”

Reluctantly, Caleb followed, taking one last quick glance back over his shoulder
, thankful that, wherever Matthew might be, at least he was no longer in this hellhole.                                                              

            
                            ***

As Matthew reached the end of the tunnel, he heard voices and the pounding of hoofs.  It wasn’t quite light outside and he was unable to tell precisely how many voices he was hearing and how far away they might be. In order to exit, he would have to remove a grate and squeeze through a narrow hole.  He could tell this passage had not been used for a while since leaves and other debris clogged man
y of the holes in the grate. He had been walking for hours in cramped conditions, hunkered over and unable to stand up. He finally decided it would be best if he retreated into the passage way a bit and settled down for a nap. Perhaps, when he awoke, whoever these horsemen were, they would be gone. Thought it was possible they may be members of the Arterian Cavalry, he had not expected his brother’s men to be this far west and he was fairly certain, judging by their accents that they were, in fact, Gradenian.

   
                                    ***

Philip arrived in Gradenia late the next morning.  Accompanied only by two of his guards, the others having been left behind to wait on Charles and Katherine.  He was hopeful that they would eventually catch up to him, or that they would send a messenger ahead to let him know they had escaped. But since he heard nothing, he could only assume that they had both been captured.

He had caught up to the slower moving coach of his mother and Uncle Edward.  He could see that she was distraught and she beckoned him from her carriage seat to come closer where she could speak to him. He pretended not to notice, unwilling to subject himself to the tongue-lashing he was bound to get from his uncle, and so he rode on. He was somehow able to find a bit of humor in the idea that Katey’s blabbering lady-in-waiting now had to listen to the relentless complaints of his mother as she lamented the fall of Clovington.

Upon arriving at Castle Graden, Philip
was immediately summoned into the presence of his cousin, Leopold.  He would have much rather been shown to a room where he could drown his sorrows in a flask of wine and knock himself insensible, but since he was no longer in charge of much of anything, he reluctantly followed the Gradenian soldier to the Throne Room.

Leo
pold was an attractive man with light blond hair, a lengthy black mustache, carefully waxed daily, and dark eyes, so brown in fact they almost appeared to be black. Some dared draw comparison to his soul.  He was not known for his kindness, though he had a deceptively kind smile, and his ability to draw others close and then deliver a deathly blow made him a force to be reckoned with. 

He was also extremely intelligent. He knew when to toss his hat into the ring and when to sit and wait. 

Now that Philip’s kingdom was destroyed and Caleb had expended some of his resource, Leopold began to think the iron was heating up.

He welcomed Philip with a warm handshake and invited his visitor to join him by the blazing fire.  Gradenia was further north than Clovington and the weather here was still a bit colder. It was also higher in elevation, though not nearly as mountainous as the northern portions of Placidia
, though heading due north out of Castle Graden, one would eventually run into a mountain chain. After a night spent riding through the elements with no coat, Philip welcomed the fire and the comfortable chair. He did not, however, welcome what were sure to be critical comments from his cousin.

Leo surprised him, however, keeping the conversation to matters of less significance. 
He did ask if his cavalry had been helpful, which they had, offering protection should Caleb’s men discover Philip’s flight path, which they had not.  They were currently holding the area north and west of the castle, securing Leopold’s border and ensuring that Caleb dare not enter Gradenia. They were both fairly certain that this was never the plan but Leopold did not like the idea of leaving his front door open so he kept a significant amount of troops ready on the Clovington front, just in case.

“What about your wife?” Leo asked with his thick accent.  “Did she make it here safely?”

Philip had been thinking of Katey most of the night.  He felt idiotic for leaving her the way that he did.  If he had only listened to Charles in the first place, she would be here with him now, safe.  Because of the situation he had left her in, he had no way of knowing what might have become her.  “No,” he finally admitted. “She was . . . left behind.”

“That’s too bad,” Leo responded, pouring more wine in his goblet and in his visitors. “I hear she is very beautiful. I would have liked to have met her.   And, my understanding is that Matthew did not make the journey with you either?”

Philip shifted his weight in his chair.  Just the thought of Matthew escaping made him reel with anger. “Apparently, my incompetent guards somehow managed to let him escape.”  Leo nodded his head slowly.  “However,” Philip added, “we believe that it is possible he is still somewhere in Clovington, on foot, and has not been rescued by his brother. Perhaps, if your cavalry is observant enough, they might be able to track him down.”

Le
o considered Philip’s position.  Though he had just seen Philip lose his entire kingdom because he did not understand how to ransom a king, he felt much more confident in his own ability to draw Caleb and his army out into the open and destroy them.  But Leo was more cautious than Philip, much more of a tactical thinker. He would take his time in determining what his plan of action would be. He certainly did not plan on taking any advice from the dethroned king.

“Perhaps,” Leo agreed.  “I have sent your infirmed mother and uncle further north to another palace where they will be more secure and their ailments may be better taken care of,” he explained.

Philip thanked him. At least he would no longer have to worry about the scorn of his putrefying Uncle Edward.   Now, perhaps, he could begin to make his own decisions and figure out how to reclaim his throne.

Later that day, while Philip slept, a band of vagabonds arrived at Leo
pold’s gates.  Though they looked like scalawags, they were actually members of the gentry who had managed to escape on foot.  Over the course of the day, other citizens of Clovington sought refuge in Gradenia.  The Gradenian people were not known for their hospitality but Leopold made it clear that citizens from their neighboring state were welcome.

And while these civilians were rushing in, members of the Gradenian Cavalry were rushing out. After some careful thought, Leopold decided their best pawn was somewhere out in the countryside around Blackthorn and he was intent on finding him.

                                        ***

The journey to Arteria in the prison wagon was uncomfortable to say the least.
The sun was descending, marking the end of their first day and Katey was just beginning to nod off.  Many of the other girls were talking or singing but Katey was lost deep in her thoughts, wondering where Matthew was and what lay ahead for them when they entered Arteria.

“
Psst. . .”  Katey was jarred awake by a sharp elbow and a buzzing in her ear. She slowly remembered where she was. It was dark now, only the light of the crescent moon and the stars illuminated the face of the woman next to her, who had apparently woken her up.