When a Stars Teardrops Become Jewels: Eclipsed Garden

| 3 | Sunset Surmounting

The King's castle was shorter than he had previously imagined. At this height he could climb it with his knives in an hour, maybe two, since Siren had to be cautious of the patrolling kingsguard while the sun was still peeking over the mountains edge. He slid his short-curved moon blades out of his boots and gave the stone wall in front of him a practice stab to test the density. The blade pinged off the wall, leaving a shallow scratch in the stone. 

Siren nodded to himself and looked upward once more, his eyes traveling the path he would take up the wall. 

Looking back down at his current position, he lifted his hand and stabbed his left-hand blade into the wall. He checked the blades position was deep enough into the wall then, with his left hand gripped around his blade, lifted his body upwards and stabbed the right-hand blade into the wall a forearms distance from the left blade. Grunting, Siren pulled out the left blade from below and stabbed it into the wall above him. 

Using this method, Siren climbed the castle wall for an hours' time until he reached the roof. Sitting on the edge of the roof, he leaned over the edge and pulled out his remaining blade, replacing it into his boot. He heard chatter below and peered over the tiles. 

At the bottom of the wall, a couple knights of the kingsguard were walking while chatting. Siren did not stay to see if the knights had noticed the marks he had left behind. 

He crept up the incline careful not to slip on the tiles or let any loose and reveal his location. The apex of the tiled roof was a wooden beam about half a foot-length's wide which gave a more stable footing. Using the beam, he crossed the roof from one side to the other with ease. 

Once on the other side, he paused, glancing toward the mountain's cascade. The sun's yellow light was slipping away, soon to be replaced with the silver light of the moon and stars. An hour after sunset he would meet with the informant not a minute sooner or after. 

Siren heard more voices from the other side of the roof. He looked to find the source. Small people that were not kingsguard were moving about the courtyard below. A pair of the small people carrying metal-caged candles placed the lights down next to a tall ornate chair. As soon as they were finished, the man sitting in the chair sent them away with a glare. 

Recognizing the man at once, Siren felt a burning desire to jump of the roof and stab the king in the throat right then and there. End the whole war before tomorrow started. 

He took in deep breaths to both restrain and steady himself. The air smelt of rain and the candle smoke. 

There was a collective silence from below. Siren opened his eyes to darkness and found them drawn in an instant to unnatural white hair that seemed to shine back at him. 

A demon in the royal palace?

He watched as she glided over to be in front of the king, walking as if she were a floating ghost. Perhaps she was the king's demon? Siren shook the thought off, Medusa had once told him that the king's bonded had hair the colour of soft green jade. 

One of the two servants in grey robes that had followed behind her kneeled down on one knee and lifted an unsheathed sword up to the white-haired woman with both hands. 

In a singular motion, she unsheathed the sword. 

Siren watched as she walked into the water mirror and waited for the music to start. Once it did, she started to move with the sword. Fascinated, he realized it was a sword dance. The formations she was using flowed well together and the blade was well-balanced under her hand. However, in a practical battle, her moves would be superfluous and useless toward an attacking enemy.

Thunder crashed, shaking the roof and destabilizing the beam he was standing on. One of his feet slipped off. Siren caught himself before he fell off and kneeled on the beam, hands holding onto the edges. 

Lighting flashed and it up the sky behind him. 

Feeling raindrops, he decided it was time to leave before it started to pour down and increase his chances of falling off the roof he'd tried so hard to climb onto.