The Risk I am Willing To Take

Chapter 15

As I saw my boyfriend fall to the floor after one of Numai's weapon carries knock him out, I left like crying. I wanted to run to him. Pick his body up. Hug him close, and fight the people who are trying to get close to me. But I knew I couldn't. I would have made things worse than it already was. He would be killed, not just taken to jail. Now he will sit there. At least for a while. But at least he will be safe. After the 2 weapon carriers made sure Yuki was out cold, they picked him up, and took him outside. It all happened in 10 minutes but after that time we stayed in an uncomfortable silence for another good 5 minutes, if not more. Then Daishou suddenly talked again.
-You really couldn't get anything out of him?
He looked at me with his cold eyes that he usually shows people he despises. I was shaking inside. My heart was pounding like crazy, just like when me and Yuki first kissed. The only difference was back there it was pounding because of the kiss and gay panic. But now I was actually panicking and it wasn't a gay one. It was out of fear. I was scared. I was afraid of what they would do to my lover. To my boyfriend. I was afraid that Daishou would realise something is up... I tried to keep up the hard, cold hearted act.
-No. He didn't tell me anything. He was careful. When I gave him food he didn't want to eat at first. But after I made sure it wasn't poisoned he did eat.
-I see... Well, nevermind. The castle will take care of him. But now back to why I am here.
He said and took a step closer to me. He looked slightly down on me before he turned his head to one of his butlers. The man had something in his hands. It was a green pillow, with something on it. He held his hands out and the butler took a step closer while bowing. He lifted the thing from it. Now I realised what was on it. A badge. Not just a normal badge. A 3rd ranked Royal Badge. Daishou looked back at me.
-Kuguri Naoyasu. Today on the 200th day of this year, I, Daishou Suguru, appoint you to the Commander of The North Knights. You earned this title, by your loyalty to the Royal family, by your obedience. Wear it on your heart till God doesn't invite you up, above the clouds, into Heaven.
He said and put the badge on my shirt, right on my heart. He turned towards the other butler who was holding a green cloak. The man unwrapped it revealing the Daishou family's Royal Sword. I knew what I had to do. I kneeled down. I put my right hand on my heart, right over the badge. My left hand was on my back. I turned my head downwards and closed my eyes.
After Daishou mumbled a prayer I felt the heavy sword hitting my two shoulders and then my head.
-Be loyal to me Kuguri, till your last days.
He said. Now I looked at him and before standing up I replied.
-Will always be, Your Majesty.

I was on Royal Distract Gatekeeping when I saw Takachiho riding towards the gates with his weapon carriers.
-Good afternoon Hiroo!

Greated me my friend. I have known him since dippers. We came from the same village far away from the capital. We had the same dreams and now we are both living it.
-What brings you here this early? I thought you were arriving back with Daishou just before night time.
I asked as I shook his hand. As I did I was a tied up figure on one of the horses. The person was small and wore a black cloak.
-We caught Shibayama Yuki. Kuguri befriended him so he could get information but he didn't talk. So now we are putting him in the dungeon and as soon as Daishou has some free time we will question him. Hopefully we can do it before the war.
I was pretty sure my face visibly paled. 'If they caught Yuki... That means he reached Kuguri's house... What means... Kuguri saw him getting knocked out and being taken away... Oh God...'

-We nevermind. I still have to get my trainees ready so I will go. Have a nice day Hiroo!
-Have a nice day Takachicho!
I answered. 'Oh... This is not good. Really not good.' I thought. 'I have to do something before Kuguri breaks under the pain' As strong as he is mentally he always makes sure to keep his loved ones safe. This includes Yuki too. If Yuki gets hurt he will break mentally. And if it happens on the field, he is dead.
As soon as my shift ended and I gave down the gate to other knights I walked back to the castle. I was walking down the now empty, barely light halls. I wasn't surprised it was midnight. I reached my room, I got my keys out of my pocket. Thank God I had only one key on it. It would have been a disaster in this dark to find the right one. I opened the heavy wood door, stepped into my room and made sure to close it without making a loud noise. I kicked off my shoes and got the chest plate off of me. As soon as I landed in my bed the dream immediately came for me.
When I woke up in the morning I quickly dressed up and went to have breakfast. The faster I am done the more time I will have to check on the dungeon guarding schedule. 'I really hope that some newbys are on duty today'
As soon as I was done with my food I excused myself from the table. I walked out and took my way towards the offices in the right wing on the 2nd floor. I arrived there really soon, I just had to be careful. I didn't know if the workers were inside or not. And one more problem was that I didn't know which office had the dungeons schedule. There were like 5 or 6 rooms, each one had a different task. One was reading the letters, one had all the information about the new recruits. And one of them had schedules. 'I have 1 in 6 chances so around... 16% chance of opening the right door and not messing up. Well good luck to me'
I said as I opened the first door after I knocked on it 3 times. No response so opening in. Wrong door. Behind it there was tons of bookshelves what meant I am in the information room.
I quietly closed it and walked over to the next one. 'God damn it...' I thought as I opened into the letter room.
3rd door. I pushed down the handle. 'YESS' I got it. 'It only took 3 tries' but I finally found the schedule room. I walked in and closed the door behind me. I walked over to the desk in the middle. I had the most papers on it. What meant it was the main desk so the new schedule was most likely there in more copies. I gently pushed the hill of papers back and forth. After some paper lifting and pushing I found the right papers. They had tons of copies, so it wouldn't really be suspicious if I took one. So I did. I then gently moved things close to their original place. As soon as I was done with that I slowly walked out of the room. I closed the door after I stepped out of it then got away from there as fast as I could. As I got closer to the main area I met with more and more people so I folded the paper in half and then one more time before hiding it under my shirt. When I reached my room I closed and locked the door. I walked over to my messy desk and I sweeped away all the unnecessary things from there, and all of them landed on the floor. All across the floor. 'I will have to clean but for now...' I thought as I put down the schedule and put my pointer finger to today's date. I dragged my finger across the paper. 'No. No. Not a chance.' I thought as my eyes stopped on something. My name. I am on duty for a week. All alone. 'THIS! THIS WILL BE MY CHANCE' I thought as I grabbed a pencil and circled the date and my name. 'There is no chance of Yuki getting questioned. Daishou is training and has a full schedule. Yuki will be fine.' I thought to myself. 'Bare a little more Kuguri. Hang on for a little more in there for Yuki. I will get him out, I promise' I thought as I looked towards the mountains
Since that day it's been a week. Today. Tonight I was on duty. I will switch with the other right at midnight. I still have about 3 hours till then.
In that one week our spies reported that the Nekoma and Fukurodani camps were already set up on one of our biggest fields. So on that note Daishou also gathered out ones and today they went out to the field. As soon as they arrive the fight will start. Even though I am one of the best knights, Daishou asked me to stay since he doesn't trust the other knight but me. In the past years this was our first private talk, where he told me something personal. In this it was that he trusts me. It made me happy, so I promised him I will watch him and don't let anyone close. 'I will need to get some necessary things ready that he can take with himself' He will immediately need to leave this place if he wants to protect Kuguri. I decided to take a nap till midnight. I am not afraid of not waking up since the bell and the sound is especially loud at night.
Just as I said right at midnight I was woken up by the bell. I slowly got out of the bed and took up my heavy shoes. I grabbed my prepared bag from the chair. I had food, clothes and a black cloak in it. All for Shibayama. I walked to my door and stepped out of it. I made sure to lock it with the keys and take them. I quietly walked down the empty and dark halls. 'I will admit it even after the several years I have spent here, the halls are still creepy at night' I thought as I arrived to the left wing. I stopped in front of a specific gate, opened it with another key and stepped inside. I paid attention since right behind the gate the stairs already started. I closed it, grabbed the lamp from next to the door. It was already lit, which meant the other guard was still down but was waiting for me. With that I walked down the kind of slippy, slim, stone stairs. It took about a minute to reach the dungeons. Down there it was cold, damp and last but not least especially dark. Right behind the other gate I could see the guard who I was switching with. We greeted each other, he wished me luck, took the lamp, and left immediately. I took my place, right where he stood before. I didn't need the lamp anymore, there was enough light made by the torches and other lamps that hung on the wall.
I waited till I heard the door close and the lock clicking before I ran towards Shibayama's cell. He was in a separate part since he was important. In the dungeons there were several small but only 2 big parts. One for the important prisoners and one for the ones who broke the law. The important part was more warm and more welcoming. Well as welcoming as a cell can be. Luckily there weren't many prisoners right now since some of them were taken to war. I turned the last croner before I arrived at a smaller iron gate. It was unlocked. I walked in and in a second I found Yuki's cell.
-Hey. Yuki!
I whispered. I saw and heard the boy turning around in his bed. As soon as he saw who I was he stood up and came to the front of his cell.
-Hiroo-san? What are you doing here?
-I am here to save you!
His face was shocked and then confused. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he asked a question.
-How are you planning to do that?
-I have tons of things for you. Right here.
I said and pointed at the beg that hung on my side. Through this chatting I got out the heavy keychain that holds all of the cell keys. I took a step backwards so I was able to see Shibayama's number. '51... 51... 51... Got it' I thought as I quickly ran over the more than 100 keys. I hold the padlock and fit the key in. I turned it to the left and the door was open.
-Okay. You have things in your bag but how will I get out?
Asked Shibayama still confused.
-Well easy. I will pretend you knocked me out.
-Huh?
-You heard me. I will lay down right here and fall asleep. While I do that you will get away but make sure to take the keys that open the upper door. It also has a spare key to the stable.
I explained. As I finished he nodded and took over the beg. He picked the cloak out, put it on him with the beg under it.
-Stay safe Yuki. And make sure to keep Kuguri safe. You got it?
-That was my original plan.
He answered with a smile. I handed him the key to the upper door and a map of the castle.
-I traced the right path out of the castle. If you use it you can get out in less than 10 minutes. Make sure to take the horse named: Orion. He is our fastest. Well out of what we have now. He was owned by me but recently I got a new horse so you can have him. Also, around 1 am, the guard switch will happen at the inside wall. Before the new set arrives you have around 2 minutes to get out. If you leave now you could catch it.
I informed the younger one. He looked at me. Even if it was dark, I could see him tearing up. I patted his back one last time before he ran off. In a minute I heard the upper door close quietly. I then sat down and let myself be taken over by the dreams. It didn't take long till I fall asleep
In the morning I was woken up by shouting.