Alcingeria

Chapter Forty Two: Aftermath

Chapter Forty Two Aftermath:

Thursday July 1st 1690

"We need to get Don out of there!" I shouted.

"How will we do that?" Demanded Ceberus. "There's a ton of stone blocking that doorway!"

The explosions had stopped, and the mafia was no doubt retreating from the castle, or had already done it. I thought about the gunman up in the balconies that was setting off the remaining charges. He must have fled, because no one would put themselves in that situation without an escape plan.

"The balconies!" I suddenly exclaimed. "How do we get up there?"

"Come," Estaire said gently, sneaking up on me. "This way!"

"The rest of you, wait here!" Robert ordered. "Redmond, Macalister and I will handle this."

The others wanted to argue, but there wasn't time. We followed Estaire upstairs, where we looked down to see that her mother was busy shouting orders at people, allowing Estaire to slip away to us.

We turned right, in the direction towards the ballroom. She led us down the hall and we came on a door that looked to lead to a broom closet, but when she opened it, I saw that it revealed a ladder leading upwards.

"This door was guarded during the ball," she explained. "There may still be someone up there. Be careful."

We had no weapons of our own, but there wasn't time to change that.

A gunshot interrupted any second thoughts we were having about going up there.

"Let's get to it, lads!" Robert urged, taking point on the ladder.

"Right!"

I was right behind him, and Macalister hastily followed suit. It wasn't a long climb, and we soon reached the top. Robert stopped to look around, propping up the trap door.

"There's someone up here!" He hissed. "He's got a pistol, and he's firing down into the ballroom!"

Don was in trouble, and if we didn't do something fast, he was going to die.

"Let's go," Macalister urged, squirming around below me.

"Not yet," Robert propped the trap door open a little more.

The man pulled the trigger, and the resulting noise was our cue.

"Now!"

Robert charged out of our hiding place and I was right behind him.

"Hey!" He shouted, getting the man's attention.

Sure enough, he was wearing a white cap. He turned on us, the ramrod still in his barre. He pumped it up and down several times, his eyes narrowing. We were on opposite sides of the circular balcony system, and we decided to use it to our advantage.

"Redmond, go that way!" Robert ordered. "Macalister, with me!"

I nodded and ran around the other side. The man was no one we knew, not Ignacio nor Artemis Blaine. He appeared to be just some henchman.

He finished loading and trained the pistol on me. He pulled the trigger too quick for me to react, but the bullet flew past me.

"Damnit!" He swore.

He realized he didn't have time to reload before one of us was on him, so he tossed aside his pistol and drew a knife. He ran at me, but I was ready for him. He took a stab, and rather than dodge him, I grabbed his wrist and quickly pulled it under my arm, locking his arm in place. He threw a punch with his free hand and caught me off guard, hitting me in the face. I grunted in pain, but at that point, Robert and Macalister were there.