Her own way

Chapter 33

Thursday morning dawned with grey skies, a storm was brewing on the horizon and there was very little anyone could do to avoid it. It was times like this that people would stay close to home knowing full well that if they ventured too far from shelter then they could get caught at the wrong moment and find themselves stranded in the most unsightly weather. The thought of getting caught in the storm did not deter those citizens of Rynemona who were determined to present their issues to the open court. Some who choose to attend the open court travel from throughout the kingdom in order to make their problems known, in most cases these people had no option but to brave the elements which often meant their journeys were longer than planned. The building grey clouds could have been interpreted as a warning for the day ahead but it was one warning that Prince Joshua would be quite happy to ignore. Today was the day he was getting his girl back.

Josh strode around the castle, making sure that the way was clear before he quickly and quietly opened a side door leading out to a secluded area of the castle grounds allowing Sam, Paul and a couple other men to enter. Sam and Josh exchanged a look before parting ways. It was time to put the plan into action. Josh made his way towards the Great Hall and as he drew closer, the sounds of chatter grew louder. The court had not yet begun but the people were starting to gather, it was one of the best places for rumours to begin and if Kate's escape were to happen while court was in session the it was the perfect place for Josh to be - in full view of everyone, especially his father.

While Josh was settling himself in the Great Hall, Lucas was leading Sam and company towards  the main area of the dungeons. The dungeons were dark and dingy, the torches that lined the corridors gave off very little light which they planned to use to their advantage. There were few prisoners within the dungeons and none were kept in the cells closest to the stairwell where soon enough, the two guards would be appearing with Kate. It was easy to spot which cells held prisoners, they were in the cells which had the closed doors. None of the empty cells were closed which gave Lucas and the team the perfect position to ambush the guards and get the girl. The light from the torches cast great shadows inside the open cells meaning that Lucas, Sam and the others would have to stand well clear of the doorway, and the echoing corridor amplified any sound made so silence was absolutely imperative. Once in position, all they could do was wait.

Outside the hall, the bells began tolling for the third hour of the afternoon. Each chime made Josh more and more nervous. In order to pull of his end of the plan, he would actually need to take part in the council and in doing that, he could be risking more than not being there in the first place. The last time Josh willingly missed the council sessions he was beaten and confined to his chamber for three days, after everything he had gone through with his father the punishment would only get worse. Not long after the last bell toll, the main doors of the hall opened with a loud crash making everyone in the hall jump to attention. All eyes dropped to the floor and the loud heavy footsteps of King Raphael echoed around the room as he made his way to the far end of the hall where his large ornate chair stood waiting for him. Waving a hand, Raphael gestured for the speaker to begin presenting the people wanting to be heard.

Josh was very aware of his father sitting so close to him and he made his presence known every so often by putting forward suggestions which both pleased the people in the hall and angered the king who in his mind was the only one who was right. Josh knew he was playing a dangerous game by interrupting and the look in Raphael's eyes meant that as soon as court was over bad things were going to happen. It took everything in him to just concentrate on what was going on around him instead of what could be happening on the lower levels of the castle. As the time went on, Josh began to grow nervous. Court was nearly over and he had not yet seen any sign that the rescue had been a success, Lucas had been instructed to quietly enter the hall once Kate was safely out of the castle but so far Josh could not spot him amongst the crowds gathered at the back of the hall. It took everything in him not to get up and run out of the hall just to find out what the situation was.