The night was dark. The kind of dark that only came in the middle of such a winters night as it was. A chilling wind blew through the open window of the dark, grey keep. The air smelled of an oncoming storm. The young man looked towards the rest of the room, where he'd been sleeping during his time spent here. He thought about how long it had been, deciding on 5 months. 5 months, he thought. 5 months undercover in this hellhole. Well, it will all be over soon.
After a few more moments of thought, he walked over to his computer and sent one last message out before powering it down. Once it was completely shut off he closed it, picked it up, and moved back towards the open window. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The man held out his computer over the edge and let go. He felt relieved as the weight left his hands. But that wasn't the end of his mission.
The spy hesitated to leave his place by the stone window. He strained to listen past the deep, distant thunder until he heard the sound of a light plastic crash. No going back now, he thought to himself. A knock came to his door a moment later. He listened to the knuckles rap on the cool metal before standing up and opening his room to the hallway. In the entrance stood a lone sentry.
"You requested meeting with his grace, sir?" The guard confirmed. Gears in her left eye clicked and spun as it adjusted to the dimmer lighting of the young knight's quarters. "If you would follow me."
"Uh, yes, thank you." The man replied, looking up towards the woman's face. She's pretty, he thought. If only she were real. Then he stood up and followed the android out of his room, waving the lights off as he left.
As they walked through the winding corridors, the knight's thoughts were mainly with himself and his mission, but his eyes were kept forward and focused on the guard he was following. He felt a chill and pulled his red cloak tighter around. The woman's grey uniform shimmered in the green lights which they passed frequently on their trek through the castle. Her silver hair hung lazily in a ponytail against her back, swaying with each step.
After a half of an hour of plodding along, the guard led the man into a cavernous room. Large braziers bathed the silver walls in a blue-green glow. The dark oak floor of the great hall creaked as the man walked towards the black throne. In the seat sat an older man, though he was no more than 30 years of age. King Richard was an unusually young king, inheriting the rule from the untimely death of his uncle. He wore a blue cloak over a smoky doublet emblazoned with an onyx owl. Black hair, slick and combed, shone in the green light pulsing in his chair. A gold crown rested upon his head, glittering in the dark light.
Richard looked up as the knight approached. He looked rather bored, leaning primarily on his left arm. "You rang?" He joked, then laughed to himself.
The man opposite him shifted feet uncomfortably. "I have a message, your grace."
"Oh?" The king asked, perplexed. "And what might this message be?" He eyed his supposed friend warily. "Do you realize how late it is?"
"I do." The spy took one last gulp of air, before saying "And now for my message." He reached into his cloak and produced a flask.
"At this time of night?" Richard chuckled, keeping an eye on the metal.
The younger man unscrewed the top and took a short swig of mysterious liquid. It was thick and bitter, and almost made him gag. Forcing it down, he looked back towards the king in front of him and muttered almost too quietly to hear, "Long live Queen Emalia..." He then choked on the air as his cells began to combust and flames consumed him.
Lightly, rain fell from the dark clouds overhead. Steam rose from the flames as they billowed from the hole created in the great hall.
