The Hibernian Runaway

Chapter 27

The arrow soared over the clamor, over the guards led by two Rangers, over the King and the Araluen knights, over the Prince and the blonde haired boy running for the stage. Will held his breath, listening, his eyes closed to the world around him. He already had another arrow on the bowstring, waiting. Seconds later, over the clamor of the crowd, the arrow found its mark with a final thwack.

Will opened his eyes in a flash, the executioner sinking to his knees, the arrow sticking out of the side of his neck. The sword clattered to the ground, inches from Lilly's head. It glittered in the sunlight, the malice the blade previously held gone as it sat, almost meekly, on the wooden boards. Shouting brought Will's attention back to the entire commotion. The Queen was surrounded by a circle of barbed bodies, brandishing swords or spears as they escorted her to the heavy doors of the keep.

He drew an arrow and sent it flying towards the exposed knee of a guard. He fell, screaming in pain, the shaft sticking out of his leg. The sudden reminder of how exposed they were seemed to spur the Queen's guards into greater action, trying to escape the deadly accuracy of the Ranger's arrows. Will released another arrow, catching another guard in the thigh, the shaft protruding from both sides of his leg. He quickly released another, but by then the scrambling guards had grappled the doors open and disappeared inside.

He cursed silently, annoyed that he hadn't been able to stop them from disappearing into the keep. He scanned the square below him and breathed a sigh of relief. Horace, Halt, Crowley, and King Sean had taken control of the square, men laying down their weapons while they accepted that they were again under the rule of Kind Sean.

Will put the remaining arrow back in his quiver, counting a remainder of four arrows. He swung his legs over the side of the building and slowly let himself down the corner, finding easy hand and foot holds in the stone. Once his feet hit the cold stone of the square, he made his way through the throng of bodies to the group of people standing on the wooden stage, next to the executioner's block. Halt, Crowley, Horace, Nial, and Sean were standing next to Lilly. She had tears in her eyes, but she was far from shaken up; standing tall and her jaw set straight.

"Lilly, I'm so happy that you're alright," her father said as he walked up. She smiled, and stepped towards her father, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face into the side of his neck like she was a little girl again. He didn't even hesitate to bring her in tighter, tears sliding down the side of his face. "I would like to thank you personally for your help," he said, looking at Halt and Crowley. "Without your help, I would never have seen my daughter again."

"Don't just thank us," Halt said, almost gruffly. "If anything you should thank Nial, he's the reason why we realized your daughter was the Princess and not a maid."

Nial immediately blushed and dropped his eyes to the floor, embarrassed with the praise that the senior Ranger was giving him.

"You were the brave soul that managed to save my daughter?" King Sean asked, turning to the blushing blonde boy.

Nial looked up , fear in his eyes. "Y-yes, s-sir, I mean, yes your highness," he managed to stammer out.

Lilly laughed, lightening the unnecessary tension in the air. "Don't be so scared, Nial. He's only my father."

"That's what I'm worried about," he mumbled at the ground, still embarrassed.

The entire group laughed, almost forgetting that they were in the middle of a coup. The wave of exhaustion, suspense, fear, and anger from the past months seemed to disappear as everyone realized that it was almost over. Then the laughing subsided as they all gasped for breath.

"We need to finish this job, don't we?" Lilly asked. "Josephine betrayed the Crown and should be put on trial for her crimes."

"I'm afraid that's how this is going to have to be," King Sean said, looking up at the keep. "Though, I've always wanted to see what it was like to break into Clonmel."

"Can you see anything?" Will asked, crouched at the wall of the keep, bow in hand, his other near the quiver at his hip. Everything was silver or black in the late night moonlight, and there didn't seem to be anyone

Horace peered up at the high windows for a second before replying, "no, I don't see anyone. They must think you still have some arrows left and are avoiding the windows."

"Good," Will said, "They'll learn to fear a lot more than my arrows."

They turned around and made eye contact with Halt, who was standing in the shadow of one of the buildings around the square. He shook his head ever so slightly, signaling them to wait.

Lilly was standing next to him, buckling a short and light saber to her waist. She had asked to join in on their invasion plan, but was immediately refused by her father. She had protested pigheadedly until her father finally agreed.

Nial ran, low and fast to Will and Horace, a coil of rope around his right shoulder and a coil of light twine in his left hand. "Here," he whispered, "these are the longest ones I could find."

"That'll do perfectly, thank you." Will said.

He heard breathing over his shoulder as Lilly came up to them. She pressed a bundle into Will's hands, "these are all the arrows Halt could repair. You have two heavy warheads, so use them wisely." She handed him another separate arrow, "this is the one that Halt made for the rope. All he says is don't miss."

Will nodded replenishing his supply from four to ten arrows. Will took the arrow and laid it across the bowstring. It was a modified warhead arrow, with two rings set at right angles to the head. He fed the twine through one of the rings and wrapped it around his wrist. He took a deep breath and notched the arrow.

"Now we'll only have a short time to scale the walls and get in. I'll go first, since I'm the lightest here." Will nodded to the three of them. He quickly took a couple of steps backwards, raising his bow as he did so. Once he could clearly see a window at the top of the tower, he released the arrow. The twine arced with the arrow, shinning in the moonlight, and slammed into the mortar between the bricks of stone above the window.

Horace quickly tied the heavier rope to the end of the time and Will pulled on his end of the twine. The heavier rope snaked it's way after the end of the twine, looping through the ring and making its way back down to the ground. Horace wrapped one end around his wrist and Will wrapped the other around his wrist. He shouldered his bow and began to climb.

Horace backed up as his friend held on, pullingWill up to the window. Next came Lilly, then Nial. He waved to Halt in the darknessand disappeared into the castle.