Fans

Fans Part 5

Fans - The Fans Themselves (Continued)

Heggy shook with delight. "We made it!"

Matches peered up and down the hallway. "Not quite yet. We still need to exit the castle. Scores of people guard the front entrance. We must find another way."

Penny looked at them. "Is there another way? I have not toured the castle."

Again, all attention went to Matches. "Yes, 'tis another passage out. Valencia brought me here to teach about architecture. I toured the castle with her. She showed me another exit at the rear of the palace."

Penny gestured them forward. "Let us not tarry."

They left the room, and Matches led them down a number of passageways. They crossed a large chamber filled with portraits and artifacts from Kingdom's history, and another room with proclamations affixed to pillars. Anyone they passed ignored them. The fans, on Penny's advice, lowered their heads and acted like servants on a chore. They reached a stone corridor and followed it past various rooms and then halted.

In front of a large, emerald-colored double-door stood a man and a woman on either side. The helmeted guards wore padded leather body armor and thick, rugged boots. Each held a pike; the man on the left in his left hand and the woman in her right. Expressionless, they stood at attention, protecting the door.

Matches suggested they retreat until the five were out of earshot. The little Valencia fan looked over her shoulder. "We must get past them."

The others followed her gaze. Apple bit her lip. "I shall cause a distraction and have them follow me."

Penny rejected this idea. "No. We leave together or not at all. We must confront them. We need a lie."

Heggy pointed down the hallway back the way they had come. "I saw wood for kindling in the last room. I could use it as a weapon."

"Heggy, you are not Helga," said Penny. "Fighting two trained guards is pointless."

Heggy's eyes grew round. "I have an idea." The teenager turned and ran back down the corridor.

After Heggy left, Ashes said, "This plan will not succeed. I agree Heggy is our best fighter—I would never challenge him—but Helga has trained the guards herself."

"I have no better idea," replied Penny. "I trust him."

Matches frowned. "If he fails, they may take him back to the dungeon, leaving the door unguarded and allowing us to escape."

Penny opened her mouth to speak but Apple interrupted her. "No, 'tis like Penny says." She gazed at the younger girl with admiration. "We escape together or we do not escape at all."

Ashes shook her head with determination when Heggy rounded a corner with a large piece of wood. He carried it in his arms as if on the way to light a fire. Heggy nodded to the others as he passed them, indicating they should follow. They fell in step behind Heggy as he made his way down the corridor, giving the sentries no indication the door they guarded was their destination. When Heggy reached them, he adjusted the wood in his hands to hold it like a weapon and smashed the man's kneecaps. The man, surprised, fell forward with a shout. Slow to react at the sudden attack, the woman switched the pike to her other hand, but not quick enough. Heggy swung his wood like a bat, striking both knees with one blow.

The woman fell forward and the others fell on the guards. Before they raised the alarm, the fans pulled them into the room across the way and shut them inside. Heggy wedged the piece of wood through the rung of the door and the wall, jamming it.

Ashes looked on Heggy with admiration. "How did you think of targeting their kneecaps?"

Heggy straightened with pride. "Queen Helga. She taught me and her other fans to examine our opponents for vulnerabilities. The guards lacked the proper protection for their knees. My sisters and I spar all the time looking for advantages with each other, and my sister Halcyn entered the army last week. I am proud of her."