Bandits

Chapter 16: TBD

Gideon blinked the sleep away from his eyes. Rain pattered on the glass windowpane and made a soft thudding sound against the wooden walls of his room. A candle burned low on the nightstand. He propped himself up on an elbow and looked around the dim room. Naman slept soundly in one of the cots, one leg hanging over the side of the bed and mouth agape. Gerard was nowhere to be seen.

Gideon blinked again. What had woken him? It took a moment for his head to clear. He listened. Nothing but the sound of rain, Naman's soft snoring...and soft voices in the hallway. Gideon strained to hear, but wasn't able to make anything out. A moment later the voices stopped. Gideon heard the door handle turn. He quickly reached onto his bedside table and grabbed a knife. He slid it under his blanket and pretended to be asleep.

The door quietly inched open and a figure stepped in. Rainwater dripped off his long cloak onto the floorboards. The figure turned and shut the door quietly and then removed his coat. It was Gerard. Gideon squinted to keep his eyes as shut as possible. What was Gerard doing up? And why had he been out in the rain? Gerard hung his coat on the wall and slipped quietly into bed.

Gideon waited until he heard Gerard snoring, then crept out of his own bed. He grabbed his sword belt and cinched it up. He slowly opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

It was dark. No candles burned in the hall and there was only one window on the far end. Some light seeped up the stairs from the torches and candles below in the great room, but not enough to chase away the shadows.

Gideon listened. He could hear talking in the great room below. He couldn't hear their words, but he did hear the unmistakable sound of scraping metal––armor moving with a wearer. The sound grew louder until Gideon saw a shadow reach the bottom of the stairs, followed by several others. He heard chainmail clinking, and the stairs creak. They were taking their time and trying to be as silent as possible.

Gideon quickly ducked into the princess' room.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tarleton was fully awake sitting guard near the door. He stood and looked angrily at Gideon. Gideon quickly motioned him to be quiet.

Mordecai, Vega, and Andromeda all stirred from their sleep.

"Gideon," Mordecai said groggily. "What's going on? Why do you have your sword?"

"I don't know," Gideon whispered. "Maybe nothing, but keep quiet, and get up."

Mordecai got out of bed and grabbed his sword. The beautiful slender blade looked out of place in the hands of a young man wearing night clothes.

Andromeda pulled a loose shirt and a pair of trousers over her nightgown and grabbed a small satchel.

"What's happening?" Andromeda asked.

"I heard voices downstairs and saw the shadows of armed men."

"What will we do?" Vega whispered.

Gideon pointed to the door and his room on the other side. "Cross the hall and wake Naman. If something happens, he and Gerard need to be ready."

"Is it safe?"

"If you hurry. The men seem to be moving slow, trying to be quiet."

Vega looked to Andromeda, who nodded, and then slipped out of the room and crossed the hall. Gideon looked out after her.

Down the dark hall he could see several men creeping closer. Each appeared to be holding weapons.

"There," one of the men shouted. "They've seen us. Go!"

Vega screamed and hurriedly shoved open the door to Gideon's room, shouting for Naman to wake up. Before Gideon could clearly think, Tarleton stepped into the hallway, brandishing his sword.