The Annex

Chapter 26

I made my way down the dark alleys, running as fast as I could. It was eight minutes from midnight and I was roughly ten minutes away. The streets were dark and empty and it sent chills into my bones, knowing that I was all alone. A few more turns and I was back to the alehouse which was bursting to life, full of music, drunkards, and to be drunkards. I raced up the steps to the rooms and as I threw open the door to find the Commander, his hand on the door knob.

"Catarina," he said. "You're late." His words crushed my heart just a little. I was so full of pride at having achieved something on my own, and having gathered information. But I still didn't meet his expectations. I had been late. My face must have fallen because his expression softened.

"I was worried," he explained.

"Okay, so I didn't actually get to see anything about the patrol around the strategy room. But I think I stumbled upon some pretty important information," I said, hardly taking a breath to continue as the Commander raised an eyebrow at me. "Okay, so when I got in, I was immediately caught by a guard who yelled at me for not entering through the servants quarters. And then I was immediately dragged by a cook to go deliver a tray to Captain Hector."

"Captain Hector," the Commander's eyes widened. "You were in the room of Captain Hector?"

"Yes, is that a bad thing or a good thing, because you're starting to confuse me now."

"Captain Hector is one of the strongest voices within the Windfallian army."

"Well, I didn't get to overhear much. But I did find out that you guys were right about the Windfallians framing Tygran. And the most important part is that their King doesn't even know about it. The Captain is mobilizing the army without the King's permission, approval or even knowing." The Commander didn't respond for a moment. Then he snapped his attention to me.

"Hector's ruthless. He wouldn't risk anyone hearing the information you just told me. Were you followed?"

"Uh no, I don't think so." As if on cue, the door was thrown open and a masked man wielding a dagger barged in. I turned around just in time to see his impending attack, but not fast enough to react. The Commander threw his arms around me spinning around and I heard the sickening sound of the dagger slicing across fabric and flesh. My eyes widened as I looked down at my side. It wasn't me. I saw a slash in the Commander's shirt as blood began to ooze. He let out a primal growl before turning to the intruder and landing a punch. With his other hand, he flipped the dagger into his possession. Watching the fight unfold was surreal. The Commander fought with the grace of a cat, I could barely even keep up with his motions. With the dagger in his left hand, he sunk the dagger into the man's thigh. He let out a scream of pain.

"Get me the rope from the curtains, both sides," he held out a hand expectantly. I handed the two short ropes to him as he forced the man into a chair. He bound each of his wrists to the back of the chair. "Do you work for Hector?" He demanded. The man stayed silent. The Commander placed a hand on the dagger protruding from the man and twisted the handle. I gasped and covered my hand over my mouth as I felt sick to my stomach. The image was gruesome and I looked at the Commander, sickened by his actions. The Commander gagged the man with a piece of fabric from the man's own shirt.

"You can tell Hector that the Commander knows," the Commander leaned over and growled. "Come on, he's of no use to us. Let's go." He grabbed our bags with one hand and my arm with the other.

"Where are we going," I asked quietly once we had reached the bottom of the stairs.

"We need to get out of the city. Hector will send more people after you."

"After me?"

"Hector never leaves any loose ends," he said as we headed to the stables. "We need to find a way to get word to my men."