That night, and the following two nights I do surveillance on the palace grounds. By Wednesday I have the routine memorised and a plan to get inside.
The plan is to sneak in when the guard changes at midnight, I’ve noticed that the guards posted then seem to be extremely tired and lazy. The next best time to sneak past the guards is at three—not quite dawn, as guards tend to be alert at that time for intruders. This means I need to be in and out in under three hours—and I have no idea of what the security is like inside.
I sneak out in the evening at around ten--to give myself excess time to get into position—and get settled in to wait for the opportune moment. It goes without a hitch; I sneak past the arguing guards—the replacement guards were five minutes late—and slip noiselessly into the palace grounds.
Now for the hard part.
I make my way cautiously through the palace grounds, hiding in the shadows. It’s much harder than I expected—there are more guards and patrols then I anticipated so it takes longer to reach the palace than planned.
I scale the wall and climb towards the east of the palace, where the safe room is located, using windows and cracks in the wall to navigate. I need to be extremely careful and quick, otherwise my capture is inevitable.
I try to speed up a bit, but it’s extremely had going—more speed means more chance of making a mistake. Which could end in a drop from fifty metres or more, and depending on where I land--if it doesn’t result in my death--would definitely mean severe injury and imprisonment.
I finally make it to a window at the second floor on the east wall. My entry point. Which, as I recall, is located in a small supply room rarely used.
Or at least it was.
Hanging onto the stone wall by my fingertips outside the window, I can hear voices through the glass. I hang silently, my mind whirling, trying to think of another way in. This was the only window that led to a usually empty room, from what I remember. Obviously, things have changed, it’ll be extremely difficult to find an empty room—even if I had enough time to try them all. Which I don’t.
My fingers and toes are feeling the strain of holding my body up, and time's running short. There is no way to search all of the ways in, even if I wanted to. This is a failure.
I failed.
In defeat, I retrace my steps and manage to sneak out with nearly as much ease as I snuck in.
I don’t know what to do now. I head back to the hotel racking my brain for an idea. Any idea. How else will I be able to get that information? I can’t even sneak in! How am I going to enact my revenge, if I can’t even do this!?
The next morning Melody knocks on my door, “Snow, we’re heading out to the underground again, if you want to join us.”
I answer in the affirmative—an idea has just occurred to me. I get dressed and join Melody and Julian in the reception, then we all head to the underground.
As much as I’d like to take the Castovias down by myself—I can’t, as was proven to me last night. In the underground, however, there are people with power and reach--the things I lack. With the information I have—what they lack--they could have some way of getting into the palace, or at least a better understanding of how to formulate a plan of attack.
We walk into the underground and Melody takes the lead. Apparently, she seems to have made quite a few friends here, and is well liked. She heads towards the old government officials—they act as the second in command, under the royals.
It looks as if the hierarchy doesn’t change, even when in hiding.
The whole place seems livelier than the last time I was here, almost like a celebration. Maybe they’ve found something.
Duke Erwood turns around as we approach, “Melody, my dear, and Julian! It’s a pleasure to see you both again!”
He fails to spot me in the back, hidden in the shadows, silent.
“And you too James!” Melody smiles delightedly—she must really move fast. They’re already on a first name basis.
“You all seem in high spirits! What’s happened??”
The rude young man who spoke impolitely about Anna last time, steps forward, “We’ve got word from a spy in the palace. They’ve found evidence we can use to out the Castovias.”
My eyes widen and I step forward impulsively into the light, “What is it? How did they find it? Are you positive??”
There’s a shocked silence for a second, as people process my sudden appearance.
“I didn’t see you there. Raven, was it?” Duke Erwood responds, I nod smiling at the sweet old man, “He’s a servant in the palace and he heard the Castovias, themselves, talking to some servant on how to keep their co-conspirators in line.
“Apparently, they have a detailed plan of the coup, and receipts of the people they paid off. If anyone steps out of line and tries to double-cross them, the Castovias will pull out this file, and they’ll all go down.”
I pull back and let the conversation and congratulations wash over me. Proof! Finally, we have proof! Solid, undeniable evidence of Amora’s betrayal. I wasn’t sure that they had even kept proof of their involvement—but I guess they had too. You can’t trust a turncoat, not really. There’s no proof they won’t do it again.
Something in the conversation grabs my attention, and I tune back in.
“Unfortunately, we still have no idea on how to get at it.” The rude young man is talking, bringing the mood down substantially.
“Why is that?” Julian asks, “Couldn’t your spy just steal the papers?”
He shakes his head, “No can do I’m afraid.”
An official tries to but in and stop the conversation, “Really, Baron Killheart, you can’t just tell anyone!”
Baron Killheart, as the rude young man turns out to be, waves him off annoyed, “Who knows, they might just think of something we haven’t? Anyway,” He continues the official irritated but effectively out of the discussion, “The reason our spy can’t get to the papers is because, even though we know where they are being kept, we don’t know where, so to speak.”
I frown confused, why can’t they just speak simply??
“You mean you know where they are, but you don’t know how to find the place they are. You know the name not the location.”
Julian answers and Baron Killheart nods his agreement, “That’s right.”
Melody looks bewildered, “What is this place you know the name of, yet not the actual location of?”
“They spy said they were keeping the file in the safe in the Royal Safe Room. Unfortunately, only the immediate Royal family knows the location of said safe room, and they were all murdered.”
I could slap myself for being so stupid! Of course, that’s where they’d keep any important information. Wasn’t I just trying to get there to look for some sort of proof?? Everyone who knows of its location is dead—or so they think.
“Only the immediate Royal family, you said?” Julian queries, “Then how did the Castovias know about it?”
The duke shrugs, “That is one thing we never learnt. The Castovias only managed to overthrow the Lamonias because they knew the location of the secret Royal Safe Room, and how to get in. No one knows how they got in.”
I know how they got in, its one of the many things I have to atone for. I tap Duke Erwood on the arm. He turns to me questioningly.
“Can we talk in private, please Duke.” I whisper timidly, “I think I might be able to help.”
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