Act 20.

"So that was what was happening?" ask Patrick.

"We believe that is the situation." said his sister. "He is probably infatuated with the Princess and knows that most of the populace are not really fond of the idea of William taking over as king."

"Can’t really blame them there." said Patrick under his breath.

Linda and Margaret pretended not to hear.

"So combine the two and he decides on his own to get rid of an unwanted prince and that gets his beloved princess on the throne, where she can’t help but be a better ruler than her brother ever could." concluded Margaret.

The King sat in silence for a while.

Finally he said.

"Well, I will let King William know what has happened here and then we can execute the prisoner. Unless he asks for him back to show him off back in his lands."

"Where you able to get a message to him?" asked Linda.

"Yes." answered Patrick. "He was glad to hear that his children were safe. And he said that there had been no shadow activity on his lands recently."

"So it looks as if Prince William was the only target." said Linda. "Well, let’s hope we are right and there won’t be anymore assassins going after your guest."

Patrick stood up and the others followed.

"I will go and inform the Prince and Princess of what we have found." he said. "We will have the royal executioner summoned so that he may prepare the square. I think we should make it a public one."

The two women bowed and the King turned and left the room, followed by his guards.

Linda sat down hard, in the large stuffed chair set near the fire, letting out a long tired sigh.

"Well that was certainly quite a night." she said. "I’ll be glad when it is over and that guy is no longer a threat."

Margaret smiled.

"You still see him as a threat as well." she said. "You and I think a lot alike sometimes. So I guess this means we aren’t going to get any sleep tonight then?"

"Nope." was Linda’s answer.

"Then what do you say we go and see if we can’t scrounge something up down in the kitchens." said Margaret. "I don’t know about you, but I am starving. Capturing assassins always makes me hungry."

"Everything makes you hungry." teased Linda.

"Shut up."

Laughing, the two women walked out into the hallway.

They headed down to the kitchen.

There were very few people out in the halls at this time of night.

Or day as the case may be, thought Linda.

There were the extra patrols that had been put up when the threat had been found out.

Linda was pleased to see that they did not relax their guards even though the prisoner had been captured.

They only had to wait until morning and then things would hopefully return to what passes for normal around here.

As they crossed an intersection of two halls, something caught Linda’s eye.

She stopped and turned in the direction she had thought it had come from.

"What is it?" asked Margaret, who had stopped as well.

"I thought I saw something." she told her.

"The patrols?’ ventured Margaret, now looking in the same direction Linda was.

"No." answered Linda. "It was quick. Not like the pace the patrols are going. Come on."

She moved off down the corridor followed by Margaret.

The arrived at where the corridor turned left.

They peeked around the corner.

They saw nothing.

"Are you sure you aren’t just tired and are seeing things that aren’t there?" said Margaret. "We are all nervous and your mind may just be playing tricks on you."

"That could be." said Linda. "But I would rather be sure."

She looked around the area.

"Does something seem off to you?" she asked Margaret.

Margaret looked around as well.

"Yes." she said. "there is something that is bothering me."

She stopped and pointed.

"There."

Linda looked to where she was pointing.

There was a door and the odd thing about it was that the lock which hung on it was not closed.

Margaret moved towards the door, drawing her sword.

She reached out and slowly pushed the door open.

Linda stood nearby with her sword at the ready.

Margaret walked into the room.

After a while Linda heard.

"No one’s here."

She walked into the room.

It was one of the rooms that held a few weapons. There were a few of them around the castle to make it easier for a defender to arm himself if he found himself cut off from the main armoury.

"Anything missing?’ she asked.

"I don’t know." answered Margaret. "Only the weapon smith knows the tallies."

She turned to Linda.

"Are you thinking what I am?"

Linda just nodded and the two took off at a run to where the prisoner was being held.

As the rounded the corner their worse fears were realised.

On the floor in front of the open door were the two guards.

The two women approached them.

Linda checked the guards while Margaret checked the room.

Both were dead as she had feared.

Margaret came back out of the room.

"Gone." was all she said.

Without another word they ran to the guest’s rooms.

As they neared, a scream filled the air.

It was definitely the Princess’s voice.

Without hesitation Margaret ran straight at the door to the princess’s room.

She burst through with the sound of splintering wood echoing down the hall.

Linda followed closely behind.

The room was empty, the billowing of the curtains over the archway that led to the balcony was the only movement in the place.

The two of them went out onto the balcony.

Voices could be heard below as the patrols on the ground were alerted by the scream.

"They should have never moved them back to these rooms until after the execution." said Margaret.

"You can blame the Prince for that." said Linda. "He wanted out of those rooms."

Margaret called out to one of the guards who was scurrying underneath them.

"Has anyone spotted the Princess and her captor?" she asked.

"They were spotted briefly." he answered. "They were headed in the direction of the wet lands."

"Oh that’s just great!" cried Margaret as she turned and purposefully made her way back.

"What is it?" asked Linda as she ran to catch up.

"That idiot doesn’t know what he is getting himself into." said Margaret.

"Why do you say that?" said Linda.

"Have you ever seen a Basilisk?" asked Margaret, surprising Linda.

"No." she answered, bewilderment in her voice.

"Well you’re about to." said Margaret. "Because one lives right where that fool is headed."