Chapter 9: The Chase.

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: The Chase.

"You’ve got to be kidding me."

"I’m afraid not, Montrel" Fricha replied, inclining with his head for the blond soldier to follow him, "Captain’s orders."

" –But I’m not meant to cover for Agon until later this evening," he protested, gesturing to his unfinished meal as proof that he was off duty for the meantime. Fricha simply gestured again, and he was forced to get to his feet, his comrades snickering at him good-naturedly.

"...The captain’s seen fit to station more men on Prince Khobi, I mean...Khobi," Fricha informed him, still sounding calm but no doubt as displeased by the news as the rest of the soldiers gathered in their dining quarters. "...The bolts on his door are apparently coming loose."

"Seriously?" Montrel grumbled, "What is he, some kind of animal?" He stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth for the road, and debated about just making off with his plate. "...The captain doesn’t think he’ll get loose, does he?"

"Maybe that’s why he sent for you," Hasbar piped up, mouth full of food, "You’re the most used to chases, since you’ve had to run after Prince Loac for years...."

" –Why you little..."

"Montrel ," Fricha called firmly, because if they lingered in the castle guards’ dining hall any longer, there was every chance that Montrel might throttle the younger soldier. Not for the first time. The blond huffily stalked away from the table, making sure to cuff Hasbar over the back of the head with more force than necessary, before following his comrade out into the corridor.

"So he’s still at it?" he muttered, shaking his head incredulously, "That guy...can’t he just give it a rest? Most people would’ve given up trying to break the door down pretty quickly..."

"It’s only been a few days," Fricha reminded him, "You can’t blame him for trying."

"Well yeah," Montrel snorted, "But seriously, he’s knocking the bolts loose? Did someone accidentally leave a battering ram in there or something?"

They heard Khobi a good few corridors before they even approached his room. The noblemen roaming through that part of the castle gave the pair of soldiers looks of disdain, as though it was their fault that he was causing such an ungodly din. It wasn’t just the banging that seemed to be echoing through hallways, but the shouting too –was it really so necessary to be yelling so violently?

"Captain!" Fricha called out as soon as they rounded the corner to discover both Albi and their Captain Bongo bodily pressed up against the door uncomfortably, and grimacing with every quake of the door.

"You. Can’t. Keep. Me. In here!" Khobi was yelling from inside his room, punctuating each word with a loud thump as he bodily hurled himself against the door. The bolts keeping the door locked were rattling, definitely coming loose, as was rumoured. Even the heavy stone bench holding the lower part of the door closed seemed to have shifted since Montrel had last been stationed there.

"How does he not have any broken bones?" Albi gritted out –sounding in the slightest bit impressed –as both Fricha and Montrel jogged over and slammed themselves up against the door to give their sweating, bruised captain a moment of respite. Bongo rolled his aching shoulder, nodding to Albi, and, with his help during the pause between Khobi’s blows against the door, heaved the stone bench back into place with a mighty shove. Stone met wood with a heavy thud, blocking all movement of the door and taking some of the strain off the protesting bolts.

"T-That should hold him for a little," Albi groaned, slumping down onto the bench and wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, "It took him half a day to move that thing..." he winced as the door shuddered against his back again."Why can’t we just throw him in a prison cell..." Montrel sighed, "Those doors are a lot stronger –they’re made to hold people who want to break out.""Khobi is our guest," Bongo reminded him firmly, and there was a scoff of disbelief in from inside the room, "King Gurdet doesn’t want him...treated like a prisoner..." Even though he was a good soldier who would follow the orders of his king, he at least sounded as though he didn’t quite understand the logic of saying something like that, and then barricading someone into a room."You know, I’m glad that His Majesty doesn’t have me chasing after that good-for-nothing prince now, but I gotta say, this isn’t much of a step up," Montrel added gruffly, shaking his head and glaring at the door as though that might quieten down the racket, "Prince Khobi, would you give it a rest?""...Don’t call him that," Albi and Bongo immediately sighed, as there was a particularly loud crash, followed by a heavy groan of pain, "It seems to make him more aggressive," Albi explained."Khobi, you’re going to hurt yourself," Bongo sighed, the beating against the door having paused for longer than usual, and several grunts of pain informing him that that had probably already happened."I don’t care." Khobi grunts out "Would you stop being a brat, already?" Montrel snapped, shaking his head in exasperation before lowering his voice, "...If I get one more poncy nobleman glaring at me because of this guy..."" –Then you’ll bow and do nothing," Bongo ordered, to remind him of his place, "Or you’ll likely be back babysitting the prince –the one that actually knows how to escape the castle. You know? The one you never catch." That shut him up all right."He’ll need to sleep sometime soon," he continued quietly, "...When he does, call the servants to bring some food, Lord Vogrid wishes to make sure we aren’t seen to be inhospitable." It really did show their relative discipline by the fact that his men all resisted the urge to look rather pointedly at the stone bench barring the bolted door.

***

Khobi had never realised that pretending to be asleep could be such a good idea. While crouching on the floor groaning over his aching shoulder, he had happened to overhear that a servant would be sent in while he was asleep. And for that, they’d need to open the door, which gave him a miniscule moment of opportunity.

He’d planned for it to be Binny again, because of all the servants Khobi had known, even at Briyagi, he seemed to be the most perceptive and uncannily agile, so who knew what the other servants of Crade were like? In retrospect, if he was right about Binny’s keen senses, he probably wouldn’t have fallen for the clothes stuffed under the sheets to mimic the shape of a sleeping body, but the trembling, wide-eyed servant that inched in through the door, did.

It had been very satisfying to deal a solid punch to the face of one of the guards hovering outside his door –if he’d had more time, he might’ve tried to swing another, but there were five of them at his brilliant moment of escape, and he didn’t want to get into the inescapable grip of that Captain again.

There was yelling behind him, but whatever it was felt muffled by the sound of his own rushing blood and feet slapping painfully against the cold stone of the hallway. Two other guards suddenly materialised before him, blocking off the end of the corridor, but Khobi didn’t stop, simply veering towards the smaller one and barrelling into him with the force of a charging beast. The lighter man went flying, barely causing Khobi to break his stride.

The other man immediately gave chase, the sound of heavy boots echoing on his tail.

Shit.

This sprint was no better planned out than his last, he had no clue where he was going, or where he was, or even where he might find some exit. He didn’t know how high up he was either, from the view outside his window he was a good two or three storeys above an open path, but that could still be any number of floors above ground level.

"Get out of the way!" He shouted aggressively, barging straight through a small group of well-dressed men that, from what he knew about nobles, were probably comparing sleeves or something. "MOVE!"

It was with a kind of sick thrill that he heard several shrieks rising up as he ran; men and women backing against walls and ledges in their hurry to get out of his way.

"Stop him!" the guards were shouting, accomplishing nothing but adding to the huge commotion. Khobi didn’t dare look back yet, his eyes were too busy searching desperately for signs of a staircase leading down. It wasn’t helping at all! These stone hallways all looked the same to him!

"Look out!" he barked, rounding a corner and seeing a trio of servants trundling across his path, bearing between them a large barrel that looked far too heavy for even three of them to be carrying. He sped up, seeing looks of terror on their faces as their eyes seemed to dart between his accelerating form and the barrel they were bearing.

Move!" He shouted aggressively, taking a giant leap into the air just as all three unanimously decided to drop their burden in the middle of the corridor. It hit the stone with an almighty crash, splitting open and deep red wine spilling all over the floor. Khobi heard a gasp of horror as he landed, almost losing his footing as he landed in the rich-smelling liquid."Stairs?" he snarled at them, taking a moment to look back over his shoulder and seeing the guards still in hot pursuit."Next left; end of the hallway," one of the women squeaked in shock, before clamping her hands over her mouth and backing against the wall before she got trampled by the approaching guards. It took only moments for Khobi to locate the staircase, and took them with a flying leap, landing at the bottom with knees shaking and groaning with despair, but still choosing to serve him well.That would give him a minute to spare.Khobi didn’t know exactly how far he ran; how many corridors he found himself sprinting down. He tried to make some sense of the place; every so often coming across a tapestry or an ugly sculpture that he was sure he’d seen while being escorted to his room –but this castle seemed so much more impossibly big than Briyagi that he was beginning to wonder if he was maybe trapped in some kind of maze.It was only when the footsteps pursuing him began to sound muffled and distant that he allowed himself to slow, ears sharp for any sign that he was about to be cornered. His lungs were burning and his knees twitching and threatening to give out at any moment, he’d taken another flight of stairs like the first and it seemed that the stone floors were doing his joints no favours."Fuck, where am I?" he whispered to himself, panting to try and catch his breath. This entire sprint had been fuelled by adrenaline, and he was feeling a little lightheaded from it all. Silas had never given him a lot of freedom to build up his stamina, and it was beginning to take a toll, no matter how strong his will was.Taking advantage of the silence and the emptiness of the corridor, he began walking more slowly, but still tense and prepared to run at the first sign of unfriendly faces. Crade certainly was a much nicer place than Briyagi, he had to admit; the corridors were well-lit by torches and the sun, and decorated with bright hangings and tapestries. Even if he was a prisoner here, he didn’t feel that unwelcome cold, didn’t feel quite so caged.What was similar, though, was that even though there didn’t appear to be anyone else in the hallway with him, his skin was prickling as though he was being watched. It didn’t feel malicious, didn’t feel dangerous, didn’t make him feel the need to watch his back, like it had in Briyagi, but he still didn’t quite know what to make of it.In fact, why was the hallway empty in the first place?" –W-would you...just..." Khobi suddenly spun around at the familiar voice, baulking away as he saw with a grimace that that guard, Montrel, had suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor he’d been making for. The blond soldier let out a groan, panting heavily and leaning on the wall to catch his breath. " –Give me a moment..." he added, apparently seeing flight stamped all over Khobi’s body language," –Just calm down will you?" he growled, beginning to stalk forwards, "We know this castle better than you, we’ll just keep hunting you down..."

"Y-you say that," Khobi huffed, trying to keep his breathing even, "...But you’re already getting tired..." Montrel appeared to be alone, but he doubted it would stay that way for long."Look, I don’t want to hurt you," the soldier informed him, but there was a firmness to his words that told the redhead that he would do it, if he had to. Khobi glanced back over his shoulder, scowling when he heard the echoes of heavy boots on stone. A quick glace told him that Montrel was approaching slowly, as though he were inching towards a particularly large, skittish cat. He just watched him, making no move to flee.It was only when Montrel was only a few paces away that he reacted, lunging forwards and swinging a fist out to stun the soldier. But apparently the guard had been expecting such an attack, because he ducked with incredible speed, and tackled Khobi squarely in the gut before he had the chance to make a run for it.Even winded, the redhead managed to deliver a hefty blow to Montrel’s stomach with a knee, and the pair of them toppled to the floor, Khobi wriggling to get the guard’s weight off him. He managed for a second, only to have his feet knocked out from under him by a cheap kick meeting his ankles. He tumbled back down again, crying out in pain as his wrists were forced to take the brunt of the force."Sorry –" Montrel began to say, before letting out a howl of his own as Khobi lashed a foot out at his knee, aiming to incapacitate him. He missed his mark, sparing the soldier’s knee, but still managed to get him hobbling with a thigh wracked with pain."Let me...you’ll never..." Khobi snapped, crawling along the floor and ignoring his shaken joints as he scrambled to his feet."Stop!" Montrel groaned, flinging himself forwards and bringing the redhead to the ground again by the scruff of his shirt. Khobii’s skull cracked hard against the stone and he let out another thick groan of pain as his head swam. Partly in a daze and black spots dotting his vision, he felt himself being rolled onto his stomach; his cheek pressed against the cool floor. He let out a groan of discomfort, continuing to struggle as his hands were yanked behind his back."Captain! I got him!" Montrel hollered, grunting from the effort of trying to keep the redhead was writhing free, "Can you...he’s...Captain!"All of a sudden, a nearby door was flung open with an unearthly crash, startling both men out of their skin and causing Montrel to momentarily lose his grip on Khobi. That moment of pause was enough for him to buck the soldier’s weight off him and begin to scramble to his feet.