Sherwood (26 page)

She turned back to her
father, who had downed another man, and stared at him in
panic.

Her father's
expression grew dark and bitter for a moment before Harlow shook
her head gently and mouthed one name: “Enders.” To her it was a
whisper, but to her father is was a statement. It was a plea. It
was as if she was standing in front of him saying,
'Please, let me do this. I need to
do this.'

Her father gave a small,
unhappy smile before turning with his fellow outlaws and continuing
on with the waging war.

Harlow turned and looked at
the door behind her and turned the handle. She knew it was locked
before she felt the unnatural push of the doors knob
again.

She looked around the room,
searching for anything useful.

She scanned her eyes around
the raging war in front of her. Nothing popped out to her. She
turned back to the door and gave it another shove, feeling the
intense panic rise in her chest and eat at her.

She pushed all of her
body's force against the door and when it didn't give, she backed
up and slammed her fist against the door.

She looked up and around,
before she had to twist and tilt her head back to the wall before
her. She noticed a huge curtain cascading down from a high ledge
just before the ceiling. She would bet anything that the curtain
lead up to where Enders was being taken to.

She took hold of the
curtain and gave it a hard tug. The curtain didn't move, keeping
placed in it's designated position.

She let go and repositioned
her hands on the curtain before pushing herself up and started to
climb up the strand of fabric.

She heard the sounds of
battle happening under her, but refused to look down. Her arms
started to get weak and tired from the climb. It was getting harder
with every push and pull. With every inch, she felt her arms might
give away. It had been to long since she'd trained and now it had
come to bite her painfully.

She gritted her teeth
together and pushed herself up further. It was only when she was
about to reach the top that her hand slipped and she hung from only
her left hand, clinging to the red fabric for dear life.

Her eyes scanned the ground
and war ensuing below. Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest
and her hands started to become clammy. She felt her skin go red
with panic and horror. It was a very long way down, and the sight
made her think about what would happen if she fell.

She gritted her teeth again
and thought only of Enders. She forced her body to swing back
toward the curtain and forced her hands and arms to keep her
going.

It was only about two feet
before she climbed over the ledge at the top and fell to the ground
on the other side.

She tried not to make any
sound, although one 'oof,' came out as she landed on her stomach.
She pushed herself up, and dusted her hands off on her
dress.

She gawked at the sight
before her.

The corridor was lined with
large, stone, arched windows on the right side, where sunlight
poured into the castle. On the right were doors upon doors, leading
to different room and secrets that Harlow couldn't
imagine.

She took a few cautious
steps down the illuminated corridor, taking a look at everything
she could see. The arches that lead to the outside world were
intricately detailed with all kinds of designs. Harlow noticed it
was well hidden from a side of danger. This side of the castle
faced a meadow, where no archers could hide and no harm could come
from. She took in the sun while she walked through the corridor,
trying to listen for anything that could be useful.

Carefully, she took step by
small step for less than five minutes before two muffled voices
came to her ears.

She wasted no time, taking
two steps at a time and trying to find where the voices came
from.

The voices got louder and
angrier. Sher was getting closer to them, and she prayed that
they'd be the people who'd taken Enders.

Her thoughts were confirmed
when Harlow took two more cautious steps and heard the voices
coming directly from the door on her right side.

She felt her heart go numb
for only a moment before she laid herself against the bright, white
wall on the left of the door.

She heard the hushed voices
of King Wesley and two other men she didn't recognize.

“
Kill the boy
and be done with it!” One voice rang out through the
hallway.

Harlow crept an inch
closer, sticking to wall, as the giant windows let the light pour
in before her.

She tried not to think
about the warmth of the sun and how great it felt to see daylight.
Harlow turned her head, trying to keep her thoughts only on Enders
and rescuing him from this castle.

Instead of letting herself
get distracted, she crept ever closer to the door, listening
intently as the sounds of an argument rang out.

“
Simon, get
him under control.” King Wesley said, nonchalance and annoyance
clear in his voice. Harlow could almost feel him wave his hand in a
passive way.

“
Gregory,” A
third voice chimed in, sternly, trying to regain control of the
situation.

“
If we kill
the boy, the outlaws will have no reason to be here,” The man named
Gregory, Harlow assumed, said with panic laced in his
voice.

“
Except
revenge,” Simon said back, his voice still stern and serious. He
was trying to remain calm.

A loud bang sounded from
down the hallway, causing Harlow to turn back and start panicking.
She saw one of the open windows and walked over, seeing a small
overhang several feet below.

She raised herself onto the
windowsill, hearing the clinking of armor and the pitter-patter of
footsteps coming toward her.

The faster the footsteps
came, the faster Harlow moved. She felt her heart beat faster and
faster as she moved around the windowsill and placed her feet on a
small overhang several feet below. Her fingers barely grazed the
surface of the windowsill, her heart beating faster with every
passing second.

“
My Liege!” A
panicked voice yelled out, knocking harshly on the oak
door.

Harlow heard the oak door
swing open, “What?”

“
The outlaws
are attacking from the west side as well. It's a full on ambush out
there and we're running out of men to fight the battles. We've no
other resources.” The voice cracked in panic toward the end of the
words.

“
What do you
mean we have no other resources?” The King demanded.

“
One of the
commanders sent dozens of men out to search for the outlaws in
Sherwood. We out of at least sixty men.” The panic had subsided for
a moment, only to return and crack the man's voice
again.

The King let out an angry,
gruff sigh. “Where is this commander?”

“
In the
ballroom. That is, if the outlaws haven't slaughtered him yet, My
Liege.”

Harlow cringed, knowing
that they were speaking about Parker.

The King sighed again.
“Where is the ambush happening?”

“
The west
wing, right outside the plateau.” The man said, his voice weak and
unstable.

“
On the
plateau?” King Wesley grew irritated and stressed. He took several
steps out of the room. Harlow heard his contemplative steps come
closer to the window she was standing outside of.

Harlow moved her fingers
away from the sill gently, keeping balance on the small overhang
that her feet sat on. She forced herself not to look down, making
sure she wouldn't scare herself into falling to her
death.

“
It's a distraction.” The King determined, looking out the
window. He turned swiftly, sending air to play above Harlow's head
when his cape swung behind him. Harlow heard a few steps of the
king's steel boots on the stone before his voice rang out again.
“Make sure he stays put. Do not let him go anywhere.” King Wesley
took two steps forward before abruptly turning back and adding,
“And Keep him
alive
.”

“
Yes, Sir,”
the two soldiers answered in unison.

The king and another set of
footsteps fell down the hall and away from Harlow. When she was
certain that no one would see her, she climbed back up onto the
sill and looked back and forth down the hallways. She walked,
quietly, to the archway that the two men stood inside
of.

She spotted Enders, sitting
on his knees, stealing glances at the men who stood before
him.

“
Why should
we leave him alive? We should kill him and be done, Simon!”
Gregory, an older man with a small stubble on his face pleaded with
the other man, Simon. Simon looked far younger with a head full of
brown hair and matching stubble.

“
The King has
ordered us to leave him be, and that is what we will do.” Simon
said, sternly, shaking off Gregory's pleas.

Gregory shook head and
sighed. He stood still for a moment as Simon stepped away form him
and toward a window. “Fine,” He huffed angrily, the intensity in
the room rising with each passing second. “If you don't do it, I
will.”

Gregory stalked toward
Enders, harshly, taking out his sword as he did so.

Harlow wasted no time in
snatching one of the unlit torches off the wall and throwing it
harshly at his head.

The man immediately fell
over, unconscious, his head bleeding radically from the
torch.

Everything happened fast in
that moment.

Harlow took a step into the
room, seeing Simon coming after her. She quickly turned to the
table at her side and picked up a butter knife, plunging it deep
into his chest, causing him to cry out in pain. The pain did not
deter him from coming forward and unsheathing his sword.

Harlow took two steps
backward, grabbing a fire poker that sat lonely against the wall.
She stepped forward and held the poker out in front of her. She
knew that it was either him or her who would walk away from this,
and he was trained to never back down.

Then again, so was
she.

She took another cautious
step forward and stared up at him from below her
eyelashes.

Simon kept still,
attempting to mask the pain he felt.

Harlow kept her gaze even,
holding the fire poker out in front of her. She saw him blink and
his gaze faltered. She took that moment of thoughtlessness to lunge
forward and plummet the poker into his chest.

Simon fell to the ground,
the poker still stuck in his body, convulsions taking over
him.

Seeing the body made her
want to freeze, but she knew that she had no time to
waste.

Harlow ran to Enders, who
sat, staring at her, shock written all over his face. “Harlow,” he
said her name. She wanted to revel in the sound, and in the way his
voice echoed in her ears.

“
We have to
go. Now.” She said, going behind his back and pulling apart the
ropes that bound his hands together.

“
Harlow,” He
sighed, his heart beating so hard, she could feel it in his arms as
she untied him.

She dropped the ropes,
taking his hand and pulling him out of the room and rushing down
the corridor at her right. She came to the ledge she'd come over
and looked over the area below. The exit was farther down the hall
they were on, which would be through the door she couldn't shove
open. A small war still waged on, although it wasn't looking good
for the outlaws. Reinforcements from the king were pushing them
back. Blood laid on the floor in renegade puddles, and dead bodies
littered the ballroom. Harlow noticed almost all of them were
Knights.

“
The outlaws
began their attack here on the south end, through the kitchen, but
they've set up another ambush in the west.” Harlow pulled him away
from the ledge and down the corridor to a door on the
end.

Enders breathed in hard as
he heard what she was saying. He squeezed her hand as if he'd never
be able to again.

“
They're
going to run out of men and arrows soon, so we have to get out
now.” Harlow said as she picked up the pace.

She glanced back, seeing
Enders struggling to keep his eyes open in the sunlight of the
hallway. His skin was intensely pale and he seemed weak, but he had
a strong spirit and will, which he relied on to get him
through.

The two made it to the door
at the end of the hall. Harlow again noticed the intricate design
on the door, but paid no mind to it. She turned the knob and opened
the door as quietly as possible.

A quiet squeak sounded off
in the room, echoing lightly. Torches lit up a carefully designed
study and strategy quarters. Harlow walked in and determined the
room abandoned. With Enders following in suit, she walked over the
door on the right side of the fully furnished and decorated room
and pulled open the second door.

A dark stairwell greeted
them, and knowing that there was no other way out, Harlow wasted no
time in rushing down the steps. Enders followed behind, somehow
finding the energy to keep up with her.