Chapter 21

Cassian was doing a solo night patrol. Sometimes it was nice to spend a bit of time away from the rowdy soldiers under his command, relaxing in the peace and quiet of the cool night air as he wandered the castle corridors. At first it was a rather uneventful evening. When passing by the queen’s bedroom, Cassian had heard voices and so he stopped to listen in for a moment. He recognised Emil’s voice, and it sounded like the lad was reading the others a story.

Cassian smiled at this. Emil had certainly come a long way from how he used to be. The officer had been surprised at the noble’s capacity for growth of character, as he had thought the lad didn’t have it in him at first. Of course, Cassian felt a little sorry for how he had been disowned from his family, though really that seemed like the best possible outcome for Emil, even if living within his means might take a little getting used to at first.

The officer had continued his patrol, winding his way through the castle hallways, taking the stairs back down to the first floor. When he was coming up to the regent’s office though, he heard something that made him take pause. There were voices, clear conversation coming from inside which was wafting out of the door that had been left open a crack. This was quite surprising, given the late hour. Why would Tybalt be meeting with anyone at this time? Cassian approached the door as quietly as he could, getting as close as possible before listening in, trying to discern what was going on.

“Success hinges on disabling the knight first, before any of them are alert. If you don’t, you’ll have no hope of dealing with the rest of them, as he will likely kill you,” Cassian heard Tybalt’s voice giving out instructions.

“What about the noble, your highness? If he is there, do we kill him?” another voice asked. It sounded familiar… one of the castle guards?

Tybalt made an annoyed sound. “He’s not even a noble anymore… though his parents may get upset if we kill him… spare him if you can, but if he protects the vampires, do what you have to.”

Cassian’s eyes widened in realisation. Tybalt knew about Thedrick and Maerwynn’s nature and was sending a squad to kill Beowulf and them. But how did he know? No, there was no time to worry about that. Cassian had to get to them first, had to warn them and get them out of the castle, get them to safety.

The officer moved away from the door as silently as he could manage, to not draw any attention to his presence as the regent continued to instruct the guards. Once he had tiptoed far enough down the hallway, Cassian started running, heading for the nearest staircase. He climbed it swiftly, then ran once more until he reached the queen’s room. He burst in through the door noisily, knowing that would be an easy way to wake Beowulf up, though hoping it wouldn’t be heard from the floor below.

Just as he had expected, Beowulf jolted upright in bed, and Cassian saw that his arms were full of Emil, who started thrashing around in confusion. Beowulf squeezed the noble to quickly quiet him.

“Cass?” Beowulf asked in confusion, letting go of the noble to rub his half open eyes.

“Beowulf. You need to take Maerwynn and Thedrick and get out of the castle now,” Cassian ordered firmly.

“Wh-what? Why?” Beowulf asked, clearly bewildered, as both he and Emil sat up in the bed properly.

“Tybalt is sending guards to kill the vampires,” Cassian stated between taking deep breaths to try and calm his heart which was pounding in his chest.

“What?” Beowulf exclaimed, practically leaping out of bed. Cassian noticed that the two vampires had stirred from their sleep now, and Thedrick was helping Maerwynn sit up as she rubbed her tired eyes. “H… How does he know?”

“I don’t know Beowulf, but somehow he knows,” Cassian explained, gritting his teeth slightly, trying to push down his own panic. “I overheard him instructing guards to come here tonight to kill you all. We have to get them to safety.”

“But where should we go?” Beowulf asked as the others climbed out of bed, Thedrick picking up a grumpy Maerwynn.

“Anywhere but here! You and Emil, quickly, get your armour on. Thedrick, help me get Maerwynn dressed and pack her a small bag of clothes. We need to get moving as quickly as possible, I have no idea how much time we have,” Cassian instructed, unable to stop the anxiety creeping into his voice.

“What’s going on?” Maerwynn asked sleepily as Thedrick carried her over to the wardrobe, and Cassian stepped over towards them and put the candle down on a dresser, while the royal guards got dressed behind them.

“We have to go sweetie, some bad men are coming, and they want to hurt us,” Thedrick told Maerwynn as he pulled off her nightclothes and started dressing her in very functional winter clothing. He sounded oddly calm, given the circumstances. Cassian had found a bag in Beowulf’s stuff which was kept in Maerwynn’s room and started quickly packing some essentials in there for her, including her nightclothes and some of her more functional outfits.

Maerwynn didn’t really reply to what her father said. Cassian wasn’t even sure if she fully understood, but she didn’t make any protests as she was dressed and readied. Once they were done, the lads had finished getting their armour on, and Beowulf came over to pick up the queen, holding her securely in his large arms.

“We should head to the stables. You will need your horse to outrun them once they try to come after you,” Cassian said as he hurried them all out of the door and into the hallway. Looking both ways, he saw a group of guards up one end of the hall, which made him freeze for a moment. Then he pushed the bag he had been holding into Emil’s hands and proceeded to draw his sword.

“I’ll hold them off while you escape, alright?” Cassian said, turning to face the swiftly approaching guards. “Quickly, get going!” he barked out, trying to get the group moving. Beowulf picked up Thedrick as well and then started running the other way down the corridor, Emil close on his heels.

It was only a few moments before the guards were upon Cassian, stopping just in front of him with their weapons drawn.

“I don’t suppose I could order you lads to stand down?” the officer asked in a joking manner, pointing his weapon towards his own men.

“Sorry sir, regent’s orders. We have to ask you to stand aside,” one of the men stated. “We don’t want to fight you,” he added when Cassian didn’t move.

“Sorry fellas, but those are my friends that you are after. I’m afraid I can’t let you pass,” Cassian said firmly, adjusting his grip on his sword. For once he was hoping that he hadn’t trained his men all that well.

Cassian looked at the guards faces, noting that they seemed a little nervous facing off against him. A few of them turned to each other and whispered, and then half of the squad turned around and started running the other way, trying to take the long way around to catch up to Beowulf and the others. Cassian stood his ground in front of those who were left, thinking if he could at least keep them occupied for a while then Beowulf would stand more of a chance against the others.

The officer decided to make the first move, lest the rest of them decided to turn tail and run to also take the long way around to catch the others. He rushed at the one who stood in front of him, who easily parried Cassian’s clearly telegraphed move. The problem was that Cassian was not attacking with the intent to kill. He had wanted that blow to be blocked, he hadn’t wanted to take the lad's head from his shoulders. He didn’t want to kill his men, even if they were trying to kill his friends. They were just following the regent’s orders after all, and who could tell them that killing vampires was an unjust cause?

This is how Cassian managed to get himself run through with one of the guards’ swords. He didn’t think the lad had been actually trying to hurt him either, which seemed clear on the younger man’s surprised expression, the way he gasped and let go of the sword. He and the others were probably only trying to incapacitate their commanding officer. Yet still, Cassian now had a blade through his belly. He froze.

Cassian’s own sword fell from his hands, clattering onto the floor. He slowly sank to his knees, staring at the blade sticking out of him with wide eyes. He braced himself for a panic attack… but it didn’t come.

He heard the clatter of the guards’ boots as the group ran past him and down the hallway. He saw feet in his peripheral vision, then knees, then a hand reached out and gripped his shoulder. “I’m sorry sir,” the young man said, sounding awfully guilty.

“Would you mind… helping me sit against the wall…” Cassian managed to push out in a raspy tone. Both of them knew not to touch the blade, unless they wanted him to bleed out quicker. The guard helped Cassian into a sitting position and leaned him up against the wall while the officer held the sword in place. He felt dizzy, and would really like to lie down, though he thought that might be a bad idea. “Could you fetch the chirurgeon now lad?” he requested breathlessly. Then the guard was gone.

Cassian did his best to keep himself alert while he waited for the guard to get back with Balthasar. He wondered what the chirurgeon would think about him adding yet another scar to the collection he had on his abdomen. He had a feeling that he wasn’t going to be very impressed. Though Cassian was happy he had managed to be somewhat useful, delaying the guards before he had been taken down. He guessed he had taught them well after all. He was praying that Beowulf had managed to get away with the others by now. As far away as possible.

He tried his best not to look down at the wound, but he could see the growing red stain on his clothing in his peripheral vision. He wondered if he was going to last long enough for the guard to find Balthasar and get back to him. Against his better judgement, Cassian decided to rest his eyes for a moment, focusing on keeping his breathing steady.

“Cass?” the voice sounded strangely far away. Cassian made a grunting noise in response, but otherwise didn’t move, not even to open his eyes.

“Cass, wake up! Look at me!” the voice demanded. Cassian really didn’t want to, but he cracked his eyes open slightly, peering up at the hazy figure leaning over him. He recognised the long dark hair. Cassian wanted to make a witty remark, but found he didn’t have the energy to speak, let alone think of a good one.

“Quick, get him on the stretcher,” Balthasar instructed what Cassian assumed to be the guard, and soon he was being lifted and manhandled and then laid down again. Then he was raised up into the air, assumedly as the pair lifted the stretcher, though the officer was finding it difficult to keep track of what was happening. He decided to close his eyes again and enjoy the bumpy ride, even though Balthasar kept yelling at him to stay awake.

Before Cassian really knew what was happening, he was jolted into a more alert state by fresh pain in his guts. Then more pain, and swearing, and angry words in a foreign language that he guessed was probably more swearing. One of his eyes was forced open at one point, and he groaned and recoiled from the sudden light.

He guessed he must have finally passed out at one point, because next thing he knew things were a lot quieter, and there was less stabbing pain and more of a duller ache. Cassian forced himself to crack an eye open, wondering if the lack of swearing meant that Balthasar had left the room. But no, the chirurgeon was sitting on a chair next to the sickbed Cassian was laid out in, reading a book while scowling. This all felt very familiar.

“Whatever silly quip you are about to make, Cassian, save it. I am entirely not in the mood,” Balthasar muttered out of the corner of his mouth, eyes still on the book. Cassian closed his own mouth, which he had opened slightly in preparation for said quip, and just smiled instead. Balthasar slowly moved his eyes over to the officer’s face, his annoyed expression remaining intact.

“Why are you mad at me?” Cassian asked, making himself sound hurt. “I was the one that got stabbed!”

“Would you mind explaining to me exactly how you came to be in this situation?” Balthasar asked tersely, setting the book aside. “The guard didn’t seem to feel much like talking. In fact, he ran away when I asked him what was going on. Quite rude of him.”

“They were after Thedrick and Maerwynn… I had to try and stop them…” Cassian grunted as he attempted to adjust his position on the bed to be a bit more comfortable.

Balthasar’s expression changed in an instant, now looking confused and concerned. “What do you mean, after them?”

“Tybalt ordered them to kill the vampires. I overheard it, and warned them, helped them get away, tried to hold off the guards,” Cassian explained shortly, feeling wearier with every word.

Balthasar appeared to be at a loss for words as he processed what Cassian had just told him. Then the scowl quickly returned. “How did Tybalt find out?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me this? I don’t know,” Cassian snapped, sounding quite cranky. He wasn’t in the mood to be interrogated when he was feeling so weak and tired.

“Did Beowulf manage to get out with them?” Balthasar asked with worry, getting to his feet.

“I don’t know, I was too busy getting stabbed,” Cassian pointed out huffily. “But I hope so.”

“Should I go and try to find out?” Balthasar asked uncertainly, looking towards the door. It unsettled Cassian to see the chirurgeon seeming so anxious and unsure. He was never like this. 

“Even if the guards caught up to Beowulf, I don’t think they’d be able to take him down so easily. Seemed their plan hinged on catching him unawares. I would say they are already far away by now,” Cassian reassured, desperate to alleviate some of Balthasar’s worry.

“I suppose you are right… nothing we can do for them now…” Balthasar said solemnly, sinking back down into his chair.

“I hope I have taught Beowulf and Emil enough for them to survive out there…” Cassian mused as Balthasar checked his wound. “World’s a dangerous place.”

“What, the useless noble is with them too?” Balthasar commented with snarky disdain.
Cassian chuckled at that, but the motion hurt his abdomen, so he quickly stopped. “I think you underestimate Emil. He’s come a long way since he got here, you know. Besides, the more people guarding the queen, the better.”

“We should go after them… help them,” Balthasar said, looking up towards the door again as if he was planning to do just that.

“I really don’t think I’m in any state to be going anywhere right now,” Cassian pointed out, letting out a cough to accentuate his point. “Besides, you don’t even know where they are going. How do you hope to find them?”

“Where did you tell them to go?” Balthasar asked, his tone surprisingly quite demanding.

“I just told them to get as far away as possible… who knows what direction they even headed in,” Cassian said with a humourless smile. “At least the regent won’t be able to torture their location out of me.”

Balthasar frowned heavily. “Right. Tybalt is not going to be pleased about you helping them to escape.”

“You’ll bring me fresh bandages in the dungeon, won’t you dear?” Cassian joked, smiling up at the chirurgeon more genuinely now.

Balthasar rolled his eyes and seemed to be trying not to smirk. “I’ll try to convince him to let you stay in here, at least until you are healed.” The chirurgeon paused, the half-smirk falling away. “I really appreciate that you put your life on the line to try and save them Cass. It means a lot to me.” Balthasar then leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on the soldier’s forehead.

There was no back and forth snarkiness or bickering leading up to this kiss. It was a genuine display of affection. Cassian was a little stunned, silently blinking up at Balthasar as he pulled away, not sure what to say or do.

The soft moment between them was interrupted, however, by the sound of the infirmary doors opening. Both of them quickly glanced over at the room entrance and saw a detail of guards accompanying the regent as he stepped inside, expression stormy. Cassian swallowed nervously. He felt Balthasar quickly grab his hand and give it a squeeze before the chirurgeon rose to his feet.

“Don’t worry Cass. I’ll handle this.”