Fin jogged across the icy roof. The prisoners shot after him, two by two. Achan patted several on the back as they went, saying, "Arman be with you." He winced as many had no shoes and thin clothes. He prayed they wouldn't freeze.
Shortly, only he, Elk, and Kurtz remained.
Achan took a deep breath. "Stay close." Sir Caleb?
Your Highness! Gavin tells me you're free. Where are you?
Just inside the stairwell on the western tower.
I'm behind you, close to where we will toss the boarding hook.
Achan crossed the doorway and peeked the other way in time to see Sir Caleb strike a soldier's leg. The soldier screamed and swung one last desperate swipe, but Sir Caleb finished the man with a stab to the chest. He shrugged off his pack.
"Come on." Achan darted out of the tower and over the icy roof. Every few steps, his feet stuck to the roof and ripped free, leaving his feet smarting. How daft to have given his boots away. He thrust the torch to Sir Caleb, dropped his knife, and fell beside the dead guard, clawing at the man's boots.
Sir Caleb waved the torch, sweeping it from side to side. "What happened to your-" He looked above Achan's head, eyes wide, and dropped the torch. "Well, I'll be ransomed."
"Hello, Caleb," Elk said.
The men embraced in a fierce hug. Achan shoved his right foot into the boot. It was too small, but better than the alternative. While Sir Caleb shook Kurtz's hand, Achan tugged on the other boot then tossed the dead man's fur cape to Elk.
Achan passed the guard's sword to Kurtz. "Keep watch, will you?" For now they had the entire southeastern wall to themselves, but it might not last.
Sir Caleb seized his pack and dumped a coil of rope onto the roof. "I'll toss the hook to Inko-see his light?"
Achan squinted out over the curtain wall. A single torch burned in the darkness. In the bailey below, a massive melee was underway. Achan's stomach tightened at the idea of going over the side of the tower while men were fighting underneath.
Sir Caleb arranged the coil of rope by his feet. "Achan, show the men how to attach their hooks."
Achan pulled the strap and hook out of his trousers and moved his belt up under his armpits, then imitated how he would set his hook on the line.
"Stand back now." Sir Caleb backed up, the boarding hook in his right hand. "Achan, hold the end, just in case?"
Achan snagged the end of the rope poking out from under the huge pile.
Sir Caleb skipped forward and pitched the boarding hook toward the distant torchlight. At first it appeared right on target. The rope in the pile beside Achan spun away as the hook sailed toward Inko, but the hook fell before it passed over the snowy white sentry wall. Halfway down, it clunked against the wall and bounced back into the snow.
Sir Caleb sighed. "Nothing to do but pull it quickly." He grabbed the line and started to bring it up.
The hook tugged through the snow, flew onto a patch of ice and slid and bounced about. It neared a group of fighting men. One of the guards unknowingly straddled the rope.
Move, Achan thought.
The man lunged forward with his sword just as the boarding hook slid past.
The hook lifted off the ground and up along the side of the tower. Achan blew out a steamy breath.
Sir Caleb gripped the boarding hook again. "How many tries did it take me at Meribah Corner, Your Highness?"
"Three."
Sir Caleb hummed. "Better get it in two or I'll never hear the end of the lucky number three from Inko."
Achan grinned. "Good plan."
This time Sir Caleb lobbed the hook much higher. The aim was off a bit-Inko would have to play fetch-but the hook sailed over the wall with several feet to spare.
"Nicely done, Sir Caleb."
"Thank you." Sir Caleb took the end from Achan, looped it around the nearest crenellation, and tied a complicated-looking knot. The rope bounced over the air like a wave.
"Do you think he's got it?" Achan asked.
"Aye, but thinking isn't good enough. He'll light the blue torch, then we'll know."
Achan stared at the yellow flame in the distance until it blurred. He blinked and it focused back to a small dot. Suddenly another flame appeared beside it, blue and bright. The yellow torch went out.
"Okay, Your Highness, that's our signal. You ready?"
"If I may." Elk held his dagfish hook in one fist. "Allow me to go first. If something were to happen, let it be to me."
Achan shrank with such an offer. "You're a brave man."
Elk smirked. "To be the first one to escape? Perhaps I'm only selfish, Your Majesty."
"You there, what're you doing?" A man strode toward them, his fur cape rising and falling with each step.
"Watching the action, we are," Kurtz said.
"Of all the lazy…hey!" The man drew his sword. "Prisoners escaping on the roof! Prisoners esca-"
Kurtz ran him through before the man could even raise his weapon. "Not a bad sword," he said, jerking it out. The guard slumped over onto his side. Kurtz swiped the blade on the guard's trousers. "Think I'll keep it, I will."
Elk set his hook over the line and straddled the parapet. His breath clouded in front of his round face. "This is a bit intimidating."
"Help me lift him over, Your Highness," Sir Caleb said.
Achan gripped Elk's right hand, Sir Caleb his left. Elk swung his other leg over the wall and they lowered him. When their arms stretched as far as possible, Elk's rope still had some slack.
"You're going to fall a bit." Sir Caleb grunted. "Just a few inches, but it will likely be a bit of a scare. Achan, let go first."
Achan released Elk's hand. Elk gripped the eye of the hook, his knuckles white. He took another deep breath then nodded at Sir Caleb.
Sir Caleb let go. Elk fell down and away, legs flailing. He seemed to be trying to stifle a scream as a loud groan slid away with him. A V notched into the cable where Elk's hook propelled down the line.
"I forgot to tell him to put out his feet," Sir Caleb said.
Achan winced as Elk slammed into the sentry wall. He struggled a moment, like a fish on a line, then managed to pull himself up. His body vanished as he fell over the parapet. A moment later he stood and lifted a hand.
"It's absolutely insane, it is," Kurtz said. "I love it."
Sir Caleb clapped Achan on the shoulder. "Okay, Your Highness. You're next."
Achan's gut clenched. He pulled his hook into his shaky hands and set it over the cable.
"Wait! Take these, eh?" Kurtz slapped a pair of leather gloves against Achan's arms. "A gift from my dead guard."
"Thanks." Achan slipped the gloves on, disturbed to find them still warm.
"Help me lift him over, Kurtz," Sir Caleb said.
Achan straddled the parapet, as Elk had done. Sir Caleb and Kurtz lowered him down. His forearms twitched, muscles tight. Short breaths puffed out of his mouth like steam from a soup pot. Sir Caleb let go first. Achan's hand flew to the eye of the hook. A shadow fell over Kurtz's back.
"Behind you," Achan yelled.
Kurtz glanced back and lost hold of Achan's hand.
Achan's insides seemed to fly up and out of his mouth. He fell, weightless, away from the Pillar, screaming louder than he ever had, not falling any longer, but shooting along on the cable. He strained to see how the men fared on the Pillar, then remembered he needed to turn around.
He swung his leg out and spun in a complete circle. Maybe he could slow himself down before trying to turn. He lifted his left hand to the cable but jerked it away at the smell of burning leather. Another attempt to swing himself around and-