Note this is only the first chapter of this story. I'm not putting my whole baby out there for all the world. If you want to read more you can e-mail me, sapphirarlo@gmail.com I'm still trying to figure out a title.
Chapter One - The Disappearance of the Crown Jewels
The girl’s worn shoes were silent as she made her way along the stone wall. Her long, hooded cloak fluttered around her in the cool spring night air. Beneath her cloak she fingered the hilt of the slender but strong dagger and checked to be sure the feed sack was still tucked into her belt.
The back gateway of the castle was growing nearer and in the glow of the torch light she could make out the shapes of the two guards. One was tall and skinny, the other short and stout.
She stopped in the shadows and thought her plan through one more time. She glanced around nervously. She didn't want to use the dagger unless she absolutely had to.
Loosening her cloak enough to push it and her blouse off one shoulder she then tucked her skirt up to her knees. She pinched her cheeks, smoothed her hair and bit her lips to redden them. After tucking the dagger into the back waistband of her skirt she pulled the cork from the vial that hung round her neck. She touched the liquid to her fingers and rubbed in on her lips. She had taken the antidote for the powerful sleeping potion earlier.
She then focused her attention on the guards. The tall skinny one stood at attention but thankfully the stout one was dozy. His eyes drooped and he sat leaned back against the gateway. She waited till she heard faint snoring from the sleepy guard and then sauntered into the light.
“Halt! Who goes there?” the tall guard demanded. The stout guard snorted and dozed back off.
“Just a peasant girl, passing by, on this fine evening.” She replied in what she hoped was a sultry voice. She flicked her hair off her bare shoulder.
“Oh!” the guard widened his eyes, smiled, and relaxed.
She sidled up to him and leaned in for a kiss which he accepted. A second later he slumped heavily into her arms deep in the drug induced sleep. The other guard dozed on completely unaware. She stood over him and as he opened his mouth in a snore she tipped a drop from the vial into his open mouth. He awakened with a sputter at the bitter taste and then just as quickly he was unconscious again. The girl glanced around once more, replaced the vial around her neck, pulled the cloak tight around her, and flipped the hood back over her head.
The hoot of an owl startled her and a bead of sweat ran down the middle of her back. She breathed deeply to calm her jangled nerves and pulled the key from the pocket of the tall guard. She unlocked the gate returned the key, and slipped through the opening placing a small flat rock from her pocket between the gate and the jamb, ensuring a quick escape route. She had ½ an hour to finish her quest.
Keeping to the shadows she skulked along the wall. The moat was about 50 yards away. She dodged from tree to tree till she was amongst some brush close to the moat. She stripped down to her undergarments and wrapped everything in her cloak. She wouldn’t care about being wet coming back but going in she didn’t want to leave a trail. The dagger she clamped between her teeth just in case she had to deal with something nasty in the moat. She swam as quickly as she could across the moat trying not to think about what might be swimming with her.
Once on the other side she ducked into some more brush and stripped bare. She wrung out her undergarments and redressed, making sure her cloak was tight around her and her dagger and feed sack tucked safely back into her belt. She ducked through the trees to the back of the castle.
The castle and its walls and moat sat amongst a wooded area. She had picked the gate she had because very few people knew it existed. The king used it when he snuck out to one of his endless secret trysts with loose or naive women.
She flattened her back to the castle wall. She found the back servant entrance in the moonlight. It was almost 1:00 A.M. and everyone was asleep. Everyone, that is, but a watchdog, chained to a post in the courtyard. He saw her approaching and snarled. Having anticipated a dog or two she had thought to put a few scraps of meat in a pouch in her pocket, already treated with the sleeping potion. She tossed a scrap to him now and he snatched it in mid air. He didn’t even bark. He scarfed down the meat and swayed as the drug took effect. He slumped to the ground sound asleep.
She surveyed the courtyard. The wide walkway toward the heart of the castle was what she wanted. She followed the floor plan as she had memorized it thankful for the full moon and the occasional torch mounted occasionally on the walls. Soon she found the throne room. Just off that room was a small windowless inner room that held the crown jewels and other valuables.
She paused in a darkened doorway her pulse pounding in her ears. She pulled out a packet of herbs that when ground together creates a lot of smoke but no fire. She mixed the herbs in the palm of her hand and then rubbed her hands together. A thin ribbon of smoke rose. She quickly wrapped it back in its packet, dropped it behind her and ground it with her heel. Smoke rose thickly. She ran down the hall and hid behind a tapestry that hung around the corner from the throne room doors. Soon the call sounded out,
“FIRE!!!!!!”
Two guards barreled out the throne room doors, leaving them open and ran right past her through the smoke. She rounded the corner and into the throne room. Pulling the doors behind her, she closed and locked them. She barely got her eyes adjusted and then she pulled the heavy velvet curtains open at the window. Moonlight poured in along with light from a single torch on the wall. Pulling the dagger from her belt she jimmied the lock on the safe room. In what seemed like ages to her she finally heard a click and she flung open the door. She grabbed the torch and took it with her into the safe room. Carefully she hurried and put the torch in a sconce on the wall.
She wrapped the scepter, the crown, and the signet ring in the velvet from their display cases and tucked them into the feed sack which she then tied tightly. She ran out of the safe room, hauled on a cord that was to tie the curtains back and snapped it free at the top. She tied it to a sconce on the wall next to the window and flung it through the window hoping it was long enough to get to the ground below. All of a sudden there was banging on the door. Her heart pounding she hauled herself out the window slid down the rope, recklessly dropped the rest of the way to the ground, regained her balance, and tore across the grounds to the moat. She ripped her blouse off and yanked off her skirt flinging them into the water. Gathering her cloak to her head and tucking the sack into her belt she dove into the water. She dropped her cloak around herself and hurled herself toward the wall and gate. Behind her on the other side of the moat torch light bathed the grounds, dogs barked and people were shouting. Dislodging the pebble she flung herself through the gate, and listened to it latch behind her. She paused to catch her breath for a second before disappearing in to the forest with king's most prized possessions.
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