* * *
Pasquale.

Pasquale scanned the thick brush, carefully nudging his horse forwards. What was he even looking for? He sighed and forced himself to think of the worst thing that could happen. If the King had been attacked, there had to be evidence.

He watched for anything at all; overturned leaves, scraps of clothing, hoofprints... blood... A stick snapped and he spun his horse around, drawing his sword with lightning speed. Nothing moved.

He shifted in the saddle nervously, not liking how close he was to the border. No-man's-land was the area between the Kingdom of Rayndra and the kingdom of Adrelawin, a span of about fifteen miles, where bandits liked to live among the ruins of an old kingdom that once united the two.

As the story went, a wise King ruled the large kingdom of Roemma, which had an alliance with two other Kingdoms. The Kingdom was one of the greatest, but when the old King died, his adviser tried to steal the throne from the Prince. There was a great battle, in which the Kingdom was destroyed and the followers of the Prince went one way, while the adviser and his followers went the other.

The other two Kingdoms hadn't known who to follow, so the relationship between them and Rayndra had been extremely tense, the slightest thing would have ruined the alliance. At least until Caspian became King...

The scout was pulled from his thoughts when he spotted something in the snow about thirty feet away.

Hoofprints. He followed the prints from a distance, not wanting his horse's prints to confuse the two. Within minutes he located the horse.

It had no rider, and he knew immediately it was the King's famous stallion. He scanned the area, finding no sign of footprints. This was not good.

He momentarily debated finishing his search up to the tower, in case there was something more, but if the King was in as much trouble as it seemed he was, there was no time to lose.

He grabbed the stallion's reins, tied him to a tree, and backtracked, following the horse's tracks to see if there was a clue nearby as to what had happened. Maybe the King had fallen, hit his head, and was lying in the snow somewhere. At least he hoped so...

But the tracks went in strange directions, and there was no telling how long the horse had walked around. He doubled back and retrieved the stallion, heading back to the castle.

* * *
Caspian.

Caspian waited as the man left the cell, carrying the torches out and plunging the cell into darkness. He heard doors slamming as he got further and further away.

It was totally black... and yet... he blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. There was definitely a light coming from somewhere.

He scanned the cell, squinting. It wasn't a typical cell, much larger and with a high ceiling.

It was odd. It reminded him of a time when he was a knight and had infiltrated a rogue army that was hanging out in the forest on the edge of the kingdom, to find out their intentions.

He'd eventually been discovered and was locked in one of the towers of an abandoned castle.

But that didn't make sense, that land had been converted into a camp for the royal knights. His own men.

He shook his head. It wasn't possible, most of those men were his friends from when he'd fought among them. It had to be an abandoned castle he wasn't aware existed.

He raised his foot behind himself, resting it against the wall as high as he could, straining his fingers. It took a while, but finally his fingers reached the boot, and he grabbed it, searching the seam.

He touched the cold steel of a tiny decorative piece on the boot and gently pulled. It came off, pulling a thin steel rod out of its unique sheath. A lockpick.

His other boot had the same sheath, only it held a knife for ropes. Between the two he could escape almost anything.

Within seconds he picked the locks and the chains fell off. He hurried to Tamar, releasing her from her bonds.

"Do you think you can climb that?" He whispered, pointing to a chain that was hanging from the ceiling for torture purposes.

She nodded.

"Good, wait for my signal."

Caspian quickly began the climb, hoping the window wasn't barred. 'I've let myself go since leaving King Alton's service' he thought, breathing a bit heavily when he reached the top.

The window had bars, but they were hinged doors with a simple lock. He balanced on the ledge and retrieved his tool from his boot, hands shaking as he tried not to drop it.

He let out a breath of relief when the bars were unlocked and the tool was back in its sheath. He pushed them open.

Turning back he nodded to Tamar, and she quickly began the climb, surprising him with her speed. She reached the top quickly and he pulled her onto the ledge.

Once he was certain she was safe, he scanned the rooftops. They had indeed been in the tower of a small castle, but not one he was familiar with. He chose the easiest looking path and led the way, staying low.

Tamar was limping badly, but the splint seemed to be doing its job. They reached the end of the roof and paused, looking down.

Two soldiers stood below them, guarding the doors.

Caspian pulled out his knife, aiming carefully. Holding his breath, he threw it as hard as he could, right into the neck of one of the soldiers.

The man began to crumple as he leapt from the roof, landing on the other man's back. He grabbed the sword from the man's sheath and killed him with it.

Suddenly, he heard the doors open behind him and spun around. A high-ranking soldier stared at him, sword already in hand- Caspian tensed and curled his fist to strike- before he could attack the soldier seemed to jolt, looking down at his chest.

The tip of a sword poked through his leather armor, and he fell to the ground. Dead.

A young soldier stood behind him, pale as he withdrew his sword. The soldier dropped onto one knee, bowing his head and lowering his sword to the cobblestone floor. "My king, forgive me!"

Caspian realized that the soldier was just a kid, still with the look of a teenager, long limbed with muscles just beginning to fill in.

"Please, we must leave now!" The young soldier said as he rose to his feet, sheathing his sword.

He started to lead them back the way he'd come, but Caspian hesitated. "Where are we going?"

"There's a tunnel beneath the weapons building, we use it when coming and going for raids on villages, it's the quickest way out, only two guards. We can grab some horses and weapons along the way." The kid replied hurriedly, waving for them to follow him.

He glanced at Tamar, who was still on the rooftop above. The kid paused, noticing, and looked up too. "She's with you?"

He didn't wait for an answer but instead leapt, grabbing the ledge of the roof. She knew immediately what he was doing and used him as a ladder, climbing down carefully. The kid dropped silently down, leading the way into the building.

Caspian helped the hobbling Tamar along as they hurried through some halls, down a stairway, and into a small building. He studied their strange helper carefully, noting the way he walked silently.

He looked too young to be a soldier, but moved with all the skill of the older warriors. They reached the two guards he'd mentioned, and the kid silently approached one, pulling out his sword and dagger.

With the dagger, he quickly slit the guard's throat from behind, then spun and sliced the other man's stomach then throat neatly.

It all took only a second for the young warrior, then he signaled them to follow again, making sure the path was clear until they reached the tunnel.

He opened a trapdoor. "In here." He whispered, grabbing a torch off the wall.

Caspian approached the tunnel, looking down. "After you." The kid met his gaze, knowing the King's reasons. Caspian feared this tunnel was just a dead end, meant to trap them, but if the kid led the way, it was more likely a true escape tunnel.

The kid nodded and sheathed his sword, dropping to the dirt floor of the tunnel silently, then reached up, grabbing the lip of the tunnel so that Tamar could use him as a ladder again.

Once she was safely down, he passed the kid the torch and lowered himself in, grunting as the tightening of his muscles brought the searing pain back. The moment his feet touched the bottom he had to lower his arms, clutching his side.

The kid closed the trapdoor, enclosing them in the tunnel. "Come on, both of you." The kid handed Tamar the torch, then worked his way between them, supporting them both as he led the way deeper into the tunnel. "There's a weapons room dug not far from here, we'll grab weapons and bridals. I hope you're both good riding bareback, I don't think we can carry saddles through here like this."

"Why are you helping us?" Tamar asked, sounding a bit winded.

"You have the King to thank for that." The kid replied shortly. "Turn right." He instructed. They turned into a small room, filled with weapons just as he'd said.

He released Caspian, leaning him against a wall, then lowered Tamar to the floor. "Wait here." He hurried around the room, grabbing a couple weapons and placing them in Caspian's sheaths.

Then he grabbed a satchel, filling it with food and medical supplies, slinging it over his shoulder. He grabbed more bandages and returned, crouching next to Tamar.

"Where are we anyway?" Caspian finally asked, studying the armor and weapons. Most of it was unmarked, but occasionally there were pieces that were, but there wasn't any one kind of mark, just a mix of everything.

"Bandit country." The kid replied, wrapping Tamar's ankle with speed. The King noticed his hands were shaking, while his voice stayed steady, barely betraying his fear.

The kid stood, facing him. "May I?" He asked, gesturing to the wound on his side.

Caspian glanced down, realizing it was bleeding again. He reluctantly nodded. The kid wrapped it swiftly. "We need to leave now if we want to reach the horses before you're discovered missing."

Caspian nodded, lifting Tamar to her feet. The kid studied them, then backed up a step, grabbing the torch and leading the way. They finally reached the exit and Caspian climbed out, helping Tamar up her human-ladder.

The kid hoisted himself out easily, closing the trapdoor and putting a horseshoe he'd found in the supply room through the lock.

He led the way to the fence, briskly jogging around to find good mounts. Within moments, he was jogging back with three steeds in tow. He handed each of them reins.

Caspian lifted Tamar onto her mount, getting her settled before handing her the reins. He turned and found the kid watching, but not really paying attention. "What?"

"I was just thinking; we could slow them down by releasing the horses. The steed you're riding is their leader. They would probably follow us out, then disperse and make trails in all directions." The kid suggested, suddenly hesitant.

Caspian guessed he'd rarely been able to make suggestions in the past. He nodded slowly, thinking about the legal issues. These were bandits, so there wouldn't be any.

"Good idea." He agreed, clapping his shoulder. The kid instinctively tensed at his touch, then blinked, staring.

"Really?" His tone was doubtful.

"Of course. It takes a good soldier to think ahead like that, good job." Caspian praised, watching as the kid's eyes widened slightly.

Then, he quickly nodded and jogged over to the gate, opening it for them. Caspian mounted, watching. The kid mounted smoothly, continuing to surprise him with the obvious practice he had in everything.

He glanced at Tamar, surprised to see the first hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, though it disappeared the moment she caught him watching. She lowered her head and nudged her mount forward, avoiding his gaze.

"What?" He asked. She glanced at the kid, making sure he was out of earshot.

"You have no idea how the soldiers are trained here. It's going to take a lot for him to come out of his shell." She said quietly.

He wasn't the only one who was going to take some work, Caspian thought, but kept it to himself and just nodded, beginning to imagine how the men were trained here.

They had just reached the bushes when they heard a horn, just audible above the horses. "The guards have been alerted." For the first time since they met, Caspian heard fear in the young warrior's voice. He noticed that he had paled considerably.

"Come on, into the woods!" Caspian ordered, taking the lead...