By the time they reached the gates of Holmley, in the darkest hours of the night, they had come up with possibly one of the worst plans. Yet, it was the only one they could think of. They had decided that since Thellamy was Yseult's weapon against Aelga and Wynherst, it only made sense to try and take control of that weapon. They were going to sneak into the castle, kidnap Thellamy, and hopefully use him to regain control of Aelga and separate her from Yseult long enough for the love potion to wear off.

Beyond that vague scheme, there was no further plan. They had no idea how they'd make their way into the palace or where to find Thellamy, or where they would take him. It was a slapshod plot, Idelle knew, but they had no more time for anything more detailed. The longer they stayed in or around Holmley, the more likely that someone would see them and report back to Aelga. So, they were going to just ride to the castle and figure out how to get in once they reached its walls.

As they tied up Lugh and Ffion at the city walls to make their travel through Holmley more secretive, Idelle and Torran both kept an eye out for anybody who might be out wandering around at a late hour. They managed to sneak through the streets, dodging guards on duty and a few lonely souls taking a midnight stroll, though it took almost double the normal time to make their way to the palace walls. The closer they got, the emptier the streets, it seemed, though, which was a blessing.

As the stone wall towered above them, Idelle pointed out to Torran that they should go to the side and away from the wall. She whispered to him about seeing Yseult lowering a rope to Rogerick, and they discussed whether they could perhaps trick her into thinking he had returned in order to gain access to her room and Thellamy. It was a long shot, that she was still in that room, that Thellamy would be there, and that she'd think they were Rogerick, but it was one of the only ideas they had for getting in. Idelle was just pointing out Yseult's window when Torran snatched her arm and yanked her into the shadows of a nearby alley.

"What?" she hissed, but Torran slapped a hand over her mouth, muffling her voice. She glared at him, but in the silence she heard voices close by.

"Reynard," he breathed into her ear. He slowly released her mouth and then together they leaned forward, peeking out of the alley and down toward the wall underneath Yseult's window.

Sure enough, Reynard stood there in the dim light spilling from a house behind him. He was dressed in his purple robes and his white hair gleamed. Next to him, a group of men in black hoods blended in with the shadow, so hard to see that Idelle couldn't even tell how many of them there were. She only knew it was a lot, and it made her skin crawl.

Reynard waved his hand in the air, in the general direction of the window. "Yseult sends down a rope for her little potion man, but you're going to climb it instead of him tonight," he said. "The most powerful among you should take care of her and her little boy, but the rest need to find the princess and dispatch her as quickly as possible. You'll be outnumbered, but if you set the place ablaze as you go, they'll be distracted."

Idelle, panic and rage burning her chest, lunged forward, wanting to hack Reynard to pieces and all the cloaked figures around him. She wouldn't let them get to Aelga or even up into Yseult's chambers.

She was almost out of the alleyway when Torran snatched her by the waist and hauled her back. She struggled against him, hearing Reynard bid the soldiers farewell. If she waited any longer, the rope would drop and they'd be heading into the castle, ready to pillage.

"Idelle, stop!" Torran hissed. "You can't fight that many fire mages. They'll slaughter you!"

Chest heaving, Idelle realized that he was right. While she had fought many on the battlefield, she'd always had other men on her side. Right now, she only had Torran and their swords, and it was an unfavorable place to fight magic. They probably wouldn't even reach the fire mages before being roasted in the long corridor.

Cursing, she stopped straining against Torran's grip and watched with him as the rope fell a few seconds later. Yseult thought she was letting Rogerick up, but soon she'd see the mistake she'd made. Hopefully Idelle and Torran would be able to stop it from spreading to harm Aelga or anyone else in the castle.

The fire mages began to ascend the rope, quiet and quick, and soon they were more focused on that then anything else in the area. Torran and Idelle took the opportunity to sneak out into the shadows and edge away from the mages and back out into the city. Once there, they ran to the castle gates, not caring if any guards saw them anymore. Right now, they needed the guards.

Idelle reached the gate first and came to juttering stop with her hands slamming against the wall. The guards on duty looked at her in shock for a few seconds before drawing their swords.

"What's the meaning of this?" one asked, motioning for the guards in the tower to lower the portcullis. Idelle cursed again, trying to signal to them that they should keep it open.

"No, stop!" she shouted. "We need to get in! We have to warn the captains of the guards that the castle is about to be invaded!"

The guards actually laughed in her face. "Invaded? By who? Little pixies coming in on the breeze?"

Idelle glared, slapping her hand against the portcullis bars as they settled into place. "Open it right now." When no one made a move, she grunted in frustration. "Fine! At least go warn them yourselves. A group of fire mages are ascending the walls and entering through Queen Yseult's chambers. They have orders to burn the castle and kill Queen Aelga."

The mention of harm befalling the monarch made the guards stop laughing, but now they aimed their swords at her neck. "Are you threatening our queen?" one guard asked.

By this time, Torran had caught up. His braced leg still made it hard for him to run, and he was wincing in pain as he came to a stop. Idelle breathed a sigh of relief. They may not recognize her, but they should know the queen's own cousin, even if the wound on his cheek hardened his face and his hair was shorter now. He outranked all of them, even if Aelga had sent him back to the trenches. He could surely get them to listen.

"This soldier is telling the truth," Torran said, his tone the assured and confident order of a commander. "I saw the fire mages entering with my own eyes. We need to warn the guards inside and get Aelga to a safe place."

The guards, to Idelle's surprise, turned their swords on him instead. "High Lord Reynard told us about your schemes to replace Queen Aelga and become king," one said, narrowing his eyes. "He warned us you might try to gain access to the castle by any means necessary."

One of the guards spit on the ground. "You expect us to believe fire mages made it all the way to Holmley without anyone knowing? And they're somehow getting into the castle?"

"They've made it to Holmley because Reynard is probably bribing people to keep quiet about their movements," Torran argued. "I heard him just now saying he wanted Aelga dead!"

"As if High Lord Reynard would say any such thing! He's been loyal to her family since before you were even born!"

The nearest guard shoved Torran, nearly knocking him over. Torran responded with a punch that caught his jaw, and soon the other guard was grabbing his arms and twisting them behind his back. Idelle, thinking perhaps she might be able to slip by while Torran was distracting them, grabbed the portcullis and yanked on it, but couldn't move the metal bars even a fraction. She kicked it, screaming at the guards in the tower to move it or else be responsible for Queen Aelga's death, which caused more to spill out and approach her with their swords drawn. They screamed back at her as she drew her own sword, knocking them back and trying to get to Torran to help free himself of the guards now kicking at his legs to try and trip him. 

Sweat pouring down her back, Idelle fought off the guards around Torran. He held his leg where they'd used his wound against him, and she felt even more rage toward the guards. This was the cousin of the queen, who had proved himself loyal over and over again, and they were using his weakness to bring him down. With a roar, she launched herself forward, driving a group of the guards backward. She wondered if she could perhaps get into the guard tower and open the portcullis herself, but even as she thought it, she saw out of the corner of her eye more men spilling out of the castle and down the steps toward them. She and Torran were hopelessly outnumbered already, and soon they would be completely overwhelmed.

Idelle kept herself between Torran and the guard, hoping that if they killed someone it would be her and not him, and that he might be able to gain an audience with someone if they captured him. She felt him press against her back, trying to help her, but she pushed back and angled him toward the safety of an outcropping in the wall.

Just as she was fending off the attacks of two guards at once, the clanking of the portcullis drowned out all other sounds. Idelle glanced over at the iron bars, along with the guards, and saw that the people walking through were not dressed in the standard palace uniforms. They were dressed in all black, with axes and bows and other weapons not used by ordinary guards.

"Get to the Captain!" Walliam shouted, firing an arrow at the guards who had renewed their attack on Idelle. She nearly cried in relief at the reinforcements, and redoubled her efforts to carve a line of escape through the attack force in front of her.

Sabena hammered her way to Idelle's side, clobbering guards over the head with the butts of her axes. While the Guard was making sure not to kill anyone, they were doing a fine job of putting many men out of commission for a few hours.

"What's going on here?" Sabena asked, pushing Idelle and Torran toward the portcullis.

"Reynard organized an attack on the castle tonight. There are fire mages inside right now, planning to kill Aelga and set everything ablaze," Idelle said, breathless with joy at the sight of her men and women again.

Walliam grabbed her arm in greeting, and then turned to Jaspip. "Tell Benten to lower the portcullis."

A second later, Jaspip shouted into the air in the direction of the guard tower, and the portcullis began its rickety descent. As it clanged into place, separating the regular guards from the courtyard, Walliam led the way to the castle door. "How did they get in?" he asked.

"Yseult's window," Torran replied.

Sabena frowned. "There's been a lot going on since you left, Captain," she said. "Yseult's practically taken over, and Queen Aelga insists she's marrying that little crow hatchling."

Walliam opened the castle door, ushering everyone inside. "Reynard accepted Yseult's peace treaty as soon as you left. We've been trying to undermine him for days now, but it seems that he's acted sooner than we thought he would."

Now inside, they took just a few seconds to catch their breath and regroup. Idelle told them what they had seen, and then ordered a few of the younger Guards to go alert whoever they thought could be trusted. Taking Sabena, Torran, Walliam, and a few others, she rushed to Yseult's chambers to try and stop the fire mages there, but it was already too late by the time they reached them.