CHAPTER 25
Urvo dragged himself out of bed and dressed quickly.He could not be late.Captain Turk would have his rank. He combed his hair back and straightened his tunic.”Good enough,” he said.
Urvo ran down the halls of the palace, almost knocking over a maid. He made it to the two doors before Turk did, but just barely.He tried to act as if he’d been there for a while, when Turk made the corner a few moments after.Like most people, Urvo hated Turk on site.
“I cannot believe it is snowing again,” Turk grumbled.Urvo said nothing. He knew better than to speak to Turk in the early morning.
Protocol demanded Turk get an accurate head count of prisoners every morning and drag out any dead. Turk was required to take another soldier with him, so had ordered one always waiting for him.Today is was Urvo’s turn and he hated it.
While Turk waited, Urvo lifted the heavy bar across the two doors and opened them to the courtyard.Bitter wind screamed into the palace. Urvo jerked his hood up over his head and watched as Turk did the same. They marched across the snow littered courtyard, fifteen steps in all.The distance seemed longer than it actually was, but they arrived at the door and Urvo banged on it.Ervin, the tired soldier on duty, pulled open the small window built into the door. They could see Ervin’s eyes peering out through the square.
“All clear?” Turk asked Ervin. His tone was sharp.
“Aye Captain, all is well,” Ervin replied. Turk unlocked the door, handed the key to Urvo, and entered into the dungeon.The bolt shot home behind him as Urvo locked the door from the outside. The dungeons had been designed so that no one from the inside could open the door. A person standing on the outside had the key and was not allowed to open it until they received the all-clear from the guard inside.
An hour later Urvo heard the obligatory knock on the door he quickly unlocked it. He was freezing and knew better than to make Turk wait. Turk was always surly after his morning rounds.
Turk scurried out into the cold morning. Urvo quickly locked the door and handed him the key.Once the door was locked, they walked to the huge double doors to await the opening signaled by the guards above. Turk waved once, quickly, and the guards waved back. The doors opened up and the two men scampered through into the warmth of the keep.
Sometime later, the guards watching over the courtyard were jerked from their reverie by the sounds of banging and yelling echoing about the courtyard.They quickly shouted for other soldiers to get down there.
In moments the double doors were opening and six soldiers tromped out into the courtyard. The banging was coming from the door leading down into the dungeon.They could see a face in the small window built into the door.
“Fools!Hurry!Taelon the Hunter has escaped!” came the panicked voice.
The guards ran to the door and inspected the guard,”Ervin, is that you?”
“Aye! Taelon killed Turk!Then he knocked me over the noggin and walked out!”
“What about Urvo? Why didn’t he stop Taelon?”
“I was not conscious at the time! You’ll have to ask him yourself!”
The soldier chewed on this for a moment.”Why did Urvo unlock the door, if you did not speak to him? Procedure is for him to speak to you before--.”
“He was not following procedure!” spouted Ervin.
“Apparently not,” the soldier mused.“We must search the castle.If Fordde finds out about this, heads will roll.”
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