Sons of Courage Book 2 Chapter 1 Cloaked figures; fire!

1411 A.D.

The cloaked figure silently opened the door to the kitchen and stepped in the dark room. He quickly made his way to the opposite end and opened a second door leading to the dining area. A long table stretched the length of the room, adorned with a giant bowl of fruit in the middle, barely lit by the two dingy torches hanging from either side of the room. The figure silently dashed past and entered a third room.

This one was a comfortable sitting area with a large fireplace at one end. A small blaze crackled cheerfully, giving the room warmth on this cold winter night. The cloaked intruder stepped over and pulled a pouch from his belt. He pulled out a handful of dark powder and thrust it into the fire—instantly flames shot up nearly two feet.

He grabbed a candle from the hearth in lit the wick with the fire, then poured more powder on the nearest chair. He scattered more on the seats, then emptied the last of the contents of the pouch on the hearth.

He dropped the candle on the hearth and watched as in seconds it burst into flames. The figure lit a second candle and the seats to fire, then dashed out of the room. The night is just beginning.

“FIRE!”

King Albert jolted from his sleep at the outcry. He was out of his bed in seconds, thrusting the royal bedchamber door open. Smoke was beginning to fill the hall at an alarming rate. He could hear servants on the floor below trying to subdue the flames.

Albert ran through the smoke to the bottom floor of the building. He could see flames on his left burning at a rate much too high to be quenched. My son! I must get to my son. He must be kept safe. The king ran to his left down a hallway that had not yet been overcome by smoke. He reached the end and wrenched the door.

Two frightened maids were hastily wrapping a baby up in a warm blanket. They turned to Albert. “Your Majesty, we must get the baby to safety. The servants say the fire is spreading too rapidly to stop it!”

“Yes I know, take my son to the stables, he should be safe there. I’ll do what I can to contain the flames. Now move quickly or we will be cut off in this hall!”

The maids rushed out. Albert followed and choked as smoke filled the hall, reaching into very small nook and cranny. Albert pulled his nightshirt around his nose and mouth and rushed through the haze back into the main hall.

Servants and royal guards were dashing left and right, hurling buckets of water on the flames and beating at the inferno uselessly. Albert yelled for them to get out and they dropped everything and rushed out the large front door. Albert turned to follow, then remembered the crown.

Without the crown his son could not become king when he grew old enough; the crown was a symbol of who he was. It was placed in the upstairs at the end of the hall. He ran up the stairs, coughing and choking as the flames began to move upwards, sending plumes of rising smoke.

Albert reached the room and ran straight for the center where a velvet pillow held the crown at night. He pulled up short as he realized the crown was gone. Just as he spotted the dark figure in the corner holding the jeweled crown, the throwing star entered his throat.

The cloaked intruder watched as the frantic maid rushed for the small dock. He slipped a thin knife for throwing, out of his sleeve. The maid was frantically looking back as the house behind her was burned to the ground. The king was nowhere to be found. His baby was being carried to the docks by this maid, and the dark figure planned on never seeing the baby either.

He stood in the shadows twenty feet from the docks. The maid's bare feet padded on the wood and she stopped, breathing deeply, inhaling the fresh air. A cool breeze swept through, carrying the smoke along out to the river. The figure pulled back his arm, and in one solid motion flicked the knife out of his hand, and it sped straight for the baby.

The maid turned at that point, and the baby shifted in her arms. Th knife stuck into her chest, and inch above the small cuddled human being below. The maid scream and tipped back. The figure muttered a curse and prepared to throw another knife, intent on killing the baby. but the maid fell back, over the wooden dock, falling over three open barrels and splashed into the waters below. The baby let out a wail, and then nothing was heard.

The cloaked figure rushed over and looked out into the murky and dark waters. The maid was floating quietly in the water, having and the baby was nowhere to be seen. Two of the barrels floated for a few seconds, and then filled with water and sunk in a wave of bubbles.

The cloaked ninja smiled. [i]Mission complete.[/i]