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I'm going to put in in the next post as it's quite long and i didn't want it on the same page twice.
Hope you enjoy it, here goes.......
Hope you enjoy it, here goes.......
Page:
CHAPTER 1.
"An old friend was at the door, with an offer that was difficult to refuse..." Said Trey, pausing only to finish his drink, "Thish ish the old friend, hish name ish Deuce." Trey pointed rather unsteadily at his friend who was sitting opposite him at the table in the inn. "Haven't sheen him for, for," Trey blinked with the effort of thought, "Yearsh, besht friendsh we wash. He wash like my, my wosshname, brother." He clapped Deuce on the back, then fell off his chair. "'S'alright, 'm fine," Trey was trying to climb back onto his chair, with little success. He fell back onto the floor and stayed there.
"I think we'd better get, get shome more drinksh in" Said Deuce. The was a cheer from around his feet which rose faster than a boomerang curry from a sensitive stomach as Trey tried to stand up to prove his sobriety. No one believed him.
"Good ole' Deuce, I’ll have 'nother pleashe."
Deuce staggered off to the bar to get some more drinks in.
By the time Deuce got back, Trey had managed to sit himself up onto a barstool without wobbling. Too much.
"Thanksh." The two of them settled down with their new drinksh, sorry drinks, and spoke to people who came up to them. Old friends of Deuces'. Finally, Trey could stand it no more, he had to ask it.
"Deuce, why did you come back here? Thish plashe ish a dump. You were better off leaving here."
"I'll tell you inna, inna mornin'. When there'sh only one of you shi-, shtandin' in fron' o' me."
Deuce slipped off his chair.
- - - - - - - - -
"God my head hurts." Complained Trey, running his hand through his brown hair.
"I'm not surprised mate, you drank like a fish last night."
"It's funny you should say that Deuce, fish don't actually drink much, they-"
"Alright, alright I get your point. Damn it's good to see you. It must be about 15 years since I was last here."
"I know, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you yesterday. I can't believe you turned up, just like that. Why did you come back anyway?" Asked Trey.
"There is something I need to do, and I need your help." Trey sat down and listened to his friend. "I am going to kill my brother." Trey was silent for a moment.
"After all this time, eh? Just like that, too? You do know he's Ace now, don't you?"
"Yes, I know. It will be extremely difficult to get to him. But I have an idea."
"Which is?" Trey was looking interested.
"We break in to steal something, I get myself arrested. That should ensure I get into the palace."
"Just you?"
"Yes. Just me. This is family and i want to sort this out myself."
"Ok, so what are we going to steal?"
"There is a stone I know of, on a chain, like a pendant. The stone is actually a ruby, the size of your fist. That is what you shall successfully steal. You can sell it afterwards and keep the money."
Deuce went on to describe his plan. He was going to recruit a group of people to help him with the break in and robbery. When they had stolen the stone and everyone had made good their escape, he would make sure he got caught and taken in to the palace where he could seek his revenge.
"It's a good enough plan, I can think of some people who may be interested in helping us. The Council, and the Ace in particular, has lost a lot of fans over recent years. There will be plenty of people who will want to try and get one back by doing this robbery." Said Trey.
Once evening had arrived, and the colours of the day were fading and had muted into greyness, people started turning up at Treys' house. They were people Trey knew who could possibly help with the robbery. They would think that it was going to be a proper robbery, they did not know the real reason for the attempted heist. Once they were all assembled, Deuce went through the types of people he would need.
"I need a great locksmith."
"Ah, cue Neville, methinks." Came a voice from the crowd.
"Good choice, he must be on the large side of 20 stone." Someone laughed in the room.
"I think that wouldn't quite fit the context, Tarquin."
"Ah. Well. Yes, if we're talking context here, then yes. You're right."
"Perhaps I should re-phase the question," interrupted Deuce, "I need an excellent locksmith."
Once Deuce had got the names for the team he wanted, he asked if there were any questions.
"Do we get to kill anyone?" Someone asked.
"Only if we have to. This isn't a murder spree. I only want deaths if there really isn't any other option."
"Oh. So I don't get to kick ass?" Asked Curti.
"No. Definitely not."
"I can't even prod buttock?"
"No."
"Oh. Well. Never mind."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Midnight found Deuce and Trey on the riverbank opposite the palace. The palace had been built in a bend in the river. Water protected the south and the west sides; the main entrance of the palace was on the north side, the opposite side to which Deuce and Trey were now laying. The palace was built in a rectangular shape with towers at the four corners. They had been there for some time, watching guard walkways and rotas. A plan was already in development between the two of them.
The previous evening had been a relative success. There would be 5 of them in the group that made the attempted theft. Deuce, Trey, a locksmith by the name of Elfric, a huge man whose size and build belied the fact that he was actually very good at the intricate work he did. An expert archer called Curti, a smaller, nimble man, but with reactions quicker than any Deuce or Trey had seen before. The last was an ex-worker from the palace who knew his way around, named Artemis, he was slightly portly, and walked with a little waddle. The others had been sworn to secrecy but Deuce wasn't too bothered about that, after all, he wanted to be caught. That was the whole point of the exercise.
"I think the best bet would be to climb up the outside of the south-west tower and-"
"But I thought the jewellery room was in the north-east tower?" interrupted Trey.
"It is, but it will be heavily guarded, the south west tower will be relatively easy as it is on the river. As we cross the palace we can 'acquire' some guards uniforms, hopefully that will give us a bit of an advantage when we get to the jewellery room."
"Which way out when we've got it?"
"I'm not sure, it will probably be impossible to go back the way we came. We will have two options, to make it to the main entrance, or to try and get to one of the southern towers and jump out into the river. That choice can be made nearer the time. We are agreed then? Three nights from now?" asked Deuce.
"Yes, unless something unexpected happens. Now we have to see what we need. Rope is an obvious starting point."
The two of them made their way back, discussing what would be needed for the break in.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Three nights later and the five of them were looking across the water to the palace. They could see the torches of the guards patrolling the battlements of the castle. Trey counted under his breath as he watched the guards’ torches travel backwards and forwards. They were all to go in at once and swim across the wide river. It wasn't going to prove a major obstacle, as although it did look wide, it was relatively slow flowing.
"It's going to rain." Stated Artemis, "I can smell it."
"Smell it? Shut up." Elfric snorted incredulously, "You couldn't smell a curry in a flower show."
Trey finished counting and gave the signal, the five climbed as quietly as they could into the river. They had tied themselves together to try and prevent anyone getting swept away. As they were halfway across it started to rain. Artemis turned to Elfric with an ‘I told you so’ look. After a quarter of an hour, they emerged on the other side and climbed up onto the small bank in front of the castle wall.
Trey was confident with how the crossing had gone. He was sure no one had seen them as Deuce and he had timed the guards’ rounds perfectly. They were now at the bottom of the tower at the south-west corner of the palace. They had a good few hours before dawn, when the guard changed, to climb up to the top. Clouds scudded across the moon and they could see their breath in the cold air as they stood around shivering and arranged the climbing order. They couldn’t believe how cold they felt. After climbing out of the river they were soaked to the skin, they wouldn’t dry as it was still raining
They looked up and could just about see the guards walking back and forth on top of the palace walls. They could see flames of the torches flickering and dancing in the wind and rain. The group was slightly sheltered at the base of the wall. They had no torches themselves, as they did not want to alert anyone to their presence. Occasionally the lightning flashed and lit up the almost sheer wall, towering above them. At first glance it looked as though it would be a difficult climb. However, as the lightning started to flash more often, as the storm reached its height, they could see more clearly that there were some cracks between the stones used to build the tower.
“We can use the gaps between the huge stones that were used to build the palace. The mortar between them is slowly eroding. This is good for us as we can climb up easier. They are ideal handholds. Towards the top there is a crack we may be able to shelter in.” Deuce told the others.
They remained tied together with intervals of rope. Deuce was to go first with Trey, then Artemis, Curti and Elfric last. The climbing was not as bad as they had feared as there were gaps between the stones of the outer wall. However, the going was slow not just because of the rain, but also as they did not want to chance being spotted by the guards so they were climbing in the dark, barely able to see the heels of the person above them through the gloom and the rain.
There was a shock however, just as Trey was climbing passed as second floor window, it was suddenly opened. Trey threw himself out of the way of the window and slipped on the wet rock falling through the darkness until he was caught by the rope tied about him. He hung, swinging on the end for a moment to get his breath back. Elfric, who'd seen him fall and braced himself against the rock, swung the rope until Trey could grab onto the wall and start climbing again.
They continued to climb in silence and darkness. The rain had eased a little by now, and the lightning was more infrequent. The ease up of the storm was not the good news it may seem. The rain and thunder muffled any sounds of boots scraping against stone as the group climbed. As the natural noise had died down, they had to be even more careful as they ascended the moss and lichen covered stone.
It was about an hour before dawn by the time they had nearly reached the top of the wall. All they could do now was wait until they heard the guard change before they could go any further. This was the worst time for the group. Although there was a crack they could half climb inside, they were still wet and cold, muscles aching after the climb. Time seemed to go slower than Deuce could ever remember it going before. He was wishing for the sun to start to rise, so they could climb up onto the battlements as the guards changed.
They had to wait in silence, hanging on to the wall as their muscles screamed at them for release. Finally, the sky started to lighten as the sun began to rise. They could hear as the guards changed over. Quietly and quickly they scrambled up the remaining few feet of the wall and up onto the palace roof. Curti pulled out his bow, ready to take out any guards that saw them. None did. The made their way over to a stairwell that took them down into the palace. The palace had 5 floors to it. They jewellery room was on the third floor of the north-east tower, the one on the opposite corner of the palace to where they were now. They needed to go down two flights and across the whole palace to get where they wanted.
The top floor was mainly spare rooms used by dignitaries who stayed at the palace, the whole floor was deserted. This was the one that caused them least trouble as they made their way down to the fourth floor.
"There is now two ways we can go." Said Artemis. "We can either go straight down the main stairway of the palace, the most direct route. Or we can go straight to the tower, and down that way. It's a bit longer and more likely to have guards that way." As he finished his sentence, two guards came round the corner, towards where the group was hiding behind a statue. Before anyone could say a thing Curti had fired two arrows towards them. The first caught one of the guards in the throat, he went down without a sound. The second arrow was fired a split second later and caught the second guard in the eye as he turned to look at his fallen comrade.
Elfric and Artemis ran over to the bodies and dragged them into a room Trey had found. The uniforms were small, but Trey and Artemis could just about fit.
"Well, this makes it a bit easier now we have two guards taking us somewhere. Which way should we go?" Asked Deuce.
"I think straight to the tower and down. It's unlikely guards would ever take prisoners down the main stairway, that’s used mainly for visitors who come to see the Ace and the Councillors."
"Ok, lead the way." The five of them left the room and made their way across the palace to the tower. As they were halfway across they could hear a huge group of guards in the corridors ahead. They quickly ducked into a side room to hide.
"Do I get to kill anyone?" Asked Curti.
"There’s loads of 'em!" Replied Elfric who was peering through a crack in the door.
"We're each worth 10 of them!" Enthused Curti. Elfric quickly counted.
"There's 55 of them."
"Excellent. Lets go!"
"That’s 11 each."
"Oh." Curti's face suddenly brightened. "That’s ok, more for me!"
"It's ok, they're turning off down a different corridor." Elfric was still watching. "It's clear now, let's go."
They got there without further adventures, and made their way down the narrow stairwell inside the tower. They slowed as they approached where Artemis said the jewellery room was. As they approached they could see two guards standing outside the door. Deuce, Curti and Elfric went back up the stairs and hid in the shadows. Trey and Artemis went down towards the guards.
"Hey, come here!" Shouted Trey.
"What? You got some trouble?" Asked one of the guards.
"Yeah, I think you need to come and see this."
The two guards followed Trey and Artemis up the stairs. As they got level with Deuce and the others, they jumped up. Deuce had a dagger in his hand a slid it into the guards neck, up and into his brain.
"Elfric, go down there and pick that bloody lock! Sharpish!"
Elfric ran off and picked the lock as he had been ordered. Trey and Artemis stayed outside on guard while the others carried the bodies into the jewellery room.
"If there's any trouble, get out of here." Deuce told the two who were now on guard. The rest went into the room, looking for what they were after.
CHAPTER 2.
"I’m telling you. It spoke to me! Don’t ask me why it chose me, but it did." Said Elfric. Who was holding the ruby by its chain, letting it spin lazily in the torchlight in front of his face.
"It didn't actually speak to you, it's just appears to. It has that effect. It said to be able to persuade people to do what the owner requires. Like hypnosis, it is having the same effect on me. You just have to ignore it that’s all." Replied Deuce. He took the ruby from Elfric and put it in a leather pouch he had hung about his neck. "Right, that’s the easy part done, now we just have to get out of here in one piece." Deuce, Elfric and Curti all left the room at a run. They grabbed Trey and Artemis on the way out and tried to figure out the best way to leave the palace.
"We could go back the way we came, or try and make it down to the main entrance and get out that way."
"It'll be easiest to get out back the way we came. The main entrance hall will have people about, even at this early time." Said Artemis.
"Ok, back we go."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"And then they must've gone back to the tower and escaped across the river Master. All except one." The guard looked down at his feet.
"So after they had crossed half the palace, killed two guards, grabbed their uniforms, finished crossing the palace, killed two more guards and got into the jewellery room they then somehow managed to get all the way back, killing more guards, and just escaped into the night?" The Ace steepled his thin fingers as he looked over them at the trembling guard. "All except one?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Yes Sir." The guard fiddled with the rim on his helmet as he looked at the ground.
"And how did you catch the one that you did?" The Ace put his glasses on and looked down at a sheaf of paper on his desk. "Ah yes. He drew his sword and disarmed three guards without killing them, just knocking them unconscious with the panache of James Bond." The Ace raised an eyebrow. "James Bond? Who is he?"
"Er, uh, it seemed to make sense when I wrote it Sir."
"This is your report?" The guard nodded. "And you wrote in here peoples names who you do not even know?" Another nod and the Ace looked down at the paper and carried on reading. "Once the three were disarmed, he ran for the Great Staircase, jumping and landing on the chandelier which he proceeded to swing on. Like Tarzan." The Ace peered over his half-moon glasses at the guard. "Tarzan?" The guard gave an embarrassed little shrug, the Ace sighed, and continued. "Once he had swung a couple of times to get his rhythm he then jumped off, landing a flight below and on top of some more guards." The Ace looked up. "Like who?"
"Sir?"
"Which mystery person was he like this time?" The guard turned red and looked at the floor. The Ace put the piece of paper down and took his glasses off. "Never mind, he was caught and he can tell us who they were. You say none of the others were even seen? My, they must have been good thieves." The Ace put the piece of paper on the top of a neat pile already there. "What was it they actually stole?" He asked, in a rather pleasant tone of voice.
"The ruby Sir. The one on the chain." Replied the guard, glad the subject had been changed.
"Ah yes. That ruby. Never mind. What is gone is gone and can never be replaced."
"Sir?"
"If it is gone and you have done as you say and searched the city, then they must have fled. We will never find the rest of them."
"But Sir, the ruby. It has powers."
"Apparently so, but I have never needed them. This is a minor inconvenience at most." The Ace looked down at some paperwork on his desk.
"Sir, I was told to tell you something from one of the guards, before he died. He said the one caught fought like a Six of Spades." The Ace stiffened and looked up, dropping the sheaf of paper as the guard said this.
"Say that again." The guard looked around nervously.
"One of the guards, he, before he died, he -"
"Get on with it."
"He said the one caught fought like he was a Six of Spades." The guard was trying to dig his way through the floor with the heels of his feet. He stayed looking at the floor, eyes not moving.
"I have heard that name somewhere before. But I can't think where." The Ace had a puzzled look on his face. "You may go."
"Sir." The guard touched his forehead and walked out. The Ace stood up and started pacing. He had heard the name before, but he couldn’t remember where or when. It was when he was a child, he was sure of it. He went over to a cupboard and stroked the case that sat on top. Could that have anything to do with it? Possibly, after all, he hadn't seen or heard from his brother since his fathers’ funeral. How long ago was that? At least 15 years. The Ace opened the cupboard and poured himself a glass of liquor. He sipped it as he made his way back to his desk. Ah, of course. There was an easy answer to this, he just didn't see it as he had been concentrating on the problem, not the solution.
"Guard!" he called.
"Sir." The guard touched his fingertips to his forehead as he stopped in front of the Aces desk.
"Fetch the Chief Torturer for me." Always an easy answer..... The guard saluted again and left. The Ace could tell when the torturer was approaching, and he would always use the switch under his desk to open the door just before he knocked. Just to keep him on his toes.
"Si-"
"Yes yes, enough of that. You have someone from the robbery in the dungeons yes?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good. I want you to find out from him as much as you can about the Six of Spades. It sounds familiar to me but I can't think why."
"Yes Sir." He turned to leave.
"Jack? Try and keep him alive until you get the answers this time?" Jack had a disappointed look on his face, but agreed. He hitched his trousers back up above his potbelly and hooked a strand of his dark greasy hair back as he walked towards the door.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Deuce! Keep up!" Shouted Elfric.
"It's ok! I'll make sure no one follows. You go on ahead, I’ll be fine!" Deuce turned back to see if any one was after the group. They had just had to kill some more guards, which he didn’t like, but the rest of the group was nearly away.
"Famous last words." Mumbled Trey from under his breath. "You heard him. We got the stone, now lets get out if here."
"But we can't leave him!"
"Course we can! Better him than us, eh?" Trey hated pretending being this two faced about his friend, but if they were all to get out of alive, he needed to be. Elfric shrugged his shoulders and ran after the group.
Deuce was relatively pleased. He had followed his friends to the tower to make sure they got away and they had. They had stolen the stone and only had to kill a small number of guards. He was now left alone in the palace. All he had to do was get himself caught and not killed. If he could let himself be taken alive, then he may have a chance of seeing his brother and dispatching him. He had made sure one of the guards had heard him say the Six Of Spades, he hoped it would be remembered by his brother. He wasn’t counting on it though, it had been a long time ago.
After watching his friends swim back across the river he went back towards the main staircase, just as he got there, three guards rushed him at the same time.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"He wanted to get caught?! What the hell for?" Elfric was almost shouting at Trey now. Trey looked calmly at him.
"Sit down."
"You'll bloody well tell me why we deliberately left Deuce in there!"
"If you calm down and sit down then, yes, I will tell you." Elfric took a breath to calm himself and sat down.
"Deuce wanted to get caught. He stayed behind on purpose." Trey took a breath. "He wants to kill his brother."
"His brother's the bloody Ace! He can't just kill him!"
"The Ace killed their father. Deuce wants revenge. After that I don't think he cares if he lives or dies, to be honest." Trey thought. "Obviously living would probably be best."
"But why?"
"I told you. Deuce saw the Ace kill his father to get the throne. He, the Ace, knew that their father was going to choose Deuce to be the next Ace. Their father knew that Deuce would be a better leader, better for the people, that’s why he was going to choose Deuce. Unfortunately his brother found out and killed him, his own father, just so he would get the crown. It's amazing what some people will do for power."
"So what happened then? Why didn't he kill Deuce as well? I would if I was in his shoes. Tidy up loose ends, you know." Curti gave an apologetic shrug.
"Deuce was taken away by his uncle directly after the funeral. His brother allowed him that much. Whether he was to be killed as well, or whether it was an oversight, I do not know. No one knows except the Ace." Trey got up and started pacing about, occasionally running his hand through his hair as he spoke. "Deuce was taken away by his uncle, I do not know where he went. He sent some letters occasionally, but asked me not to mention them to any of you, even though you are his friends. I think he has been planning this for some time and did not want to risk anything.
"I imagine he hoped his brother would think him dead anyway. It would certainly help him if he were believed dead. After all, he needed complete surprise, which I think we achieved."
Elfric seemed more content now that he knew a little more of what was going on and relaxed a little.
"What are we going to do with that thing now?" Asked Curti, pointing to the Ruby that lay on the table. They all stared at it as one.
"It's supposed to have hypnotic powers." Said Trey.
"Is it? Maybe we could persuade someone to buy it." Suggested Elfric.
"How do we know it works?"
"It works, I could feel it working on me in the jewellery room." Said Artemis. Curti's face brightened.
"We could use it to get free drinks at the inn!"
"NO! It's just been stolen from the palace, some people may be looking for it, possibly?" Curti's face fell.
"Why don't we just throw it in the river?"
"These things have a way of turning up. No doubt it would be found."
"Yes, but it won't be found with us. It'll be found with some old biddy who does her washing in the river, and happens to see it floating past."
"Good idea. We'll wait 'til tonight and get rid of it then."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Ace looked up from his desk. Surely Jack must have some news from the prisoner by now. Should he go down and see? No, that would probably not be a good idea. Jack liked to be alone while he worked. He was, the Ace tried to think of an appropriate word, proficient at what he did. Also the Ace didn't like the sight of a lot of blood. Probably best to leave him to it. No doubt as soon as anything was known, Jack would come and tell him.
The Aces’ distaste for blood had begun some 15 years earlier, after he had murdered his own father. He could remember it as if it was yesterday. His father had been standing there, in front of him. He had just been told that he was not to inherit the throne. He had been told, just like that, as if he was being told to come in for his dinner when he was a boy. How could he do it? So callously tell him he was not to be Ace? He deserved it. It was always the oldest who succeeded, it always had been. It would be the same this time as well. He didn’t know what came over him. He felt no emotion as he actually did it. He had hit his father who had sprawled backwards and fallen on the floor. He had jumped on him and grabbed a cushion that he held over his fathers mouth, to stop him crying out. While doing this he had reached for his slender dagger that he kept on his belt.
Without thought, he had slid the dagger in under his fathers ribs, feeling the initial resistance of the skin, then just hearing a faint tearing sound as he had pushed the dagger up and into his fathers heart. When it was in up to the hilt, he had twisted it, to make sure he had done the job properly, but his hand had slipped on the hilt of the dagger. He looked down to see blood covering his hands. As he got up to wash them, he thought he saw a figure in the shadows, but it disappeared before he could be sure.
The Ace looked down at his hands as he sat at his desk. He could still see the blood on them, all these years later. He hoped that Jack would soon have some news for him, maybe when he found out about the Six of Spades it would put his mind at rest.
But it had been two days. Surely the prisoner couldn't still be alive by now. No one could survive two days of Jacks company. No one could. The Ace rose up out of his chair, ready to go to the dungeons. He sat back down. He could hear someone coming along the corridor, maybe it was Jack with some news. If he doesn't come up soon, the Ace thought to himself, I will have to go down and find out for myself. The Ace sat back down, ready to use the switch on the door. He briefly looked at what he had just been doing. He had been playing cards. His favourite game was patience. He had a lot of it. He was looking down at the cards, he saw a two. Suddenly it all clicked.
CHAPTER 3.
"The six of spades? What’s so significant about the six of spades?" Jack shouted at the slumped figure in the shackles, chained to the wall. "You will tell me!" Jack punched the man in the face. Hard. It felt good to him. He could feel the bone in the nose break under the force of his fist. Feel the warm blood spurt out over his hand, then watch it dribble down the mans face forming a pool on the floor with the blood already there.
The man lifted his face, ready to say something.
"Y-you... w-ill soon.......... find...out" Jack nodded to someone standing in the shadows of the dungeon who came forward with a bucket of water which was thrown over the chained man. Th chained man let out a scream that was pre-human, before words. The scream carried the meaning of a thousand thousand words. The meaning of true pain. Jack smiled to himself and closed his eyes with the pleasure of it. The scream had sent a shudder down his spine. That was the sound he had been born to produce from people.
The water had been salted, and now the water was running into the cuts and blisters all over his body. Jack had to admit it though, this one was tough, and probably the toughest he'd ever had to deal with. 2 days and 2 nights he'd been down here. Being beaten and tortured for 48 hours was longer than most people lasted. They had either told him what he'd wanted to know well before this, or got the courage to bite through their own tongue and quietly bleed to death.
Jack was now presented with a problem. Normally in situations like this, when the prisoner was about to die and had not confessed, they just put the poor sod out of his misery, then found him guilty after he was dead. That way there was no confusion. However, this one was causing problems to him as the Master didn't want him to die, he wanted the information. This put Jack in a bit of a spot as the prisoner was about to die, but the information was still not appearing. Jack reached a decision, and stalked out of the underground chamber to the stairway.
Down here the stairs were covered in moss and little rivulets of water from where rainwater found it's way through the foundations of the palace. He could hear the quite "drip, drip" of the drops as he ascended the stairs. The corridors got more homely as he reached ground level, here they were actually carpeted with a thick rich red carpet with the symbol of the House embroidered down the middle. This was the main entrance hall to the palace, with great tapestries hung from the ceiling in-between the huge archways that went up into the darkness above, no flame from the many candles around the hall able to pierce the darkness.
Jack knew where to find the Master at this late hour and he walked down one of the eight huge hallways that radiated off the entrance hall to the palace. There were few people around at this time, and few of them met Jacks eye as he hurried down the corridors, turning this way and that. Jack knew why most people tried not to notice him, he smiled to himself at the reason. He was the Chief Torturer, which was why most people tried to ignore him. He could arrest anyone in the palace and torture them for nothing else than a suspicion he had. It was the Masters way of keeping people on their toes, or so Jack guessed anyway.
Finally, Jack got to the door he was looking for. He approached slowly, cautiously. He was sure he hadn't made a sound, and yet just as he was about to knock, as always, the door swung open slowly without a sound. He entered the vast room and the door shut with a bang that made him jump. Jack wasn't afraid of much, he couldn't be in his line of work, but he always felt slightly jumpy whenever he entered his Masters presence.
"There is a problem." Said the Master, without preamble.
"It could be called that, yes."
"Go on." Continued the Master in a level tone of voice. Why doesn't he get angry? Jack said to himself. Why is he always so calm? It seems worse that way, I’d feel better if he shouted at me or something. Jack was brought out of his thought when the Master gave a little cough.
"Umm, well... er...... you see...."
"Out with it please, i do not have all day." In the same pleasant tone of voice.
"He's nearly dead." Blurted out Jack.
"And this is a problem for us?"
"Well, he, er.., hasn't told me what we need to know Sir."
"Ah. Well. Yes. I can see where the problem lies." Jacks mind was screaming at him. Why is he being so nice about this!?
"I came up here to ask your advice Master." Jack bowed his head in deference to his Master.
"Well, you are my Chief Torturer, if you feel he will not speak, that is you cannot extract the information we require, we have no use for him. It is a shame, but there will be more of his.... kind around soon. We will soon have another one to play with." Jack was puzzled with some of what his Master was saying, but he didn't get to the rank he was by questioning orders.
"Sir." He said, bowed once, brushed his hair back and made his way back to the torture room.
He could tell as soon as he reached the door that something was wrong. He knew it when he opened the door to see the shackles hanging empty on the wall opposite. His guards were lying in pools of blood. He rushed over to try and help them, but he was too late. The guard he was looking at had been brutally murdered. One of his eyes had a throwing dagger embedded in it up to the hilt, as well as numerous wounds on his torso. The other guard hadn't been so lucky, his face had been smashed in so much most of it was now falling off. Bob could see bits of white bone under the red of blood and felt his stomach churn. He didn't want to look any closer but found himself fascinated with it.
Suddenly Bob realised how stupid he had been. Where was the prisoner? He looked around frantically for the now somehow free prisoner. He got up and turned around quickly, knocking the table over that held the only candles in the room. They quickly went out, dampened as they were by the blood on the floor. Bob now looked around in terror, eyes trying to get adjusted to the darkness. The only light now came weakly from a torch mounted on the wall outside the door, it cast a feeble pale yellow light in a circle around the doorway. Right now, that was Jacks only hope for survival. He had to get to that light as quickly as he could. He slowly started to crawl his way there, trying to be as quiet as possible. He knew the prisoner was still in the room otherwise he would have seen him as he came back down from visiting the Master. Jack held his breath, he could hear the faint "drip, drip" of the water from the hallway.
He stood up, closed his eyes and tried to picture the room as he had always known it. He could see in his minds eye the location of the tables and plinths that were in the large room. He put his hands out to feel his way. Jack jumped back in surprise after feeling something brush against his hands, something warm. He heard a chuckle from somewhere in the room. Jack turned quickly to try and locate the source of the noise, it seemed to come from different areas at once. He kept turning, trying to peer into the darkness. It was to no avail. He decided to stop playing along with the mans games. He turned towards the small patch of light in the doorway and started towards it, going as quickly as he dared.
Suddenly he found himself falling, he had tripped over a table that had been knocked in the scuffle. He frantically continued on his hands and knees. When he was halfway there, a shadow blocked the door, cutting out Jacks light, Jacks only hope of life. It was the prisoner.
"You expected me to still be in the chains when you got back? Hahahaha, you make me laugh you pathetic little man." Jack started to tremble, "I was going to kill you like the other two, but perhaps slightly slower," Jack felt something warm start to run down his leg as he tried to stand up, "However, I have bigger fish to fry. I am not here for you, rather i am here to kill your master." Now Jack started to laugh.
"Kill the Master? You must be mad! There is no way you can kill him -"
"There was no way you thought i could last 48 hours, but i did." Interrupted the prisoner. Jacks face fell as he realised the truth, he looked to the floor. "I am from the sect of Passid Foxes! I will kill your Master and I shall do it NOW!" With that the man kicked Jack in the face and stalked off to the Masters room.
The Master was quietly at work when his door was kicked open.
"Ahh, Deuce, I was wondering how long it would be before you got up here to kill me." The Masters voice was as calm as ever.
"You didn't think I’d let you get away with it did you Ace?" Deuce scoffed, "You are more crazy than I thought."
"Master!" Jack ran through the door and looked at the two of them, Ace sat at the desk and Deuce standing a few feet in front of it.
"Hmmmm. Jack. So good of you to join us. You can be the referee, after all," he turned to Deuce, "these things have to be done properly after all." Sarcasm dripped off of his words. "Get the swords Jack, this is to be done by duel, am i correct?" Deuce nodded. "Good. Well, no need to hang about, let's get on with it shall we? The swords Jack." Ace held his hand outstretched towards Jack, fingers un-shaking. Jack got the swords from the case and handed them to Deuce.
"Take whichever you fancy, they are both the same i can assure you. I had them especially made for this day. Don't worry Jack," the Master had noticed Jacks puzzled look, "the winner will explain it all to you."
Deuce chose his sword and passed the other to Ace. "Now i shall kill you, like i should have done those years ago" Hissed Ace. Deuce said nothing. He let Ace get angry, taunting him, trying to put him into a rage. Rage often aids fighters when they are against lesser foes, but against swordsmen of equal skill, thrusts had to be measured and defences could not be let down. Without either of them seeming to move, they had somehow got closer together. They were focused on each other, nothing else, just each other. There could be only one winner.........
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Deuce awoke with a start to find himself in a bed, covered with white sheets. He tried to sit up on one elbow but winced with the pain. He looked down and a horrified expression came on his face.
"There was nothing the surgeons could do. It had to be amputated." Deuce turned to look at his friend with a smile.
"I did it?"
"Yeah, you managed it my friend. I would never have believed it would be possible, but you did it." Said Trey.
"What happens now?"
"Well, the surgeon said you need to rest for a few more days, then you decide if you want to Rule, become the new Ace."
"I will decide in a few days my friend." Deuce relaxed back in the bed.
"Before you sleep again, some one would like you to ask you something." Trey turned towards the doorway and nodded. Jack entered, brushing the hair away from his face in a nervous way. He bowed to Artemis and Deuce.
"Excuse me Master, but the previous Master, uh, that is your brother, umm, did say that someone could explain it to me. What was going on i mean."
"All in good time Jack. When i am rested." Replied Deuce.
"Of course Master. But one thing, if I may?"
"Go on."
"What is the significance of the Six of Spades?" Deuce smiled to himself.
"I will tell you. The Six Of Spades is an anagram for Passid Foxes. The Passid Foxes are a sect of warriors that live in the mountains where I trained before I came here to kill my brother. We both trained with them for a while, when we were children. After he killed my father," Deuce turned away to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye, "I went back to complete my training. He never finished his." Jack bowed and walked towards the door.
"An old friend was at the door, with an offer that was difficult to refuse..." Said Trey, pausing only to finish his drink, "Thish ish the old friend, hish name ish Deuce." Trey pointed rather unsteadily at his friend who was sitting opposite him at the table in the inn. "Haven't sheen him for, for," Trey blinked with the effort of thought, "Yearsh, besht friendsh we wash. He wash like my, my wosshname, brother." He clapped Deuce on the back, then fell off his chair. "'S'alright, 'm fine," Trey was trying to climb back onto his chair, with little success. He fell back onto the floor and stayed there.
"I think we'd better get, get shome more drinksh in" Said Deuce. The was a cheer from around his feet which rose faster than a boomerang curry from a sensitive stomach as Trey tried to stand up to prove his sobriety. No one believed him.
"Good ole' Deuce, I’ll have 'nother pleashe."
Deuce staggered off to the bar to get some more drinks in.
By the time Deuce got back, Trey had managed to sit himself up onto a barstool without wobbling. Too much.
"Thanksh." The two of them settled down with their new drinksh, sorry drinks, and spoke to people who came up to them. Old friends of Deuces'. Finally, Trey could stand it no more, he had to ask it.
"Deuce, why did you come back here? Thish plashe ish a dump. You were better off leaving here."
"I'll tell you inna, inna mornin'. When there'sh only one of you shi-, shtandin' in fron' o' me."
Deuce slipped off his chair.
- - - - - - - - -
"God my head hurts." Complained Trey, running his hand through his brown hair.
"I'm not surprised mate, you drank like a fish last night."
"It's funny you should say that Deuce, fish don't actually drink much, they-"
"Alright, alright I get your point. Damn it's good to see you. It must be about 15 years since I was last here."
"I know, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you yesterday. I can't believe you turned up, just like that. Why did you come back anyway?" Asked Trey.
"There is something I need to do, and I need your help." Trey sat down and listened to his friend. "I am going to kill my brother." Trey was silent for a moment.
"After all this time, eh? Just like that, too? You do know he's Ace now, don't you?"
"Yes, I know. It will be extremely difficult to get to him. But I have an idea."
"Which is?" Trey was looking interested.
"We break in to steal something, I get myself arrested. That should ensure I get into the palace."
"Just you?"
"Yes. Just me. This is family and i want to sort this out myself."
"Ok, so what are we going to steal?"
"There is a stone I know of, on a chain, like a pendant. The stone is actually a ruby, the size of your fist. That is what you shall successfully steal. You can sell it afterwards and keep the money."
Deuce went on to describe his plan. He was going to recruit a group of people to help him with the break in and robbery. When they had stolen the stone and everyone had made good their escape, he would make sure he got caught and taken in to the palace where he could seek his revenge.
"It's a good enough plan, I can think of some people who may be interested in helping us. The Council, and the Ace in particular, has lost a lot of fans over recent years. There will be plenty of people who will want to try and get one back by doing this robbery." Said Trey.
Once evening had arrived, and the colours of the day were fading and had muted into greyness, people started turning up at Treys' house. They were people Trey knew who could possibly help with the robbery. They would think that it was going to be a proper robbery, they did not know the real reason for the attempted heist. Once they were all assembled, Deuce went through the types of people he would need.
"I need a great locksmith."
"Ah, cue Neville, methinks." Came a voice from the crowd.
"Good choice, he must be on the large side of 20 stone." Someone laughed in the room.
"I think that wouldn't quite fit the context, Tarquin."
"Ah. Well. Yes, if we're talking context here, then yes. You're right."
"Perhaps I should re-phase the question," interrupted Deuce, "I need an excellent locksmith."
Once Deuce had got the names for the team he wanted, he asked if there were any questions.
"Do we get to kill anyone?" Someone asked.
"Only if we have to. This isn't a murder spree. I only want deaths if there really isn't any other option."
"Oh. So I don't get to kick ass?" Asked Curti.
"No. Definitely not."
"I can't even prod buttock?"
"No."
"Oh. Well. Never mind."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Midnight found Deuce and Trey on the riverbank opposite the palace. The palace had been built in a bend in the river. Water protected the south and the west sides; the main entrance of the palace was on the north side, the opposite side to which Deuce and Trey were now laying. The palace was built in a rectangular shape with towers at the four corners. They had been there for some time, watching guard walkways and rotas. A plan was already in development between the two of them.
The previous evening had been a relative success. There would be 5 of them in the group that made the attempted theft. Deuce, Trey, a locksmith by the name of Elfric, a huge man whose size and build belied the fact that he was actually very good at the intricate work he did. An expert archer called Curti, a smaller, nimble man, but with reactions quicker than any Deuce or Trey had seen before. The last was an ex-worker from the palace who knew his way around, named Artemis, he was slightly portly, and walked with a little waddle. The others had been sworn to secrecy but Deuce wasn't too bothered about that, after all, he wanted to be caught. That was the whole point of the exercise.
"I think the best bet would be to climb up the outside of the south-west tower and-"
"But I thought the jewellery room was in the north-east tower?" interrupted Trey.
"It is, but it will be heavily guarded, the south west tower will be relatively easy as it is on the river. As we cross the palace we can 'acquire' some guards uniforms, hopefully that will give us a bit of an advantage when we get to the jewellery room."
"Which way out when we've got it?"
"I'm not sure, it will probably be impossible to go back the way we came. We will have two options, to make it to the main entrance, or to try and get to one of the southern towers and jump out into the river. That choice can be made nearer the time. We are agreed then? Three nights from now?" asked Deuce.
"Yes, unless something unexpected happens. Now we have to see what we need. Rope is an obvious starting point."
The two of them made their way back, discussing what would be needed for the break in.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Three nights later and the five of them were looking across the water to the palace. They could see the torches of the guards patrolling the battlements of the castle. Trey counted under his breath as he watched the guards’ torches travel backwards and forwards. They were all to go in at once and swim across the wide river. It wasn't going to prove a major obstacle, as although it did look wide, it was relatively slow flowing.
"It's going to rain." Stated Artemis, "I can smell it."
"Smell it? Shut up." Elfric snorted incredulously, "You couldn't smell a curry in a flower show."
Trey finished counting and gave the signal, the five climbed as quietly as they could into the river. They had tied themselves together to try and prevent anyone getting swept away. As they were halfway across it started to rain. Artemis turned to Elfric with an ‘I told you so’ look. After a quarter of an hour, they emerged on the other side and climbed up onto the small bank in front of the castle wall.
Trey was confident with how the crossing had gone. He was sure no one had seen them as Deuce and he had timed the guards’ rounds perfectly. They were now at the bottom of the tower at the south-west corner of the palace. They had a good few hours before dawn, when the guard changed, to climb up to the top. Clouds scudded across the moon and they could see their breath in the cold air as they stood around shivering and arranged the climbing order. They couldn’t believe how cold they felt. After climbing out of the river they were soaked to the skin, they wouldn’t dry as it was still raining
They looked up and could just about see the guards walking back and forth on top of the palace walls. They could see flames of the torches flickering and dancing in the wind and rain. The group was slightly sheltered at the base of the wall. They had no torches themselves, as they did not want to alert anyone to their presence. Occasionally the lightning flashed and lit up the almost sheer wall, towering above them. At first glance it looked as though it would be a difficult climb. However, as the lightning started to flash more often, as the storm reached its height, they could see more clearly that there were some cracks between the stones used to build the tower.
“We can use the gaps between the huge stones that were used to build the palace. The mortar between them is slowly eroding. This is good for us as we can climb up easier. They are ideal handholds. Towards the top there is a crack we may be able to shelter in.” Deuce told the others.
They remained tied together with intervals of rope. Deuce was to go first with Trey, then Artemis, Curti and Elfric last. The climbing was not as bad as they had feared as there were gaps between the stones of the outer wall. However, the going was slow not just because of the rain, but also as they did not want to chance being spotted by the guards so they were climbing in the dark, barely able to see the heels of the person above them through the gloom and the rain.
There was a shock however, just as Trey was climbing passed as second floor window, it was suddenly opened. Trey threw himself out of the way of the window and slipped on the wet rock falling through the darkness until he was caught by the rope tied about him. He hung, swinging on the end for a moment to get his breath back. Elfric, who'd seen him fall and braced himself against the rock, swung the rope until Trey could grab onto the wall and start climbing again.
They continued to climb in silence and darkness. The rain had eased a little by now, and the lightning was more infrequent. The ease up of the storm was not the good news it may seem. The rain and thunder muffled any sounds of boots scraping against stone as the group climbed. As the natural noise had died down, they had to be even more careful as they ascended the moss and lichen covered stone.
It was about an hour before dawn by the time they had nearly reached the top of the wall. All they could do now was wait until they heard the guard change before they could go any further. This was the worst time for the group. Although there was a crack they could half climb inside, they were still wet and cold, muscles aching after the climb. Time seemed to go slower than Deuce could ever remember it going before. He was wishing for the sun to start to rise, so they could climb up onto the battlements as the guards changed.
They had to wait in silence, hanging on to the wall as their muscles screamed at them for release. Finally, the sky started to lighten as the sun began to rise. They could hear as the guards changed over. Quietly and quickly they scrambled up the remaining few feet of the wall and up onto the palace roof. Curti pulled out his bow, ready to take out any guards that saw them. None did. The made their way over to a stairwell that took them down into the palace. The palace had 5 floors to it. They jewellery room was on the third floor of the north-east tower, the one on the opposite corner of the palace to where they were now. They needed to go down two flights and across the whole palace to get where they wanted.
The top floor was mainly spare rooms used by dignitaries who stayed at the palace, the whole floor was deserted. This was the one that caused them least trouble as they made their way down to the fourth floor.
"There is now two ways we can go." Said Artemis. "We can either go straight down the main stairway of the palace, the most direct route. Or we can go straight to the tower, and down that way. It's a bit longer and more likely to have guards that way." As he finished his sentence, two guards came round the corner, towards where the group was hiding behind a statue. Before anyone could say a thing Curti had fired two arrows towards them. The first caught one of the guards in the throat, he went down without a sound. The second arrow was fired a split second later and caught the second guard in the eye as he turned to look at his fallen comrade.
Elfric and Artemis ran over to the bodies and dragged them into a room Trey had found. The uniforms were small, but Trey and Artemis could just about fit.
"Well, this makes it a bit easier now we have two guards taking us somewhere. Which way should we go?" Asked Deuce.
"I think straight to the tower and down. It's unlikely guards would ever take prisoners down the main stairway, that’s used mainly for visitors who come to see the Ace and the Councillors."
"Ok, lead the way." The five of them left the room and made their way across the palace to the tower. As they were halfway across they could hear a huge group of guards in the corridors ahead. They quickly ducked into a side room to hide.
"Do I get to kill anyone?" Asked Curti.
"There’s loads of 'em!" Replied Elfric who was peering through a crack in the door.
"We're each worth 10 of them!" Enthused Curti. Elfric quickly counted.
"There's 55 of them."
"Excellent. Lets go!"
"That’s 11 each."
"Oh." Curti's face suddenly brightened. "That’s ok, more for me!"
"It's ok, they're turning off down a different corridor." Elfric was still watching. "It's clear now, let's go."
They got there without further adventures, and made their way down the narrow stairwell inside the tower. They slowed as they approached where Artemis said the jewellery room was. As they approached they could see two guards standing outside the door. Deuce, Curti and Elfric went back up the stairs and hid in the shadows. Trey and Artemis went down towards the guards.
"Hey, come here!" Shouted Trey.
"What? You got some trouble?" Asked one of the guards.
"Yeah, I think you need to come and see this."
The two guards followed Trey and Artemis up the stairs. As they got level with Deuce and the others, they jumped up. Deuce had a dagger in his hand a slid it into the guards neck, up and into his brain.
"Elfric, go down there and pick that bloody lock! Sharpish!"
Elfric ran off and picked the lock as he had been ordered. Trey and Artemis stayed outside on guard while the others carried the bodies into the jewellery room.
"If there's any trouble, get out of here." Deuce told the two who were now on guard. The rest went into the room, looking for what they were after.
CHAPTER 2.
"I’m telling you. It spoke to me! Don’t ask me why it chose me, but it did." Said Elfric. Who was holding the ruby by its chain, letting it spin lazily in the torchlight in front of his face.
"It didn't actually speak to you, it's just appears to. It has that effect. It said to be able to persuade people to do what the owner requires. Like hypnosis, it is having the same effect on me. You just have to ignore it that’s all." Replied Deuce. He took the ruby from Elfric and put it in a leather pouch he had hung about his neck. "Right, that’s the easy part done, now we just have to get out of here in one piece." Deuce, Elfric and Curti all left the room at a run. They grabbed Trey and Artemis on the way out and tried to figure out the best way to leave the palace.
"We could go back the way we came, or try and make it down to the main entrance and get out that way."
"It'll be easiest to get out back the way we came. The main entrance hall will have people about, even at this early time." Said Artemis.
"Ok, back we go."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"And then they must've gone back to the tower and escaped across the river Master. All except one." The guard looked down at his feet.
"So after they had crossed half the palace, killed two guards, grabbed their uniforms, finished crossing the palace, killed two more guards and got into the jewellery room they then somehow managed to get all the way back, killing more guards, and just escaped into the night?" The Ace steepled his thin fingers as he looked over them at the trembling guard. "All except one?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Yes Sir." The guard fiddled with the rim on his helmet as he looked at the ground.
"And how did you catch the one that you did?" The Ace put his glasses on and looked down at a sheaf of paper on his desk. "Ah yes. He drew his sword and disarmed three guards without killing them, just knocking them unconscious with the panache of James Bond." The Ace raised an eyebrow. "James Bond? Who is he?"
"Er, uh, it seemed to make sense when I wrote it Sir."
"This is your report?" The guard nodded. "And you wrote in here peoples names who you do not even know?" Another nod and the Ace looked down at the paper and carried on reading. "Once the three were disarmed, he ran for the Great Staircase, jumping and landing on the chandelier which he proceeded to swing on. Like Tarzan." The Ace peered over his half-moon glasses at the guard. "Tarzan?" The guard gave an embarrassed little shrug, the Ace sighed, and continued. "Once he had swung a couple of times to get his rhythm he then jumped off, landing a flight below and on top of some more guards." The Ace looked up. "Like who?"
"Sir?"
"Which mystery person was he like this time?" The guard turned red and looked at the floor. The Ace put the piece of paper down and took his glasses off. "Never mind, he was caught and he can tell us who they were. You say none of the others were even seen? My, they must have been good thieves." The Ace put the piece of paper on the top of a neat pile already there. "What was it they actually stole?" He asked, in a rather pleasant tone of voice.
"The ruby Sir. The one on the chain." Replied the guard, glad the subject had been changed.
"Ah yes. That ruby. Never mind. What is gone is gone and can never be replaced."
"Sir?"
"If it is gone and you have done as you say and searched the city, then they must have fled. We will never find the rest of them."
"But Sir, the ruby. It has powers."
"Apparently so, but I have never needed them. This is a minor inconvenience at most." The Ace looked down at some paperwork on his desk.
"Sir, I was told to tell you something from one of the guards, before he died. He said the one caught fought like a Six of Spades." The Ace stiffened and looked up, dropping the sheaf of paper as the guard said this.
"Say that again." The guard looked around nervously.
"One of the guards, he, before he died, he -"
"Get on with it."
"He said the one caught fought like he was a Six of Spades." The guard was trying to dig his way through the floor with the heels of his feet. He stayed looking at the floor, eyes not moving.
"I have heard that name somewhere before. But I can't think where." The Ace had a puzzled look on his face. "You may go."
"Sir." The guard touched his forehead and walked out. The Ace stood up and started pacing. He had heard the name before, but he couldn’t remember where or when. It was when he was a child, he was sure of it. He went over to a cupboard and stroked the case that sat on top. Could that have anything to do with it? Possibly, after all, he hadn't seen or heard from his brother since his fathers’ funeral. How long ago was that? At least 15 years. The Ace opened the cupboard and poured himself a glass of liquor. He sipped it as he made his way back to his desk. Ah, of course. There was an easy answer to this, he just didn't see it as he had been concentrating on the problem, not the solution.
"Guard!" he called.
"Sir." The guard touched his fingertips to his forehead as he stopped in front of the Aces desk.
"Fetch the Chief Torturer for me." Always an easy answer..... The guard saluted again and left. The Ace could tell when the torturer was approaching, and he would always use the switch under his desk to open the door just before he knocked. Just to keep him on his toes.
"Si-"
"Yes yes, enough of that. You have someone from the robbery in the dungeons yes?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good. I want you to find out from him as much as you can about the Six of Spades. It sounds familiar to me but I can't think why."
"Yes Sir." He turned to leave.
"Jack? Try and keep him alive until you get the answers this time?" Jack had a disappointed look on his face, but agreed. He hitched his trousers back up above his potbelly and hooked a strand of his dark greasy hair back as he walked towards the door.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Deuce! Keep up!" Shouted Elfric.
"It's ok! I'll make sure no one follows. You go on ahead, I’ll be fine!" Deuce turned back to see if any one was after the group. They had just had to kill some more guards, which he didn’t like, but the rest of the group was nearly away.
"Famous last words." Mumbled Trey from under his breath. "You heard him. We got the stone, now lets get out if here."
"But we can't leave him!"
"Course we can! Better him than us, eh?" Trey hated pretending being this two faced about his friend, but if they were all to get out of alive, he needed to be. Elfric shrugged his shoulders and ran after the group.
Deuce was relatively pleased. He had followed his friends to the tower to make sure they got away and they had. They had stolen the stone and only had to kill a small number of guards. He was now left alone in the palace. All he had to do was get himself caught and not killed. If he could let himself be taken alive, then he may have a chance of seeing his brother and dispatching him. He had made sure one of the guards had heard him say the Six Of Spades, he hoped it would be remembered by his brother. He wasn’t counting on it though, it had been a long time ago.
After watching his friends swim back across the river he went back towards the main staircase, just as he got there, three guards rushed him at the same time.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"He wanted to get caught?! What the hell for?" Elfric was almost shouting at Trey now. Trey looked calmly at him.
"Sit down."
"You'll bloody well tell me why we deliberately left Deuce in there!"
"If you calm down and sit down then, yes, I will tell you." Elfric took a breath to calm himself and sat down.
"Deuce wanted to get caught. He stayed behind on purpose." Trey took a breath. "He wants to kill his brother."
"His brother's the bloody Ace! He can't just kill him!"
"The Ace killed their father. Deuce wants revenge. After that I don't think he cares if he lives or dies, to be honest." Trey thought. "Obviously living would probably be best."
"But why?"
"I told you. Deuce saw the Ace kill his father to get the throne. He, the Ace, knew that their father was going to choose Deuce to be the next Ace. Their father knew that Deuce would be a better leader, better for the people, that’s why he was going to choose Deuce. Unfortunately his brother found out and killed him, his own father, just so he would get the crown. It's amazing what some people will do for power."
"So what happened then? Why didn't he kill Deuce as well? I would if I was in his shoes. Tidy up loose ends, you know." Curti gave an apologetic shrug.
"Deuce was taken away by his uncle directly after the funeral. His brother allowed him that much. Whether he was to be killed as well, or whether it was an oversight, I do not know. No one knows except the Ace." Trey got up and started pacing about, occasionally running his hand through his hair as he spoke. "Deuce was taken away by his uncle, I do not know where he went. He sent some letters occasionally, but asked me not to mention them to any of you, even though you are his friends. I think he has been planning this for some time and did not want to risk anything.
"I imagine he hoped his brother would think him dead anyway. It would certainly help him if he were believed dead. After all, he needed complete surprise, which I think we achieved."
Elfric seemed more content now that he knew a little more of what was going on and relaxed a little.
"What are we going to do with that thing now?" Asked Curti, pointing to the Ruby that lay on the table. They all stared at it as one.
"It's supposed to have hypnotic powers." Said Trey.
"Is it? Maybe we could persuade someone to buy it." Suggested Elfric.
"How do we know it works?"
"It works, I could feel it working on me in the jewellery room." Said Artemis. Curti's face brightened.
"We could use it to get free drinks at the inn!"
"NO! It's just been stolen from the palace, some people may be looking for it, possibly?" Curti's face fell.
"Why don't we just throw it in the river?"
"These things have a way of turning up. No doubt it would be found."
"Yes, but it won't be found with us. It'll be found with some old biddy who does her washing in the river, and happens to see it floating past."
"Good idea. We'll wait 'til tonight and get rid of it then."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Ace looked up from his desk. Surely Jack must have some news from the prisoner by now. Should he go down and see? No, that would probably not be a good idea. Jack liked to be alone while he worked. He was, the Ace tried to think of an appropriate word, proficient at what he did. Also the Ace didn't like the sight of a lot of blood. Probably best to leave him to it. No doubt as soon as anything was known, Jack would come and tell him.
The Aces’ distaste for blood had begun some 15 years earlier, after he had murdered his own father. He could remember it as if it was yesterday. His father had been standing there, in front of him. He had just been told that he was not to inherit the throne. He had been told, just like that, as if he was being told to come in for his dinner when he was a boy. How could he do it? So callously tell him he was not to be Ace? He deserved it. It was always the oldest who succeeded, it always had been. It would be the same this time as well. He didn’t know what came over him. He felt no emotion as he actually did it. He had hit his father who had sprawled backwards and fallen on the floor. He had jumped on him and grabbed a cushion that he held over his fathers mouth, to stop him crying out. While doing this he had reached for his slender dagger that he kept on his belt.
Without thought, he had slid the dagger in under his fathers ribs, feeling the initial resistance of the skin, then just hearing a faint tearing sound as he had pushed the dagger up and into his fathers heart. When it was in up to the hilt, he had twisted it, to make sure he had done the job properly, but his hand had slipped on the hilt of the dagger. He looked down to see blood covering his hands. As he got up to wash them, he thought he saw a figure in the shadows, but it disappeared before he could be sure.
The Ace looked down at his hands as he sat at his desk. He could still see the blood on them, all these years later. He hoped that Jack would soon have some news for him, maybe when he found out about the Six of Spades it would put his mind at rest.
But it had been two days. Surely the prisoner couldn't still be alive by now. No one could survive two days of Jacks company. No one could. The Ace rose up out of his chair, ready to go to the dungeons. He sat back down. He could hear someone coming along the corridor, maybe it was Jack with some news. If he doesn't come up soon, the Ace thought to himself, I will have to go down and find out for myself. The Ace sat back down, ready to use the switch on the door. He briefly looked at what he had just been doing. He had been playing cards. His favourite game was patience. He had a lot of it. He was looking down at the cards, he saw a two. Suddenly it all clicked.
CHAPTER 3.
"The six of spades? What’s so significant about the six of spades?" Jack shouted at the slumped figure in the shackles, chained to the wall. "You will tell me!" Jack punched the man in the face. Hard. It felt good to him. He could feel the bone in the nose break under the force of his fist. Feel the warm blood spurt out over his hand, then watch it dribble down the mans face forming a pool on the floor with the blood already there.
The man lifted his face, ready to say something.
"Y-you... w-ill soon.......... find...out" Jack nodded to someone standing in the shadows of the dungeon who came forward with a bucket of water which was thrown over the chained man. Th chained man let out a scream that was pre-human, before words. The scream carried the meaning of a thousand thousand words. The meaning of true pain. Jack smiled to himself and closed his eyes with the pleasure of it. The scream had sent a shudder down his spine. That was the sound he had been born to produce from people.
The water had been salted, and now the water was running into the cuts and blisters all over his body. Jack had to admit it though, this one was tough, and probably the toughest he'd ever had to deal with. 2 days and 2 nights he'd been down here. Being beaten and tortured for 48 hours was longer than most people lasted. They had either told him what he'd wanted to know well before this, or got the courage to bite through their own tongue and quietly bleed to death.
Jack was now presented with a problem. Normally in situations like this, when the prisoner was about to die and had not confessed, they just put the poor sod out of his misery, then found him guilty after he was dead. That way there was no confusion. However, this one was causing problems to him as the Master didn't want him to die, he wanted the information. This put Jack in a bit of a spot as the prisoner was about to die, but the information was still not appearing. Jack reached a decision, and stalked out of the underground chamber to the stairway.
Down here the stairs were covered in moss and little rivulets of water from where rainwater found it's way through the foundations of the palace. He could hear the quite "drip, drip" of the drops as he ascended the stairs. The corridors got more homely as he reached ground level, here they were actually carpeted with a thick rich red carpet with the symbol of the House embroidered down the middle. This was the main entrance hall to the palace, with great tapestries hung from the ceiling in-between the huge archways that went up into the darkness above, no flame from the many candles around the hall able to pierce the darkness.
Jack knew where to find the Master at this late hour and he walked down one of the eight huge hallways that radiated off the entrance hall to the palace. There were few people around at this time, and few of them met Jacks eye as he hurried down the corridors, turning this way and that. Jack knew why most people tried not to notice him, he smiled to himself at the reason. He was the Chief Torturer, which was why most people tried to ignore him. He could arrest anyone in the palace and torture them for nothing else than a suspicion he had. It was the Masters way of keeping people on their toes, or so Jack guessed anyway.
Finally, Jack got to the door he was looking for. He approached slowly, cautiously. He was sure he hadn't made a sound, and yet just as he was about to knock, as always, the door swung open slowly without a sound. He entered the vast room and the door shut with a bang that made him jump. Jack wasn't afraid of much, he couldn't be in his line of work, but he always felt slightly jumpy whenever he entered his Masters presence.
"There is a problem." Said the Master, without preamble.
"It could be called that, yes."
"Go on." Continued the Master in a level tone of voice. Why doesn't he get angry? Jack said to himself. Why is he always so calm? It seems worse that way, I’d feel better if he shouted at me or something. Jack was brought out of his thought when the Master gave a little cough.
"Umm, well... er...... you see...."
"Out with it please, i do not have all day." In the same pleasant tone of voice.
"He's nearly dead." Blurted out Jack.
"And this is a problem for us?"
"Well, he, er.., hasn't told me what we need to know Sir."
"Ah. Well. Yes. I can see where the problem lies." Jacks mind was screaming at him. Why is he being so nice about this!?
"I came up here to ask your advice Master." Jack bowed his head in deference to his Master.
"Well, you are my Chief Torturer, if you feel he will not speak, that is you cannot extract the information we require, we have no use for him. It is a shame, but there will be more of his.... kind around soon. We will soon have another one to play with." Jack was puzzled with some of what his Master was saying, but he didn't get to the rank he was by questioning orders.
"Sir." He said, bowed once, brushed his hair back and made his way back to the torture room.
He could tell as soon as he reached the door that something was wrong. He knew it when he opened the door to see the shackles hanging empty on the wall opposite. His guards were lying in pools of blood. He rushed over to try and help them, but he was too late. The guard he was looking at had been brutally murdered. One of his eyes had a throwing dagger embedded in it up to the hilt, as well as numerous wounds on his torso. The other guard hadn't been so lucky, his face had been smashed in so much most of it was now falling off. Bob could see bits of white bone under the red of blood and felt his stomach churn. He didn't want to look any closer but found himself fascinated with it.
Suddenly Bob realised how stupid he had been. Where was the prisoner? He looked around frantically for the now somehow free prisoner. He got up and turned around quickly, knocking the table over that held the only candles in the room. They quickly went out, dampened as they were by the blood on the floor. Bob now looked around in terror, eyes trying to get adjusted to the darkness. The only light now came weakly from a torch mounted on the wall outside the door, it cast a feeble pale yellow light in a circle around the doorway. Right now, that was Jacks only hope for survival. He had to get to that light as quickly as he could. He slowly started to crawl his way there, trying to be as quiet as possible. He knew the prisoner was still in the room otherwise he would have seen him as he came back down from visiting the Master. Jack held his breath, he could hear the faint "drip, drip" of the water from the hallway.
He stood up, closed his eyes and tried to picture the room as he had always known it. He could see in his minds eye the location of the tables and plinths that were in the large room. He put his hands out to feel his way. Jack jumped back in surprise after feeling something brush against his hands, something warm. He heard a chuckle from somewhere in the room. Jack turned quickly to try and locate the source of the noise, it seemed to come from different areas at once. He kept turning, trying to peer into the darkness. It was to no avail. He decided to stop playing along with the mans games. He turned towards the small patch of light in the doorway and started towards it, going as quickly as he dared.
Suddenly he found himself falling, he had tripped over a table that had been knocked in the scuffle. He frantically continued on his hands and knees. When he was halfway there, a shadow blocked the door, cutting out Jacks light, Jacks only hope of life. It was the prisoner.
"You expected me to still be in the chains when you got back? Hahahaha, you make me laugh you pathetic little man." Jack started to tremble, "I was going to kill you like the other two, but perhaps slightly slower," Jack felt something warm start to run down his leg as he tried to stand up, "However, I have bigger fish to fry. I am not here for you, rather i am here to kill your master." Now Jack started to laugh.
"Kill the Master? You must be mad! There is no way you can kill him -"
"There was no way you thought i could last 48 hours, but i did." Interrupted the prisoner. Jacks face fell as he realised the truth, he looked to the floor. "I am from the sect of Passid Foxes! I will kill your Master and I shall do it NOW!" With that the man kicked Jack in the face and stalked off to the Masters room.
The Master was quietly at work when his door was kicked open.
"Ahh, Deuce, I was wondering how long it would be before you got up here to kill me." The Masters voice was as calm as ever.
"You didn't think I’d let you get away with it did you Ace?" Deuce scoffed, "You are more crazy than I thought."
"Master!" Jack ran through the door and looked at the two of them, Ace sat at the desk and Deuce standing a few feet in front of it.
"Hmmmm. Jack. So good of you to join us. You can be the referee, after all," he turned to Deuce, "these things have to be done properly after all." Sarcasm dripped off of his words. "Get the swords Jack, this is to be done by duel, am i correct?" Deuce nodded. "Good. Well, no need to hang about, let's get on with it shall we? The swords Jack." Ace held his hand outstretched towards Jack, fingers un-shaking. Jack got the swords from the case and handed them to Deuce.
"Take whichever you fancy, they are both the same i can assure you. I had them especially made for this day. Don't worry Jack," the Master had noticed Jacks puzzled look, "the winner will explain it all to you."
Deuce chose his sword and passed the other to Ace. "Now i shall kill you, like i should have done those years ago" Hissed Ace. Deuce said nothing. He let Ace get angry, taunting him, trying to put him into a rage. Rage often aids fighters when they are against lesser foes, but against swordsmen of equal skill, thrusts had to be measured and defences could not be let down. Without either of them seeming to move, they had somehow got closer together. They were focused on each other, nothing else, just each other. There could be only one winner.........
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Deuce awoke with a start to find himself in a bed, covered with white sheets. He tried to sit up on one elbow but winced with the pain. He looked down and a horrified expression came on his face.
"There was nothing the surgeons could do. It had to be amputated." Deuce turned to look at his friend with a smile.
"I did it?"
"Yeah, you managed it my friend. I would never have believed it would be possible, but you did it." Said Trey.
"What happens now?"
"Well, the surgeon said you need to rest for a few more days, then you decide if you want to Rule, become the new Ace."
"I will decide in a few days my friend." Deuce relaxed back in the bed.
"Before you sleep again, some one would like you to ask you something." Trey turned towards the doorway and nodded. Jack entered, brushing the hair away from his face in a nervous way. He bowed to Artemis and Deuce.
"Excuse me Master, but the previous Master, uh, that is your brother, umm, did say that someone could explain it to me. What was going on i mean."
"All in good time Jack. When i am rested." Replied Deuce.
"Of course Master. But one thing, if I may?"
"Go on."
"What is the significance of the Six of Spades?" Deuce smiled to himself.
"I will tell you. The Six Of Spades is an anagram for Passid Foxes. The Passid Foxes are a sect of warriors that live in the mountains where I trained before I came here to kill my brother. We both trained with them for a while, when we were children. After he killed my father," Deuce turned away to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye, "I went back to complete my training. He never finished his." Jack bowed and walked towards the door.
I'm going to put in in the next post as it's quite long and i didn't want it on the same page twice.
Hope you enjoy it, here goes.......
Hope you enjoy it, here goes.......
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