Twilas slowly approached the body of Lord Groach. She saw his blood soaked crotch, the pool of blood from his throat and the daggers still sticking into his chest.
Well, my dear Lord Groach, you finally met your better didn’t you, she thought. The Princess has done what a dozen armies of Criotorians and three Certion assassins couldn’t do, amazing.
Twilas knelt next to the body and pulled the daggers out of its chest. She grabbed his leather vest and wiped his blood off her daggers. She peeled back the other side of his vest with the point of her blade. A bulge in an inside pocket attracted her attention. In one swift move she relived the pocket of its burden with flick of the tip of her dagger. With her right hand she flipped the dagger in the air and with the same hand caught the small leather pouch. She tossed the pouch to her left hand and caught the dagger before it hit the ground.
“The generous Lord Groach will be helping our cause with a donation of his purse,” she said looking at Gwennith. Twilas held up the small leather pouch and started laughing.
Gwennith, still shaking off the shock, smiled and walked to the dressing table. She pulled the table from the wall and drew a box from behind the table.
“My father and some of his friends too have given generously to our cause,” Gwennith said as she put the box on the table. She took off her necklace and with the key that dangled from it she unlocked the box. Inside the box were dozens of gold and silver coins and more than a dozen rubies and emeralds. She took a small blue velvet pouch from a drawer in the dressing table and emptied the contents of the box into it.
“You need to change out of those bloody clothes Gwennie,” Twilas said pointing at the princess. “I too, need to change into something more suitable for the occasion.”
Twilas scanned Groach’s body one more time. Where is it, she said to herself. She moved his right arm slightly away from his body. Groach’s black vest fell open revealing a gold dagger handle. Groach was famous for peeling the eyelids off of his enemies before he plucked their eyeballs out and then slit their throat with the six-inch shiny silver blade. She took the blade from its sheath and secured it under her cloth belt.
The two women went behind their separate dressing screens.
“What are we to do now Twilas?”
“We continue with your plan as if this incident never happened.”
They came from behind their screens. The Princess was dressed in her usual riding apparel, red blouse, tan cropped leather riding pants and over the calf black boots. Twilas wore a tight black blouse, black trouser that gathered at her ankles and black soft leather boots. She also had a black sash that wrapped around her waist twice.
Gwennith was slightly stunned at Twilas’ look, even more so when she noticed the handles of Twilas’ daggers, one on each hip, sticking out of the sash.
“I’ve never seen you dressed like that before,” she said not hiding her shock.
“Not many have,” Twilas said as she walked past Gwennith towards the bed. “Or at least lived to tell about it.”
Gwennith stood with her mouth open as she watched Twilas seemingly glide across the floor to the bed.
“Here, take this one,” Twilas said handing a satchel to Gwennith. “We have plenty of time thanks to Groach’s arrogance, but we must not waste it.”
Twilas blew out the candle on the table next to the bed. She stepped over Groach’s body and extinguished the two on the dressing table. The room was lit only by the dim moonlight.
Gwennith heard the balcony doors open and felt the slight cool breeze on her face. Her eyes strained to see the movements of her “Lady in Waiting”.
“It’s time to put your plan in motion Princess,” Twilas’ voice startled Gwennith.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” the Princess said not knowing if she was facing Twilas.
Twilas opened the door and guided Gwennith through the opening. She grabbed the chair with her left hand and pulled as she slowly closed the door until there was just enough room for her left hand to slip through.
“Maybe they will hear the door hit the chair and hesitate to open it,” Twilas said.
The two women walked through the halls of the castle according to Gwennith’s plan. They avoided all the guards and quickly found themselves out in the courtyard. They hastily walked the stone path to the stables and entered the main stable through a side door.