The sun was out today. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day.
"Perfect day for a wedding," the count chuckled to himself.
Looking out the window in his office, the count couldn't help but be glad things had turned out the way they had.
"This time tomorrow, I will be a married man. The new ruler of Restin." He allowed himself a moment to relish in it.
On a similar note, that fool Ralph would no longer be a problem for him either. That idea had only come to him recently after the return of Griff and the others. With Ralph gone, he would soon deal with the others and there would be no more to oppose him.
Standing from his desk, he shuffled the papers on it until they were in a neat stack and then stepped back to push in his chair. "Today was going to be a great day."
As he looked around his office, he wondered where Henry had gotten off to. It wasn't like him to not be by his side. He could hardly remember a time when Henry hadn't been there. Maybe he's up to something for the wedding, he thought to himself. Maybe he took my advice about lightening up.
Heading towards the door of his office the Count looked back, soon this wouldn't be his office anymore. Soon this entire city would be all his. Opening the door, he stepped out into the hallway making his way towards the reception hall.
*****
Henry and the others stepped out from the jail.
"How are we going to get around without being noticed?" Caleb asked.
Henry pulled several large clokes from his bag and tossed one to each. Adorning the clokes, the men waited for the next set of instructions. Henry, taking out the missive from the count, handed it to Griff. Griff scanned it and looked back at Henry.
"You aim to transfer us in broad daylight?"
Henry nodded.
"Fair enough."
Griff turned to the others, motioning them to stick close. As they got to the gate, Henry approached the guard, passing the missive to him.
After a brief conversation, mostly with himself, the guard waved them through, handing the note back to Henry. Once away from the jail, the men quickly headed for the estate. Pulling from their pack, Caleb and Trevor pulled out two grappling hooks. Twirling them around to gain momentum, they released them as the hooks took hold. Motioning to the others, one by one the men began to climb.
Once on the roof of the estate, the men crouched down.
"We have to be careful with our movements," Griff said, quietly to the others.
"From this angle, we can't be spotted by the guards. Most of the city is empty due to the upcoming ceremony, so we have that in our favor." The men nodded. Griff turned to Joedan, "How do you wanna do this?"
"Me?" Joedan asked.
"Yes, you." Griff responded.
"Why are you asking me about the plan?"
"Take it as an opportunity for your promotional exam." Griff smiled at him.
"What?" Joedan asked. Caleb and Trevor nodded. They had spent enough time with Joedan to know he had what it took to be a higher ranking officer.
"I'm not even enlisted in the guard yet," Joedan continued.
"Boy," Griff said, irritation entering his voice, "You were enlisted the moment we left this city."
Joedan was stunned. He knew the Commander had been preparing him for service. He knew both the Duke and the Commander had seen something in him, but he still thought he was a far way off from becoming an officer. I mean every day for the past few weeks has been one problem after another. He didn't even know what normal life as a soldier would look like.
"You got this," Griff encouraged.
"We are your men, tell us what you need us to do."
Understanding he wasn't being given a choice, Joedan surrendered to the others and broke down his plan.
"Okay, first we need to get the duke." The others nodded.
"The timing on this is what it's gonna come down to. Caleb and Trevor, I want you guys out of sight, hunkered down somewhere with arrows at the ready. You'll need to sneak your way inside the reception hall, try to find a place up high and out of sight from any of the guests." Both men nodded.
"Henry," Joedan turned to the man, "Head back to the count and resume as normal, once we've gotten the duke." Henry nodded.
Looking at Ralph, Joedan took a minute to think, "I've got an idea." Looking back towards the city jail where the guard had been standing, Joedan turned to Ralph, "You get the fun part. Blend in with the city guard. Find a way in. You can be a man on the inside." he smiled at Ralph.
"That leaves you with me, Commander. We're gonna make a splash." Griff smiled. The plan settled, all the men followed after Henry.
Dropping down from the roof, each man hunkered down out of the way. Henry motioned down the hallway and they worked their way towards the Count's office. They listened against the door for any signs of movement inside. Good, the count must already be at the reception, Joedan thought.
Quietly opening the door, he peered into the room. It was empty. The men quickly slid inside before letting the door close behind them. Once in the room, Henry headed for the book shelf at the rear of the room. Moving towards the third shelf, Joedan saw Henry pull back on a blue book seated on the shelf.
The shelf began to slide over and the men saw the beginning of a spiral staircase. Henry nodded to each of the men, and made his way towards the exit of the office to rejoin the Count. Taking a tentative step down the staircase, Joedan proceeded with the others trailing behind him.
As they made it to the bottom of the stairs, their eyes landed on the duke. He had been beaten. His face was a little swollen and he looked dehydrated. As they got closer to the Duke, Trevor checked for a pulse.
The duke stirred. "Griff, that you, old friend?" the duke said, voice tired.
"Yeah, Chuck, it's me. Brought some friends," as Griff pointed to the others around the duke.
Joedan came forward and pulled his knife from his boot, cutting the ties around the duke's wrists.
"Who's that guy?" the duke asked as he pointed to Ralph.
"Oh him," Griff said, laughing, "He's the guy you sent us looking for."
The duke's face dropped. "He's the kidnapper?" The group nodded.
"What?" the duke sputtered, "What's he doing with you?"
Joedan stepped up, "Turns out the count's been pretty nasty to him to, Duke, sir."
"Joedan," the duke said. "I see you've developed since the last time I saw you," he smiled at Joedan warmly.
"I know we didn't start off on the greatest of terms, but I hope to change that."
Helping the duke to his feet, the men brushed off his clothes.
"What say you, we stop ourselves a wedding?" Joedan turned to the Duke.
"I think that just might be the best idea I've heard in a long time."