Page 63 of Lost with a Scot
“And then?” Aiden asked.
“The only way in is through the front gates. If they are open, we must enter in a way so as to escape the notice of the guards.”
Aiden considered this as he adjusted his grip on his horse’s reins. “We should find some guards on patrol and take their uniforms if we think they willna be missed. It willna be easy to fool anyone, but it might get us inside.” He paused and then cleared his throat. “It will likely be a fool’s errand. I should go on alone.”
Ashton sighed heavily. “Aiden, we are all fools when it comes to love, and doubly so when we make such brash declarations. Not one of us here will let you go on alone. You’veneverbeen alone in this,” Ashton said.
Once Aiden would’ve denied those words and insisted that he had been alone all too often. But his eyes had been opened during their voyage as he realized the men who had followed him into the mouth of hell did so out of loyalty and love for him and his kin.
“Thank ye, Ashton,” he said. “Ye’ve been a brother to me.”
“Don’t get sentimental on me now, Scot. I need you at your most bloodthirsty.”
Aiden grinned, but it was more of a sneer. “Oh aye, I’m plenty thirsty.” In the last two weeks, he had thought of little else besides what he would do to Anna’s uncle if he had the chance.
They rode through the forest and into the farmlands in the south. As they reached the village that abutted the fortress, they slowly let their horses drift apart so that it didn’t appear that they had been riding together. Aiden searched the crowds for guards. There was a pair of men in red uniforms who were walking toward a tavern.Perfect.Aiden caught Charles’s eye, and the two of them dismounted, tied their horses up, and followed the men inside. Ashton and the others moved past them on horseback and dismounted farther down the road.
When Aiden and Charles entered the tavern, they found it relatively empty, except for a barkeeper and the pair of guards they had tailed. The guards seemed to be harassing the man for free drinks.
As much of the discussion was conducted in Danish, Aiden followed some of it thanks to the Danish lessons Anna had been giving him before they’d left for London. He approached the two men, and Charles walked up on the other side.
“Are they bothering you?” Aiden asked the barkeeper in Danish.
“N-no...” The man’s eyes widened, and he backed up. The barkeeper knew trouble was coming, and he wanted no part of it.
“Who are you?” One guard whirled to face Aiden, but he never got a chance to draw his blade. Aiden’s fist landed, and the guard dropped like a stone. His companion was about to call for help, but Charles slammed the man’s head into the bar rail, and he crumpled to the floor.
The barkeeper stared at Aiden and Charles in horror, putting as much distance between himself and them as he could. Charles put a finger to his lips as he met the frightened man’s eyes and winked.
“Aiden, ask this fellow if he has any good, stout rope for us to use.” Charles glanced about the little tavern.
Aiden asked the man, and he nodded, gulping as he hastily made his way to a storage cupboard near the back of the taproom. He handed Aiden a coil of rope.
Aiden thanked him, and then he and Charles dragged the bodies of the guards through the door at the back of the tavern into the alley, where they stripped the uniforms off the men and bound them with rope and gagged them. By the looks of the narrow alley, Aiden guessed few people came back this way, so it would be a while before these men were discovered. He lifted up the top part of the red military coats and handed the second one to Charles.
“This bastard is too small,” Charles complained when he tried on the first coat. “Switch with me.” Aiden tossed him the one he’d been about to put on. Charles wasn’t as tall, but his shoulders were broader than Aiden’s.
Once they were dressed, they went back to the tavern, much to the dismay of the poor barkeeper. Then they exited the tavern back onto the street. Ashton and Cedric had acquired similar military guard uniforms. Aiden didn’t see any sign of the hired men who’d come with them. He guessed that Ashton had given them orders, and his plan, such as it was, was fully in motion.
Aiden headed straight for the castle, and he and Charles were able to pass through with only a brief nod to the guards by the entrance. It seemed Yuri had recruited men who were more lax in security than the guards who had likely gone with Anna’s brother during the initial fight at the Summer Palace. It was possible that Yuri’s forces were stretched, then, and he’d sent his more trained soldiers into the countryside to keep down any rebellions while recruiting local men to stand guard in places he was certain would not be attacked.
The courtyard was empty, save for some guards milling about and a few servants. Aiden kept his breathing calm as he approached a large door that seemed to open into the main part of the castle itself. It was clear Yuri felt there was no threat from rebels here, and Aiden dreaded to think why Anna’s uncle could feel so confident.
Aiden and Charles move quickly through the corridors in the castle but tried not to show their haste. He eavesdropped on some of the conversations of the men around him. A pair of guards at the end of one hall were laughing. From what Aiden could understand, they were mocking Prince Alexei. Taking a risk, he walked up to them and spoke in Danish.
“I have been recruited from the country. Do you know where I should report?”
One of the guards studied him curiously, clearly noticing his odd accent and stiff grasp of the language. “What part of the country?”
“Near Nalia.” That was the village where they had purchased the horses when they’d first landed, and it had a blended population from many other countries due to it being close to the border. Coming from such a place would hide Aiden’s odd accent a little easier.
“You should report to Lieutenant Lewig, but I’d say wait a day—Captain Fain is about to get married to the princess.”
The other guard started laughing again.
“What’s so funny?” Aiden asked, faking a smile.
The first guard spoke. “The prince gave himself up two days ago, and the rebellion’s in disarray. We’re to have a wedding and an execution tomorrow. Captain Fain promised as much wine and ale from the palace stores as we want tomorrow.”
