Christopher Healy - The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle

“Well, with my dad, maybe. But certainly not with me,” Frederic said. “I should share this new revelation about my mother with him. It might help him understand why my father acts the way he does.”

“Let’s go,” Ella said. She grabbed Frederic by the hand, and they hurried back toward the balcony where she’d left Liam.

Maybe Gustav could use a roommate, Liam thought as he stood on the balcony gazing at the dim sliver of moon in the sky. Nah, who am I kidding? He’d cut up all my capes while I slept.

A sudden clinking sound snapped him out of his musings. He looked to his left and saw something shiny glinting by the balcony railing. On closer inspection, he saw that it was a metal grappling hook.

“What the—?”

Liam peered over the edge. A rope hung down to the gardens below, but there was no one on it. He put his hand on his sword, but before he could draw it, he was clonked on the head by a short, heavy club.

Ella and Frederic appeared at the balcony door just in time to get a glimpse of a hooded man scaling a rope up to the terra-cotta-tile palace roof. The intruder had Liam, unconscious, slung over his shoulder.

“Liam!” Ella shouted. She dove out onto the balcony and grabbed the intruder’s rope. “Drop him,” she snarled as she yanked the line back and forth.

“Stop that,” the stranger moaned as his boots slid from the wall. He was left dangling momentarily but quickly managed to regain his footing. He glared down at Ella. “Think. You don’t really want me to drop your friend from this height.”

In a second he was over the roof’s edge and out of sight.

“Frederic, hold the rope steady,” Ella said. “I’m going after him.”

“I should call the guards,” Frederic argued, but he grabbed the rope nonetheless. Ella made it halfway up to the roof before the kidnapper kicked the grappling hook from its perch. Ella, the rope, and the iron hook all tumbled down onto Frederic.

“Crud,” Ella muttered. “We’ll catch him on the other side!” She jumped to her feet and drew her rapier. But she was stopped in her tracks by King Wilberforce and four royal guards.

“Swordplay. I knew it,” the king said. “As soon as I heard the noise, I said to myself, ‘There they go again.’ I knew you would disobey my orders, but frankly, I’d hoped you’d be able to restrain yourselves for longer than twenty minutes.”

“No one’s playing here, Your Highness,” Ella said urgently. “This is real. Liam was just kidnapped.”

King Wilberforce chuckled. “I sincerely doubt that. Crimes do not occur within the walls of the Harmonian royal palace.”

“We saw it, Father,” Frederic insisted. “A hooded man just grabbed Liam and swooped onto the roof.”

“Oh, so he’s a flying kidnapper?” the king said with a sarcastic smile.

“You’re letting him get away,” Ella barked.

“Seriously, Father, please send your guards out to the gates!” Frederic begged. “You might be able to catch the criminal before he gets off the palace grounds!”

Wilberforce let out a long, slow breath. “If it means so much to you.” He turned to his guards. “You two: Step outside and look for any signs of a magical winged bogeyman.”

A pair of guardsmen bowed and marched off.

“And we’ll go this way,” Ella said as she began to leave in the opposite direction.

“Stop her,” Wilberforce said, and the remaining two guards stepped in front of Ella to block her exit.

“What are you doing, Father?” asked Frederic.

“If there’s anything dangerous going on, my men will handle it,” the king said. “Neither of you will be involved. And to make sure of that, I’m confining you both to your rooms for the night. Guards, take these two to their quarters and stand watch outside their doors until morning.”

Ella considered trying to overtake the men. But she knew it would only cause more trouble. She reluctantly sheathed her sword as the guards nudged her and Frederic down the hall.

“He wore a cape,” Ella said as they walked.

“Who?” Frederic asked.

“The kidnapper. He was a villain with a cape. See? I was right.”

“Actually, it had a hood,” Frederic said. “So technically, it was a cowl.”

Ella sighed.

King Wilberforce watched them disappear around a corner. Then he closed and locked the balcony doors. That was convenient, he thought. With that Erinthian gone, it’s one nuisance down, one to go.

Frederic was sitting slumped on his bed. His father had won again. Why do I turn into a helpless infant every time that man raises his voice, he thought. How does he do it to me? He was startled by the sound of his window creaking open.

“Are you coming?” Ella asked, poking her head inside.

Frederic jumped to his feet and ran over to her.

“What are you standing on?” he asked.

“The ledge.”

“It’s so narrow!”

“Don’t act like you’ve never heard of tiptoeing, Frederic—I’ve seen you sneak behind the drapes every time Liam suggests going for a run. So, are you coming?”

“Where?”

“To find Liam. I figured out who took him.”

“I suspect my father is behind it,” Frederic said sorrowfully.

“No, it’s Briar Rose!” Ella blurted. She blinked her wide eyes repeatedly as words spilled from her mouth at a rapid pace. She couldn’t have looked more wired if she’d just guzzled an entire pot of double-strength Carpagian Wide-Awake Brew. “I know who the kidnapper is; I put all the clues together. The hood, the little gray beard, the mumbly voice like somebody just killed his puppy: That’s exactly how Lila described Ruffian the Blue, the bounty hunter. And who does Ruffian the Blue work for?”

“Bri—” Frederic began to answer.

“Briar Rose! Exactly!” Ella shouted (and then shushed herself). “Briar is still bent on marrying Liam; and now she’s going to force the wedding to happen, and you and I have to go to Avondell and stop it. So, are you coming?”

“Right now?” Frederic asked. “Can’t we just wait until morning and leave through the front doorway?”

“Do you really think your father’s going to let us?”

“No, you’re right.” He took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do it. I think I’m pretty much ready to go.”

Ella frowned when she noticed how Frederic was dressed: a pale yellow suit with a royal-blue sash across the chest and tasseled shoulder pads. “You changed into formal wear?” she asked. “When you thought you would be locked in your room all night?”

“It helps me relax.”

“Suit yourself,” Ella said.

“I just did.” Frederic laughed.

“Did what?”

“Suit mys— Never mind.”

“Okay, let’s head out,” said Ella. “Take your sword, though.”

“You know,” Frederic hedged. “Like I said before, I’m not really a sword person.”

“Take your sword,” Ella repeated.

He attached the sword to his belt along with a pouch of coins and a small satchel of writing implements, then he climbed through the window to join Ella on the ledge. He wobbled a bit when he got a view of the lantern-lit walkways three stories below. “I’m not really a heights man either.”

Ella put her hand under his chin and raised his head to look him in the eyes. “You’re my hero, Frederic. You can do this.”

“Of course I can,” Frederic said. “I’ve got narrow feet.”

As the two shimmied along the ledge, it occurred to Frederic that he was finally doing what Ella had always wanted him to: going on an adventure with her.

And she asked me to, he thought. She didn’t run off to rescue Liam on her own. She wants me by her side. Perhaps there’s hope for us yet. The pair sidled around a corner and onto the balcony where the kidnapping had taken place. As Ella had hoped, the bounty hunter’s rope and grappling hook were still lying there in a pile. She tossed the barbed hook up to the roof, where it caught onto the side of a chimney.