Lunar Flare Book 2: Midnight Eclipse

Chapter 21

Cassian was doing a solo night patrol. Sometimes it was nice to spend a bit of time away from the rowdy soldiers under his command, relaxing in the peace and quiet of the cool night air as he wandered the castle corridors. At first it was a rather uneventful evening. When passing by the queen's bedroom, Cassian had heard voices and so he stopped to listen in for a moment. He recognised Emil's voice, and it sounded like the lad was reading the others a story.

Cassian smiled at this. Emil had certainly come a long way from how he used to be. The officer had been surprised at the noble's capacity for growth of character, as he had thought the lad didn't have it in him at first. Of course, Cassian felt a little sorry for how he had been disowned from his family, though really that seemed like the best possible outcome for Emil, even if living within his means might take a little getting used to at first.

The officer had continued his patrol, winding his way through the castle hallways, taking the stairs back down to the first floor. When he was coming up to the regent's office though, he heard something that made him take pause. There were voices, clear conversation coming from inside which was wafting out of the door that had been left open a crack. This was quite surprising, given the late hour. Why would Tybalt be meeting with anyone at this time? Cassian approached the door as quietly as he could, getting as close as possible before listening in, trying to discern what was going on.

"Success hinges on disabling the knight first, before any of them are alert. If you don't, you'll have no hope of dealing with the rest of them, as he will likely kill you," Cassian heard Tybalt's voice giving out instructions.

"What about the noble, your highness? If he is there, do we kill him?" another voice asked. It sounded familiar... one of the castle guards?

Tybalt made an annoyed sound. "He's not even a noble anymore... though his parents may get upset if we kill him... spare him if you can, but if he protects the vampires, do what you have to."

Cassian's eyes widened in realisation. Tybalt knew about Thedrick and Maerwynn's nature and was sending a squad to kill Beowulf and them. But how did he know? No, there was no time to worry about that. Cassian had to get to them first, had to warn them and get them out of the castle, get them to safety.

The officer moved away from the door as silently as he could manage, to not draw any attention to his presence as the regent continued to instruct the guards. Once he had tiptoed far enough down the hallway, Cassian started running, heading for the nearest staircase. He climbed it swiftly, then ran once more until he reached the queen's room. He burst in through the door noisily, knowing that would be an easy way to wake Beowulf up, though hoping it wouldn't be heard from the floor below.

Just as he had expected, Beowulf jolted upright in bed, and Cassian saw that his arms were full of Emil, who started thrashing around in confusion. Beowulf squeezed the noble to quickly quiet him.

"Cass?" Beowulf asked in confusion, letting go of the noble to rub his half open eyes.

"Beowulf. You need to take Maerwynn and Thedrick and get out of the castle now," Cassian ordered firmly.

"Wh-what? Why?" Beowulf asked, clearly bewildered, as both he and Emil sat up in the bed properly.

"Tybalt is sending guards to kill the vampires," Cassian stated between taking deep breaths to try and calm his heart which was pounding in his chest.

"What?" Beowulf exclaimed, practically leaping out of bed. Cassian noticed that the two vampires had stirred from their sleep now, and Thedrick was helping Maerwynn sit up as she rubbed her tired eyes. "H... How does he know?"

"I don't know Beowulf, but somehow he knows," Cassian explained, gritting his teeth slightly, trying to push down his own panic. "I overheard him instructing guards to come here tonight to kill you all. We have to get them to safety."