The torches throughout the building had been blown out by the Captain-General and his men; providing utter darkness for his raiding party of sorts to operate in. Akorsa had a bad feeling about all of this, for as much as she wanted to see the other Proctors brought to justice, she knew this was wrong, and that blood would be spilt this night. Determining that she could not allow one wrong to try and clear away another, she ran up the servant�s stairs until she reached the building�s upper floor. She knew that Verican would start from the top and work his way down, and she intended to beat him to it.
On the north wing of the top floor were located Akorsa�s quarters. The servant�s quarters were in the middle of the northern and southern wings, and the stairs she was running up led her to the main servant�s hallway, just near to their rooms. On the southern wing of that floor were two sets of quarters, belonging to the Lady Proctors Paegliy of Ilyana and Landeri of Uljaya. Akorsa bolted down the hall and went straight for the hallway that separated the two women�s quarters.
She turned to her left and kicked open Paegliy�s door first, then to the right and did the same to Landeri�s door. The both sets of doors swung open with loud bang. The two Proctors, who, conveniently, sat within their receiving rooms, completely in sight from the doorways, jumped in fright and let out gasps at the sight of Akorsa.
�How have you come to be here?� asked a shocked Paegliy, as she rose from her chair and headed for the door.
�We shall discuss this later. The Captain-General is leading his men up here to arrest you, but I fear for your safety at his enraged hands. I am here to see you safely through this night,� she said hurriedly. �Follow me, quickly, before they arrive. Close your doors behind you, we make for the servant�s stairs.�
Paegliy, now in a fit, started after Akorsa, who was running towards the stairs. Landeri did not move for a moment, but Paegliy turned back, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her to the stairs. As they moved down the stairs, Landeri regained her wits about her.
�There is a secret passage from upstairs out into Ilyana, we��
�The Captain-General knows about it. He will search there for you,� said Akorsa before she could finish. �I am going to seek out those on the next floor. I want you both to head for the kitchens; do it with haste and silence, for your lives depend on it. I will come for you shortly.�
The two Proctors nodded as they continued to run down the stairs to the ground floor of the building. Akorsa made a turn out of the servant�s stairwell so she was on the middle floor of living quarters. Here lived Proctor Fandil of Ilyana, his quarters being in the south-western section of the floor. To the right of his quarters were those of the head Proctor, Shondor of Ilyana, who was now dead, his body having been carried back to the cities.
Across the way were the quarters of Rymson of Uljaya, who had been killed in battle, his body having too been carried to the cities. The north-eastern quarters of that floor would have been occupied by Braaihre of Ilyana, had he not been under arrest and in the custody of the Proctorial Army. Upon reaching the landing from the stairs onto the floor in the servant�s quarters, Akorsa darted to her right, down the hall that divided the quarters of the southern wing.
Looking to her right again, she kicked open the doors to Fandil�s quarters with yet another loud bang. Having not seen Fandil sitting within his receiving room, she ran in, seeing the man coming out of what she assumed to be his study. He had a shocked expression on his face, much like Paegliy and Landeri had. He opened his mouth as though to speak, but Akorsa raised her hand to silence him.
�Save your questions for later, Fandil. The Captain-General is coming to arrest you, and though you may deserve it for whatever crimes you have committed, I fear for your life. Unless you wish to die here, follow me,� she said, turning out of the room. She heard the man�s footsteps behind her as she approached the servant�s stairs. �Head for the kitchens, Fandil, where you shall find Paegliy and Landeri hiding as well. I will come for you soon.�
�What happens if we are found?� he asked, obviously scared out of his wits at this very moment.
�Do not resist them, whatever you do,� she advised him, turning and running down the stairwell once more, heading for the first floor of living quarters. Fandil followed her, so far as the next floor, and then proceeded downward. She ran down the hallway from the next set of servant�s quarters, past the rooms, and looked around. She looked right, trying to remember who lived on this floor.
She ran to her right, down the hall between the two sets of quarters. To her right, she recalled, lived the Lady Proctor Dersai of Ilyana and to her left, the other Proctoress called Liyra of Uljaya. She did what she had done to the doors of Paegliy and Landeri once more, and both women came running to their doors to see what had just caused such a commotion. Liyra cried out at the sight of the Arimythian Proctor, backing away from the door cautiously.
�We did not mean to do any of it, we swear it!� stuttered the older woman, fear gleaming in her eyes.
�Do not fear me, Liyra, or you, Dersai. Your lives are in great danger now and you must flee to the kitchens. I will cause you no harm, but there are those who are irate over your little conspiracy,� she said, waving them out of their rooms. �There will be others there waiting for you, but be careful. I will see you there in a moment.�
�What of Josson? He is yet in his quarters across the hall!� asked Dersai, worriedly.
�I go find to him next; worry not. Now, run!� ordered Akorsa sharply, and the two women ran down the servant�s stairs. Akorsa turned to the other set of quarters, kicking down the last set of doors that led into Josson�s chambers. �Josson! Where are you? Josson!�
She ran into the receiving room and found nothing. She turned down the hall, peering into the bedroom and seeing nothing. She turned into the study and saw Josson, looking out the window into the city below. From the window you could clearly see the men standing there.
�Josson? Josson, we must get you out of here, this instant. The Captain-General is coming here to arrest you,� she said, reaching forward to put a hand on his shoulder. The man jerked away suddenly, turning on her with a dangerous and odd gleam in his eyes. �He has men with him, Josson. They will kill you if you resist, and you and I both know that you will. I have the others on their way out of the building. You can save yourself now, and we will see that justice is allowed to run its course.�
�You were supposed to be killed! The men were supposed to find you dead, and burn the village, but you are alive,� he said, staring at her blankly now. �Everything now begins to fall apart.�
�You can fix things, Josson. You were always wiser than the others, though I did not entirely agree with your ideas. Come with me now, please, Josson,� she said. She could here there were running footsteps on the floor above them. The man shook his head, turning to look at her fully, and she saw that he had a knife in his left hand.
�They failed, and now it seems that we cannot be rid of you,� he said, then lunging forward. Akorsa dodged to the right. Josson stumbled forward and Akorsa hit him in the back of his head with the handle of her axe. The man fell to the floor, unconscious, the knife falling from his grasp.
�You damned fool,� she sighed, taking the knife and securing it inside her boot. �At least now they ought not go and kill you.�
The footsteps she had just heard became louder and louder, and she feared being caught now. She ran out the door, closing it shut behind her, and ran for the servant�s quarters. She ran down the hall, heading for the stairwell. She had just made it unto the landing of the stairwell as the first man in the Captain-General�s search party approached from the opposite stairwell.
She ducked up against the wall of the lightless stairwell, fearing that any movement or footsteps would be heard. She knew that the Captain-General and his men were supposed to be on her side. However, because she had just aided the enemy, she knew that she would not be invulnerable to any bout of anger the Captain-General brought forth. She saw the men divvy up into two groups, several of them heading into the direction of Dersai and Liyra�s quarters, the others heading for Josson�s. Several moments later they appeared again.
�Everyone is gone on this side,� said one of the men, pointing back towards the women�s quarters. �Did you find anything on your side?�
�Proctor Josson is here, but he appears to be unconscious, my lord,� said another, running up to the Captain-General, who now approached from the main stairway, looking quite irate.
�Two of you stay here with him. The lot of them might have run downstairs. I suspect that they might have barricaded themselves inside the Hall. If we are fortunate, Lady Akorsa has already found them,� he said, turning back towards the stairs with five or six men in tail. Akorsa could not help but smile to herself at the irony of this situation. Taking advantage of the distraction provided by the group of men moving about to their positions, Akorsa fled swiftly down the servant�s stairs towards the main floor.
- - - -
Upon reaching the main floor of the great building, Akorsa discovered that she had in fact beaten the Captain-General and his search party there. Taking advantage of this truth, she moved with care towards the kitchens in search of the five Proctors she had sent. She entered the dining hall carefully, and upon discovering that it was empty, she headed onwards, making her way towards the kitchens, which were just behind a few sets of doors. When she opened the large doors into the kitchens and walked in, she discovered it to be entirely empty.
She was now filled with a sudden dread, that perhaps, by some chance, they had not followed her instructions and had run elsewhere. Or, she thought, they had been in such a panic that they had run clear out of the building and into the hands of the men waiting outside. She walked about the kitchen, looking by tables and all else in the room, finding no sign of the other Proctors. As she moved, she listened carefully for any sign that perhaps they were nearby or that the Captain-General�s search party might be on its way.
It was then that she heard the slight sound of something moving across the floor. She imagined it to be quite similar to the sound that might be made when you pushed a heavy sack of grain across a dirty tile floor. Akorsa turned then to look at the storage room in the back end of the kitchen. She walked their softly and tried to open the door, which would not budge. The Proctors had barricaded themselves inside. She pushed on the door slightly, and there was a bit of a squeak that was emitted by the door, and the sound of the sacks of grain sliding against the floor ever so slightly. Those noises were followed by a gasp from inside the storage room.
�Clear the doorway, you fools! It is only me,� she ordered just loudly enough that those inside might hear her. She heard the grain sacks being pulled away from the door, which she then pushed open. �What in the name of all that is good do you think you are doing?�
�We were hiding,� replied Fandil. �Josson never came. We fear something might have happened to him.�
�He would not come with me, and tried to kill me. I left him in his quarters, unconscious, for them to discover, which they did,� she explained. �Now let us get you out of here. Aside from the front doors and the secret passage, is there any other possible way by which we might escape from this building?�
�Another way out, you ask? Can we not just leave out through the main entrance, before the Captain-General and his men arrive downstairs?� asked Liyra.
�You might just do that, if you wish it, and then land straight into the hands of the entire Proctorial Army,� snapped Akorsa, losing her temper with the woman�s ignorance. �Is there no other way?�
�None other that we know of,� said Fandil. �None others were made, for fear that someone would break into the building with the intentions of assassinating one of the Proctors. Say, what if were to leave by the same way in which you entered this place?�
�Unless you can climb the walls of the Hall, break the windows from the inside, and climb down the side of the building all before you are discovered, than no,� she said. �I do suppose that my only choice is to make a diversion for the lot of you.�
�What will you do?� asked Dersai, now shaking in fright.
�I will come out from the dining hall, and tell the Captain-General that I have searched it completely, and that you have yet to be found. I will suggest that you used the secret passage out of the building. While I am convincing him of this, the five of you shall ascend the servant�s stairs, up to the third floor,� she said, and the other five Proctors were listening intently. �I have friends who live there, servants. You shall implore upon them that they dress you in servant�s garb, entirely by my request, and then hide among them.�
�Shall they allow us to do that? They despise us, and we all know it. Will we be safe among the servants?� asked Fandil.
�Aye, you will be safe. While the Captain-General leads a merry little chase about the city, I will order the servants to evacuate the building at stay with other friends or family in the city. You five shall go into Ilyana, to the orphanage, and seek shelter there. I will come for you, I swear it. Do you understand me?� she asked. There were a few nods, but no one else spoke. �Very well then, do be careful.�
