Without any warning, I conjured a sleeping spell from my hands.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?" he whispered, panicking.
"We don't have much of a choice, Marcus," I struggled to reply. The more power I used, the more my essence depleted. But I had to do a bit more because this spell had to work on fourteen soldiers. And it would last longer than usual as well.
A few more grunts and finally, the orb was finished. Right after I pulled my powers back, I coughed out blood onto the carpeted floor.
"Your Highness!" Marcus whispered as he caught me.
"Who's there?" a soldier called out from the hallway.
Marcus and I shared worried glances. Our eyes widened as we heard the booming voice.
"Is anyone there? If there is someone, you shouldn't be on this side of the castle. Were you not aware of His Majesty's decree that this wing is forbidden?" the soldier continued. "Whoever you are, reveal yourself."
"This wing is forbidden?" I wheezed as I turned to Marcus. Once again, I coughed out even more blood.
"That doesn't matter right now, Your Highness. The more we proceed with this, the more you'll hurt yourself," he complained as he supported me by the arm. "We have to get you back to your quarters."
Although I was short of breath, I shook my head. "No," I panted
"We're already here. We must see this plan through."
"Show yourself!" the soldier repeated.
With what remained of my strength, I threw the sleeping spell onto the soldiers. We waited for a while before the sound of metal armors clanging echoed down the hallway.
"Go… and see if it worked," I instructed as I laid back onto the wall.
Marcus nodded. With caution, he peeked through the corner. He then returned to me with a smile, "Your Highness, your spell worked. The soldiers are now asleep."
I nodded slowly. With a groan, as well as Marcus' assistance, I was able to stand back up. I took in a few deep breaths before I replied, "We must go, then. We're not certain about the longevity of the spell. And I don't want to catch His Majesty's attention."
He agreed and we headed directly to the duchess' chambers. As we made our way to the door, I was surprised to see that the soldiers weren't on the floor. They were all asleep as they stood in their position. I could only hope that the spell wouldn't cause such discomfort onto the guards.
We arrived at the doors and as expected, the handles were chained and closed by an ancient log lock. I shook my head as I examined the lock. It was the sort of lock that James would use so it wouldn't be opened easily. Even if you were the greatest lock picker, you wouldn't be able to open it. It didn't have the usual keyhole. And it also had a pattern that only the owner knew.
I sighed as I put the lock down. "How are we supposed to open the door when he used this lock?" I remarked as I stepped away from the door. If I hadn't had my incident this morning, I would use my powers in a heartbeat. But I already used too much for the sleeping spell. I already endangered myself through my negligence. I couldn't afford to do it again.
Out of nowhere, Marcus knelt before the lock. He examined it for a bit and then nodded after. He grabbed a long pin from his hair and started to pick the lock.
"Marcus," I held onto his shoulder which caused him to turn to me. "What are you doing?"
"I'm opening the lock, Your Highness," he replied, confused.
"Are you aware of this sort of lock? One wrong move can kill the both of us," I remarked. These locks were usually incorporated with some sort of trap. If someone would attempt and use a wrong pattern, death would be the consequence. And since it was James who used it, I could only imagine what he put in this specific lock.
Marcus let out a smile as he gently removed my hand. "There is nothing for you to worry about, Your Highness. When it comes to locks, I'm taught way too well as a child," he replied. He returned to the lock and proceeded with his lock picking attempt.
I took a few steps back and gave him space to work on the lock. And though I was anxious that we might get caught, I had to trust Marcus in what he was doing. Whilst he was occupied with lock picking, I glanced over the corner as his watchful eye.
A few minutes passed and Marcus was yet to make progress with the lock. I then asked, "Are you certain that you can open the lock?"
Right after my question, Marcus twisted the pin and something clicked within the lock. We both froze at the unknown sound. A snap immediately followed. The snap travelled from the start of the hollow carved pattern to the very end.
And when it ended, all Marcus could utter was, "Move."
Darts suddenly flew out from the carved pattern. I jumped up into the air whilst Marcus laid flat on the ground. He then rolled away from the door as fast as he could. I grabbed onto the ceiling frame as we waited for the darts to stop.
The chaos lasted for quite a bit before it finally stopped. As soon as everything was quiet again, we returned to the lock with caution.
Marcus knelt before the lock and examined it.
"I knew it wouldn't work," I remarked as I landed back on the ground.
Marcus twisted the pin once more, which successfully opened the lock.
Amazed and shocked, my mouth hung open as he stood up with the lock in hand.
He looked through the lock and replied, "Perhaps, His Majesty didn't want anyone to know that they succeeded in opening it." He turned to me with a triumphant smile.
My eyes remained wide open as he handed over the lock. "How were you able to open this?" I asked as I was still amazed.
"When you live alone, you tend to learn things that can be of any help in the future. Lock picking is heavily frowned upon. But I took it upon myself to study it in case situations like this happen," he replied as he returned the pin to his neatly-tied hair
"Who knew it would serve me well?"
I nodded as I returned a smile. "I guess the next trick for us would be to return this to its prior position."
"Again, you have nothing to worry about, Your Highness," Marcus grinned as he bowed.
Without another word, we entered the room.