Zander, having wondered the same thing, was already creeping forward down the long hallway. He stopped several paces in, listening to the faint cacophony surrounding him. When he finally recognized it as the distinct sound of snoring echoing from multiple rooms within the giant hall, he whipped around, looking at Theo in alarm.
“It’s not abandoned,” he whispered, just as a loud explosion sounded from the stables.
Zander and Theo rushed into the room closest to the foyer, which was mercifully unlocked. Inside, they found two men rubbing the sleep from their eyes, one wrapped in the covers of a large bed and the other sleeping in a pile of blankets on the floor. The second man shot up upon seeing the two pirates, but Theo quickly ran him through. He then swung his blade so the tip quivered at the throat of the second man, still wrapped in his covers, frozen in fear.
“How many men sleep in this hall?” Theo growled.
The man, who appeared no older than twenty, sputtered wordlessly. Theo pushed the blade so the tip pierced his neck, red blooming on his skin.
“How many?” he repeated.
“Not quite thirty,” the man said, his voice coming out as a squeak. “But there are at least two dozen more sleeping in the stables.”
Theo’s eyes widened, and he twisted the blade almost imperceptibly against the man’s throat.
“Why are there so many of you?” he demanded. “Aren’t you supposed to be privateers or something? Why aren’t you on your ship, pretending to be pirates?”
“L-Lord Sanz needed help guarding the prisoners,” the man said.
“Prisoners?”
“Yes, the ones we took from the boat whence the lady came. The p-pirates. They were being held here, until yesterday morning when some men came to retrieve them. They paid a bounty for each one. Lord Sanz promised us each payment after…” The man’s lower lip trembled, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
“After what?” Zander demanded, taking a step closer.
“After he was… done… with her,” the man blubbered. Upon feeling Theo’s blade dig further into his neck, the man’s hands shot up, and tears streamed down his face. “Please,” he said. “I don’t wanna be here. I have no other prospects. I’m just here for the money.”
“And the rest of your friends?” Theo said. “Do they have any loyalty to Sanz beyond his coin purse?”
The young man attempted to shake his head, but Theo’s blade made him think better of it. “No, sir. I don’t believe so, sir.”
“Good,” Theo said. “I suggest you get the hell out of here then, once you wake up.”
“Wha—”
Theo took a step forward before he could speak again and grabbed the side of his head, slamming it hard into the bedframe. The young man slumped over. Zander winced, thinking of Theo’s injury. It took a surprising amount of force to knock a man out by hitting him, Zander had recently learned.
Muffled voices sounded from the hallway, soldiers waking from the sound of the explosion.
“It’s a fire!” Zander heard someone holler. “I can see it from my window!”
A loud thud from the foyer indicated someone had entered the west wing from the central courtyard.
“Get dressed, you idiots!” a man yelled. “We’re under attack!”
The muffled voices turned to the urgent patter of feet upon the ground.
“Fuck,” Theo muttered, his voice shaking. “We’ve just sent dozens of men out there to find Yarrow.”
Zander peeled back the curtains to look outside. The stables burned like a lit torch, sending sparks shooting into the night sky. Zander wondered if dozens of men and horses burned inside it, or if Yarrow had managed to free the innocent beasts before lighting the fuse.
Zander turned to see Theo with his ear pressed against the door, his sword sheathed but his hand hovering near one of his pistols. Footfalls sounded more heavily from the hallway now, the men’s boots stomping urgently toward the door at the end of the corridor. Zander held his breath, hoping no one would notice two missing men.
Neither man moved as they waited for the wing to clear out. Theo’s jaw was rigidly set, his lips a thin line. His hands shook.
“You should go to Yarrow,” Zander said.
Theo’s head whipped toward Zander, and he stood straighter. “I can’t leave you, mate. Besides, you need me to pick the lock on Ace’s door.”
“Go to them,” Zander insisted, knowing what he’d want if he were in Theo’s place and Ace was just outside. “I’ll figure something out. Between the two of you, maybe you can keep all these men distracted a bit longer until I do.”
Theo was silent for a moment, staring intensely at Zander. Finally, he sheathed his sword and strode across the room, wrapping Zander in a hug. Zander returned the embrace, the smell of gunpowder and the sea enveloping him.
When Theo pulled away, his expression was hard. “It’s quiet out there now. I’ll cover you while you get to the central wing’s entrance. Then I’ll go out the way we came. Be safe, Zander. Get our girl.”
Zander just nodded, unable to say what he wanted to say. The urge to fit a thousand words of gratitude into the moments they had left flitted up through his body and escaped in fright. Zander hoped his eyes said something like, Please don’t die, you wonderful bastard.
Zander pried the door open slowly, and Theo stuck his head out, a pistol in each hand. When he nodded, Zander slipped into the hallway. He made his way past the foyer and to the door leading to the central courtyard, Theo following behind him, spinning as he walked, guns drawn. When Zander reached the door, he looked back at Theo and nodded.
“Check it’s not locked,” Theo said, gesturing toward the door with his chin.
Zander gently turned the handle.
“It’s open,” he whispered. “Go.”
Theo nodded once, then disappeared.
Zander was left alone then, standing in the dim hallway, his hand still clutching the handle of the door. He could hear the soft rumble of voices from beyond. He turned the handle slowly until it unlatched, then opened it ever so slightly, holding his breath as if it would prevent the wood from creaking. When a sliver of moonlight shone through the crack in the door, he stopped and listened.
