The castle’s courtyard, as Ryder emerged into it from the room whose window Meredith had made her reluctant escape, was all but empty, most of those who had once occupied the castle having either made their escape or fled in a desperate bid to escape the flames.
There would be no escape, though. As Ryder looked around, desperately searching for some hint of where Colby might be, he saw flames licking at almost all of the windows. Matthew and his men had done their job well. Now it was time for him to do his.
Think, Ryder, think, he muttered to himself, feeling a bead of sweat start to trickle down his forehead. The heat from the inferno the castle had become was almost too much to bear, but he raised a hand to his head and dashed the sweat away impatiently. Think. Where could he be? Where would he go?
He knew that Colby could not possibly have made it out of the castle itself. Matthew had too many men positioned at the gates for anyone to get through them undetected. He had to be here somewhere, but where?
He whirled around, his eye desperately scanning the walls of the building for some clue, and, as he did, the moon suddenly emerged from behind a cloud, throwing the central tower of the castle into stark relief against it.
Yes.
The north tower. It was the tallest of all of the four towers which stood at each corner of the courtyard, and, unlike the others, the small room at the top opened directly out onto the castle’s battlements. From there, it was possible to climb another small flight of stairs, which led to a viewing platform. It had been designed for long-ago sentries to keep a careful watch over the land around the castle, but, when Ryder and Colby were lads, it was normally empty of soldiers, leaving the two young boys to climb to the top, daring one another to step closer and closer to the edge.
Colby would be there. He had to be. As the highest point of the castle, it would be the last place to be affected by the flames, and, as it was open to the elements, it would offer the best chance of survival. It was much too high to be able to jump from there to the ground, of course, but Colby might hope to be able to wait it out until the flames died down and he could make his escape.
The more Ryder thought about it, the less certain he felt that this was where he would find Colby. The man had never been keen on heights, after all --- Ryder was always the only one of the two who dared to get close to the edge --- and the chance of safety it offered was but small.
As he looked again at the tower, though, he saw that the windows were filled with smoke, but not with fire. The chances of him finding Colby at the top were slim, but they were all he had. So, without giving himself time to think further on the matter, he raised his sword once more and charged towards the tower, darting here and there to avoid the flames that filled the courtyard, and stopping only when he reached the door of the North Tower.
Here, Ryder stopped for a moment to draw in a lungful of smoke-filled air. The acrid smoke burned his throat as he gulped at it, and he wished he had something to cover his face. It was too late to think of such things, though, so, taking a final breath, he shouldered open the door of the tower and climbed the stair inside at a run, fighting his way through the thick black smoke that made it impossible to see more than a short distance in front of him.
At the top of the staircase, he found the little room, just as he remembered it, and fought his way through the smoke and out onto the battlements. The air here was clearer, and he took a moment to stop and rub at his stinging eye, looking cautiously around for any sign of Colby.
At first, the battlements appeared to be empty, any guards who had been stationed up here having long since fled. The viewing platform was just around a corner, though, and as he peered carefully around the wall, being sure to keep the rest of his body hidden, his heart leaped as he saw a solitary figure standing in front of it, staying well back from the edge as he looked out at the castle grounds, filled now with the roar of flames, and screams from those below.
Colby.
I could just creep up behind him now and put an end to this, Ryder thought, as he watched his enemy inch closer to the edge of the platform, apparently looking to see if there was any way down from it. Just one push and he would be gone. Meredith would be safe. This whole sorry mess would finally be over.
Just one push. It was all it would take.
But then he thought of the Quinns and how they had looked when they’d returned to Millar Castle the night they found out their home had been burned to the ground. He thought of Edward, dying so soon afterward, and buried far from the place he’d loved. Finally, he thought of Meredith and the way she had screamed his name as the soldier had carried her off on his horse. The panic that had risen in his breast when he realized he had lost her.
No.
A quick death would be too good for Colby, and, besides, it was not Ryder’s way. He would not attack a man from behind, enemy or not. He would not take the coward’s way out, the way Colby himself had done, sneaking around, pretending to be his friend, but all the while plotting against him. Lighting fires instead of facing his former friend head-on, like a man.
But Colby Green was no man. He was a coward and a monster. And he would die at Ryder’s hand --- this very night, in fact --- but only once he’d told him that to his face.
* * *