The strange sounds of Tatton kept Rose in a very shallow sleep. The only noises she ever heard at home in the night came from servants or soldiers.
The hooting owl and crickets were a new sensation. Part of her wanted to embrace them as old friends, but the rest of her was too tense to allow any such thing. Instead she rested in a nervous tension, only getting a moment or two of sleep before jostling herself back awake with a jolt. Hours of this went by before the princess grew too frustrated.
"Stop being a baby," Rose scolded herself. "There is nothing to be afraid of. Philip and Cole are just outside if anything goes wrong. That owl isn't going to hurt you either. And when you were little, the summer crickets were your most favorite thing to catch because you liked to watch them hop from your hand. You are just being silly..."
With the spoken words, her worries melted away as she pulled the musty covers back above her shoulder. Adjusting her head on the less than soft straw mattress, the princess shut her eyes tightly and tried to imagine she was at home in the castle. In her mind's eye, she could see her closet door and nightstand. Her lovely vanity sat prettily against the wall and her bedposts contained the end of her bed as they always had.
Rose could almost turn the chirping crickets into footfalls of soldiers on the flagstone, and she had managed to block out the sound of the hooting owl entirely. 'Wait, what happened to the hooting owl?'
A moment later, the crickets also went silent. Rose's eyes popped open. She didn't know much about the forest, but she was pretty sure things did not go silent for no reason.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Rose moved out of her bed and to the shutters, careful not to step onto the cracked board she had noticed earlier. Slowly, the princess removed the bell alarm so that she could open the blinds. The red shutters seemed to be the only sturdy pieces of wood in the whole place, probably because they had been recently replaced.
It took a bit of time to figure out how to unlatch the belled contraption without setting it off, and the princess was curious if it was actually meant to keep her in. At last, the final knot was undone and the shutters were released.
The cool night air rushed into the stuffy room. Rose leaned against the window frame as she scanned the ground for any disturbance.
In the pale moonlight, the lady could see the entrance to the barn a short way off. 'I wonder if Belle is suffering like I am being so far from home.'
In answer to her unspoken question, Belle came racing from the stable along with Philip's and Cole's steeds. Just as the princess was about to call out to her horse, a man ran out behind them, slapping the last one on the rear.
'Why would he--?' Rose was unable to finish her thought as she heard frantic whispering in the hall. She was glad the men seemed to be awake so she could alert them of what she has just seen. They would know what to do.
With a few quick steps, Rose was already unbarring the door when a quick knock came against it. The wooden portal swung open as Philip rushed inside, nearly tripping over the princess. He pushed the door back in place and barred the door.
"Someone released the horses!" Rose squealed.
"We have to get out of here now." Phillip spoke at the exact same time.
"What did you say?" Each asked the other.
"I just saw a man release our horses from the barn," the princess explained quickly. "Why would anyone want to do that?"
"Because they plan to attack us. Cole heard them talking by the barn."
"Attack?" Rose was startled by the news. At worst, she thought the man below was a horse thief. It seemed he was much worse. "Are you sure?"
Cole made a muffled warning through the door before a clash of steel rang out in the hallway.
"I'm pretty sure, yes." Philip stated the obvious.
He double checked the bar across the door and was very dissatisfied with the shoddy condition of the wood. It would not take much to overwhelm such a pathetic security measure. The dark-haired man cursed quietly.
"We have no idea how many number the enemy, but the innkeeper is on their side. I have got to get you out of here before the bandits get past Cole." Philip moved away from the door and handed the Princess her bag and cloak.
Thankfully, she had not gotten undressed to sleep in order to try to put as much distance between herself and the straw as possible. She unconsciously dapped the cloak across her shoulders and clutched her bag.
"Go through Cole? He's fighting out there alone! You have to help him!" The princess thought about the handsome soldier and her mind focused solely on his safety. She went to unbar the door, when a heavy force banged against it and a point of a sword pushed through the decrepit wood.
On the other side of the door, Rose heard Cole hurl an insult at the man who had nearly thrown him through the wall. The fighting continued while Philip pulled back the confused woman from certain harm.
"Cole knew what he was doing. We are both trying to make sure you are safe. I'm going to lower you to the ground. And if there is time, I will come down after you."
"If there isn't time?" Rose bit the inside of her cheek.
"Then it has been an honor to serve you. Get out of town as fast as you can." Philip took the sheet from the bed and twisted it tightly. He delicately stepped to the window, trying not to have his foot fall through the rickety floor. "Hold on, and I will lower you."
"But..." Rose was cut off by a knock at the door.
"Let us in nicely and we promise not to hurt you too much. Unlike your friend here..." a deep voice called through the door. If the voice was anything like the man, he was nothing short of a giant.
"Cole!" Rose eked.
"If they have made it to the door, Cole is already dead. Just like we will be if you don't hurry!" Philip looped the sheet underneath the woman's arms and pushed her out the window. His attempt at pleasantries had ended when the battle began.
Rose fell slightly before being caught in the cradle of the twisted blanket around her chest. After a brief pause, the dark-haired soldier began to lower the princess to the ground. Since it was only the second story, the drop was not nearly as steep as it had been from her tower room.
As Rose neared the ground, the sheet was released and she landed unceremoniously on her rear. The princess was unhurt but had hoped for a dismount. Whem the princess looked back up to wave to Philip, the soldier had already disappeared from view. She could see one of the shutters being pulled from the window, but had no time to contemplate why. Rose needed to run.
Turning around, the girl ran straight into the chest of a burly man with a scar on his face. His missing teeth made his smile look exceptionally menacing. "Where do ya think yer going, hm?"
-----------------------
Philip released the princess just as the door to the room splintered to pieces. Rather than risk a wild jump out of the window, the soldier turned to fight, hoping to give the princess precious moments before being spotted.
The behemoth in the doorway looked around for the girl before his gaze narrowed on the lone figure in the darkness. This giant was who had killed Cole and Philip was about to join him if didn't think fast.
The soldier pulled the shutter from its hinges and waved it above his head in warning. Axel laughed. "You have a sword and yet you opt for a shutter… very strange way to die…"
"I suppose we can both discuss it on the other side…" Philip answered. He doubted Cole had gotten any epic last words, so he would do it for the both of them. "See you there…"
With that, the dark-haired man slammed the shutter into the weakest board in the floor. The innkeeper had not really been joking with his warning. The floor was indeed flimsy.
The shutter crashed through the floorboard and into the termite-eaten crossbeam supporting it. Like a triggered avalanche the floor, cracked and then began it's tumble downwards.
In an instant, the entire building collapsed.