Anti-Climatic

Jonas led the way around the manor, starting with the side they hadn't been on. Jonas wasn't sure what to expect, but had a feeling they'd taken care of the biggest problems from this night. Yet, he couldn't suppress a nagging sensation in the back of his mind that they didn't need to bother with the chamberlain, that they'd already accomplished the challenge.

Jonas made sure not to pay any real attention to that thought, given while it would be nice, he wanted to make sure, and not have o later search for the chamberlain after giving him a head start.

Kim and Elmo were following him quietly, which he didn't mind. Not that there was much else to talk about at this time anyway. Aside from the fact that any noise would travel farther at this point that any other, given how few people were out and about at this time in addition to how little competing noise there was.

The walk around the building was uneventful. Jonas was surprised at how many signs there were of people who had been helping the chamberlain, but how little signs there were of other people. Hostile or otherwise.

Did they all converge at the front gate? Jonas couldn't help but ask himself as they moved along.

Where the servant's gate was, he couldn't help but notice that it was very securely barred from the outside, so it was clear they weren't worried about anyone getting out through that way. Not that he would have thought about it himself, given he hadn't even realized there was any other gate or entrance other than the front and back gates.

When they reached the remains of the catapults, Jonas noticed a few bodies laying on the ground, buckets laying next to them, though a few had clearly fallen down upright and still had the water that had been in them. The catapults themselves were mostly carred hunks of burned wood and metal, although a few still had flames still burning. Kim, Jonas, and Elmo checked the bodies there only to find that all that remained had already died.

Whether they had died before the rest of the soldiers there had left or whether some had been left to die, he couldn't tell. All he could say was that they were all dead now. Which annoyed him more than anything at the moment.

He would occasionally glance at Elmo or Kim and they would nod after meeting his gaze, the silent communication passing between them making the search a little more effective. While he didn't consider it much of a loss to have all these people dead here, he wished he could have had the chance to ask some of them questions. Like the other two they'd captured earlier, ones that he hoped were still alive, even though they'd probably get executed down the road for being a part of this night's events.

As they reached the open window, Jonas looked at Kim. "If we haven't found the chamberlain by now, My guess is that either he's holed up somewhere inside the manor or he had another exit ready. Either way, he's probably long gone by now," he whispered, suddenly feeling the effects of having stayed awake for nearly two days straight.

"Let's continue to the front gate again. If we don't find him then, I'll come back for Elin while you and Elmo go to the back gate and let them know they can come back in," Kim whispered back.

Jonas merely nodded. He didn't have the energy to argue, though a glance at Elmo showed that the kid might be in much the same condition Jonas found himself in, even though Elmo hadn't been awake near as long as Jonas himself had.

Not that he held it against the kid. Elmo seemed like the kind of person Jonas wouldn't mind having at his back in a fight. While Elm probably would have a hard time fighting his way out of a wet paper bag, he at least trusted that Elmo wouldn't turn and stab him in the back if he thought he might have a better chance of survival doing that.

As they reached the front of the manor without encountering anyone, Jonas merely turned to head towards the back gate while Kim wordlessly turned back and started to go towards the open window. Nothing more needed to be said, as they'd already agreed to what would be done if they hadn't found anything.

Although, as he walked towards the rear gate, Jonas couldn't help but wonder if Kim was in the same shape that he and Elmo were in. Not that he'd blame her. Although, it would impress him, given how he had left her earlier fighting the soldiers at the front gate,

Jonas thought he was doing fine in his walking until he felt someone pulling at his sleeve, urging him to go a different direction. Jonas felt his vision focus at that moment, letting him see the wall about five feet in front of him. Which meant he'd started drifting off while he walked.

As he looked around him, he noticed that Elmo had been the one pulling at his sleeve. Apparently he had essentially woken up himself early enough to realize they'd trailed off course a bit.

Looking around, he saw that they hadn't gone too far off course. Which meant that he hadn't been out long.

Still, he was grateful for the darkness because it helped hide his embarrassment. For some reason he was more conscious of Elmo's presence than he had been of anyone else's. In addition to not wanting Elmo, especially Elmo, to know of his embarrassment. Not that he could even explain why that was.

He quickly turned and moved, making Elmo step a little faster in order to keep up. He hoped that there wouldn't be any more surprises or anything when they got to the rear gate. His deviation in his direction showed just how worn out he was, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to fight if it came to that. Which would leave Elmo to do any fighting, and he was pretty sure that Elmo wasn't going to do so well. Especially after his fight with the doppelganger.

When Jonas reached, and stepped through, the rear gate, he was stopped by a sword at his throat. He couldn't say if it was help by one of the guests or one of the soldiers that had been part of the assassination attempt. Or if it was the chamberlain.

Though, he felt Elmo walk into him from behind, which he couldn't complain about. At the very least, the motion didn't make the blade at his throat draw any blood, so he was glad for that. Although, he was close to not caring. He felt himself fading faster than he had expected.

Jonas had assumed that the guests had gone around to another entrance to the city, although he didn't have any reason to think that they actually did that. He doubted he would if he was in their place. Yet, someone clearly had to be holding the sword.

"Trying to run as well?" a voice taunted from Jonas' side, which sounded familiar to him. Not that he could place it right away.

"Just checking the perimeter," Jonas replied before yawning, as if this was an everyday occurrence. At the moment he didn't care if he was killed. He just wanted to rest. If death was the quickest way to it, then so be it.

"Jonas?" the voice asked, pulling the sword away from him.

Jonas glanced to his side and saw a young man standing there. He seemed familiar, but Jonas could tell his brain wasn't going on all cylinders at the moment. So, it took him a minute to place the guy's face.

"Oh, yes, Arwyn, right?" he said. Arwyn was the son of a baron who's lands apparently produced a good amount of food that made its way to this city.

"Yeah, Guy told me to keep watch while he tried to figure out what that loud noise was about," Arwyn said.

Jonas couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry about that. It was caused by reinforcements," he answered. "We were merely searching for the chamberlain, who seems to not be anywhere."

"Oh, that's easy," the young man replied. "We captured him about fifteen minutes ago. About the same time the loud noise came from towards the gate and Guy left with Lance to take a look."

"So, he's here?" Jonas laughed, feeling like irony was playing a prank on him.

"Yeah, we caught him before he realized we were here," Arwyn answered, as if he was reporting to someone of higher authority. "The king has him being questioned right now."

"Well, I have some good news for you," Jonas commented to Arwyn feeling like he was merely walking through a dream at the moment.

"What is it?"

"You can stand down guarding this gate. The chamberlain was the last one to deal with. Uh, well unless he wasn't the head of this. If that's the case, then I have a friend who will be able to tell us who that is," Jonas said, sitting down on the ground, leaning his back against the wall.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but let me get some sleep first," Jonas said. "I'm sure the chamberlain will still be alive for us to question in the morning."

"Uh, sir?" Arwyn asked, sounding rather confused, but tired himself. "What do I do then?"

"Go tell the king that Id like to have a word with the chamberlain in the morning. To make sure he stays alive for that as well," Jonas answered. Then he closed his eyes, for a moment before he remembered another item to mention. "Oh, and by the way, all the soldiers by the front gate were taken out. Uh, neutralized, I guess you could say."

Jonas wasn't sure if the people from this world would understand what he meant by 'neutralized,' but he felt like saying it anyway. Besides, any confusion about what words he used would likely give him more time to fall asleep before he thought to say anything else or get someone who would.