Court of Daggerfall
Gothryd sighed. Was this man going to keep troubling him, or would this be the end at last? His constant badgering had quickly gotten the king from bored to annoyed and his royal majesty was, by now, at the point where he would grant this man such an irrelevant, if odd, favour of staying in one of the guestrooms. If this was an elaborate scheme by a beggar to get a roof over his head, he'd have to congratulate him with an ingenious plan; if this was an assassination plot, this was a truly feeble attempt to get closer to the king. Whatever the case, he better bugger off when granted this; Wayrestians of all people should know that when a king's patience runs thin, heads tend to roll.
"Very well, sir Masterhart, you are welcome to stay in one of the guestrooms. Whenever you wish to settle in for the night, inform my guard; they shall escort you to your room. Obviously you shall be kept under a close watch; it is not customary for commoners to stay in the guestrooms, and everything that is out of the ordinary warrants watching." For whatever reason, it seemed that this was very important to the man; either he was a great actor or genuinely concerned with this strange dagger, if it even existed and this Freas wasn't simply crazy. This wouldn't have been that unusual; Gothryd had certainly seen stranger things than some weird wanderer managing to convince himself that he was pursuing some artefact of incredible power.
"Now, I have more important matters to attend to, sir Masterhart. This audience is over." Gothryd wasn't asking anymore; this was an order, plain and simple. And if the man would refuse to leave, there were people who dealt with his kind in Daggerfall's court. Waving the man away both to show him that the king wasn't being pleasant about it this time and to let the guard understand Freas was to leave the king's presence immediately, Gothryd turned instead to his manservant standing still by the throne and began instructing him what he would wish to be served for dinner.
Court of DaggerfallFreas was relieved to hear the king's response which allowed Freas to spend a night in one of the guest rooms. It was important that Freas get to the room with haste, and inspect the room for any possible ways out that didn't include the door. Making too much noise wasn't on Freas' mind due to the training he received in T.O.A.O. Freas would have to outsmart the guards and escape from the room unnoticed, then attempt to find the room the map was leading them to. This wasn't going to be an easy task, not at all.
"Guard, please, if you will, escort me to the designated room I shall be staying in this night." Freas was now looking directly at the guard who was just holding a spear towards his face not but a few minutes ago. The guard nodded, bowed to the king, and signaled to the door we came in through by tipping his spear slightly. Freas bowed too, slightly, and took a couple steps backwards from the king before about-facing and heading to the door. The door opened as they approached, almost as if the person on the other end of the door knew to do so at that moment. Freas was escorted through several corridors, up a set of spiral stairs, down a long corridor to the other wing of the castle where a left turn was taken. The guard spoke as they approached the second door on the left.
Guest Quarters of Daggerfall Castle - West Wing, 2nd Floor"Here is your room for the night," the guard said almost trying to sound like he was happy to escort Freas. "Should you need something, knock loudly on your door, and a guard shall assist you." Freas nodded slightly, broke eye contact with the guard, only for his eyes to fall upon the door handle. From the inside of the room the handle could be seen turning, and then the door opened, creaking audibly until it came to a stop, and then Freas closed it behind him while using a little downward pressure. The creaking sound was louder this time, and then click, the door was shut. Footsteps growing softer in sound ensured Freas that the guard was moving away, probably just around the corner. He knew the guards would be listening for sounds from his room, anything suspicious at that.
The room was neat and tidy, clean sheets and a lovely fragrance filled the room which emanated from the top of a night table left of the bed. An unlit lantern was situated on the night stand, that of which Freas moved towards, opened and lit using a basic fire spell. With more of the room now visible, he noticed a second lantern on the window ledge which he then also lit. Freas inspected the room for any oddities, any ways out, and found none. There was the window, but he would have to scale an impossibly small ledge to do so, and being unfamilar with the sound these windows make while opening, he wouldn't risk it. The door was now the only way out, and he knew he'd have to be quiet.
Freas knew he had to get his short sword with the red blade back, and he knew the only way to do so was to summon it back to him. This act would require more concentration than he was used to, but less magic power than summoning two of them. He could feel the presence of his blade displaced from his body, and this connected awareness was all he needed. Concentrating on the blade, he spoke a few words in his mind, and holding his right arm outstretched, the blade appeared in his hand.
Simple. It was a good thing Freas placed this weapon last on the cloth the guard was holding outside the castle, or it's sudden disappearance from the pile would have made a noticeable sound, a sound which may have warranted investigation and resulting in an untimely check up on Freas. It's a good thing calling for these weapons is based solely on the experience and skill of the one it's connected with, or this take would have been impossible.
The next thing on Freas' mind was tracking the weapon he marked earlier in the day in the forest. The presence of Freas' blood on the dagger mixed with the magic from his own weapon would ensure the tracking of this item. He could feel it nearby, but not yet within the castle. The sun was mostly set over the horizon, and these two men would surely be executing their plan soon, as long as the time's he could read on the map were accurate.
Freas extinguished the flame of the lantern on the window ledge and dimmed the one near the bed to a dull glow, ensuring not enough light came from the room to distinguish movement. Moving silently towards the door and listening for anyone outside, he placed his hand on the handle, and directing pressure slightly up and towards the hinges of the door, he opened the door about twelve inches perfectly silently. Freas couldn't ensure it would open silently past this point, so he slipped out of the room, and using the same method he had before, he closed it. No one was in the hallway at the moment, and he couldn't hear any discernible footsteps so he continued down the hall away from the direction he came and turned right. This hallway was very dark in comparison to the one he was just in, and with his eyes already adjusted, he headed towards the next intersection up on the right. Stopping to peer around the corridor, he noticed two guards pass by at the other end of the hall. After they had passed he continued down the poorly lit corridor.
He could feel it now, the dagger was in the building. He couldn't exactly tell where, but the magical signal he was picking up was much stronger, possibly due to the fact it wasn't blocked by the outside castle walls. All he had to do now was find these men and get Mateus' dagger back, even if it meant using lethal force to do so. If they were taking dark corridors to get to the king, they would run out of corridors to take very, very quickly. Few men have the ability to move around unnoticed as Freas, and he intended to use this to his advantage.
A sound from behind Freas was suddenly heard, and he had but moments to find somewhere to hide himself. It sounded to be the guards Freas had seen earlier, now coming up the corridor he just passed. Freas ducked into a dark room, quietly closing the door behind him. Using the heaviness of their footsteps to gauge whether or not they had heard him, he waited.