1.07

Cord moved quickly to the steps leading down from the wall. The steps led down into one of the gardens, which were well-lit. Cord sat motionless as he scanned the gardens, looking for any sign of the assassin. There was no movement, which made Cord wary. Surely, there should be a patrol or a guard?

He decided that the paths in the garden would be too exposed, even if it was the shortest route to the palace. He decided follow the wall west, even though it would take him away from his goal. A few hundred yards away were the servants quarters, which would be full of people, but he should be able to get onto the roof and make his way across towards the western entrance to the palace. He would need to find a way to get to the palace unseen, and then once again climb up to the roof and make his way to the private apartments, which were on the northern side. It was a long way to go, and every second counted. Turning away from the garden he stealthily made his way along the walkway, keeping to the shadows.

Cord leaped across the gap between the walkway and the servants quarters, landing with a quite thump on the balcony that ran along the entire length of the servants quarters. He bent his knees and rolled over forwards to soften the landing, immediately returning to his feet to stand with his back against the wall. He waited to see if any of the nearby rooms' occupants had heard him. No sound came from within. Satisfied that his gamble had paid off, Cord stepped up onto the balustrade that ran the length of the balcony and reached up to get a handhold on the floor of the balcony above. Finding a suitable grip, he pulled himself up to the next level and climbed up onto the balustrade. He repeated the process again until he was squatting on the roof of the building. The roof was dark, and Cord waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness again. The leap from the wall had been in a well-lit area, and his vision had been affected. Once he was satisfied that he could see fully, he moved across the roof, and was happy to find that the roof was well-maintained and sturdy. Soon he was at the north end of the building and only a few yards away from the palace. He was happy to see a feature that he had not been aware of.

Cord lay flat on top of a covered walkway that had been built at some stage to link the palace and the servants quarters. It had been built to link the third floor of the quarters with the palace, probably to prevent the servants taking too long to arrive when being summoned. It also gave Cord a good way to get across to the palace. He had simply been able to hang from the roof of the building and his feet had found purchase. The area was well-lit, but Cord was not worried about anyone from the ground seeing him, their night vision would be terrible, and they would be looking up at a black sky. Cord was stating flat in case the assassin was in the vicinity. As fast as he could while remaining silent, Cord crawled across the walkway's roof. He kept checking the palace roof and balconies for any sign of movement. He reached the palace walls, and was happy to see that the decorative work on the walls and balconies provided many handholds. Quickly he scaled the walls up to and onto the roof. There was no sign of guard or assassin, and Cord set off across the palace roofs as fast as he could. He was beginning to wonder whether he could catch the assassin in time...