Sheila crept quietly past the remaining guards and quickly made her way out of Venger's Fortress. After she had jumped off the horse she shared with Fay, the Poet, Sheila had scouted out as much of the fortress as she could. She had silently climbed one of the spiral stairways and managed to overhear the conversation between Rose and Venger from one of the second level balconies. Rose sure did know how to talk flattery. Of course, Venger really was just a big ego. A big, evil, dangerous ego.
Sheila heard that they were to perform in three hours, which had given her the time she needed. She had discovered that there were some prisoners in the fortress' towers. She hadn't been able to discover where the Orb to the Yarfell Staff was being kept though.
She ran over to where a horse had been conveniently left and climbed into the saddle. The horse galloped off and to all who saw it, it appeared to be a run-away, spooked by something.
Sheila made it a good distance past Venger's ward spell before the horse stumbled, almost throwing her to the ground. It had lost a shoe and was now limping.
"Oh, no. Now what?" Sheila asked. "Poor thing," she soothed as she pried the loose horseshoe off and tossed it to the ground. She patted the horse and left it where it was. She and the others could come back for it on their way to the fortress.
Sheila started to run the rest of the way to the watchtower. The guys needed to be back there in time for the performers to go on and distract Venger and his guards.
Though still invisible, she left a trail of footprints behind her in the ashey soil. A trail easy enough for the guards Venger had sent out earlier to pick up on...
