A/N Please review I'd especially appreciate any suggestions on making it better.

Five riders came up over the crest of the hill in the dead of night. Very little could be seen of them by crescent moon. The center rider was taller than the others. He sat erect in the saddle and seemed to be surveying the valley before him.

The castle was quiet, so sure of their safety they had but a few guards posted.

Hilton crept silently down the hall. It was so silent that every small sound seemed loud. The hall had a thick red carpet and was lined with suits of armor. In between the suits of armor there were doors some of which were closed while some were open. The darkness in the open doors was immense. When he finally got to the end of the corridor he carefully opened the last door which revealed a winding stairway. At the first landing, he opened the window and took a bundle of rope from under his jacket, which when unrolled appeared to be a rope ladder.

Five shadows slipped through the trees after tethering their horses to an oak. Any noise they made could well be mistaken for the wind.

The rope ladder dropped silently from the tower window. Even if the watchman had been awake he probably wouldn’t have seen the five figures speedily climbing the rope ladder. The tallest came to the windowsill first and climbed over it with ease.

"Well done Hilton" He congratulated the young man. Soon the other four were standing on the landing. Hilton hurriedly gathered up the rope ladder and stuffed it in his jacket and looked to the tall man for further directions.

"Stay here until we come back." Then turning to the others he added with a smile "Now is the fun part."

Sir Randall was half asleep when he noticed the swish of a cloak passing by his door he took no notice of it. In the morning he wished that he had.

Gloustout dozed steadily in the kitchen on one chair with his feet on another. Probably dreaming of roast turkey and cinnamon rolls. A cloaked figure passing by the door stopped suddenly then cautiously entered the room. He filled a small sack with cornbread apples and a block of cheese then left as silently as he came.

Five intruders passed quickly through the halls and converged in a dark stairwell.

"What are you eating?" The tallest whispered anxiously."

"Just something I found in the kitchen" He defended himself. "I brought some for you." He said gleefully holding up the sack." The tall man sighed

"We need to stick to the plan." He turned to the others. "Was anyone awake?"

"Just one," said another "I put ‘im back to sleep for a while."

"Good." Said the tallest. "Secure the Castle, I’ll get what we came for."

The Tallest one disappeared up the staircase, then the remaining four hurried to the gate to do his bidding.

The castle standard flapping in the wind made strange shadows on the courtyard floor. The two guards at the gate waited impatiently for their replacements. When two men walked casually toward them, They handed over the keys without question and hurried off to bed. Unfortunately for them they got no farther than the door out of the courtyard. Once the bestower’s of these unfortunate circumstances had locked the guards up they joined their companions at the gate.

A dark figure ducked his head under a small, doorway. Then speedily made his way through a maze of passages. He did not lose his way for he had spent many weeks studying a hand drawn map of this castle. Finally he came to a large wood door. It was locked as he had expected it to be, but he had not been apprenticed to a locksmith for three years for naught. In two minutes the door slid open revealing a large room illuminated by the remains of a fire on the hearth. Most of the room was taken up by a big carved table with ornate chairs surrounding it. The walls were hung with tapestries depicting great battles and hunts. Between two of the tapestries there was a pale white horn decorated with gold hanging on the wall by a red silk band. There were Several, sturdy Oak chests against the walls. It was indeed the Council room of the self-proclaimed lord of Guildford Castle.

He strode over to where the horn was hung, Lifted it gently and hung it over one arm. Then he knelt down and with some difficulty opened one of the chests. It was full of Letters and documents that looked important. He rummaged through them until he found a stack yellowish letters with black seals. He grinned and stuffed the stack under his cloak. Then cautiously left the room closing the door behind him.