Story Writing Game

"Phyllis!" Hilla cried, remembering too late that she was supposed to be hiding.
Lord Gregory sprang toward the door, and Caleb sprang toward the wall where she was hiding.
"Hilla! Is that you?" he asked, his eyes searching the wall.
Hilla sighed, opened the secret panel, and stepped into the light.
In an instant she was caught up in Caleb's arms, much to her surprise and partially to her annoyance.
"Caleb, it's- it's great to see you too- but Lord Gr-"
"Oh, Hilla, I was afraid I'd lost you," Caleb murmured as he released her at last.
"You shall lose her yet if I don't get some help over here! I believe some of these buffoons I'm dealing with are supposed to be your men, Mr. Hawk. Are they for you, or have they turned against you?"
At this exclamation from the Masked Man, there was a brief lull in the fighting outside, and Hilla heard a voice tinged with confusion yell, "We're for him of course! That's why we're trying to rescue him and his sister from your dastardly clutches."
Lord Gregory rolled his eyes. "I'm quite certain he ordered you not to follow him for the sake of his sister's safety; it's evident he loves her, and if I were the villain you all claim I am, she would be dead because of your disobedience."
A murmur of anger rippled through the men outside the door. The Masked Man held up his hand.
"But, she is not dead; she is perfectly well. In fact, I rescued her from a dreadful fate. Ask her yourself." Lord Gregory stepped aside, and a few curious heads poked into the room. Caleb scowled at them.
"Why did you come after being ordered not to? My dear sister may very well be dead because of you if it weren't for-" Caleb stopped, realizing he was only repeating what the Masked Man had already said- and not quite ready to call this fiend who he was still uncertain of "honorable."
"Well, anyway, I think we all need to hear Hilla's story before this goes any further. Hilla?" Caleb looked at her with expectancy written across his face.

Lord Gregory leaned back against the wall and eyed Caleb.
"First of all to see if you're everything they say you are. You aren't."
Caleb tensed, but the Masked Man held up his hand.
"Granted, I've had longer to practice than you, and the moments I've had to witness your- ahem- leadership skills, have been at a time when you were distracted by worry for your sister, so I suppose I haven't had the opportunity to see you in your-er-full glory." Hilla rolled her eyes.
"Second, to see if your men would follow you here. They did, which demonstrates the worthy characteristic of loyalty, but the unfortunate characteristic of blind, pig-headed loyalty. They weren't afraid to directly defy your orders, even though they knew what was at stake. That is a problem."
Both Caleb and Lord Gregory glared at the men, and Hilla almost laughed to see them finally agreeing on something.
"Thirdly, if I was satisfied- which I'm not, but I suppose I'm satisfied enough- I would like to strike an alliance with you. With the Masked Man and the Silent Hawk working together, we can accomplish more than you could ever dream of. There are two distinct advantages to me: one, it will be easier to overthrow the government if we aren't working against each other, and two, you can help me clear my name. As you can see, I'm not the villain the government would have you to believe."
"Then who are you?" Caleb challenged, his voice cold and expressionless.

"Does she really think that?" Caleb eyes were questioning and confused.
Lord Gregory shrugged. "I am no expert on Hilla, or women for that matter but I think she does. She's angry at you for being unreasonable and prideful. She wants you to admit you were wrong and not try to save your reputation. At least, that is what I think she thinks."
"But why does it bother her so much? She's never been this angry before. It's like she's a... volcano or something and just exploded. How could that one thing make her so mad?"
Lord Gregory nodded sympathetically. "Well... there is one more thing she told me..."
Suddenly Hilla ran back into the room. She stopped, breathless, and glared at Caleb. Her eyes were red and accusing.
"And I'd rather stay here with the Masked Man than be dragged home by you! You'll just leave me there again while you go off and do your top secret 'fight the government stuff' and forget all about me, and our parents. You'll go cold and heartless again. You won't admit how much you miss them, and you'll go on like you don't care the the two people who loved us most are gone forever!" Hills brushed against the Masked Man and left the room again.
Lord Gregory sighed. "That would be the other thing. She feels that you don't care about your parent's death. Since you've tried to bury yourself in your work and not let yourself feel the loss, which is what I assume you've done, she thinks that you are indifferent and just carrying on with your life. But she wants you there, to talk about them and to say how much you miss them. She needs you to care about her and be with her because you're the only thing she has left. You're her brother, and when you leave her like that, she thinks you don't care about her and that makes her upset. Right now, she's angry and hurting because you were trying to cover up your grief."
Caleb eyes swam with many different emotions. "I was just trying not to feel the pain so much. If I stopped and thought about it, it would overwhelm me. I never thought she'd think I didn't care."
Lord Gregory nodded. "You should talk to her."
"I will."
"My lord!" a voice came from the doorway. A servant stood there, leaning against the doorpost, and breathing hard. "The lady has left the fortress!"
"What?" Lord Gregory thundered. "How could she get out?"
"She convinced one of the servants to show her. She said she must leave immediately, and that to tell her brother that he wouldn't have to bother forgetting about her anymore because she wouldn't be around for him to do it."
Caleb grabbed his sword and pulled it from it's sheath.
"Well I'm not going to forget her. I'm going to find her!"