Chapter Fifteen
Chime.
Now that things were starting to get interesting, I took a second to think about how I should approach the day. I knew what the king was hiding now. Time was on my side, just like always, so I could slow down before making this decision.
I yawned and stretched, got dressed in my servant’s uniform, flashed the girls a wink as we left our sleeping quarters, and lined up before Miss Gervine in the common room.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I said as I flashed her a smile. “Did you know the baker, Dael, has a crush on you?”
The palace steward’s face turned red immediately, and she sputtered as she struggled to formulate a response.
“H-How dare you?” she finally managed to snap out.
“Never mind,” I chuckled. “It doesn’t matter where you assign me.”
“Hmph,” Miss Gervine huffed before she marched over to inspect the women in my company.
Zenda prattled off her fake backstory, and the palace steward nodded her approval before assigning them to be kitchen maids.
“You,” she hissed as she returned to me. “You will be a page.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, but I couldn’t help the smirk that twisted my lips.
I wasn’t going to do any of that this time. I had bigger goals, and I could still set the wheels in motion for my other entertainment. All I had to do was instruct the girls to sneak the letters into the pair’s meals, and they would meet up in the kitchen to discover their attraction to each other.
Meanwhile, I needed to deal with the hidden weapon the wannabe thieves were after, and I would have to protect it at all costs. That meant I needed it firmly in my possession because I didn’t trust anyone else with the task.
Maybe Riondale or Jaxtom, but they were far away in Bastianville.
I needed to stay focused on the assets I had at the moment, and while I had time on my side, I didn’t have much power to access the treasury while pretending to be a page. But I had the king’s favor and power behind me, so I would have to go to him first for a reassignment. I would have to catch him alone so as not to draw unwanted attention to myself, and that meant I needed to be in charge of delivering one of his meals.
Once I made the decision to approach the king for a reassignment and to catch him up on my plans, I rubbed my hands together and prepared for the day.
“Hey,” I whispered to the girls as they turned to leave the servants’ quarters. “We have some scheming to do together.”
“What do you mean?” Akina furrowed her eyebrows. “We only just got our assigned roles.”
“Oh, I already know everything we are supposed to do today,” I said with a dismissive flap of my hand. “You three will be delivering the meals to the lesser nobles gathered here at the palace. They won’t recognize any of you, but they all know me, so I have to stay away from that part of the castle.”
“Does your scheme involve the nobles?” Zenda tilted her head to the side with curiosity.
“No,” I chuckled. “I was just giving you a heads-up about your day. On top of the nobles, the three of you also serve the higher-ranking servants like the treasurer, head baker, and the palace steward. They’re my targets for this scheme.”
“I thought we were investigating spies in the king’s household,” Caelia said. “Are the higher-ranking servants involved in some treachery?”
“Oh, no, I’ve already figured out who the spies are,” I said with a broad smile. “I’m dealing with that myself. They aren’t who you’d first think.”
“Really?” Akina blinked at me in shock. “You already know everything?”
“Basically.” I laughed. “Catching up yet?”
“So, what do we need to do?” Zenda got straight down to business. “You’ve got something fun planned, don’t you?”
“I sure do, I want you to write and deliver love letters to two people,” I explained quickly as the girls nodded their understanding. By the time they were caught up with my matchmaking mini quest, we’d arrived at the kitchens, and I rushed over to the clipboards.
I hurried to review the clipboards on the wall for anyone responsible for feeding the king, but I soon learned that it was the duty of the Chief Chamberlain to test and present King Frederick’s meals.
I was glad the king had a trustworthy man monitoring the ruler of Sorreyal’s food, but now I needed to convince the chamberlain to let me deliver it. I could just reveal my identity to the older man and see what happened, and I always had a save point handy just in case.
“Alright, I’ll see you again at the morning meal, but first I need to go talk to the king,” I said before I gave each of the women a goodbye hug.
They gathered their lists and headed toward the Head Cook, Jacques, while I went toward the Chief Chamberlain’s quarters, and I tried to maintain a steady pace. I didn’t want to make the chamberlain think that anything was amiss by my request, and arriving in a sweaty fervor wouldn’t do me any good.
“Good morning,” I greeted as I stepped inside. I went to the bar and poured us a couple of drinks, and I handed one to the Chief Chamberlain as he struggled to rise into a sitting position.
Reschain lifted his eyebrows at my audacity, but he didn’t comment as we both knocked back the dark liquor.
“So, you deliver the king’s morning meal?” I asked in a casual tone.
“What of it?” Reschain grumbled as he set the empty glass on his bedside table.
“I’d like to take care of it for you today,” I said with a shrug. “You work too hard as it is.”
“What do you know about my workload?” Reschain chuckled.
“I’ve memorized your schedule,” I explained. “I am just trying to master my role as a page, and I think helping you out would make me look good.”
“It has been a while since I last took a day off,” Reschain muttered as he scratched his jowls. “But this isn’t something that can be entrusted to a lowly page. It is a grand honor, in fact, and I must treat it as such.”
“Could you trust the God of Time to do it?” I crossed my arms and lifted one eyebrow.
“Of course,” the Chief Chamberlain said after he took a moment to process my words. “But the king’s closest ally is far away at the moment.”
He hadn’t picked up on my subtle suggestion to my true identity, so I’d have to take a more blunt approach.
“He’s closer than you’d expect,” I said, and I stood up a little straighter as I cleared my throat. “I am actually Sir Sebastian in disguise as a servant.”
“You do realize how preposterous that sounds,” the chamberlain scoffed with a disbelieving shake of his head.
“Have you not seen me before within the king’s quarters?” I chuckled. “How else would I know you wouldn’t freak out over me drinking some of your liquor?”
“Why, I am not certain.” A flash of belief graced his face, but then his expression settled back into one of suspicion.
I didn’t think it would be that hard to convince him, but I could always up the ante. I considered resetting to my save point, but I decided to try one last thing before I turned back time once more.
“You are married, and your wife occupies your townhouse down in the city.” I shrugged. “I know everything about you, Reschain Friese.”
His eyes widened, and I watched his expression change to one of belief, but it was a little bit stronger this time.
I continued to prattle off facts I’d learned about the Chief Chamberlain, and I recited his daily schedule by rote. His eyes grew larger and larger with each statement, but then he lifted his hand to stop me.
“I-I’ve heard enough, Your Grace.” The man shook his head in awe. “How did you come to know so much about me?”
“I know everything.” I smirked. “It’s just something I do as the God of Time.”
“Your power is somewhat unbelievable, I must admit.” The Chief Chamberlain grew suddenly self-conscious of his undressed state, and he hurried to the wardrobe across the room. “Forgive me.”
“Hey, I’m the one who busted in here to wake you up.” I laughed. “Besides, I’ve already seen you get dressed and undressed a few times, so it’s not like there’s anything new about it.”
“I don’t understand.” Reschain spoke over his shoulder while he got dressed as quickly as he could. “Why reveal yourself to me?”
“I need your help getting to the king without it being known who I am,” I admitted. “Delivering his morning meal would be the ideal opportunity.”
“I see.” Reschain turned to face me with a furrowed brow. “Would it not draw attention to you if the guards see a page delivering the meal?”
“I’ll say you’re sick or something.” I smiled. “If that doesn’t work, I’ll try something else. All I have to do is go back in time.”
“Very well,” Reschain said. “I will send you in my place.”
“Thanks.” I grinned. “When do I get started?”
“First, we must go to the tasting room.” Reschain gestured to the door. “It adjoins the kitchen so the food is kept in a pristine state.”
“Cool.” I followed along as he led the way to the kitchens.
We garnered a few glances as we traversed the corridors, but I had to admit, I looked a little silly as a six-and-a-quarter-foot-tall page. I towered over the Chief Chamberlain as I walked in his wake, but it wasn’t long before we entered the tasting room.
The kitchen staff were waiting for our arrival, and I realized that delivering the king’s meal had a very ritualistic feeling to it. Everyone presented themselves like military ranks lining up for inspection, and Reschain glanced over everything quickly before he gave a subtle nod of approval. At Reschain’s gesture, everyone in the room visibly relaxed, and one of the servants stepped forward with a tray in their hands.
“The king’s meal, Master Chamberlain.” The servant set the tray down on a table in the center of the room, removed the lid, and bowed before stepping back into place.
“Thanks,” I said since Reschain didn’t respond.
We both stepped forward and inspected the breakfast tray, but the aroma had already hit me the instant the kitchen servant had removed the lid. Pancakes, bacon, fried eggs, slices of ham steak seared and buttered. It was enough to stir a god’s appetite, that was for sure, and definitely fit for a king.
Reschain sniffed, eyed closely, and walked around the table to peer at various angles before he finally stood before the tray and took a single bite out of each portion.
Then the Chief Chamberlain stepped back, and the servant who’d placed the tray stepped forward to replace the lid. The man bowed to us again, and everyone stood in silence for a long moment.
I caught Reschain’s pointed glance, and I realized he expected me to grab the food. I bobbed my head before I lifted the covered tray into my hands, and I wondered if I needed to reset. The main goal was to get access to the weapon hidden in the king’s treasury, though, and I hadn’t lost sight of that.
We walked out to the hallway, and Reschain gestured down the corridor behind me.
“Go, send the king my apologies,” the chamberlain said. “But let him know it has been tested by me personally, same as always.”
“You’ve got it.” I grinned.
I jerked my head in farewell before I headed down the hall toward the king’s chambers. The servants’ hallways ran all over the palace, but they crossed into the front corridors at several junctions, so I peered around each corner before I continued. The fewer people I ran into on this mission meant less people knew what I was after, and the fewer people who knew I was after the weapon, the better. I had already caught Lark and Noa, but the God of the Plague could have contingency plans in place in case his current round of “spies” were found out, so I still needed to keep my guard up.
The God of Time was in incognito mode.
I made my way to the king’s chambers, and I entered the smaller side door the servants used. The room was the most lavishly-decorated room I’d seen in the entire palace, and the rich red-and-gold silks hanging from the ceiling created an ambience of glow.
The king was asleep in bed, so I set down the tray on the table in the center of the room. There were also enough couches and desks to furnish an entire household, and they were all in matching reds and golds to signify Vallenwood’s colors.
“Good morning, Your Majesty,” I said in a soft voice as I crossed the room to his bed. “It’s Sebastian.”
“S-S-Sir Sebastian?” the king stuttered out as he rubbed his tired eyes. Then he shot up into a sitting position and blinked at me. “What are you doing here this early? What happened to the Chief Chamberlain?”
“He’s fine,” I assured him. “I am just taking over this part of his job today so we can talk. I have a new plan I need your help with.”
“What do you mean?” King Fred frowned. “Have you rooted out the spies within my household?”
“I know who the spies are, yeah, but that’s beside the point.” I flapped a dismissive hand. “I need to get into your treasury.”
“What?” His frown deepened. “I asked you to come here to find the spies leaking information to the residents of the city.”
“Oh, no, everyone’s just pissed at you because you’re oblivious to what they’re going through.” I smirked. “I have some ideas for how to fix that, too, but I did catch two newly-hired servants plotting to break into your treasury. They’re after something for someone else, and I need to protect the contents from them at all costs.”
“What do you know about the contents of my treasury?” King Fred threw back his blankets, and the older man popped his back before he faced me.
“Everything,” I said simply.
“Really?” The king’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Then you know about Viceroy’s Toy?”
“Exactly.” I nodded. “Listen, there’s another wannabe god out there like the God of the Purge, but this new guy can spread disease. I have to stop him at all costs, and that means I need the weapon in my possession.”
“What will you do with it once you carry it on your person?” The king shook his head. “It is safe where it is at. Only myself and the treasurer have a key to the room.”
“Yeah, and Arnoch’s a drunken mess,” I pointed out. “It would be easy to lift the key from him. Give me the crystal, and I will keep it safe. I swear on my immortal life.”
“Oh.” King Fred seemed surprised by my vow, and he swallowed hard.
I gave him a few moments to process everything, and I paced around his room to poke at his trinkets and artifacts. Everything looked expertly crafted and fragile, so I was careful not to break anything.
“Sir Sebastian,” the king said to my back. “Can I trust you with the most powerful weapon ever created?”
I turned to fix him with a pointed stare.
“You gifted me your lance so I could kill the fire-breather, Smiguel,” I reminded him. “I have come to save Vallenwood more than once. This should be the last time I have to stick my neck out for you, but I do it willingly to protect all of Sorreyal plus the lands beyond these borders.”
“You feel very strongly about this,” the king noted in a quiet voice. “I trust you to be a man of your word. You have never done anything to prove otherwise.”
“There’s a reason you trusted me to root out spies in your household,” I said. “I have the best interests of all of humanity at heart.”
“You are a benevolent god,” the king agreed with a sigh. “Very well, let us go to the treasury at once.”
“I’ll need a different disguise first,” I pointed out. “A page in the treasury hallway will stand out like a sore thumb.”
“Good point,” King Fred said. “We’ll call for a clean royal guard uniform.”
“Exactly.” I nodded.
“But what will you do with the weapon once it’s in your possession?” The king frowned as if he’d discovered a hole in my plan.
“First,” I said. “I’ll follow Lark and Noa, the new stablehands plotting to rob the treasury, until they lead me to the person they’re working for. They are merely the grunts in this plan, and the person giving them their instructions is working directly with the God of the Plague.”
While the two men had admitted to knowing of the God of the Plague, it was apparent their interactions with his underling were more frequent. Whoever the middleman was, the two wannabe thieves were just as scared of them as they were of the supposed god.
“You’re right,” King Fred sighed. “Following the traitors is the best possible way to reveal your enemy’s location. Let’s hope you find out all you need to know.”
We got started with the plan, and I dressed quickly in the standard uniform of the royal guard before I joined in the ranks of the men guarding the king. We walked down the corridors, and it felt a little strange to be using the front hallways instead of the servants’ after how many times I’d run up and down the staff corridors.
It was still early in the morning, and the king had skipped his breakfast in order to take an impromptu trip to the treasury. The guards shot curious glances at each other, but no one commented on the change from the normal routine. It wasn’t their place to say anything, and if a new guard came out of the king’s chambers, you just accepted he was one of you.
We entered the treasury hallway a short while later, and the group of guards standing in the corridor stepped to the side to allow the king and his personal retinue passage. The king retrieved the key from the long gold chain around his neck, and he entered it into the hole in the treasury door.
I entered the treasury a step behind him, and the king motioned for the rest of the guards to stay put. A couple of them swallowed down responses, but they turned obediently to stand guard outside of the room.
Then I glanced around the room to soak in how much extravagant wealth was on display. The king was much tidier than the former Duke of Arginold Hold, and instead of there being piles of gold strewn across the floor, everything was organized into chests and cabinets.
The king led me to one of these cabinets, and he pulled open the drawer of the jewelry box-like container to reveal a black crystal. Instead of shining in the light of the treasury room lamps, it seemed to absorb all light. A chill ran down my spine, and I was suddenly hesitant to touch it.
I could sense its evil aura even without skin contact.
I wanted to destroy it immediately, but the king had said there could be a magical blowback that might affect the entire city. I had to lock it away to prevent anyone else from getting their hands on it, but I was loath to bring such negative energy into the castle where I was raising my children.
“Take it,” the king instructed, and his voice broke through my runaway thoughts.
I nodded crisply before I scooped the gem up into my hand. I felt its power instantly, and the hairs on my entire body stood on end. I dropped it into the hip pouch included in the guard’s uniform I wore, and I took a deep, steadying breath.
“Viceroy’s Toy, huh?” I chuckled. “This thing is pure evil.”
“Yes, well, the Royal Mage was a tad vengeful after being poisoned.” The king let out a long, sad exhale. “I think he felt like a fool, and he wanted to turn the tables. He began to experiment with poison more and more, but this is something entirely different. The moment he showed me, I confiscated it.”
The Royal Mage, Viceroy, had been the victim of a previous plot to weaken the king. I’d discovered Zorya, the court wizard of Mistvale Keep, and her mistress, the former duchess, were the ones responsible for the attack. The two women had met their ends on the executioner’s block, but it seemed like that wasn’t enough justice for the powerful mage working for the king.
“And how did the Royal Mage react to you taking away his new toy?” I arched an eyebrow as I anticipated the worst.
“He wasn’t mad.” The king shrugged. “I think he’d scared himself with what he’d created. He poured all of his rage and hatred into it, but it was almost cathartic. His desire for vengeance seems to have faded.”
“That’s good,” I sighed.
I wasn’t eager to fight against the second-most powerful wizard in Sorreyal, so I was glad Viceroy had taken the incident well.
“What will you do now?” the king asked.
“I’m going to post up in the hallway,” I said. “Then I will watch where Lark and Noa go after they fail to retrieve the crystal today. They will lead me to their masters.”
“Good luck, Sir Sebastian,” the king said, and he shook my hand before we left the treasury once more.
I stopped outside the treasury, and I nodded to the other guards before I took up a position among them.
“What are you still doing here?” one of the guards who normally guarded the hallway asked once the king was out of earshot.
“King’s orders,” I said simply.
“Does he doubt our ability to protect his treasure room?” the guard asked.
“Not at all.” I cleared my throat. “I’m on special assignment. Today only.”
There was a long silence as the guard tried to think of another reason to question my presence, but in the end, he dropped it and stood in his position stiffly. The hours ticked by, and I tried to ignore the stiffness in my entire body, but it soon grew nearly unbearable. I dropped into a quick squat and twisted my head from side to side to shake out my numb limbs, and the other guards snickered to themselves.
I didn’t care what they thought about me. I was on a mission to discover who the two wannabe thieves were working for. The pair would soon come to attempt to enter the treasure room, but they would do it during the changing of the guard. They wouldn’t make the attempt if they spotted me guarding the corridor, so I’d have to go out of sight until they realized the crystal was gone.
Arnoch had to have given away some sort of information if he was one of the only other people entrusted with the contents of the treasure room. The only other person who knew about the crystal was Viceroy himself, so I made a mental note to pay the Royal Mage a visit before I left Vallenwood to make sure he was at a hundred percent. I’d hate to have to come back to town to kill him.
The guards moved to leave for the shift change, and I went in the opposite direction, but then I ducked down behind a corner to wait for the two wannabe thieves.
I didn’t have to wait very long.
Soon, I heard footsteps approaching, and I peered around the corner to see the two new stablehands crossing the distance to the treasure room. Lark held the key in his hands, and I realized he could have easily spiked Arnoch’s liquor to make the treasurer pass out.
That’s what I would have done if I was trying to rob the treasury.
The pair went inside the locked room before the door clicked shut behind them, but it wasn’t long before they emerged again, and the looks on their faces were full of disappointment.
Good.
“What do we do now?” Noa hissed in a low voice. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”
“Something’s happened,” Lark agreed. “We need to tell her.”
Her?
My curiosity was ramped up to a million, but I resisted the urge to reveal myself and demand more answers. They would lead me straight to the answers I was looking for, I was sure of it.
If not, I could always reset and try something new.
Time was on my side, same as always, and I would get to the bottom of this before I let time continue forward again.
The two men disappeared from my limited view, and I waited a brief moment before I followed them. I stayed out of sight, and I kept my pace slow and casual. We passed by the guards heading to stand in the treasury hallway, but I was dressed as a royal guard, so no one questioned me about my direction.
“Evening,” I said as I walked past the group of guards, but I kept my voice low enough so as not to alert Lark and Noa that I was behind them.
Then the two men left the palace, and they walked in the direction of the stables. The sun was setting over the western horizon, and the golden-walled city was bathed in a warm glow. The rays were blinding, and I had to blink to adjust to the change in lighting.
I waited until Lark and Noa disappeared from view before I followed after them once more, but first I watched as the two slipped inside the stables.
Did they know they were being followed?
Were they meeting their boss in the stables?
I held my breath as I followed them inside, and I had to blink to adjust my eyes to the dark yet again. Before I could even process what I was seeing, Lark and Noa rode out of the stables on the other side of the building.
They had stolen two horses.
I quickly threw my horse’s saddle on his back, and I rode after them in a hurry. I’d lost a lot of time, and there was no telling where their destination was.
It could be anywhere.
I soon caught sight of the two men’s backs on top of their steeds, and I pulled my steed into a slower gait. The horse champed on his bit, but he slowed himself nonetheless.
I made a mental note to take him out for some exercise soon, and I rode at a casual pace behind the two failed thieves. They’d managed to get inside the treasury, but they hadn’t expected their target to be missing.
The weight of the crystal was heavy against my side, but I pushed it out my thoughts as I focused on the path the two men were taking through the city. On the outskirts of the capital, they dismounted and tied their horses to a pole in front of an inn before they slipped into the shadows of the alleyway behind the business.
“Stay nearby,” I bent down to whisper to my horse. “I have to go catch some bad guys.”
Then I dismounted, and I followed Lark and Noa into the shadows. I circled around the neighboring inn, and I approached the alleyway from the other side of the street. I could see the shadows of their outlines as they stood below the rows of glowing windows, and I watched as Lark tossed a pebble at a glass pane.
The thief repeated the process two more times before they stopped completely. The pair stayed in the shadows of the alleyway for a while without speaking, but then Noa cleared his throat.
“What do you think is going to happen to us?” the younger man asked in a worried tone. “She said failure wasn’t an option.”
There was that mysterious “she” again.
“They also said the target would be in a specific spot, and it wasn’t,” Lark pointed out. “We didn’t have the time to comb through the whole treasury, and they gave us faulty information, so it’s not our fault.”
“Let’s just hope they see it the same way,” Noa countered with a shake of his head.
The two sounded concerned about their safety with the person they were working for, and I had a brief flash of empathy for their predicament. They were just trying to survive in a harsh world, and it seemed like their luck might’ve just run out.
I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but I had a bad feeling about the person they were meeting with. Whoever it was, Lark and Noa were both terrified of them.
A short while later, another figure entered the shadows of the alleyway. I squinted my eyes in an effort to make out more details, but I couldn’t see much beneath the hooded cloak the figure wore. The figure approached the pair of thieves, and there was no denying the feminine movements beneath the shroud of fabric. The shadow of a blade made the cloak bubble out on one side, and I wondered what her weapon of choice was.
Was the woman some sort of priestess like Sarosh was when she’d followed the God of the Purge?
Was she also brainwashed in some way?
Whatever her motives, the woman radiated a deadly energy. I didn’t even know her, and I didn’t doubt she’d kill me without a second thought.
“Why have you summoned me?” the woman asked in a sultry voice. “Is it done?”
“There were complications,” Lark admitted with a sigh.
“What kind of complications?” the woman hissed. “You were given a simple task.”
“You said the crystal would be in the jewelry box,” Lark argued.
“We got all the way there,” Noa added. “The plan went off without a hitch, but there was no stone to steal.”
The woman was silent for a long moment, and I held my breath as I listened to every word.
“What else did you take?” the woman asked.
“Nothing,” both men said in unison.
“We weren’t instructed to take anything else,” Lark added. “The rules of the job were clear, but it was your information that was wrong.”
“Never mind my information,” the woman said. “Where is the jewel now?”
“How are we supposed to know that?” Noa questioned in a sharp tone. “You were the one who told us where it would be in the first place.”
“We just need more time,” Lark said.
“There is no more time,” the woman said in a low, deadly voice. “But it’s cool. I’ll do it myself.”
Cool?
I was distracted from my confusion when she whipped out two daggers, and then she buried one in each of the two men’s chests in one fluid movement before I could even process what had just happened. Their choked cries echoed through the alleyway, and I bit back a gasp of alarm.
But then something clicked in my brain.
Did she have an American accent, or was I just imagining things?
I had to find out more about this mysterious woman working with the God of the Plague, but I could already tell she wasn’t someone to fuck with. She’d sooner cut you down than give out a second chance.
I waited in silence for a long moment before I glanced around the corner once more, but when I looked, the alleyway was empty of everything except the two men’s bodies. The dead pair laid crumpled on the stones, and the woman was heading toward the street.
Was she returning to her room at the inn?
This would be my only chance during this day to confront her to get more information, and the opportunity was passing quickly.
“Hey, you,” I said as I launched myself from my hiding spot. “Who are you?”
The woman turned back to face me, and I could just barely make out the twinkle in her eyes as they reflected the light from the inn’s windows. The hood shrouded the rest of her expression, and she remained frozen in place.
“Who are you?” I repeated as I crossed the distance to her. “Why did you kill these men?”
“I’m sorry, dude,” the woman sighed. “But I can’t leave any witnesses. You did this to yourself.”
Then she whipped out her daggers once more, and she charged forward faster than I could blink. It was all I could do to dodge her first attack, but I had a defensive spell ready by the time her swinging arm returned.
The dagger bounced off the shield spell, but energy skittered across the concave surface of the translucent protective magic from the strength of her impact.
Fuck, she was strong.
“I’m no dude,” I said as I held her back. “I’m the motherfucking God of Time, bitch.”
She attacked me in a flurry of motion, but none of her thrusts managed to penetrate my magically-summoned shield. Then I used the spell to push her away from me, but the force sent her hood flying off her head. I was greeted with a dark-haired, green-eyed beauty with the thickest red lips, but there was no denying the startled expression on her face.
“G-G-God of Time?” she stammered as she stepped further away from me. “You’re supposed to be in the desert!”
“Surprise,” I said, and I began to cross the distance toward her. “Time’s up.”
“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “No, it can’t be. He said--”
“The God of the Plague is full of shit,” I cut her off.
The woman’s green eyes widened ever so slightly, and she opened her mouth to argue, but instead, she spun on her heels and ran away into the streets of Vallenwood.
I had half a mind to catch up to her to see if I could get any more information out of her, but I’d already revealed myself to her, so I knew I’d have to reset to my save point again.
I might as well use this run through to get all the knowledge I possibly could.
I glanced up at the windowpanes as I found the glass Lark had thrown pebbles at, and I counted how many rooms it was from the corner of the building.
It wouldn’t be hard to figure out which room was hers, and then maybe I could learn more about the mysterious woman. If she was working with the God of the Plague, then I had to be extra careful not to reveal my identity during my next run through. It was best for everyone involved if my enemies thought I was still in the Kotar Desert.
I was still dressed as a royal guard, so I could use the authority of the crown to force my way inside, or I could sneak in some other way. If the woman had returned to her room, I would have to confront her, but I had a save point handy just in case things went south.
I went in through the back door, and I peered down the hallway leading past the inn’s kitchen to the common room beyond. The stairs were at the front of the hallway, and there wasn’t much of a chance I could pass without being seen, so I decided to go straight up to the front counter.
“Hello,” I said. “I am a messenger of the king, and I have a letter to deliver upstairs.”
“The addressee is in my inn?” The innkeeper frowned. “Give me their name, and I can tell you which room.”
“I already know the room, thank you,” I said.
I turned and hurried up the stairs without another word, and I was on the second level a moment later. I was right about the position of the stairs due to the lack of windows, and I counted three over to reach the room Lark had sent his signals to.
I didn’t even bother to knock, but the knob was locked and wouldn’t turn. I had ways around that, though, so I flicked my hand through the motions of my flame spell. Then I directed the full heat of the blast of magical fire directly onto the lock, and the sound of melting metal filled my ears.
I pushed on the door, and there was no resistance, so I stopped the fire spewing from my palm before I stepped inside. If the door was locked, it stood to reason the occupant was not at home. If they were, the sound of the melting lock would have alerted them to my presence, and she could have escaped out the window.
Either way, I would learn more about her from the contents of the room, so I glanced around to get an idea of who I was up against.
The God of Inspection was on the case.
The room looked unoccupied completely except for one corner of the room, and the bed was made perfectly without any wrinkles or indentations from sitting down. I stepped closer to the corner of the room to figure out what the weird shadows were, but then I realized it was all different kinds of weapons in piles. There were bows, swords, daggers, darts, and axes in stacks and leaning against the walls. On the desk was a scroll case, but other than that the room was undisturbed.
I crossed the room to the desk, and I had to break into the scroll case as well. I blasted my fire spell against the lock, but I was careful to pinpoint my flames so I didn’t destroy the contents of the case.
As I melted the lock, I kept glancing at the piles of weapons, and I considered how much more powerful and deadly they would be with the aid of the dark crystal I held in my possession.
The scroll case finally snapped open, and I slid out a rolled-up piece of parchment. There were a few singe marks on the outside, but it had been mostly undamaged by my forced entry.
Finally, I unrolled the paper and read the contents.
My jaw dropped at the first line.
The God of Time had his work cut out for him.