Chapter 76 Marie.
In the days following the cabinet meeting of Duke Arbencroft, subtle preparations were made. There would be no large troop movements and no missives sent to any of the surrounding cities. Alexander had telepathically informed the leader of the nearby dwarven fortress of the impending attack but had specifically told him to be patient. Alexander informed the old dwarf that if he could wait until after Jallen V’Nova had fully committed to the attack to start gathering troops to assist them then it would be too late for Jallen to retreat successfully. Unfortunately there were only a few dozen dwarven troops actually capable of fighting and of those only a small handful were on level for the impending engagement. At best they would be used to help clean up after the battle had been won, at worst they would give Jallen pause long enough to get the duke and duchess to a safe place while their city was sacked.
Alexander’s preparations consisted of only sending that singular message. He was forced to pretend that nothing was going on while subtly watching the residents of Safeharbor with scrying magic to make sure no knowledge of the impending attack was spreading. So far he had only seen and heard rumors of something ‘important’ happening but even that made him uneasy. Jallen V’Nova was not personally known for having a spy network but the drow empire had a very large one. Towards the end of the meeting Lenna and Izen both agreed that Jallen was not a complete idiot. If the ancient paladin knew that he was going to lose then he wouldn’t even try to assault Safeharbor. As it stood he believed that it would be a quick and crushing victory but if a thousand troops suddenly appeared on and in front of the walls then he would change his mind and return home. The drow standing army was better at tunnel defense than open offense due to their superior individual power but lower overall numbers after all.
—
Captain Tim’s preparations were nonexistent. No matter what, he could not make a single move. If there were spies in the city, which he doubted but it was technically possible, then he couldn’t so much as change guard rotations without looking suspicious. In the end it meant that Tim was left to stew in anxiety of the coming battle in his office without being able to tell a soul. His two assistants who had been in the meeting with him were much the same. They couldn’t risk talking about it outside of Tim’s office just in case someone overheard but the simple act of pulling one or both of them into his office and turning on the soundproofing enchantments was suspicious.
—
Sir Michael was in command of the garrison as there wasn’t a proper garrison commander in Safeharbor. There had been at one point but it had been so long since the last real attack on the city that the position had been vacated. Recently too, which really irritated Michael. He was a magistrate not a garrison commander but he would have to make do. Or he would have had to if Duke Arbencroft had not planned to assume command of both the guard and the garrison as soon as the battle was about to start. Thankfully, unlike Captain Tim, Michael was a man who was cool under pressure. Instead of suffering in ever rising anxiety like the Guard Captain, Michael was happy to go about his daily work as if nothing was about to happen. His assistant, however, was not holding up quite as well.
—
Edward and Fable sat down with the Flame Ravens in Edward’s office with the full suite of counter intelligence enchantments active. There weren’t quite as many as there were in Izen’s war room but there were probably enough that no one under level seventeen would be able to sneak a scrying spell of any kind into the room. They were brand new enchantments. “So that’s the plan.” Edward said as he finished explaining the situation to the Flame Ravens.
“You want to split the party and take Fina completely out of combat?” Esk questioned in a voice barely quieter than a yell.
“There are other mages in the city.” Fina protested.
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Edward shook his head but it was Fable who spoke up. “With smaller mana pools, yes. What would you do if they ran out of mana and Shy’s Invisibility dropped?” He demanded.
Fina shut up and shrank back into her chair. “The risk to a member of my team is too high.” Esk continued his attempts at resistance against his master and the local Guild Master.
“I’ll do it.” Shy said in a voice barely louder than a whisper that silenced the entire room. “It needs to be done and Darkness will have all of the attention on him once it starts. Me and this other rogue will have the easy part.” She nodded under her hood once. It was a nod that brokered no argument. “I’m going.”
Edward gave her a half smile. “Thanks, Shy, I’ll make sure to give you extra healing potions to bring along. Don’t waste them on Isaac if he is conscious, no matter how bad the injury is, he’ll survive. The duke and I are making sure of that. Those potions will be for you and your companion.” He explained.
“What is their name?” Shy asked. There was no way that she would actually ask the person the first time they met, and she hoped that she wouldn’t have to use their name, but just in case she needed it, she wanted to know.
“Marie.” Edward replied simply.
No one could tell because no one could see Shy’s eyes but they had gone wider than she thought they had ever gone before. There was only one person that she thought it could be considering the circumstances. Only one rogue that Edward would know personally, who vanished without a trace the day Sera Arbencroft announced that she was pregnant, who was a high enough level to be trusted with the mission alongside her. The Assassin of a Thousand Faces.
—
Marie had been inside of the war room when the plan had been created though only Izen and Sera were aware that it was her. Not even Edward was informed, nor did he notice, and he was her old party member. She was fairly sure that Isaac and Lenna hadn’t noticed either. After being exposed during tea time not that long ago Marie had stopped messing around. She was known as the Assassin of a Thousand Faces not because she used to impersonate different people all the time but rather because she simply enjoyed changing. To her it was like changing characters in a boardgame. She would switch which piece represented her every few minutes as long as there were spares whenever she played. She liked to switch what color she used too. It wasn’t always to mess with whoever she was playing with but simply because she got bored of the one she had chosen. While she was guarding Sera, however, things were different. She needed to keep her presence hidden in order to properly protect her. Isaac had relit the proverbial fire under her when he called her out.
There hadn’t been very many instances of Marie settling for something. The first time had been when she settled on the name Marie. The second was when she accepted an aging duke’s offer to be trained as an assassin in secret. The third was when she accepted the last order he would ever give her: ‘Protect my son.’ He had ordered her. She joined the boy’s adventuring party while he traveled and experienced the world. She pretended to be the same level as him and the rest of his companions. She did her job as their team’s rogue well but not too well. The only thing that she continued doing despite her better judgment was changing faces.
During Marie’s time with the duke’s son and his party she received the nickname ‘Assassin of a Thousand Faces’. A title that she hadn’t disputed in the slightest.
On the day the old duke died she felt lost. Her mission had been completed. She protected the boy until he had become a man, until he had taken over the dukedom, until he could protect himself. She decided that she would continue adventuring with the rest of the group until she could find something else she wanted to do. Party member after party member retired or, in one case, died. Eventually it was just her and Edward. It stayed that way until the day Edward’s sister, and the boy that she had once been tasked with protecting, announced that they had a child on the way. On that day, Marie decided that she would settle for the fourth time. This time instead of settling on the hand she had been dealt or the offer she had received, she would be settling down.
The child from the slums became the Assassin of a Thousand Faces and then eventually she became just a maid. She slowly became attached to Serentia Von Arbencroft, formally Von Sasston, and eventually she told the woman who she really was. Marie then decided that she would tell the boy, who was no longer a boy, and Edward that she had been there all along. Marie leaned back in the chair in her dressing room and sighed. “And now I am becoming the assassin again.”
—
Aria sat on the lead wagon and watched as Safeharbor slowly got larger and larger. “We finally made it!” Aria called out.
Claus chuckled almost silently. “Yes.” He replied.
“We’ll have to thank Isaac for clearing the path for us.” Aria continued. “He’s been doing that a lot for us recently.” She glanced over her shoulder at the prisoners tied up behind her. “I hope they are ready for us. The sooner they aren’t our problem anymore the happier I’ll be.”
Claus nodded. “Yes.” He agreed. “Hope Lisa gets off easy.”
“That’s on Isaac and the duke, I think.” Aria replied and then shrugged while turning back towards the city. “I can’t say this is my favorite place to be but Ben’s End was getting a bit cramped so, uh, it’s good to be back, I guess.”