The Guard dropped to the ground and Orgeeg leaned down to wipe the blood off his flat blade upon the dead Guard's dark leather armor. They really should strengthen the armor around the neck. He thought. The Guard had seen him coming, he'd had all the time in the world to set up a defensive stance that would ensure his weak spots were well guarded and also offer the space to retaliate with an effective counter attack. Instead the Guard had muttered a word as Orgeeg closed in, "Please." And that word had quenched any doubt of failure from Orgeeg's mind. They really should strengthen the Ranks of the Black Guard. They were a pathetic disgrace, who pleads before the face of duty? That single word had had Orgeeg throwing caution to the wind, he'd let out a yell and worked in close to severe the fool's throat.
"Please."
Orgeeg wondered what Rank the fool had been as he watched the blank gaze of the Guard facing the stairs leading to the second floor of the Southwing. He spat on the corpse and dashed up the steps, cursing himself for voicing his rage at the cowardice and incompetence of the Royal Black Guard.
No wonder I rose to the first Rank so easily.
He slowed his steps, monitored his breathing and pointed the blade in his wake. Something wasn't right, something that made him wonder if the Princess Dahli truly resided at the Southwing. So far he'd only met just the Guard at the intersection leading up the stairs and prior to that he'd met more Guards at various intersections and two hands patrolling the hallways. It looked like the number of Guards reduced in number the closer he approached his destination. An odd thing indeed.
Orgeeg released his breath and took in another one, every bone in his body screamed a trap but that shouldn't be reason to lose control of his breath.
'The flow of blood, the ease of thought, the tingling of nerves. All can be controlled through the mastery of breath.' His tutor back in Remu had drilled this fact into him and Orgeeg had used it to pave his path to the mastery of the Forms. He inhaled deeply through the nose and exhaled through the mouth, faint shadows danced upon the stairwell from the torches lining it that were slowly relinquishing their sole role as sources of light as dawn quietly crept upon the palace.
My last dawn.
He was certain of it as he tested his footing on each stone step with his ears alert to the faintest sound above him, anything that would indicate the ambush he so highly expected. Yet as he made his way to the landing above the stairs to the second floor, no ambush came. And this seemed to unsettle him even more, hinting at a deeper play likely by Masutap's hand, a play that would ensure her goals were met with him playing the role of a pawn in it all.
Orgeeg took gentle steps, his silk grey attire riddled with the blood of comrades turned foes. The front of his garment was stained with the bloody handprints from the times he'd wiped his hands on them so as ensure his solid grip on the handle of the flat blade remained. His eyes were alight with the thrill of battle, his movements were fluid and his breath steady as he cut a corner leading to Dahli's chamber only to come face to face with two men standing guard at Dahli's door.
One was a towering burly man whose leather armor stretched tight upon his barrel like arms. The other was a lanky young man with a passably handsome face who flashed Orgeeg a childish grin that spoke both of overconfidence and an eagerness to spill his blood.
The burly man stepped forward and faced Orgeeg. "Traitor." The one word was drenched with hate.
The lanky young man came to stand beside the larger man while also facing Orgeeg, he raised an arm with an empty palm, flexed the hand once and a knife suddenly appeared within his palm. "How long will it take us to have him dead, do you reckon?" He asked.
The big man turned his head and spat thick yellow phlegm upon the wall. "Shorter than it takes a rooster to spill its seed." His words brought a smile to his companion who flexed his other arm and had a knife in both hands.
Orgeeg raised his flat blade, lips pressed to a thin line. "Shall we begin?"
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"The killer is at the door yet you just stand here instead of calling for more Guards!" Dahli sounded more irritated than scared. More annoyed than unnerved. She sat in bed in her sleeping gown with beddings that matched the opulence of Royals. She portrayed the air of a Princess in the comforts of her chamber, one who'd never known hunger or the bitter cold of a night spent under a bridge.
But Masutap knew it, she knew hunger's chuckle and the cold's bitter kiss within the embrace of homelessness. Her mother had run with her from the killers sent by her father, killers with the order to kill the child and its mother. To eliminate any evidence that would point at uncouth behavior by the highest of royals, by the chosen one of the Gods. The same chosen one of the Gods who'd sired the girl in the expensive silk embroidered beddings who sat pouting at Masutap.
Why was I the one to sleep hungry? To struggle for every chance to witness the next day? To live in fear of an abrupt end? Why isn't my mother the one lounging in a fortress at the moment? What makes this one so special?
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" Dahli asked. She turned her head to the balcony. "Why didn't you position someone at the balcony?" She turned her head back to Masutap. "You're showing alarming incompetence when it comes to duty, Rank one."
Outside, Masutap could hear the grunts of combat and the sound of metal upon metal as a fight played out. She'd chosen spectacularly when it came to the Guards at the door, strong enough to cooperate when it came to taking down Orgeeg by mixing long range combat with short range, and easy enough to kill unexpectedly by her hand once they were done with their task. She already knew how she'd depart the Kingdom once it was all said and done, depart in search of the remaining child, Leba Vigon. Then stay in the shadows, inching ever closer lest Vayin Vigon sired more children.
Yes, father, I will rob you of the very thing you discarded.
"Stop looking at me like that!" Dahli commanded. Was that a hint of fear she heard in her voice?
Masutap smiled. "Like what?"
"I owe you no explanation for my command."
"It's just that, the bridge of our noses are identical."
Dahli cocked an eyebrow. "So are our brows, not too bushy with a delicate curve towards their ends. That’s why I shaved mine." Masutap continued. Dahli sat up and got out of bed and faced Masutap from across the bed, the Rank one run her eyes along the length of Dahli's body. "You are more voluptuous but I believe you owe that to your mother. My mother on the other hand was more petite but exquisitely so, I guess that's what caught Vayin's eyes. What had propelled him to rape her." Masutap walked around the bed, hands behind her back. Her eyes fixed on Dahli's grey eyes as she approached her. "My mother had someone she loved, do you know that? She never got to experience what that would have been like, provided the man had given his life so my mother and I may escape our father's wrath."
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"Our... father?" Dahli's words were a whisper and Masutap wondered at the sudden glassiness of her grey eyes. Will she weep for me? The thought infuriated Masutap and her strides lengthened as she reached beneath her leather shirt to the belt tied above her waist where an assortment of knives lay. She withdrew one and held it gingerly as she closed on the weak, pathetic Princess. "Yes, sister, our father."
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Orgeeg had to hand it to Masutap, she was a genius.
The large Guard closed on him, seemingly uncaring of his weapon while the other stood back and threw knives at him from any opening that availed itself. He could not get out of the cover of the burly man because doing so put him in the knife thrower's line of sight yet staying in the big man's shadow was a death sentence in itself for the man's Form Of Grind was alarming. His only weapons were his fists and his ability to evade Orgeeg's flat blade with a nimble dance despite his mass shocked Orgeeg.
Orgeeg went in for a downward slash of the man's legs, enforcing the form of grind, but the big man pressed himself suddenly to the hall's wall and the knife wielder threw three knives, two of which Orgeeg intercepted with the flat of his blade and one that sunk into his left shoulder. He let out a yell that was quickly muffled by a punch to his gut, a punch so tremendous in power that his feet lifted off the ground. The big man brought his head onto Orgeeg's nose and the crunch of cartilage and the pain that followed blinded the former Rank one. Momentarily.
Orgeeg knew how to make himself indifferent to the pain, his brain didn't function according to his capabilities but in accordance to the steps he knew he'd have to take so as to prevail and overcome. Steps that didn't care if he was incapable of achieving them due to blinding pain. As the big man worked in close, his fists swinging for his gut and head, Orgeeg threw himself back, rolling to avoid the punches that had already damaged him enough to have him taste blood in his mouth. Yet he still kept the big man between him and the lad with the knives so as to ensure he didn't get a knife to the throat.
The big man took the bait, coming in after him and Orgeeg abruptly jutted forward while thrusting with the flat blade. The attacker dodged by pressing himself to the sides of the hallway, allowing the Guard who was adept at knives a clear chance at Orgeeg. Something that went both ways. Orgeeg rolled once more to the side as knives missed him by a hair's breadth, he let go of his flat blade and grabbed the hilt of the knife sticking out of his left shoulder as he rolled, and when he came to a stop he threw the knife at the Guard who was operating from a purely attacking vantage. The knife sunk into his throat and the bemused look on the Guard's face before comprehending his death amused Orgeeg.
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Masutap worked the knife in for a plunge between Dahli's ribs, one that would puncture her heart and offer the Princess a quick death.
A quick death is its own reward. Masutap knew that the Princess was as much a victim of chance as she was. Neither of them had chosen their positions in life yet here they were. One a Princess who'd never had to work for anything in her life and the other who'd earned her place through blood, sweat and tears. She wasn't complaining though, she'd come to enjoy the smell of blood. Masutap had acquired a taste for it and she moved with the anticipation of wetting her blade-
Dahli grabbed Masutap's arm before the knife met skin and cloth, she hopped onto the bed with Masutap's arm still in hand then twisted to wrap her legs around the arm and Masutap's neck while flinging herself to the ground. Masutap's mild surprise as they tumbled to the ground with her hand and neck trapped between Dahli's legs gave way quickly to her Form of Intent. With her free hand she dug into her belt and emerged with another knife which forced Dahli to disengage and crawl away.
Both sisters stood up while panting heavily and Masutap smiled at Dahli. "You're adept at the Form of Awe."
Dahli placed one foot before the other and raised her fists in a Form of Grind. "We don't have to do this, if we're indeed sisters then this is unnecessary."
Masutap straightened her arms to either side, both hands wielding knives. "You're right, lay down and die. I will make it quick." Masutap charged and Dahli bent her front foot's knee to solidify her defensive stance.
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Orgeeg took the punch to the ribs that he was certain had cracked them but the hit was necessary so as to wield the flat blade once more. He rolled out of the burly man's reach whose attacks had renewed in vigor due to the death of his comrade. Orgeeg sprinted to the body lying beside Dahli's door with a backward swipe of the flat blade to keep the big man at bay. He withdrew a knife from the corpse's knife belt and was about to turn and fling it when the Guard's charge barreled into him and lifted him off the ground, shoulder to midriff with calloused hands squeezing at his spine, forcing him to drop the flat blade.
Orgeeg jammed the knife point into the Guard's neck and gave a yelp of surprise as the Guard's thick muscle ensured the knife did little damage. He was about to yank the knife free so as to stick it in somewhere with softer tissue when the Guard slammed his body onto Dahli's door. Over and over. He felt himself losing consciousness, he wondered as to why the man hadn't simply slammed him to the wall, choosing instead the door. Maybe he wants the Princess to hear his triumph. He thought of the Black Guard's incompetence as the darkness crept in at the edge of his eyes with every smash of his body against the door.
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The constant banging of the door was something neither women took note of as one dodged and the other attacked. Dahli's stance was impressive, Masutap had to admit. She had quick reflexes, danced on her toes while necessary and slid on the flat of her feet when she couldn't dodge and required weight to block a knife thrust by the wrist. All in all the Princess was able to keep up with Masutap's barrage of attacks but not for long.
Masutap did not climb through to the Rank One by sheer luck. The Form of Intent didn't need a stance to put it into effect neither did it require a specific set of movements so as to implement it. No. The Form required only focus. Something she'd lacked as she'd bombarded Dahli with the revelation of her upbringing and their sharing of blood. But now as she fought she found herself sinking into that familiar pool where everything made sense and the next act in the sequence of events was painted as bright as day.
Dahli made to spin on the balls of her feet and lash out with an unexpected left fist to Masutap's face but the Rank one had already seen this coming. Masutap dropped the knife in her left hand, caught Dahli's wrist in her free hand then ran the knife in her right hand through Dahli's inner left elbow, pulled the Princess closer and drove the blade into her left shoulder, ran the blade across to severe the tendon then kicked the Princess away to fall onto her nightstand with a cry of pain.
Masutap took her left hand to her belt and withdrew another knife. "It'll be easy now, to finish you. Your whole left arm will never function again."
Dahli picked herself up and straightened, she curled the fist of her right arm and held it before her with a painful grimace set to her face as her other arm dangled limp. She set her feet and bent her forefront foot at the knee. "I don't have all day, get to it." The Princess said. Masutap closed and Dahli attempted to dodge without contact but she lacked the dexterity to do so without the full function of her left arm. Masutap drove the knife into Dahli's right side just as the door came down with Orgeeg and the Guard on top of it.
The burly Guard raised himself off Orgeeg and brought up a fist to bring down upon Orgeeg's disoriented bloody face but he turned to Masutap before doing so and a look of horror came upon him as he observed the Rank one standing with a knife dug into Dahli's side.
"Rank one?" The bemused Guard asked.
"She killed Desan." Orgeeg spurted blood as he spoke, turning his head to where Masutap stood with
Dahli, the Princess wobbling on her feet as blood stained the whole right side of her night gown. "The Rank one is responsible for the death of the Prince, and now the Princess."
The Guard stood up and flexed his shoulders before charging towards the pair.
Suddenly, Dahli's eyes lit up a bright red. "NO!" Masutap screamed. The Guard came to a stop several paces from the women and dropped to his knees.
Dahli turned her head to her killer, her eyes glowing a ruby red that bathed the whole chamber in a crimson hue. She gave Masutap a full smile that vanished when Masutap's grey eyes turned red as well and burned just as bright as Dahli's. Their glowing red eyes added to the similarities of the bridges of their noses and the shapes of their brows.