Being as silent as a church mouse, Conor slipped out from the embrace of his love and quickly dressed himself. Would he rather stay snuggled up in the bed with her? Of course. But he had to go meet with Burlai and Vuraley.
The three men were meeting for one reason: to discuss the investigation's findings. Only a day had transpired since the assassination and the duel, but through Burlai's efforts and whatever strings he could pull, he had an answer the Human and the High Champion needed to know.
As Conor slipped his pistol into his waistband, he took a moment to cast another glance at Eivaley. The dim moonlight highlighted her near-ethereal beauty. The light danced off her scales and showed her gentle smile as clear as day.
That someone like him, lowborn, abrasive, and with a pension for violence, has her was unbelievable. But he would do all he could to keep her in his life. Even if it meant taking another job from Burlai and Vuraley to tie up whatever loose end was uncovered.
It would not be the first time Conor had dusted someone as a political hit, nor would it be the first time he killed someone in the name of retribution. However, this likely would be the first time he genuinely believed in the reason. He already had a solid idea that Thuraley was to blame, so he was going into this meeting with his mind made up.
He closed the door and turned down the hall with a reminder of why he was fighting in his heart.
It did not take him long to reach Vuraley's study. It was just another walk through the grand halls, much like any other day, although something was different now: the servants' behavior.
They still looked at him with fear, acting like he could snap at any moment and rip their head off. But they would pause, see his life coil, and bow deeply.
Each one of them no longer referred to him as just Conor, nor did they use the generic sir moniker. They all referred to him as Fifth Champion, Champion, The Wolf of Eivaley, and even, oddly enough, God Slayer.
It was all surreal. Nothing had really changed. Sure, he and Eivaley had made the last leap and cast their existences to fate. But still, he was Conor—nothing more. That they insisted he was now something far greater was annoying.
Just one day earlier, they would at least look him in the eye and talk to him like a relative equal. He did not understand why these people cared so much about titles, expectations, and the role Conor was now filling.
Sure, he could quantify it based on his understanding of the Kurlatra. They literally believe him to be closer to divinity than they would ever reach.
In their eyes, he might as well be a demi-god. But his understanding of that did not make it any less of a pain. Thankfully, Eivaley still treated him like a person.
Inside the study, Conor found precisely what he had expected. Burlai and Vuraley stood beside the holographic sand table, fully armed and armored, ready for a fight. However, unlike the other times when the table depicted random locals, this time, it clearly represented the palace and city as a whole.
Multitudes of screens, likely the feed from cameras, danced over its surface, showing various areas around the grounds.
That the local area was being projected confirmed what Conor believed; they knew who had killed Kurelay, had a location, and were planning a hit. At least, that was the reason he prayed to Urla to please be true.
Conor wanted nothing more than to dust the zlit-rat who had framed him.
The two seasoned veterans looked toward Conor with eyes overflowing with concern. The air weighed heavy, as Vuraley clearly was challenged by what had to be said. He sighed seeing the Human.
Burlai, however, was the antithesis of the older Kurlara. He was cold and heatless and looked like he was simply ordering a meal from the royal cooks. His eyes did not betray any underlying emotions; to Burlai, finding an assassin was just another day at the office.
“So what's going on?” Conor asked while taking his place at the open side of the table. He did not want to play games or waste time; they had a target.
Burlai and Vuraley shared a glance as if, for a moment, they questioned telling Conor the whole truth. But that did not last long, as Burlai moved his hand to open files on the table.
“Well, let's start at the beginning,” Burlai began, opening a video file on the display.
The video was not just one; no, it was hundreds of hours of relevant data spliced to tell a clear tale and make the information understandable.
Conor watched with trepidation, eager to know who to dust. Who he saw was no shock, Therulay. That little bitch.
The video covered both audio and video of Therulay conspiring and bankrolling Kurelay's death. It began with her meeting with several royal guard members, giving them credits for staying silent and being a bit sluggish while reacting to the event that day.
The next thing that was genuinely damning was a video of a man, a particular green-scaled Kurlatra, being escorted into the palace by her less than an hour before the shooting;
Conor was impressed by Burlai. In less than a day, he had combed through months of footage and compiled a report that even had videos of the Kurlatra assassin.
The assassin was incredibly plain-looking. He wore simple clothes, had green scales, and did not draw any attention to himself. The only thing out of place was the small hard case he carried; that likely was where he had a carbine hidden or some kind of precision rifle that could be broken down for ease of transport.
Conor did notice something about how he moved through the palace grounds. He was confident and moved like he owned the area, which was evident in how he slowly scanned it. The man looked like a true predator stalking through his hunting grounds. It was as if everywhere he could see was his sacred battleground.
It was an act Conor and Burlai had seen plenty of times; hell, they had been that guy multiple times in their lives. This assassin was too clean and precise to just be some amateur. He was a long-seasoned pro. One who likely was pulled out of free space or the COS.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
The GU just did not produce many of that kind of fighter, an idea that Burlai brought credence to by assuring that from this video, he could not get a positive ID on the man.
The three men tracked the assassin through dozens of camera recordings. He walked with Therulay through the halls, chatting casually about what was around the area.
Burlai noted that her talks were feeding the man intel while not wholly overt. Unless you had their perspective, the chat would just appear as her giving a tour.
This continued for a half hour until they reached the far end of the grounds, where they separated. Therulay returned to her room while he clambered onto the rooftops via a fire escape, where they lost track of him.
They could easily deduce what had happened that day. He must have crossed the roofs and laid in wait until his target entered the ambush location.
They then rewatched the events in the courtyard, where they saw Kurelay get shot and the late God of Close Combat die at Conor's hands. None of that shocked any of the men there; they had watched it all happen in person, and they were jaded enough that watching a recording was not impactful.
Well, save for Vuraley, he clawed angrily at his arms when half of Kurelays head was blown off. No one mentioned the sheer fury in his eyes; there was no need.
He had already buried almost thirty daughters, a few sons, and more soldiers and lesser nobles than could be fathomed. His anger was justifiable, but like a true warrior, he held his tongue and knew how to control that emotion until it was appropriate to let it all out.
While giving a briefing was certainly not an appropriate time.
The last thing they did for a recap of the unfolding events was watch as the assassin slipped out while Conor was still killing Sheruai. He simply walked out of the palace long before the guards hard mobilized and sealed everyone in.
Conor had to give it to the man; he was effective. Theruley likely had fed him information on how the guards operated and deployed, that and she clearly had sections of them under her thumb.
With near precognition, the assassin knew where to turn and when to pause to avoid their patrols.
They lost sight of him once he was off the grounds; if they wanted more information about him, they would need to expand their search beyond the palace's resources.
They would need to contact the local police and space stations so they could flush that bastard out.
“I’ve already reached out to my contacts to find him,” Burlai said.
“Will that do us any good?” Conor asked, still not understanding the full scope of everyone that Burlai could make bend the knee for intel.
“My guys will find him; that is just a matter of time,” Burlai assured, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a casing.
“I went up to his likely shooting position and found this,” Burlai said, placing the casing on the table. “He intentionally left this likely to frame you.”
Conor did not even need to examine the casing in detail to know what it was. It was a 12.7 mm Logelyan magnum. It was the same bullet that once Brakuls, now Conor's magnum, was chambered in.
That little bitch thought of everything. If Conor had died in that brawl with Sheruai, that little piece of brass would have damned any argument that was made about him being innocent. Sure, would the camera footage show Conor and Burlai in the garden at the time? Yes, but the royal family, to save face, would have thrown him under the bus.
Conor was not mad about that being reality; he had grown to understand how much the perception of commoners meant to the nobles. If word ever came out that they could not stop an assassin from walking into the palace, killing someone, and then walking out, their image would never recover.
“So, High Champion, what do you want to do,” Burlai asked Vuraley. “I'm ready to go and kill her, and I am certain Conor here is game. But she has an unknown amount of the guards on her payroll.”
Vuraley sighed and hung his head before placing both palms on the table and leaning forward. He opened his mouth like he was going to speak, closed it, and then shook his head.
Each choice he thought u,p he knew was the wrong call. This was a situation Vuraley had never expected.
They could kill Therulay, but that would not solve much beyond keeping his other daughters safe; but does he have the stomach to tell these two young men to go kill his youngest? It was doubtful.
They could exile her; that would remove the problem, but knowing her and Kurlatra society, that would just be kicking the can down the road. Someday, she would return to claim the throne, and she surely would kill more.
“I’m not sure how this should end,” Vuraley growled. “But we can’t just kill her.”
“Why the fuck not?” Conor asked.
“Because she is a princess and on neutral grounds,” Burlai replied before looking back to Vuraley. “ We could if she was not in the palace, but she hardly ever leaves. Right?”
Vuraley nodded, knowing his agreement was not just because of the rule, but he could not condemn her to death, even if it likely was justified. Therulay was his daughter; he doubted any father could make that call.
“That a load of shit,” Conor growled. “That bitch already killed—”
“I know dammit!” Vuraley yelled, letting his fangs flare. “Gods dammit, I fucking know.”
Vuraley clawed into the table, deep gouges carving into the screen, shutting off the holographic projection. “I can’t decide her fate, and we can’t just kill her. If you did, you would be in the same situation she is in, where I have to decide how to handle you next.”
The man took a deep breath and retracted his claws before standing up and looking at Conor. “I know you likely resent her, but for Eivaley's sake, just trust me here. Do not put me in a position I cannot handwave away.”
Conor wanted to argue, but the life coil on his neck throbbed, reminding him of the duty he swore to uphold. That and Vuraley was right. Conor would have just killed Theruley without a second thought. By doing so, he would have abandoned Eivaley.
“OK,” Conor agreed. “What do you want us to do then?"
“We will go and arrest her. Then the empress can decide her fate,” Vuraley commanded. "Once we do that, we will have to find those guards she bribed, and Burlai can persuade them to give up their coconspirators."
"I can do that," Burlai sneered, showing the first amount of emotion since the briefing began.
"Conor?" Vuraley asked, seeing the Human pondering the idea.
“Alright. Let's do that, but until we decide who we can trust and who we cannot, we have to assume the guards are on her side,” Conor added.
"Naturally," Burlai nodded.
“Well, let’s do this,” Conor said, drawing his pistol and turning toward the door.
The others followed closely behind. Vuraley drew his sword, and Burlai pulled out a small pistol Conor had never seen; it looked similar to the JKL he had given to Eivaley. It had a small suppressor, red dot sight, and flashlight.
That pistol was undoubtably a working tool that Burlai had built to meet his exact operational needs. In this case, it was silent, allowed him to illuminate his target, and demanded precision.
It was the tool of assassins and spooks. Compared to Conor's hand cannon, it was a pea shooter. But in the right hands, it was the only tool you would need ninety percent of the time.
Before they had reached the door, a dull thoom shook the entire building, sending the three men stumbling and thousands of books clattering to the floor.
“What the fuck was that?” Burlai groaned while regaining his feet's purchase.
“An explosion,” Conor replied, knowing that sound and the feeling of a shockwave. “That bitch is making her move.”
“How do you know it's Therulay?” Vuraley argued, his fatherly instincts still wanting to defend his little girl.
Before Conor could reply that it was just a gut feeling, the doors to the library swung open. Conor aimed his pistol in that direction and activated his combat tracker, waiting to see an attacker pieing the doorframe with a rifle in hand.
That never happened; instead, what did was far worse.
“Get down!” Conor screamed as a small grenade was chucked in from the dim hallway.