Angela rode in the back of the old wagon, swearing that she could feel every uneven stone in the road throughout her body. She made a promise this time, and every other time, to the gods of light that she would start walking and let her two guardsmen have the wagon to themselves. At least she’d remembered to bring a thick cushion to sit on this time, and though it helped, it didn’t help much.
Despite all the soreness from the ride, she knew this trip would definitely be worth it. She’d been sent word that the palace had received a shipment of preserved berries and freshly made mead, and through a bit of luck, she’d managed to procure a small amount of both. Not enough for everyone, but enough to give a nice treat to Landon, Danica, and the hard working cooks she’d grown to love over the years. They were the closest thing to family since she’d lost her own so many years ago.
A hard bump, sharp enough to make the rather solid wood of the wheel crack, jolted her out of her daydreaming. “Guardsman Rucker, I do not wish to go exploring the cavernous depths of the city.”
He turned back to look at her. “Sorry mistress Angela, but it looks like someone’s been pulling up parts of the road recently.”
Angela looked around and noticed that someone had indeed been prying up several of the cobblestones in the streets. It would make an already bumpy ride even more so, and somewhat dangerous for any horses that got too careless where they stepped. She couldn’t possibly imagine why anyone would go to the effort of taking the worn stone when it could be had so plentifully elsewhere.
Why would they do it, and what did they do with it? She looked around again, not seeing any signs of it being left behind. They’d pulled up several stones randomly throughout the street, and then carted them off overnight. That made her suspect that more than one person had been involved with the vandalous act and tried to be quick about it before the morning came about.
“How peculiar,” she mumbled to herself. She looked to her escorts and asked “Perhaps we should go down a different road then?”
Guardsman Darian turned around. “If we could, I’d be more than happy to. Unfortunately, Jorin told us to follow the planned route exactly in case anything happened. There’s been too much trouble recently and he’s been really on edge over it.”
Angela sighed dejectedly and closed her eyes. She told herself over and over again that it was going to be worth it and imagined the taste of that honeyed mead, chilled from a brief visit to the deep cellar.
They turned down a small and deathly quiet street, with not a soul to be seen. Most of the wooden buildings here had been damaged recently from the riots and the judicial council had decided to clear out the entire block and mark it for rebuilding. It was to be the first of many ambitious building projects they’d announced recently, but probably wouldn’t ever get around to. The stones in the street here hadn’t been nearly as badly disturbed, but Rucker was being careful to try and avoid the holes as best he could.
From one of the nearby buildings there was a sudden loud banging noise and a woman screaming. A moment later a city guard's body was thrown out of a window, shattering the glass panes into countless pieces. He landed hard on the ground, motionless, blood pouring from his mouth.
“Damnation!” Darian yelled loudly. “Rucker, go in there and see what happened. I’ll check on him.”
The wagon pulled to a sudden stop and all three occupants quickly jumped out. Rucker ran hard into the door, smashing apart the already damaged wood, and made his way inside. Darian knelt beside the man and placed a hand at the neck, watching his partner run inside. He looked over at Angela for a moment and then grabbed the guard's hand, helping the man to stand.
Angela stood there confused at what she was witnessing before her very eyes. That confusion was quickly replaced by horror as the blade of a wickedly sharp looking dagger plunged itself into Darian’s side, piercing the man's vital organs.
“Sorry pal,” the guardsman said, holding his victim tightly and plunging the blade fully to the hilt. “They wanted it to look convincing, and I’m just following orders.”
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Her attention turned to the doorway as Rucker staggered slowly out, clutching at his chest where the base of several crossbow bolts were sticking out. He managed a couple of small steps before falling forward, pushing them deeper into his now unmoving body. She started to scream, but a gloved hand came from behind, covering her mouth completely.
Within just a few moments, they had her bound and gagged in the back of the wagon, struggling to breath. The mysterious guardsman was driving while the other two abductors sat in the back with her. She remembered seeing them both, recognizing them as a couple of new recruits from the military recently assigned to the guards. A moment later they covered her with a tarp and quickly proceeded somewhere she was sure that she wouldn’t want to be.
*****
Landon stood in the middle of the street, directing the men he’d brought with him to scour the entire block for clues. Danica could see the grief eroding upon that stone face of his that he displayed for his men, and she knew he was struggling to keep from breaking down. She was rarely thankful for having a curse that helped keep her emotions in check, and this was definitely one of those times. She cared for Angela deeply, but was simply finding it difficult to grieve.
Her and Landon teamed up to search the building they’d found the dead guards in front of while Fennor inspected the bodies out front. The only thing they’d discovered amongst the debris though was Rucker’s missing sidesword, and freshly broken back door. It wasn’t much to go on, and it didn’t seem to be much of a clue to help them find Angela any faster.
They went back out front, where several guardsmen milled about, going from building to building in teams. They all knew who was missing and that some of their own had been found murdered. It seemed to Danica that each of them seemed extra motivated now to help out as best they could.
Landon ran a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. “Fennor, what killed that man?”
Fennor lifted the arm of the corpse and pointed to the bloody padding they wore beneath their chainmail coats. “Smaller blade went into at least one lung and probably the heart as well, and they twisted it hard before pulling it out. They aimed for the softest spot on the target. They were either incredibly lucky or knew exactly what guardsmen wore and where to strike them.”
Landon looked over at the other body and shook his head. He didn’t need anyone to tell him what that cause of death was on that man. “Let’s get those men back to headquarters and do a thorough examination. Danica, come with me.”
They started to walk away and Danica looked down, easily sidestepping the hole in the street. “Why do you think there’s so many holes in the street here?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, but they started reporting the damage to the streets a few days ago in random areas of the city.”
He got some distance away from his men and leaned against the wall of a damaged building, sliding down to sit on the street. He grabbed a small rock and skipped it across the path into a large hole on the other side of the street. She’d never seen him so close to breaking down before, and she was unsure of how to handle it.
She walked beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find her, I’m sure of it.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he said, slinging another rock into the hole. “This whole damn city is collapsing in on us, Danica. I’ve lived my whole life here and I have never known of things to be this bad. Never.”
She started to say something but became distracted after seeing a young boy talking with Fennor and the older man started pointing their way. She began to make out more details as the child got closer, seeing him dressed in a dirty and stained outfit of one who lived on the streets. It was obvious that he was looking for them, but why?
He arrived, short of breath, holding a letter in front of him. “I have a letter for Captain Marshall.”
Landon looked at him warily. “From who?”
The boy shrugged. “I don’t know who he is, but he paid me a silver to deliver it and said you would give me another for getting it.”
Landon took the letter and opened it up, pulling out a silver coin, and a note.
It wasn’t easy to set up, but I have your friend now. Such delightful games we play, but they all must have an eventual close and ours will soon draw to a sad ending one way or another. I look forward to seeing my dearest Danica and dining upon the most forbidden of flesh. Should the unthinkable happen and I lose, she’ll be able to save Angela and you’ll be rid of Norport’s infamous murderer. I have so graciously included a map of where inside the crypt I will be when the moon reaches its Zenith tonight. You will come alone of course. If I even think that you didn’t, my friend Corley will gut your woman like a pig at the slaughter.