It's been another month since Wina last checked in with Duke Alaric's people and while she worked to get the trust of the people around her. The Kingdom of Marn found a group of assassins willing to take the contract but needed to discuss the details first. They agreed to meet in a border city.
So, five men wearing cloaks walked down a dark alley in the city of Zeltoble. Also known as the City of White Walls. It was built at the foot of a mountain range and was surrounded by a massive wall.
The city was at the edge of the country and its southern half bordered a mountain range. In the east, across a great desert, lay the vast petrified forest.
The five men had royal seals of the court of Marn hanging on the right side of their cloaks.
One of the men had a pudgy face and a long braided beard, while the other one had long black hair that he wore in a ponytail.
The pudgy-faced man spoke, "The meeting place should be around here. Ah! I see it," He said as he pointed at a building.
"Yes, the Brick Stone Inn," said the long-haired man as he nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, they send to meet in the VIP room, Krenn. These assassins sure love to be cryptic. It took us weeks to decipher their stupid code," said the pudgy-faced man named Dentan as they all walked into the building and found themselves at a door.
"I'll go first," said the long-haired man named Eln who walked to the door and knocked three times.
The door opened and the man from the other side looked at Eln and the others before he moved aside so they could walk in.
Once inside the others saw a room full of people drinking, laughing, and eating.
"So you lot are the VIPs? I only can take three of you to the private room," Said the man who had just let them in.
"Eln, Dentan, with me. You two keep watch for trouble," Said Krenn as he pointed at the two men.
The two men nodded as Krenn, Dentan, and Eln followed the man deeper into the building walking by all the people who looked at them with interested eyes.
As the room smelled of vomit, piss, and cheap tobacco. The walls had old red wallpaper that was peeling off. It was lit by the lamps that hung on the walls and the floor had the old wooden boards that creaked with every step.
Eventually, they arrived at a door with a red symbol that read. 'Private Room'
The man that led the three stopped and turned to them.
"You lot better not start something you can't finish... We don't like the noble types in these parts, especially royal advisors," said the man before he opened the door and let them inside before he left them alone.
They walked into a room with a table and several chairs. there are several candles on the table and they barely kept the room illuminating. Making the VIP room look dingy.
The man looked at the three with a serious expression, "Wines on the table. Enjoy," He said as he shut the door before he left.
Krenn nodded and moved to sit down at the table.
Dentan went to pour himself a cup of wine and looked at Krenn who was sitting there silently with his eyes closed.
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Advisor Eln moved and sat next to him as they waited for their guest to arrive.
Dentan was about to drink the wine when Krenn opened his eyes and then spoke, "It's probably not wise to drink that Dentan."
"What? It's fine. I'm sure it's not poisoned," Dentan said as he went to drink the red wine.
Krenn then picked up a glass and threw it at Dentan's head making him duck as the cup went whizzing past his ear. Only missing him by an eyelash.
"Au! What the hell was that for!?" Dentan yelled.
"To protect you. We are meeting with assassins and you think you can detect their poison? You think that these assassins care who you are?" Krenn said as he stared at him.
Dentan face was pale as it occurred to him that he almost put himself in danger.
"If I didn't you would be dead," Krenn said in a cold voice.
"I-I get it. I won't drink or eat anything that we don't think is safe. I promise," Dentan said as he felt a chill run up his back.
"That's good. You better learn how to think, before you act, Dentan. So, keep your eyes open. They should be here any minute," Krenn said as he closed his eyes once more.
Eln just sighed, "We can't do anything but wait. Let's enjoy the silence while we can."
Dentan nodded as they continued to wait for their guests.
A few minutes later a dark fog came from the shadows as three hooded figures walked out of the mist.
"Ah, the VIPs of the court, how do you do?" One of the figures said as he removed his hood and revealed himself to be a man with pale skin and blue hair.
The two others pulled back their hoods as they revealed a woman with brown skin and blue eyes and another woman with blond hair and purple eyes.
"Greetings, Ash. I'm glad you made it. But why do I feel like you were late on purpose?" Advisor Eln said with a straight face.
"Well, I had a bet with my comrades to see who would drink the wine," Ash replied as he looked at Dentan. "I was so close to winning. But, no matter."
Dentan just gave a worried look as he realized he was about to drink poisoned wine.
"Hahaha! We didn't poison the wine. But it's always funny when someone thinks we did," Ash said as he laughed.
"Enough, Ash. We wish to hire you and your comrades for a request," Krenn asked with a serious expression.
Ash stopped laughing as he looked at Krenn.
"Of course. Who's the target? Or rather, the target's whereabouts," Ash replied with a serious expression.
"We wish for you to kill the crown prince of Fiafyr," Krenn said with a serious expression.
Eln's and Dentan's faces both showed a similar expression as they wanted to show the same confidence that Krenn showed.
Ash's eyes widened as he realized what they wanted him to do.
"King Arnaud wants me to kill the future king of Fiafyr. Is that right? Well, it's a long way to travel and the risks are high. We are looking at 10,000 gold?" Ash asked as he looked to his partner to double-check if the payment was correct.
"15,000 with a half down payment," Gwin said as she stared at the three Marn advisors with her blue eyes.
Dentan and Eln had surprised looks on their faces as they realized the reward was higher than expected. They did not know that hiring someone to kill a royal was that expensive.
"Ah, yes of course. But we would prefer if you bring us the prince's eye as proof. Rumor is he has the Meredydd family's golden eyes," Krenn said as he pulled out a bag of coins from his cloak and handed it to Ash.
"I-It's a bad idea to leave any witnesses to your crime," Dentan said as he moved forward.
Ash looked at him with gray eyes that were as cold as ice.
"We never leave witnesses. If that's all then I'll take my leave," Ash said as he walked to the door and opened it.
Krenn asked, "What's your estimated time frame for completing your mission? I assume you need to study up on the Prince and his bodyguards?"
The three assassins paused in their tracks before the woman with purple eyes spoke.
"It will take us about two to three weeks to get to Tairal. Another two to three weeks of studying Mialuna Royal Palace, Prince Quinus's room, and another two to three weeks to kill the prince. All together it will take about a month and a half to kill the prince. If things go to plan," Violet said as her purple eyes glowed slightly.
"Then we'll pray to the God of Darkness and Light for your success," Dentan said as he watched the three assassins disappear into a cloud of smoke.
Krenn looked to Dentan as he spoke, "We must return to the king. Let's leave immediately."
Dentan nodded and looked at Eln who nodded as well.
The three men met up with the other two and got to their horses to ride back to the capital city of Marn.
As they were riding in the dark of the night. Dentan spoke, "Do you think the assassins can pull it off? I've never heard of assassins who are capable of such a feat."
"There are a few that can. But I couldn't reach her. But the feats those three have pulled off are beyond any other assassin I've seen in the past. I believe they have a chance," Krenn said with a cold voice.
Dentan and Eln both gulped and went quiet as the rest of the ride back was done in silence.
***