Chapter 146

"Cid! How good to see you," Sabine smiled, stepping down from the stairs after her dramatic announcement.

Moving seductively, Riley perked her ears in concert with Tobias's raised eyebrow as she drew up close to him.

"Hello..." Cid grinned awkwardly.

Sabine slugged him in the gut, forcing him to double over.

"You said you'd com...I was so disappointed," she cooed, as Riley and Tobias' jaw dropped.

"Work got in the way," Cid gasped, his breath knocked out.

"Details? I've silver to burn!" Riley straightened, craning her head in a right-side scan to get a better picture of the event.

"I don't know if I'd survive it," Cid grinned like the maniac wizard he was, stumbling back to plop down in a chair.

"I'm certain that can all be attended to over ale later, but now, we've a royal to murder," Caedmon said like he was going out for bread and milk.

Sabine rolled her eyes, "Is that one yours?"

Cid shook his head. "Nah, he's a Dracovani import. I understand they're a direct people."

Caedmon shrugged, "They grow on you."

"And I'm assigned in Alacia," Eastmund added, holding up one finger towards the ceiling.

"They couldn't send me people with more local experience," She sighed, rubbing her forehead between her thumb and index finger. "Typical

bureaucratic blind fuck up."

"You didn't see the attack on Ranger Central. There may not be locals with experience left," Tobias shook his head as if trying to shake the memory.

"And, with respect, Ma'am, that's what we've you for," Caedmon replied with an amiable smile.

Sabine looked at him as if she smelled blood.

He held up his hands. "We're more familiar with the murders, the methods used. Between the three of us, we've all been working on the same case from different corners."

"Fair enough, and it points back to Chadrick after all. Riley, you were right all along. He may not be the lock, but he seems to be the key to this thing," Sabine admitted.

"I wish I could say I was happy about it. He's more a tool than a key. I think his hawk is driving him like a Chevy." She replied.

Confused looks spread through the room like a virulent disease.

"She's controlling him, riding him like a cockatrice?" Riley corrected, reading the room.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Regardless, it's not going to be a problem for too much longer," Cid grinned with menace.

"I know it's not our orders exactly, but if we can capture, should we?" Caedmon asked as all eyes in the room turned towards him.

"Meaning?" Sabine asked.

"Well suppose the long eared ranger is right, if he's being puppeted, maybe we could just kill the hawk, throw him in a dark hole, tell the world he's dead, and shake him till all the goodies come out. We all know this is a wider conspiracy, but killing him, if he's the real face of it, will most likely send our enemies to ground and make our jobs harder," Caedmon explained.

"Those aren't our orders. He's a high visibility noble; you can't just throw him into a dark hole and expect no one to come looking. Quit yer angling boy; the Generals threw that out for a reason. It's too dangerous," Cid replied.

"Though unofficially, if we can capture him, we can shake the details out of him before we finish the job," Sabine's look grew predatory.

"Uh...I don't know if I'm team murder train or team black hole here, but do you hear yourselves?" Riley asked, her voice strained.

"Yet you always thought he was a villain," Tobias countered.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to kill the prick!" Riley protested.

"We've a mission, we're professionals, and we serve the Ashenrealm. There will be no diversions or distractions. How is this a concept neither of you have grasped? He needs to die for the good of the kingdom, so he dies." Sabine snapped as a knock sounded behind them.

In an instant, blades flashed from scabbards or appeared out of dimensional inventories. Riley, already up on her hind paws, began pulling at her power.

"Relax, he's a friendly. I invited him," slowly Sabine walked by and unbolted the door to the hidden back entrance to reveal a familiar masked acquaintence.

"Ratcatcher," Tobias spit the words.

"Still not my biggest fan, even in these times of strife and trial? The capital attacked, along with strongholds of the king, and I hear an old friend of both of ours is now holding emergency command," Ratcatcher replied.

"He paid you to kill us!" Riley complained.

"And then you and your associates showed me it was too costly. I am a businessman after all," Nonplussed by the display of weapons still out, the Ratcatcher waltzed through the room like a man without a care in the world.

"Which means you could be positioning to sell us out," Cid pointed.

"Oh, I doubt that would be profitable at all. An upstart coup, even the first in two millennia that has gotten this far, well, I doubt it will succeed. If it does, you'll be dead, and I'll still have more than enough resources to ingratiate myself with the new regime, so either way I win with no treason. Isn't that delightful?" He clasped his hands together and giggled to himself as if he had been invited to tea.

"Excuse me, nutter, but yer working for us," Eastmund observed.

"Oh, I am, I am, but I can always say I was forced. I am a criminal, after all, and what could I do against such a number of rangers? Oh, spare me, m'lord, I had no choice," he chortled to himself.

"I agree with Eastmund; he's a nutter. Toss him back where you found him," Caedmon demanded.

The Ratcatcher shook his masked head sadly, "Well, I can see when I'm not wanted."

"You're wanted plenty, I should know," Sabine grinned darkly, "Besides, no one has smuggled more in and out of the castle than you."

"Oh, many have tried, but they've all strangely disappeared, it can be such a tragic business," The Ratcatcher looked down with a heavy sigh.

"Enough of your posturing! We have a mission, and we'll see it done. When do we leave?" Tobias demanded.

"We'll go over our approach, then you all need some time to rest and recover. We deploy at nightfall. This will be easier in the dark," Sabine replied.

"Do we have any intelligence on location? Guard strength? What about the first tiers?" Cid asked.

"The first tier greyblades all left with the king, as is normally the case. The second tiers took it in the teeth, but the attack was repelled," Sabine replied.

"Mainly undead, right?" Riley asked.

"The same kind of attack as you faced in Ranger Central, yes," Sabine replied.

"And then, at the end of the battle, Chadrick arrived?" Tobias looked puzzled. "He attacked his own people?"

"He didn't attack anything. Shortly before he arrived, the two main sorcerers at the lead of the necro army fled as the guard broke through their ranks. Chadrick, being the highest ranking noble still remaining, inherited command from there," Sabine explained.

"That sounds less like a retreat and more like a diversion," Cid said as the room grew quiet.