It took Nero two months to plan a strategy to conquer Bellfrom Tower. And it was mostly done. A majority of the hero’s army was wiped out, any the remainder had scuttled back into the tower with their leader running after them. It was one last push through the barracks and then his armies would surround the tower and request the hero to surrender.

At least that was how the initial plan was supposed to proceed.

But that night when he sat on his throne, stared at the looming tower in the distance and tasted the sweet victory with a sip of his wine, he realized the wine was poisoned. He stared at the cup he had emptied in almost one single gulp.

His throat was starting to burn, his eyes watered, and his legs felt wobbly.

Goddammit, I can’t believe I’m dying in the most cliche way possible.

In the end it was always betrayals. Always the damn betrayals.

I was so close…

The view of the tower was fading to black, and the cup fell down from his feeble hand. He only heard the crackle on the floor. And then everything faded to black.

✵

“And that will be the end of the tour,” the landlady, a woman in her mid forties with a crew cut and an excessively short skirt gave a graceful wave around the area. “Are there any questions Kathie?”

Kathie looked around the place. It looked too empty for a two storied house, but she could improve on it. So far the furniture had been limited to just a sofa, a crackling fireplace, a broken wooden chair and a table at the very corner of the room. A little door opened to the staircase, and beside it was the kitchen, which similar to the living room, was free of furniture except for an old refrigerator.

“I’m not liking this place,” Chloe said. She was looking through the window at the street outside, where it showed the regular morning in the town of Adale. Office workers at the bus stop, joggers moving briskly on the pavements, and the morning traffic huddled close like lovers. “I already want to leave.”

She was always the negative one. Even as Kathie looked at her she saw nothing but elegance - nicely combed short hair, a pretty yellow blouse and black pants. In her hands was her 13 inch laptop she carried everywhere. She looked more like the daughter of a rich businessman rather than someone who lost her foster mother. It was funny to think someone like her viewed everything so pessimistically.

“Miss Kathie?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Kathie snapped back to attention at the landlady’s words. “Yes, yes,” she looked around the place for a second time. “And my mother had paid for everything?”

“Why, yes!” the woman beamed. “It’s all settled. I got news that you were planning to sell this place, and what a waste would that have been! And I’m very sorry for your mother’s loss. She was one of the best clients I have worked with.”

Kathie was never good at recognizing people, but something in the woman’s smile said what she said was true.

“I’ll settle here today,” Kathie took another look at the kitchen then moved to the back door. “We’re having our stuff moved in here this evening.”

“Very good,” the woman gave a joyful clap. Then she looked at Chloe and Kathie, her eyes scrutinizing them both. “Ummm….are you two…a couple?”

Kathie and Chloe stared at each other, then Chloe broke into a loud laugh that made the landlady’s face go red. Kathie couldn’t help but hide a smile.

“She is my big sister,” she corrected.

The landlady stared at both of them. “B-but Mrs. Adaiz had only one child.”

“Adopted child,” Chloe corrected, her smile a bit faded. “But work is done Mrs. whoever-you-are. Feel free to show yourself out.”

“Chloe,” Kathie snapped. “That’s rude!”

“Ah, it’s fine,” the landlady waved an imaginary hand, but didn’t look so fine. “There’s one thing I need to show you, but please don’t be scared.”

There was nothing for Kathie to be scared of when she had Chloe - a karate champion who had reached a provincial ranking and then throwed all the badges off and walked away. That still didn’t mean she couldn’t take at least five people at once.

The landlady undid two locks and opened the rusty old backdoor, revealing a very thin back alley that didn’t smell so nice as the front. It looked much gloomier than the city outside, almost like a separate world.

“We plan to remove him in the evening. I’m sending two of our toughest men.”

Up until she heard the second sentence Kathie thought the woman was referring to some stray animal. She walked out to see the dirtiest man man…or possibly a boy, lying on the pavement floor. His eyes were tightly shut, his clothes were grayed and worn out. His beard was an overgrown goatee, and his orange hair fell down until it touched the ground.

“A tramp?” Chloe asked, appearing behind Kathie and looking over her shoulder.

“Possibly. We sent a search crew yesterday and found this man sleeping on a chair in the basement. We don’t know how he got in, but he isn’t going to stay. One of the men tried to wake him, but he was deep asleep. Even a rough kick didn’t wake him up. So they pushed him into this alleyway hoping he would leave, but he hasn’t…yet.”

Chloe snorted. “Has any of these smart people checked if the guy has a beating heart?”

“He isn’t dead, I assure you,” the landlady looked infuriated. “His skin is warm and yes, his heart is beating. This is very embarrassing to our company, but don’t be afraid, I assure you he’ll never be seen here again after this evening.”

Kathie shivered. She didn’t like the way the landlady presented that statement. And that didn’t remove the real threat of the situation either. She needed to know how the hell a random tramp got inside this place.

Chloe walked the woman out, or a better term would be to kick the woman out. She always valued her privacy, and it was almost a surprise she hadn’t knocked the woman over and thrown her out by now.

While the landlady was giving an annoyed Chloe a quick guide about the city Kathie walked out, her eyes fixed on the sleeping man. Despite the long beard and hair he seemed to be young - at least her age.

“Let’s see, who are you?” she touched his hand, and a sudden energy buzzed through her body. Almost like a current.

As Kathie watched in horror, the boy opened his eyes,