William
William woke early in the morning, as was his usual. He got out of bed swiftly and dressed. William had only gotten four hours of sleep, but that was normal for his routine. The Master would wake him at random hours during the night for various exercises. When he first began his training it was difficult, as if his body was fighting against the training for some reason, but after a couple of months of conditioning he was able to function with fewer hours of rest.
The first task to be completed was to scout the area that the manor was located. He figured that he could arrive anywhere in the morning before nine and this coddled little princess would still be in bed. Diplomats from other countries were almost always of Noble birth, so waking in the early morning hours was beneath them. This would make his job easier, so that he could monitor the way the sentries moved in the morning and witness their patrols.
Leaving the Dragon’s Nest behind, he walked onto the main thoroughfare. Though it was still early, close to five, William noted there were still a fair amount of people in the streets. Commoners moving about getting their stalls ready, or wives getting food from neighbors to make for their children. The Noble’s district wasn’t too far from his Inn, only a good half mark’s walk so William made it there in good time. The grounds were surrounded by a large spiked fence, nearly ten feet tall, and even from where he was standing William could tell the gate was well guarded. Two sentinels stood on either side of the archway, one to check William while he was still outside, and the other to run to the house to warn the owner of any impending attack.
However, William had no intention of making it onto the grounds by using the gate. He circled around the property, being careful to escape the notice of anyone in his surrounding area, and began climbing the fence. He used the space between the spikes to raise his feet up, and his upper body strength to heave himself over it. After he flipped over to the other side, William crept across the grass. There wasn’t any cover between his current place and the house so he attempted to use a simple invisibility spell, but it flickered out of existence before he had a chance to disappear. He furrowed his brows for a moment, and as he glanced back at the gate he realized there were magic runes inscribed on its surface, forming an anti-magic ward that prevented simplified magic from being used without the express permission of the creator.
I suppose this Noble isn’t as much of an overindulged waste as I imagined. At least she is prepared for normal intruders. William thought in silent respect.
He whispered a longer incantation this time. It was a much more complex spell, one he created himself, to be used only in such situations. Otherwise, it was a waste of time considering the chant took at least a minute to complete compared to the single second incantation of the weaker version. After completing it William flashed out of existence once again. He scouted the entire inside of the gate, scanning the garden, the guardsman post, and the front entryway. Then, after he accomplished that William made his way to the side of the manor. He inspected one of the ground level windows of the manor, and noted that it was covered by a simple ward, designed to alarm the caster should anyone enter that way.
William nearly rolled his eyes as he thought of the mage that placed this ward. Nobles and mages alike were too reliant on the undefeatable security they believed wards provided. Instead, they should’ve placed some other sort of physical alarm on the window as well. Such as tucking the tip of a long handled dagger under the sill so that anyone who entered would cause it to fall and clatter on the floor. No doubt the target was assured of her security, all the while anyone could have gotten in here with the right skills. William focused, willing the ward to open, and tucked the tip of a small knife he grabbed from his waist beneath the window. Popping it open silently, he slid inside just before he released the ward and let it fall back in place.
The inside of the manor was barren, which seemed odd for a Noble, but he assumed the woman had not intended to stay so long. The walls were devoid of any paintings, and the furniture appeared to be haphazardly purchased at various stores in the trade district in a rushed attempt to make the home livable. They certainly did not belong in a Noble’s house, as their homes always contained furniture from Klesandra’s, one of the higher end furniture stores in the trading district, in order to make the decor match.
William flew through the building silent as a ghost, and scoured the halls. Although he had memorized the map that Valerion had given him, he still needed to observe where and when each patrol would be throughout the night. There were six guards inside of the Manor. Two stood in front of the front door, two were spread out through the bottom level, and the final two stood on the second floor where the study and the target’s room should be. He broke into a few of the rooms downstairs, including the one to the basement, but found nothing of interest inside.
After he had searched the entire bottom level he climbed the stairwell to the second. The study was directly across from the stairs so the sentry standing guard there had a clear view of the bottom level. He appeared to see something and stiffened for a moment, but relaxed when nothing came from the stairs. William considered for a second how he would be able to get the elves away from their respective doors, but ultimately failed to come up with a method. Helpless, all William could do was wait until the mark woke up and left her room.
After another hour had passed, and it was past six in the morning, Aella finally exited. She was quite attractive, he supposed, at least he thought most other people would find her to their liking. Her hips swayed as she strolled toward the study. The sentinel at her door bowed slightly and stepped away after she opened it, and the one at the study did the same. The second he opened the door for the objective William slipped inside.
William listened intently as the woman conversed with her servants. He deemed that one of them didn’t think so highly of her, Aria was her name. She may be a possible weak link for him to exploit. However, the disdain seemed to come from the fact that she wasn’t able to work for the girl’s father because of this trip, and Aria did not have a natural hate for Aella so that most likely wouldn’t pan out. He noticed that Aella didn’t eat anything that Zera hadn’t prepared personally so poison was unlikely to succeed.
All of these things ran through William’s mind as Aella went about her morning schedule. Zera had made her breakfast, which she ate before she left, and after that they left for a meeting. From the direction they were moving the only place that she could be going was the palace, and William was intimately familiar with each room in there. Aella never left the purview of her guards the entire trip, and seemed to listen to them well when the commander adjusted the course randomly.
The group reached their destination later than they would if they took the main road, but if they were followed by anyone other than William it was unlikely someone would have been able to keep tabs on them. When the girl entered the palace she was only able to take her handmaidens and a single guard inside. The commander remained outside while one of their stronger mages followed the other three.
Once William noted the palace in the background his vision immediately went white once again.
William looked ahead and another palace stood in front of him. Unlike the palace in Trace, which had five large towers this one only had three. It also was made completely out of wood. The wall surrounding the palace was also created using wood, but when William observed both of the constructions they had magic circles written onto them, similar to the ones on Aella’s estate. However, they appeared much larger and had a stronger presence than the other wards.
William awoke once again. Aella and her entourage had already disappeared from sight, so he was forced to hurry. These visions, whatever they were, could become a problem. The first time it happened a guard was able to enter close proximity with him before he even noticed. The second nearly made him lost his mark. Luckily though, he was able to find them as he had been in the palace multiple times. He could feel a headache starting to come on, but his healing magic wasn’t able to take it away. Finally he got behind Aella and he guards just as they walked into Cecilia’s room.
The youngest princess was in complete contrast to her father. She was a pretty little girl, around the age of 16. Most commoners were married by the age of 14, but since the princess would be married to another Noble in a political arrangement she had a few years yet. However, Humans were considered an adult at the age of 14 in this Kingdom, and were able to find work as early as 8. The princess had the long blonde hair of her father, and the same forest green eyes that her mother and eldest brother also had.
William kept himself close to his mark, to ensure he didn’t lose her, and this also allowed him to find out what exactly the King put his hit out on her for. The princess smiled at Aella, and motioned for her to take a seat across from her. She appeared to be knitting something, William knew nothing of the subject and couldn’t tell what it was, but she appeared intensely focused.
After she had reached a spot she could stop at, Cecilia looked up at Aella and said, “Good morning Miss Dafiel. I trust you slept well?”
It could have been William’s imagination, but the princess appeared to smile wider when Aella slightly flinched at the sound of her last name, and Aella replied, “Your Highness I thought I asked you to please just call me Aella. I slept just fine, thank you for asking. Have you enjoyed your knitting since we last spoke?”
This time the princess’ smile did get brighter as she exclaimed, “Oh yes! The wool that you bring me is always much smoother and so comfortable to wear in whatever clothes I make out of them. My sisters beg me to make them new dresses whenever you come by Trace.”
Aella smirked as she subtly pointed out, “I am certain our King would be happy to give you even more if you considered releasing the slaves and prisoners you are holding in your kingdom.”
Cecilia sighed and leaned back, “Aella you know I would love to release them. However, I am sure that you also know that my father would never release thousands of hard working elves for the benefit of my knitting.”
Aella watched the princess carefully as she countered, “Have you tried asking your father to release them, Your Highness?”
Cecilia scowled at her and stared back coldly, “I resent that accusation! Of course I’ve asked that he release them. I’ve requested numerous times that we stop building our Kingdom’s wealth on the backs of slaves, Human or Elves, but my father won’t budge.”
It was Aella’s turn to sigh as she slumped back into her chair. The King of Trace had outright denied her whenever she brought anything to the table. New products for trade, extra manpower in trouble, or even gold. Hells, Valerion didn’t even blink when she mentioned that their King may consider military action!
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Cecilia’s eyes softened at the defeated look on Aella’s face, but she did not take back her words. Aella understood now though. My father will not change his mind. That was new. Valerion must have spoken with her recently, and not kindly.
William watched from the sidelines, paying close attention to anything that Aella mentioned. The woman was conniving and intelligent. Everything she said prodded the princess for answers in body language the woman didn’t want to give in words. She was very skilled at playing the political game, and William gave credit where credit was due. If she wasn’t asking for such an essential thing for the economy of Trace he was certain she would get her way.
Aella remained in the palace for another mark speaking with the princess. They did not mention the slaves again, but he was confident that it would not be the last time she approached Cecilia about it. Once they concluded their conversation Aella requested to leave, and the two said their goodbyes. Aria had been conversing with the princess’ head handmaiden the entire time, while Zera kept to herself. Gossip didn’t seem to interest the girl, and she only continued to keep her eyes on her Mistress.
They left the castle quickly in a seemingly random direction. William was not able to retrieve any of the plans for his target’s day, but the way she was always speaking of work he assumed they wouldn’t be going out for a drink. Their next stop was the Dwarven Ambassador, as they repeated the process from the last time. The Ambassador stayed in an estate much like Aellas, though the layout was slightly different. Only one of her guards and Aella’s two servants followed while the rest remained outside once again. William stalked behind them once again, curious as to what this meeting had in store for him.
Dwarves were smaller than humans and elves. The average dwarf stood at four feet tall, but they were also five times stronger physically than the typical human. Their most powerful warriors could easily overpower some elves as well. The ambassador was about average himself, standing close to four feet tall. His long brunette beard and braided hair hung low over his stomach. The dwarf appeared to be fit in a miner’s fashion, with large burley arms. He smiled once he saw Aella in the entrance hall, but it never reached his eyes.
“Aella!” the man roared, “Welcome! I had nearly forgotten ‘bout our meeting. If Elric hadn’t reminded me when I woke I fear I may have had to cancel.”
Jeshrom Bothringer had been the ambassador for the Dwarven people for many years. Dwarves had long lives, though not as long as elves, they would easily last ten human’s lifetimes. At the age of a thousand they would become more frail and hardly leave their homes until the day they passed on. The two of them rarely agreed with each other, but to Aella’s dismay this was one moment where their opinions did not differ. Jeshrom had actually been sent here on the same mission as she, save for the release of Dwarves.
“Well I for one am glad that you did not. We have much we need to discuss Jeshrom. I had a meeting with the prin-” Aella started, but was interrupted.
“Now now Aella. Ya’ know a dwarf doesn’t start a conversation until he has had some mead in his gut.” the dwarf said chortling while patting his stomach.
Aella took a couple of deep breaths, but ultimately held her tongue. Jeshrom lead them through the manor and into the study. After entering, he went behind his desk and sat down while Aella took a seat in front. William watched as her two servants sat outside of the study rather than joining them inside.
In order to preserve his magic William discontinued the invisibility spell whenever they left and traveled outside. Moving stealthily and unnoticed inside of a city bustling with people was no challenge to him. However, he was not able to stand in the corner of a room and not go noticed unless he used magic. He had activated it just before entering the grounds of the palace, and now the manor of the ambassador. William stood in the corner of the room behind Aella in order to have a good view of the dwarf, and to be closest to the exit should he need to escape.
The dwarf poured some alcohol that was on his desk, in its usual perch, and said, “Any for ya’ this time Aella?”
“You know I don’t drink Jeshrom. Can we talk business now?”
The dwarf sighed audibly, “We can talk about anything but! How is yer’ friend, Princess Wynter?”
Aella eyed him sideways, confused about the change of subject and said, “Wynter is fine. I haven’t really gotten to speak to her over the last couple of months save a few letters, but I doubt anything has changed since I left.”
“I remember tha’ girl when she was but a youngun’, before her brother disappeared ya’ know. Adorable little thing. Her smile would light up the entire room, and she laughed often. Now though I can’t remember the last time I saw it.” the dwarf remembered sadly.
Aella’s face twitched at the mention of the disappearance and she replied shortly, “She’s over it.”
Jeshrom chuckled at that and replied, “I doubt that! It’s been two centuries since the boy disappeared, but I still see her network scouring the land for him. That girl never forgave herself for it. Mighty Galrom help whoever took him once she gets her hands on ‘em.”
Aella laughed for a second with Jeshrom after that thought, but quickly remembered her reason for being here, “Jeshrom I need to speak with you about Cecilia. She all but publically pulled her support now. I think her father pressured her to drop it.”
Jeshrom looked at Aella for a few moments dumbly before speaking, “What about the other boy? Wyn was it? How did he take it?”
Aella’s brow furrowed at yet another deflection of her question and said, “Jeshrom, I am being serious. We need to talk!”
Jeshrom’s expression soured and he replied, “I heard what ye’ said. I asked ye’ a question too little lady. I’m thinkin’ you need to learn how to speak to your elders!”
The conversation continued much the same way through the rest of the morning. William observed as every time that Aella tried to but in with anything about Cecilia or the slaves Jeshrom’s whole demeanor seemed to tense and become hostile. It seemed Cecilia wasn’t the only one that the Valerion had gotten to.
Aella left the Ambassador’s estate fuming. Setback after setback had been thrown at her, but she usually managed to pick it back up afterwards. However, this time the Valerion had gotten to everyone at once without even giving her a chance. Whatever he had said to Jeshrom had clearly changed the man’s mind. Taking care of Cecilia was child’s play considering she was his daughter. There was only one more person that she knew the King couldn’t just bribe or blackmail.
William watched from a distance as Aella whispered quietly with the commander of her group about her next destination. After they had spoke, all of them immediately left with haste. They took turn after turn, sometimes making a complete square, and then returning to the same road but heading in a different direction. The target most likely believed it was someone who had followed her before to see who she had meetings with had done the work. This next person must be more important than the rest considering the amount of care she took to avoid being tailed.
They arrived at a massive manor, at least twice the size of the last building they visited. The gate and walls surrounding the land were at least twenty feet high, and William got a sense of foreboding when he thought about sneaking into the it. He shook his head, releasing himself from the mind compulsion spell that someone had placed onto the walls. It was an exceptional piece of magic, and whomever the mage that created it must’ve been quite powerful. However, using the technique the Master taught him, William focused on his intent to follow Aella and it completely negated the ward.
When the group reached the gate though, something was amiss. The opening itself was slightly open and blood covered the floor of the guard station. Aella had her guards follow her as they pushed the massive gate open and entered the grounds. Inside was even worse. It appeared some sort of battle had taken place inside of the estate, but no one was aware of its existence. Guard’s bodies littered the ground throughout, and even the commander was found lying dead with a stab wound through his heart.
While Aella and the rest peered at the seemingly endless array of bodies William made a cursory sweep of the entire grounds and found no living beings within. If the owner of this manor was who the girl was searching for she would not find him here, or if she did, they would not be alive.
“Spread out! Three of us will remain with Lady Aella. The rest of you scan the grounds and see if you can find any survivors. I’m sorry My Lady, but I must insist that you remain here until we finish searching to see if the person who did this remains.”
Aella looked at him sternly and nodded. Five of the guards, including the commander, left her near the entrance while they searched the remainder of the grounds. It was half a mark before they returned, and the commander shook his head solemnly.
“I’m sorry Ma’am. Councilor Persius was nowhere to be found. Not even his body was left behind. He either escaped, or he was taken. For what reason we can only guess.” the Commander stated.
“Commander I want two of your men to comb the city. I realize it is a long shot, but I want to see if they can find him. He is essential to our mission to retrieve our brethren. Aria, I need you to send a message to the King again and inform him of this. I may need some extra guards, looking at this scene.” Aella demanded.
The others left to follow her orders. The commander sent a duo out of his group that were proficient in tracking, and told them to survey the city. They agreed to meet back at the palace in a hour before heading back to the manor. Aria left hurriedly as well since she did not feel the city was safe. She had considered requesting Aella send a guard with her, but knew the woman did not really care for her well being.
An hour later the two guards and Aria met them back at the palace. The men found no trace of the councilor anywhere in the city even with the help of tracing magic. Aria was slightly later than the guards, but she succeeded in sending out the message using the local mage messaging center.
“Those mongrels at the messaging center nearly didn’t let me in, since it was so close to closing time, but once I told them who the message was for they had no issue with it. His Majesty Ilthuryn replied almost immediately and said he would send another 15 soldiers. They will be here in a week, as he is sending them on the Iltharty.” Aria said quietly to Aella.
“That was quick. The estate will be more secure with that many additional forces. Whoever attacked the Councilor must have been either a large group or exceptionally skilled. However, they will not find it nearly as easy to defeat a company of elves.” Aella responded confidently.
William’s brows rose at the mention of Iltharty. He had read many different bestiaries for the various Kingdoms, and those were specific to the Elves. Named after the current King, as Ilthuryn had found the very first Iltharty himself, it was a breed of horse that had six legs rather than four. This allowed them to have an incredible amount of endurance, and run faster than other breeds. If the guardsmen were coming from the capital of the Elven Kingdom, Ilva Thalas, it would take a normal horse three weeks of travel.
Aella seemed more at ease now, but didn’t let her guard down completely when her mind wandered back to the Councilor. Their party began their travel back to her estate. They reached it quickly as the commander didn’t waste any time and took a direct route.
Once they reached the residence they unlocked the ward that was placed over it. Two of the guards remained at the gate as usual, while the other six followed Aella, Aria and Zera. As expected, once inside William followed the four guards that patrolled the bottom floor cleared downstairs, while the other two cleared the second.
After the estate was confirmed to be clear of any intruders, save William of course, three stayed at the door this time. This was where they expected the assault would most likely begin so the Commander changed the way they patrolled. Two split out across the bottom floor, three stayed at the door this time, and then one covered whatever room Aella was in. After briefly speaking with her servants William surveyed from the door as she went up the stairs with a guard close behind. Aria went into her room on the first floor while Zera went into the kitchen.
William trailed behind Aella once again, and went into the study directly behind her. The guard closed the door, but a few moments later opened it again as Zera came in with the tea. William kept a close eye on Aella’s posture, and discerned that the woman appeared extremely tired and tense. She thanked her servent, and visibly deflated into the chair after she left. The next moment surprised William immensely.
Aella sat up in her chair with her elbows on the table and questioned, “So, are you going to sit there all night, or are you going to come out?”