Two days after they found out about Elizabeth’s identity, they arrived at the collection point Asterion gave them.
Rouxbearg hold was a massive fortress. Its high walls were shaped like a star and armed with cannons, anti-air, and gattling guns that covered every vantage point of the fortress. Its gates were so massive that even the enormous Landraider fitted with ease. Inside were thousands of soldiers that manned the walls; huge mechanical golems; titanic steel Helepoli; and rows of tanks and walkers. They were guided into the fort by a cavalry of horseback soldiers and stopped in front of the main castle.
Baldric stepped down from the driver’s compartment alone. From the back carriage, Annie emerged wearing her four-armed handyman armor and her mask. She carried down a massive wooden crate. The crate was tall enough that it reached Baldric’s shoulders. She set it down beside him and then went back inside the Landraider.
The keep doors opened and a row of soldiers came out. At the end came Asterion, his sleepy eyes not giving any emotion as he approached. He was now dressed formally in his imperial officer uniform and was escorted by his personal guard. He did not even look at Baldric but kept his gaze solely on the wooden crate.
"I greet his imperial excellency, Crown Prince Asterion Claudius Reneon. The one and future emperor of the United Silvus States, and the heir to its great crimson throne." Baldric bowed with a flourish.
“Ahh, Mister Faraday, I hope you have good news."
"Not just good news, your Excellency, great news! We have come simply as shadows bearing gifts. If I may?" Asterion walked closer as Baldric unlocked the crate and lifted the heavy top cover. Inside, Elizabeth was sound asleep, lying on a bed of straw and hay. They put the heavy shackles on her neck, hands, and legs. Asterion immediately licked his lips, which Baldric picked up on.
"I believe she is the one you are looking for?" Baldric grinned.
"Your guild truly is the best of the best." Asterion reached out to touch Elizabeth, but Baldric stopped him.
“We can guarantee results and peace of mind, as I stated when you hired us.” Baldric closed the crate and locked it. "We will throw in the suppressor as an added bonus as well, but we will only hand her over after payment is made, of course."
Baldric could tell Asterion did not like to be interrupted, but the crown prince flashed a smile back. "Of course, follow me."
It took ten soldiers to carry the crate up into the keep. Inside, they set the crate down in the middle of a large hall while two other soldiers came in. They pulled in a steel trolley that had two large chests and parked it in front of Baldric. They opened it to reveal that it was filled with shining cha ingots.
"One hundred Cha ingots as promised; you will get the other hundred when you deliver her mother."
"You don’t mind if I test and inspect every ingot, do you? My guild leader has stated that I need to perform a quality test on the ingots before we hand her over."
"You do not trust me?" Baldric saw Asterion’s eye twitch a little.
“Of course, your excellency, we trust you completely and absolutely. But in our line of profession, it is standard procedure. I hope you do not mind."
"Of course."
It took an entire hour to inspect every single ingot. Baldric tested every single one of them by wiping it with a cloth covered with aerium dust. For a brief moment, each ingot reacted by emitting a bright green light. Once he was satisfied with the results, he closed the chests.
“One last thing before we hand her to you, your excellency: In order for us to verify that the contract is completed, we will require her collar as proof of completion. With a man of your connections, surely another collar is no issue at all."
Asterion looked like he wanted to argue, but in the end, he reluctantly agreed. Baldric unlocked the crate and opened the front side so they could reach Elizabeth easily. Asterion handed him Elizabeth’s collar, then got a needle and pricked her finger. He then allowed drops of blood onto the collar and into the gemstone. It shined brightly for a while, and then it dulled, signaling the end of its usefulness.
"When can you deliver her mother?"
"In due time, your Excellency. We must admit, she has proven to be quite clever, but no one can hide forever. Well, not to a professional shadow anyway." Some soldiers brought a stretcher, and Baldric gently placed Elizabeth on top. He left the side of the crate open. "Rest assured, we will leave no stone unturned, but we can guarantee we will deliver. After all, we are already halfway there, aren’t we?" The soldiers began to carry Elizabeth away.
"Indeed. Mister Faraday: Indeed."
“Now, if there's nothing else, I'd like to ask your permission to leave. It is a pleasure to do business with you, your Excellency." Baldric gave him another bow with a flourish. Two soldiers helped him carry the chests back to the landraider, and they passed by the enormous crate as they went, which was left unguarded.
As the landraider left the walls of Rouxbearg hold, dark storm clouds began to roll towards it. Baldric looked back.
"I hope Luna works fast. That Asterion is one sick man." He said to Annie.
=0o0=
Asterion had numerous meetings which he did not focus on. Throughout the afternoon up until the early evening, his advisers read to him reports on Separatists in the far north, the Aspana armada to the north east, Orc incursions in the far south, the attack on the delegation to Braenarim, and the impending election in the senate, but he only pretended to listen. Once they were done, he dismissed them all and headed straight to his chambers.
It stormed outside with the heavy rain pounding on the windows, but he paid it no mind. As he arrived on his personal floor above the keep, two maids with shackles on their necks waited outside. They bowed as he approached his room.
"Is she prepared?"
"Yes, your excellency." They opened the door to his room, and inside, on the massive bed, was Elizabeth. She was still asleep, but the maids had bathed and groomed her already. They covered her face with makeup and clothed her in a pristine white dress as she slept quietly.
He sent the slaves away and locked the door. His hand trembled as he stroked her cheek, licking his lips as he did. He even sniffed the child’s hair to make sure that they used the same perfume he demanded.
Alice. My dear Alice... You are just like I remember you to be.
He hummed a wedding tune as he started to unbutton and remove his shirt when a sudden knock on the door made him stop. They repeatedly pounded on the door.
"Didn't I tell you all to not bother me?"
"I’m sorry, your majesty, but it's urgent!" The voice behind the door stammered. "But we found all your guards in the keep unconscious. We must move you to a more secure location."
"What?!" He roared as he opened the door, and the soldier outside was visibly shaken. Asterion looked back at Elizabeth on the bed when loud gunshots echoed on the floors below and above them. Two more soldiers appeared at the end of the hall.
"My lord, someone started a fire on the upper floors, and the smoke is beginning to climb down! We need to get you outside!"
Smoke began to seep down from the ceiling and the smell of burning wood filled the air. “Don't just stand there! Clear the way to the lower floors!"
The soldiers headed down while Asterion carried Elizabeth in his arms. As they made their way to the next floor down, they found it filled with thick black smoke and the stairwell close to them was completely blocked. They had to go across the hall to get down to the main floor, but under the darkness of smoke, they could barely make out where they were going.
The soldiers continued through the smoke, with Asterion right behind them. It was so thick that it burned his eyes, but he walked forward.
"Open a window and let the smoke out!" Asterion yelled, but no one answered him. Did none of you hear me?
Only the sound of the storm can be heard. Asterion stepped on something heavy and bent down to find it was one of the soldiers knocked out.
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Asterion panicked and tried to run, but he tripped over another soldier and fell, which caused him to drop the child. He tried to find her as he felt around the floor when he felt a sharp, heavy pain at the back of his head before he passed out.
=0o0=
When Asterion woke up, he realized he was in the infirmary tent surrounded by his advisers, guards, and doctors. He quickly got off the cot, even though the soldiers and doctors stopped him.
"Where is she?! Where is she?!"
Everyone exchanged troubled looks. No one knew who would tell him until a soldier spoke up. "She... She was taken, your Excellency."
"What?!" Asterion roared, which made everyone flinch. He approached the soldier and grabbed him by the collar. "How?"
"It was a fire, sir. The whole keep was set on fire and we managed to pull everyone out. Everyone is safe, including you, but we could not find the child, your Excellency. It was probably a distraction, as everyone was too busy putting it out."
"We have a full legion here! A full legion!" Asterion shook the soldier forcefully. "You are telling me four thousand men could not even find a little girl?!"
The soldier was rooted in scared silence while the rest of the soldiers and doctors watched.
What are you standing here for?! Go find her!"
Asterion threw the soldier to the ground, and everyone scrambled, while some rushed outside. The crown prince cursed repeatedly, even though there were still soldiers lying in the cots beside him; all of them wished they could be somewhere else.
He spotted a bedside table and kicked it down, spilling the medical tools on the floor. He spotted a metal bowl and kicked it, as he cursed and vowed to kill whoever attacked him and took his bride.
=0o0=
The rumbling of the landraider woke Elizabeth up. She lay on the bed in the sleeping compartment while the willowbear rested on her lap. The willowbear realized she was awake and he huffed, snorted, and rubbed himself all over her.
Elizabeth realised she was wearing a white dress that had heavy mud stains on it. Seeing that she was alone and the adults were all up in the driver’s compartment, she carried the Willowbear in her arms and climbed up.
In the driver’s compartment, Annie manned the controls while Baldric charted on a map on a table that had two stacks of pancakes on it. Luna, was asleep on the couch. She held an empty bottle of whisky in her hand, with her mouth open, and she snored loudly. Elizabeth saw that her clothes were also heavily covered with mud and dirt.
"Well, good morning." Baldric looked up and approached her.
"Morning."
"You slept the whole day yesterday. Are you feeling alright today? You hungry? You want some pancakes?"
"Yes, please. And Willow is hungry too." The cub snorted. Baldric gave her a seat beside him at the table. She looked out the window and saw that it was noon as they made their way through the open countryside. Luna dropped her bottle, which startled her.
"Well, there she is, Morning Sunny." Luna said as she stretched and stood up to join them on the table. Elizabeth offered her some pancakes.
"It’s noon." Baldric said as he returned to charting on the map.
"Well, sorry." Luna said, with her mouth full of pancakes. "Some of us had a long night."
"Well, while we are all here." Baldric got a new map and spread it out on the table. "I guess it’s time we told Elizabeth of our plan as well."
"So sunny, we are here." Baldric pointed out that they were in the south-eastern part of the continent. "And the only way to get to Braenarim is to go west, but that would make us go deeper into Silvus, so instead we will go north."
He dragged his finger all the way up so Elizabeth could follow. "We will stick to the border states and instead head towards the northern border so we can reach Aspana. Once we get closer to the north, we can probably find a secure connection, and then we can contact your grandfather, and hopefully they will meet up with us once we reach here." Baldric tapped his finger on the north-east part of the map where it says: Walled Sea.
"If we can message them, and they reach the gate here, if all goes well, they can meet us at the coast, and you’ll be home soon. How does that sound?"
Elizabeth tried to speak, but since her mouth was full, she just happily nodded.
"But from now on, you need to wear a disguise when we go outside the landraider as well. There is a nearby town that we will stop by. We are running a bit low on supplies, so we can stock up and get some wigs for you there as well." Baldric then rolled up the map.
=0o0=
They arrived in a town called Draxborough. It was a massive crossroads town that was bustling with life. It was late afternoon, and they parked outside of town. All of them stepped down from the landraider, Luna with her sunglasses on, and Baldric carried one chest each that was heavily tied with heavy locks and chains. While Annie held Elizabeth’s hand, the child wore a cloak that hid her face. She held a rope that was attached to a harness holding the willowbear.
"Alright, you two, remember. Just buy some meat and dinner and go back to the landraider right away, got it?" Luna arranged the child’s hood so it blocked her face. "And do not take off your hood. We won’t be long."
{No worries. We will be careful.} Annie gestured at both of them.
With that, they set off in pairs.
Even this late in the day, the town was still crowded. Glorkans manned the stalls while the human stall owners hollered for customers. Cleaner automatons swept filth and trash from the streets. There were fewer bestians in the streets compared to the towns on the other side of the mountains, and the only bestians Baldric and Luna saw were female workers outside of a brothel.
Both of them headed to a gambling den where they found it filled with people and the air was thick with the smoke of tobacco. They headed towards an open table where a burly man who smoked a pipe looked at them and their chests.
"Give us the table for your high rollers. We’re feeling lucky." Baldric said to the man as he pulled out his shadow’s mark. When the man saw it, he nodded and led them to the basement. They were led into a room where there was a machine attached to a mechanical copper skull.
Both of them entered the room, and once the door closed, Baldric put a glass cylinder in the skull's eye. They waited for the cylinder to shine, and once it did, a voice came out of the skull.
"What the?! This thing just lit up!"
"Gaatz. Gaatz!" Baldric called.
Well, look who the Drungar dragged in. Baldric!" Other incoherent sounds came from the background.
"I’m here with Luna, you cow-humping leech!"
"Hey, Gaatz." Luna joined Baldric. "It’s been a while."
"Damn, you are still alive?!"
"Luna!" The other voices in the back called out.
"Hey, shut up you parasites! Can’t you see I’m talking to someone here?! Shut up! So I was wondering if you had forgotten to write! So what’s this about then?"
"Gaatz, we can’t talk for long. We are here to make a deposit."
"Well, well. Look at you making a deposit. And to think I thought you were ignoring us down here."
"We love you too much to forget you, Gaatz."
"What is the item to be deposited?"
Baldric leaned in. "Cha ingots." He said softly.
"Ch... Cha ingots?!!" Luna and Baldric covered the speaker part of the device.
"Maker Gaatz, keep it in your pants." Luna hissed. "Yes, Cha ingots. One hundred large cha ingots."
"One hundred cha ingots?"
Both of them covered the speaker part of the device again.
"Gaatz, I’m serious. Shut your mouth." Luna said.
“Where on Pandora did you get such a large amount?!"
"We found it lying around when we were looking for your wife." Baldric replied.
"Makers mercy, you two are going to give me a heart attack. Alright, alright, so it’s approximately one hundred ingots? Maker, Maker, Right, I’m opening the safe now."
Underneath the table, the floor began to open to reveal a large compartment. Baldric and Luna placed both chests inside, and once done, the compartment closed with an audible clang.
"Alright, I will have someone retrieve it right away. Rest assured, this will greatly help a lot of people."
"Put it to good use, Gaatz." Luna said to him.
"I will. I will. You two be careful out there and hopefully you both come back soon!"
"You too, Gaatz."
"Bye, Luna!" The voices in the back called out. Baldric quickly pulled out the glass cylinder and put it in his pocket. They left the gambling den and purchased some supplies on their way back. As they walked back, they passed by a lot of people huddled together, all of them looking at a sheet of paper. They heard murmurs and whispers that said, "Twenty five million."
They passed by a man who was putting posters on a wall, and when both of them saw it, they froze.
It was a wanted poster for Elizabeth. Her face was clearly sketched, and above her face was a bounty of twenty-five million Ablan credits with the specific order she was wanted alive. Both of them cursed at the same time. Luna quickly ripped the poster down. Baldric looked around and found that the posters were all over the town. Both of them quickly ran back to the landraider and hoped that Annie and Elizabeth were already back there.
They passed by the town square, where the weekly news projection was about to start, and a crowd was already waiting, hoping to find more information about the bounty.
"Well, he’s wasting no time." Baldric said to her.
"The upside is that at least we made his pot smaller. The downside is that he is desperate if he is plastering her face all over the countryside. It’s as if he does not care that Aspana and Braenarim will find out.”
"Pretty stupid of him to do that." He said as they dashed past the crowds.
=0o0=
Treese and his guild arrived in the town. It was just a rest stop as the crown prince had summoned him and other guilds to report to Rouxbearg hold. The sun was setting and he did not like camping on the filthy ground, so they decided to spend the night in Draxborough.
He stood outside their inn as the inside was packed with people and he needed some space to smoke his cigar. He looked up and saw the orange sky starting to darken. Treese looked down the street and there was a crazy beggar that yelled about demons and end times, but everyone ignored him. The homeless man wore disgustingly soiled clothes, and on top, he wore a ripped and torn tabard of the sentinels.
Then something caught his eye: a redhead. It was a good-looking redhead that carried groceries while she held onto a child that wore a large hooded cloak. The child held onto a leash tied to a willowbear that trotted alongside them. She admired the redhead’s figure as she walked down while Treese kept his gaze on her hips and lower back.
He watched as the two walked down the street when the homeless man saw the pair and suddenly ran up to them and grabbed the child.
"Her! She will save us! She will save us!"
It happened so suddenly that the redhead dropped her groceries as she tried to pull the child away. But the homeless man would not let go. Immediately, some people rushed in to help the pair.
"Save us! Save us! We must rally behind her! Save us from the demons!"
As the people grabbed the beggar and pulled him away, he grabbed onto the child’s hood and pulled it off her.
Treese saw the golden blonde hair of the child even at a distance. It was only for a bit, but he was sure of what he saw. The redhead recovered the hood and quickly covered the child. She then carried her and the willowbear and made a run for it. Treese quickly chased them and almost lost them thanks to the crowd, but her bright red hair made her easy to find. He stuck to the walls and corners until he saw them reach the outside of the town, where most large vehicles were parked.
When he arrived, what he saw made him smile.
The redhead stopped at a massive land engine that was ready to depart. The door opened and he saw Luna, her pale skin contrasting with her black clothes. She took the child from the redhead, then all of them climbed up onto the vehicle. He also saw from the windows as they were driving away that Baldric was with them too. Treese headed back into town with a smile on his face.