Michael sat across from Ameena and Ellis while humming a tune, like the blood coating his body had put him in a good mood. Ellis, too, was covered in blood, which he didn’t think about in the slightest. His thoughts lingered on that alley, and the man with an arrow through his eye. Not a man, not a person. Not really.

  At least, that’s what he was telling himself.

  “The plan is to kill the archduke. I know of secret tunnels that lead throughout the palace, which will allow us to avoid most of the major barricades set up within, and it is our way in. Once we have successfully breached the palace walls, we will sneak into the Archduke’s bedchambers and take that fat oaf to somewhere secluded. I wish to have a long and private conversation with him. That’s the plan,” Ameena said loud and proud, not even trying to whisper.

  Her voice sounded unnatural now that Ellis had heard it scream. But it did snap him out of the memory of the thug’s face that kept playing over and over again in his head. He glanced over his shoulder nervously, looking at the other dozen or so occupants of the tavern before hissing at Ameena, “Someone will hear you! And the blood… oh god’s, we are so dead! They will have told the guards by now! We need to leave!”

  Michael’s smile grew amused at Ellis’s panic, before laughing in his face at the demand to leave. Ellis hadn’t realized he’d gotten out of his seat before Ameena pushed him back down onto the hard wood that used to have some semblance of cushioning. She brought out the metal rod that lay at her waist and placed it on the table, tapping it absently with a finger.

  “You are under an illusion. I assure you, we fit right in with the rest of this lot,” she said, gesturing at the other tavern’s occupants, most of whom were arguing or so drunk they had their heads resting on the tables.

  “But… but I can see you? What… what do you mean?” Ellis whispered, despite her assurances.

  “I had to save some mana after I cast that big illusion during that fight, so I only altered the blood on our clothes and in my hair.” She glared when she said that part. “To look less like blood and more like mud, or dirt. It helps that everyone else around us is either drunk or distracted, I have to admit. And as to the matter of conversation, that is easy to disguise. I throw around nonsensical talking that drowns out any of the plans we make throughout the tavern. There are plenty of people in here, no one will try and pick out our conversation for the rest of the night, I assure you.”

  Ellis looked at her closer now, and yes, it did look like mud, if not a reddish kind. And if he listened closely, the gradual rambling of the bar members seemed… silly. And like it came from nowhere. He almost snorted. The empty air was having an argument with itself.

  Michael interrupted with a suppressed sigh. “Yes, you’re very impressive, but back to the main topic: you said we can’t just waltz into the palace? And yet that sounds like the entire plan?”

  “I know the guard patrols, I know the layout of the palace, I know exactly where that monster sleeps. As long as you do as I say, this plan will suffice. I guarantee it.” Ameena shifted in her seat, and her fingers drumming against the wand.

  Ellis’s mind was still reeling from her explanation of her mana abilities, and now she was claiming to know the inner workings of a noble’s home, who also happened to be the most powerful man in the empire after the emperor.

  “How do you know this?” Ellis asked her.

  Her jaw locked at the question, the answer grating against her teeth as she spoke it. “I thought you knew. I was here as a child.”

  “Okay… but why would that mean you know the Archduke's guard patrols? Or the layout of the palace? Who are you?”

  She glanced at him. That was her only answer.

  Ellis shook his head. “Okay… alright. But… how does knowing the patrols as a child mean you know them now?”

  Her mouth pressed into a thin line. Ellis could see she hated the questions, and that her temper was frayed long before they entered the tavern. He cursed himself a fool for asking when she clearly was not in the mood to be pushed. That temper might come back and focus on him, and he was so exhausted he didn’t know if he could talk his way out of it this time.

  And the plan didn’t matter anyway. It was suicide. He would have to kill them long before they set foot in that palace.

  “I don’t think there has been a big enough incident for him to risk the ire of nobles and commonfolk alike by changing the guard captain, and thus, it will be the same,” she said after a moment.

  Michael sat forward like he too wished to ask questions about this ‘plan’, but a server came up to their table. They stopped talking about the treason they were trying to commit as she asked if they had money, glancing at their ‘dirty’ clothes like they shouldn’t be in here to begin with.

  Ameena looked at Michael. Michael glared at Ellis. He fished out the twelve measly coppers he had found on the men’s bodies, and pushed it over towards her. The server looked at them skeptically, before picking them up with a rag and saying it was enough for three drinks, but only two meals.

  “Perfect!” Michael agreed instantly, clapping his hands and shooing the server away, who looked at him with a frown but did as he said.

  “But… but there’s three of us?” Ellis asked.

  “But… but you traded away all of our money?” Michael imitated Ellis’s voice as he placed a hand against his chest in mock offense.

  Ellis tried to protest. Michael’s good humour evaporated within an instant, his smile dimming into a frown.

  He stopped protesting. Hunger gnawed at his insides, and he tried to think of a solution. A quick glance at the table found him one, so he turned to Ameena. “Can I ask you to make us money, with your…” he glanced at the metal stick sitting on the table.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  She raised an eyebrow, like she was almost impressed. “That’s my wand, and that’s actually quite a clever suggestion. But while sound and sight are easy to fool… taste and touch are a different matter. She would see the coin, it would ‘sound’ like a coin, but she wouldn’t feel it.”

  Ellis deflated further, and asked no more questions, resigning himself to going the day without a meal.

  Michael still seemed upset with Ellis, but he ignored him in favour of dazzling Ameena with a smile. “While we wait, let’s get back to the pla—”

  “I have told you the plan. Your plan is to waltz through the front door and kill everyone.” She looked down her nose at him, like he could not possibly offer anything of value to this expedition. “If my plan goes wrong, your plan kicks into effect immediately. You get your way if mine fails… so no more questions.”

  Michael sighed. “A statement then. I want better gear, and I think that’ll help your little plan before we ‘waltz’ into the palace through the back door.” He smiled when he said this, for some reason. “We can storm the palace after we get some weapons that won’t break two days after use.”

  He gestured to his sword, like that was sufficient evidence of what he was saying.

  Ameena stayed silent, which Ellis thought meant agreement. He piped up now, “Well, I saw a flier on the way in about a festival, and some of the drunks behind us said it’s in three days. Why not get weapons from there?”

  Michael and Ameena glanced at each other, before Ameena nodded. “That sounds good. We’ll gather some weapons and armour, then we can go and kill that fucking degenerate.”

  After her triumphant, insane declaration, the food arrived and they both devoured the meals like they were as hungry as Ellis. He sipped his ale silently, his head starting to feel heavy when he was half way through, a warmth spreading from his stomach to the rest of his body as he thought back to his first conversation with Ameena.

  He needed her help to kill Michael, there was no getting around it. So he had to get closer to her. Recalling their last few days together, he went over every conversation, idle comment or general grunt he had seen from her. His mind always snapped back to their first conversation.

  And to a hummingbird.

  He could see it now, in front of his eyes and the table that seemed to be floating in front of him. Getting closer to her was an impossibility. Or it should have been. But that hummingbird seemed to laugh at the idea, like the answer was simple.

  It was… And it came with a horrifying, monstrous benefit. Because it would not only make her like him more. It would also give him the tools to kill them.

  So with a final gulp of his drink, he tried not to gag as he sold his soul.

  “Ameena. While we wait for the festival, can you teach me magic?”

  ~BREAK~

  The boy’s head hit the table the moment he finished his question, which left Ameena watching the side of his sleeping face with wide eyes. Never in a million years did she think he would be practical. It was days ago that he was ranting some drivel about mana being evil, like the rest of the stupid peasants. And yet here he was, asking to learn it.

  There was cunning in him. She could use that.

  Although she surmised that might have been the alcohol talking. She could not fault him for falling to the alcohol’s effects so quickly, even with his newly acquired ring that her ‘companion’ gave him. One day without food, days of grief and pain, would ruin most people’s ability to handle a drink.

  “Ellis, buddy? You awake?” Michael said from across the table, poking the boy's scalp with his finger that left more blood in Ellis’s hair.

  The boy murmured something, before he started snoring. Michael snorted, like he was one to judge another for sleeping, then turned to her with a tired smile.

  “I know you enjoy the kid, but can we stop this nonsense about us ‘needing’ him and just kill him already? Yeah he helps out sometimes, but if he fucks up something as badly as he did at the gate we might not even make it that noble area, let alone the palace.”

  A flash of the boy drawing back his bow to shoot that brute in the alley flashed through her eyes. Michael had left her there.

  Ellis had not.

  I have told you it is called The Silken Cradle. And we wouldn’t even be in the city if you had your way with those guards at the gate, you bloodthirsty fool.

  “Michael, I told you the reasons for why we need to keep him around. Yes, his whining is irritating, but he is proving useful. Did you not enjoy the robbers earlier?”

  Michael sighed in acceptance. “I did. Point taken.”

  He put on a smile that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, as his voice dripped with suggestive desire. “I did enjoy the robbers… but I think I know something else that we could enjoy a bit more.”

  Not for all the money in the world.

  But Ameena couldn’t say that, no matter how much she wanted to. She needed him as much as she didn’t want him. Trying not to shudder as she slid her hand across the table, she laid it on top of forearm. His eyebrows shot up at the sign of ‘affection’, like he could not believe it was happening in the first place.

  “You can kill him,” she said, nodding at the sleeping boy. “If he finds out about the chu— if he finds out about what you did.”

  The screams from that church had haunted her dreams ever since that day. If she closed her eyes, she could still see that girl hobbling as fast as she could with a child in her arms, the tears streaming down her face as her cries filled the forest. Ameena still cursed the girl’s stupidity. She should have stayed silent. She should have done as that toddler did. Not utter a single fucking sound. He wouldn’t have… he wouldn’t have found them otherwise.

  You need him.

  Michael remained powerless beneath her touch, frozen solid, before he eked out an agreement, which shook her from the memory.

  She pulled her hand away like she was holding a snake that was about to bite. “Good. Now, carry him for me. We need to find an empty house, or a nice looking alley for us to sleep. Don’t forget his bow.”

  She did not wait to hear his response, simply got up and strode out of the tavern, onto the street. Michael’s loud footsteps hurried after her a moment later, muttered curses at his predicament accompanying them.

  Much like earlier in the day, they wandered around the streets, glancing down alleyways. They found an alley that didn’t have garbage covering every inch of the brick. She supposed this would do. For now. Right as she finished setting up her tent, two guards stepped into the alley, blocking off their escape much like the robbers had earlier.

  “Halt! There was a massacre earlier, and you fit the description of the perpetrators! You will drop your weapons and you will come with us!”

  Michael dropped Ellis instead of his sword, drawing it as he charged at the two men. Both guards scrambled back, the startled confusion giving way to practiced discipline as they drew their swords in turn.

  She turned away from the proceeding yelps and cries, the muffled wrenching of flesh that followed soon after.

  No, she turned towards the only place that mattered, the large palace that was visible over the walls and roofs and everything else in this damned city. She turned to her childhood home, and whispered a promise to the stars.

  “I am home, father. There is no escaping me now.”