Human had never tasted particularly good on my tongue.
I didn’t even have that option, which meant I needed to find some other way to make him disappear. But, that was likely best saved for my thoughts after I had managed to sneak into and back out of the palace successfully.
I neared Aurelion’s warehouse and slowed, letting the crowd push me forward, before finally stepping out of it and into the alleyway that led to the front of the building. There were several members of Aurelion’s crew stationed around the area, just as there had been the night before, and a few of them nodded to me as I passed. I returned the greeting and made my way inside.
I didn’t have to go far before running into Felix. This time he was alone. His face lit up as he spotted me, closing the distance between us.
“Aria,” he began, falling into step beside me. “I’ve been thinking about tonight.”
“What about it?”
We turned a corner and he slid out of the way of a couple of ongoing kids. They nodded their respects to him and glanced sideways at me as they passed. I ignored their questioning gazes.
“Ophelia is not exactly happy about you being involved, but she will not go out of her way to jeopardize the plan.” He said as we continued.
“That’s good to know. I’d hate to find her holding a knife to my back.”
I saw his face scrunch up in a look at that and I stopped, twisting to stare at him.
“Wait, a second… You’re not saying she’s going to stab me in the back are you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe? It is hard to say, with how she has been lately. But I know she is… I do not want to say jealous, but she is upset about everything going on and how you have slithered your way into things—her words, not mine.”
“I see.” I crossed my arms and leaned back against the wall in the hallway that we’d come to a stop in. “So, she won’t jeopardize the plan, but after we have the seal, she might?”
He nodded slowly and his face shifted again, his cheeks growing red, as if he were embarrassed to say something like that. I supposed he might be. After all, he and Ophelia had likely known each other for a long time. Yet, here he was, effectively turning coat.
“I’ll keep the warning in mind.” I started moving again, letting my arms fall to my sides as I did.
Felix followed. “I am not saying she will do something without a doubt. But, I would just be prepared, that is all.”
“I get it, kid,” I told him, glancing over my shoulder to meet his eyes. “I really do appreciate it. I’m not here to muck everything up for you all. I have my goals with all of this, and I’m sure they’ll come out at some point. But for now, they’re mine, and I intend to keep it that way. I don’t expect Ophelia to understand that, but it’s just the way things are.”
He nodded as he walked and I really felt like he actually understood what I was saying. Perhaps I’d written him off a bit too hastily. He might have threatened to beat me with a club the first time we met, but at least he seemed to have found some sense now that we were working together. Ophelia on the other hand…
That was going to be a mess. I could already tell. If Felix felt like he needed to warn me, then there was a reasonably high chance she was going to do something stupid. I just hoped I saw it coming before she ruined everything for us all.
Felix followed me the rest of the way up to the meeting room, though he remained silent the rest of the trek. Once we arrived, he broke off and settled into one of the chairs around the table. Aurelion was already seated in his chair, so I took the one next to him.
“Do you have any maps of the palace, by chance?” It was a long shot to ask, but I figured it was worth a shot anyway.
Aurelion chuckled. “Not exactly,” he said, pulling out a single map which had irregular lines drawn across it.
I recognized the piece as a copy of one of the earliest renderings that the imperial builders had drawn up for the first wing of the palace. I took the piece of parchment and laid it out in front of me, taking in the lines that ran in every direction.
Without any kind of understanding of what you were looking at, the drawings just looked like scribblings. Images of madness overlaying one another—like something you’d expect to see from a child’s first attempt to draw on parchment. But looking deeper…
I used [Insight] on the map. I could already recognize some of the patterns present, but I hoped that the System would help make everything else clearer.
I watched in surprise as it actually seemed to work, a smile tugging at my lips in the process.
The lines stretched and wiggled, as if moving directly on the parchment themselves. After several seconds, the wiggling lines stopped moving, and the mess of images became a well outlined image of the palace’s northern wing—the same wing that housed the imperial chambers.
Aurelion scooted closer, inspecting the parchment himself. I wasn’t sure if he noticed the way my eyes narrowed when I cast the skill, or if there was something else that gave it away, but I felt a slight chill in the air next to me and then a moment later his voice piped up:
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“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”
I flashed him a grin, and our eyes met for a brief second, amber piercing into emerald.
Then I returned to the map. I followed the new image that the System had created for me, letting my finger trail down the hallway I’d need to take to make it into the southern wing.
I also looked for other possible exits—quick ways I could get away from any prying eyes, in case Ophelia really did try to pull one over on me. This wasn’t exactly going to be a stroll through Merchant’s Row.
One wrong move and we’d find ourselves tossed in the dungeon—or worse. Because of the risk, I wasn’t exactly happy that Ophelia might decide to play saboteur.
There weren’t a lot of great exits for humans in that particular part of the palace. Like most of the palace, that wing had been built on top of a mountainous cliff that rose above the rest of the city. The hallways were dragon-sized and most of the exits were large stone pads that had been attached to the end of the wing’s corridors. And that wasn’t even taking in the massive gate-like doors that covered each entrance and exit.
But that was part of what made my palace such a formidable fortress. It was still astounding to think about how easily the [Hero] had torn through our defenses.
For the first time, a thought occurred to me.
“Aurelion,” I said, keeping my voice low enough that Felix couldn’t hear it. Ophelia was nowhere to be seen at that moment.
“Hmm?”
“Do you think he had the same access we do?” I watched Aurelion’s face for a response, but as usual, his stony expression remained, his eyes never looking up from the map.
He remained quiet for a long moment before finally speaking. “It’s possible. I’ve thought about that, too. It would stand to reason his power had to come from somewhere, and it always felt like something beyond our understanding.”
“I agree.” I had always pondered over the origin of the [Hero]’s power, even in my dying moments. It had never felt right. Never like it belonged in this world. There were parts of the power that the System had given me that felt very similar.
I let the conversation die there. Questioning the origin of the [Hero]’s power wouldn’t get us far, especially without anyone to give us actual answers. Plus, I had other things I needed to focus my attention on. Like how in the name of the Seven I expected to get through this heist without getting caught.
Turning my attention back to the map, I took note of one of the stairwells that led up from the lower levels of the palace. We’d enter through the level just above the aqueducts. That was where the tunnel from the building out in the city should spit us out.
From there, we would need to sneak through some of the lower dungeons and storerooms, and then make our way up through the barracks. If we didn’t run into any issues, we should be able to reach the stairs up to the palace’s southern wing within an hour, maybe two—though that was being generous with our time and assuming we had to hide and sneak a lot.
Once in the southern wing, we could inspect the empress’s chambers and see if we could find any clues, thus satiating part of the System’s quest. From there, we just needed to make it across an open courtyard and out to the central keep.
That’s where we kept the vault with all of the empire’s most important possessions. It was also the most guarded place in the entire palace, and completely exposed to scouts and patrols from all sides—both human and dragon.
I cursed myself quietly for thinking this had been a good idea.
Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my gaze upward as Ophelia slipped into the room. She wore dark clothes and had a cloak nestled over one shoulder. Her eyes met mine and she offered me a smile.
“We have a plan?”
“The workings of one,” I responded.
“What does that mean?” She asked, annoyance biting at her words.
I sighed. “It means I know what we’re going to do and you’ll just have to trust me to follow through with it.”
She let out a heavy sigh and crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair next to Felix.
“And what if we get separated? What do I do then?”
“You get out of the palace and come back here. I’ll find you when I’m finished.”
She offered me a flat stare but no additional words. Though, the way she set her jaw made it clear I probably hadn’t heard the end of this argument.
I let her stew and returned to silently looking over the map, the sun outside slowly sinking toward the horizon. The rays coming through the boarded-up windows that pockmarked the walls of the room grew longer, stretching out across the table.
When the light had grown dim enough to warrant bringing in oil lanterns, I leaned back in my chair, taking in the rest of the room. Aurelion stood, left the room, and returned a moment later.
“They’ll bring us food in a few moments,” he said, taking his seat again. “I figured the two of you might want to have your bodies fully energized before what is sure to be an exhilarating quest.”
I nodded in thanks. “We’ll go in a couple hours from now,” I told Ophelia. “We’ll need to break in through a locked door, but I’ve got lockpicks for that. The quieter we can be, the better.”
“Of course,” she said, a snippet of her attitude from earlier returning. “I’ll be as quiet as a mouse sneaking through the palace kitchens. Not sure about you. We heard you coming from leagues away when you chased us.”
I had to force myself to not roll my eyes. It wouldn’t do any good to bite at low-hanging fruit—it was almost always riddled with rot or insects. Luckily, I didn’t have to distract myself very long, as boys and girls carrying steaming trays of food soon ushered into the room, setting a plate down in front of each of us.
Aurelion and the others wasted no time digging into the offerings before them. I, however, couldn’t help but feel a touch of suspicion at the meal. It was a bit silly, I knew, but after my run-in with Henrietta…
I cast [Insight] on the food. I wasn’t even sure it would provide any information like that. The System responded, the window appearing to the side of the plate.
No poisons detected.
I let out a low chuckle. Of course it hadn’t been poisoned, I was just being paranoid after the Henrietta thing. I looked up to see if anyone had noticed my hesitation and was greeted by the others staring at me, confusion painted across their features.
“Just thought about something funny,” I said, picking up the fork that I’d been given and pressing it into one of several roasted potatoes that had been piled onto the plate. I didn’t elaborate as I lifted the fork to my mouth and took a bite, savoring the taste that rippled across my tongue.
The potatoes were spicy and salty, and their exterior was laced with the perfect crunch, which gave way to fluffy insides. I took another bite of the food and chewed on it for several breaths.
Next, I pulled off a piece of the meat that had been included. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but it had a nice char to the outside and gleamed with juices. It was also tender enough to cut with nothing but the fork. I pressed it against my tongue and closed my eyes, losing myself in the flavor.
The food at The Slumbering Drake hadn’t been awful, but it had never tasted this good. Whoever was responsible for cooking in Aurelion’s crew knew what they were doing.
Finally, I took a bite of the puffy bread that the kids had brought out, too. It was still warm, and the inside oozed with butter. Suffice it to say, I wasted no time devouring the rest of the food on the plate.
When I’d finally finished and we’d all leaned back from our plates, Aurelion glanced over at me once more, a smile just visible at the corner of his lips.
“Enjoy yourself?”
“Immensely. I could sleep for days now.” I laughed. “But, then I’d miss the chance of a lifetime. After all, it isn’t every day that someone gets to break into the palace of the [Empress of Dragons].”
My lips leapt into a smirk as I thought about being the first I knew of to sneak into the imperial palace. Outside, I bathed in the glory of the coming quest, but inside, in my gut, everything twisted into a clenched fist.