Clarissa Beheads The Villainess

[26] Not Just Rats

"Wake up, boy!" Clarissa and Josie bust open the door and stand before the man in slumber who wakes up quickly.

"It's the middle of the night... What happened?"

"Like we didn't know that. My kids are gone! They aren't with Peter, they aren't having a midnight snack in the kitchen, and those three know what happens when they run off without my permission." Josie shuts the door behind them. "It has to be the princess. I overheard in the inn some guards talking about the princess plotting something, against the king's wishes."

"If it's against the king's wishes then we can get your children back easily. Everyone knows that king Golden values the Viertel's loyalty."

"Then we should go to the duke now-"

"It's the night before his engagement party, he's just going to throw a fit if we wake him up." Astaroth cuts Clarissa off. As true as it was, Josie still couldn't accept that answer.

"The princess will kill my children."

"They're young ones, I don't think Freya is a baby killer."

"You are naive Astaroth. That deviant killed my cat."

"Clarissa is right, Freya Golden is no short of becoming a baby killer."

"Then what do you propose we do!?"

"Tell the duke to stop being a crying cunt or house Viertel will no longer have eyes in the Golden castle." The rat speaks fiercely.

"The duke has been off his head lately, I wager my horse that he wouldn't care to lose allies."

Josie and Astaroth look at Clarissa. "Any thoughts, girl?"

"I can sneak into the princess' chambers."

"Are you mad!? She practically brought an army here! There's no way you can get to her without shedding any blood."

"I have snuck through buildings full of men armed with rifles, children held hostage, and I have made but one mistake throughout my career. Oh, you don't know what guns are though."

"I assume they're horrible beyond our imagination."

"Clarissa please..."

"Let her do it. I will give you both my loyalty in return."

Clarissa nods her head. Even with the man's begging eyes, fingers reaching out to touch her, no human's wishes would triumph her empathy and love for animals. She will save Josie's kids.

"I will be back. Don't cry for me Astaroth."

She wondered if the night was making him silly. A handful of guards is not enough to even scratch her, he'd know that. It shouldn't worry him.

Like an idiot one would assume, Clarissa runs straight to the front of the princess' chambers. The guards that roamed the halls didn't heed any mind to the lady, and the lot standing by the tightly shut door looked drowsy.

"Lady uh... Who are you?" One said with near-slurred speech. Drunk off wine in the day? She was almost disappointed that she didn't even have to try to sneak past them. They're all small-minded. Not a single sharp guard.

"Katherine Horak, sir." She curtsies.

"My lady!? Oh I am so sorry-" he stands up straight, wondering if Katherine was always this tall and had amethyst colored hair. "What brings you here this late?"

"I saw a beast outside my window. Large, hairy, with one giant golden eye."

Some of the guards were raising their brows with suspicion. Clarissa continues, "I heard of a legend where a golden eyed creature roams at night, and the one who slays it is to be blessed eternally and awarded with an abundance of gold by the king should you bring him its eye. Please slay this beast for me, men and women of the Golden castle's army."

The guard looks at the others to see their nods of approval, and back at Clarissa. "We shall, my lady."

Not a single one remained guarding the princess' chambers from the outside. Now she just has to flip a coin and hope that there are no guards with her inside.

She takes a deep breath and enters, flinching at the creaking noise and shutting it as carefully as possible. No guards, phew. It's usually harder to save hostages.

The princess lay in a deep slumber, curled under her blanket with just her head out. Clarissa creeps over and holds a knife to her neck. "I am a killer, and so are you. It is just our fate to be each other's karma." She withdraws the weapon and at the bedside table she finds Josie's three children locked in a bird cage.

She puts a finger over her mouth, signaling for them to keep quiet. Now to escape, usually the easy part when you don't mind making a scene.

Outside the princess' chambers was no one but a single guard who seemed to expect the situation. "Took all of us for a fool, Clarissa Wains?"

"I took you for a Golden guard."

The guard, with a figure as big as Vixen's pulls her sword from its resting.

"You going to harm me? I bet you move as slow as you are big."

"You used lady Katherine Horak's name to lie, and you entered the princess chamber unauthorized."

"I didn't kill her." Clarissa lifts the bird cage. "I came to take back the kids she kidnapped."

"I heard Clarissa Wains, the princess killer, had no tongue. And you talk a lot."

"People change, and I just so happen to have been chatty these past days."

The guard swings her sword, and swings again, barely touching Clarissa each time. "What if you accidentally hit the kids?"

"They're just rats."

"Just rats?" She puts down the three, who were shivering in fear hoping to see their mother again. Yet, they made not a sound.

"Shall I say it again for ya princess killer? They're just rats."

"And you're just a human." Clarissa looks at the nothingness behind the guard, making her think something is there. As the guard takes a quick look, Clarissa disappears.

"Coward!" Yells the big woman, in a stance prepared to swing again. At that moment, she feels a bit of blood trickle down the nape of her neck, Clarissa's sharp blade lightly pressed to her skin.

"Clarissa stop!" Astaroth yells, running down the hall with Josie.

The sound of steel clashing against the marble floor echoes, and Clarissa looks at the guard with a piercing glare. "Be glad my comrade values human lives more than I do."

The guard drops her sword and falls to the floor, gasping for air.

"Oh, and do not speak of this to anyone. And convince your narrow minded colleagues that they were all just dreaming."

"Yes, lady Clarissa."

"My children!" Josie opens the bird cage and her three rats run into her arms. "Thank you, Clarissa."

Clarissa nods her head, acknowledging the appreciation. "It's time for me to go back to sleep." She glances at Astaroth, the leaves.

"Support her, don't dote on her like a grandfather, boy."