The Lost Crown

Chapter 4

Dead. Petyr was dead. The man who had trained her since she was no older than twelve, gone. The group went silent when they heard the news. All for Alessia who yelled and demanded a detailed report. Quietly, Joanna obliged, explaining that Petyr was stationed outside the queen's study, Ezra heard fighting and alerted Joanne, when Ezra arrived at the scene, Petyr was alive but injured. Ezra struggled to hold off the two assassins but was able to defeat them when Joanne arrived. One of the assassins was able to get the door open and threw a dagger towards the queen. Petyr was able to stand and block it, protecting her majesty but taking a dagger in the shoulder. Other palace guards came to assist in taking the attackers down to the dungeon for later questioning. Both Ezra and Joanne went to aid Petyr but it was too late. He had a wound in his stomach and the dagger had been laced with poison. His whole shoulder had swelled and turned black. "He died before the medics even arrived" Joanne finished. "Were the healers able to identify the poison?" Clovis asked. Ezra cut it "Not yet, they say it seems like magic was involved given that his shoulder turned black." Alessia swore. "If they have access to magic then they are a bigger problem than we thought." She continued "Were both of the assassins confirmed to be human?" "They were both human." Joanne answered. "But I agree, them having access to magic is concerning, they weren't just angry farmers. We are going to have to increase palace security." "We need to figure out who exactly they were working for." Liam said "Our reports did not mark the southern rebels as much of a threat. Only some unhappy farmers." Sylvia looked up at them. "What about their clothes?" She started "Were they wearing anything that may suggest where they were from? Or their features?" Queen Ara sat quietly in her chair, watching as the party conversated over the events. Sylvia continued: "Take us to their bodies. We should inspect them and reconvene." The other three muttered their agreement. They looked towards the Queen, awaiting her instruction. "Go inspect it briefly, then we need to go to breakfast so I can make the announcement. The queen signed and rested her elbows on the table. She rubbed her fingers on her temple and closed her eyes. "I didn't think we'd have to hold another party leader competition so soon." The room was silent as the Queen opened her eyes. "I will be in my study. I will meet you all in the dining hall in an hour." The queen rose and began to walk out. We all stood and bowed goodbye, and then she was gone.

Sylvia followed the others down the dungeon. "Why are you keeping their bodies here?" Alessia asked "Afraid they'll try and escape?" Ezra answered "The healers don't want dead bodies in their clinic, so unless you are volunteering your room, we are keeping them here." "Where are they keeping Petyr?" Sylvia asked grimly "With the assassins?" "Of course not," Joanne snapped, "When the healers finished inspecting his body, they put him in a coffin for his funeral ceremony." They arrived at the bodies of the assassins. Both tall men who looked to be in their late thirties. Though death may have aged them. They each took their time inspecting the bodies. Their hands were rough and calloused. The callouses showed that they were used to holding weapons. Mercenaries then perhaps. "Their clothes are well made, and the weapons are professionally designed." Liam stated. "They have the money to keep up appearances, so I believe you were right, these aren't the southern rebels." "Unless the southern rebels hired them." Clovis suggested. "The report said the southern rebels were poorer. They wouldn't be able to afford this type of mercenary." Sylvia replied. Alessia was occupied with their faces. Whatever poison they took did not make death easy for them. Their eyes had gone black with dark blood streaming from them. Their faces were morphed into a frozen scream. "Were they given the same poison that the dagger was laced with?" Liam asked, noticing as well, "You said that his shoulder turned black too." "The healers haven't confirmed it but it is a possibility." Joanne replied, "Perhaps one of us should travel to Guérisseur and ask for the opinions of the healers there?" Guérisseur was known for their healers, many of them were blessed with healing magic and the kingdom is home to the largest healing academy in the world. Had one of their healers been here the night that Petyr died, things would have gone very differently. "I agree" Clovis started "One of us should head there after breakfast. They would be able to make it there before nightfall." "I'll go," Liam volunteered, "I have a special someone in Guérisseur that I've been meaning to visit anyway." Sylvia rolled her eyes. He had a partner in every damn city they went to. Her inspection moved from their faces and down to the clothes. They were both wearing the same thing; thick black tunics with black roses going up the sides. Sylvia began to pull hidden weapons out of their sleeves, the others followed her lead and pulled more out of their abdomen pockets and finally the pant pockets. Definitely mercenaries then. Previous assassins barely made it past the front gates, and rarely had equipment like this. Sylvia held up a small knife she just pulled out of an ankle pocket. The handle was gold with another black rose on it. She turned and faced Clovis. "Look at the style of their clothes. They are very similar to the assassins we dealt with a few years ago when Lady Claudia died." One of the dukes of the kingdom's wife had died and was sure that it was a murder. Because of this, Clovis and Sylvia went to a couple of the assassins' guilds in the kingdom to inspect the area and gather information on the night she died. "You're right," replied Clovis. "Though they do not wear an insignia, their clothing is a very similar style. But we have a treaty with them, they don't touch the palace or the Queens court and they can continue to live in the kingdom." It was the only way to keep the peace. Otherwise they would have just gone into hiding and it would be impossible to catch them. "Well it looks like they broke their word" Alessia answered. "When do we go to question them?" They all looked around at each other. They had no leader, so who would make these calls? Clovis spoke up: "Me and Sylvia have been there before so we should go." "You are exhausted." Joanne said. "You've been riding for weeks and have barely gotten to sit down since you got back. Me and Ezra should go. We were on the scene and saw their fighting styles. We know what questions to ask." "I agree," Ezra said. "You all should rest after breakfast and we will go find out who hired them." "These are trained mercenaries" Liam responded "They aren't just going to give you their hirers information because you asked nicely." "I have a way with words" responded Joanne with a wicked smile. Indeed she did. Joanne was the most ruthless of them all, though you wouldn't think it from her kind demeanor. Sylvia shuddered to think about what might happen should she ever get on Joanne's bad side. She was the one they would send in to "question" difficult prisoners. It was rare that she didn't get the information they needed. "So it's decided. We will go after breakfast and have a meeting again after lunch." Ezra stated. The group reluctantly agreed and they began upstairs for lunch. On the way out, Alessia spoke to one of the palace guards "Burn the bodies. We are done."