The Empress' Descent

Chapter 39 - An Errand

Rass had an errand to run. He traveled all the way downtown, in this part of the city where the infamous market of the South stood proudly.

He hopped off the carriage and the glare of the sunlight hit his half-colored eyes, one the lightest of gray and the other a bright red. Rass lifted a gloved hand, his free one adjusting his velvet cloak.

The white tents of the market overlooked him from across the street, flapping and billowing like ghosts beneath the midafternoon sky. Booming voices of vendors selling various wares and inquiries of patrons alike resonated throughout the whole square.

Behind Rass and the carriage the river streamed silently, occasional splashes and ripples mixing in with the echoes of the crowd beyond.

But the thing he was looking for wasn't in the market.

Instead, Rass turned and began to walk along the riverbank.

A pair of footsteps followed him. "Sir."

Rass halted, not facing the knight who had accompanied him here. "I'll go on my own. I can take care of myself."

"But sir, it's dangerous. The people here—"

"I know exactly what kind of people roam this place." Cutthroats, thieves, pickpockets—you name it. "Did you think I'd come here without knowing that?"

"Then that is all the more reason why I must come with you, sir," the guard insisted.

A spark of annoyance lit inside the Duke, but he maintained a calm expression. He knew that this guard was not worried for his safety. This one reported directly to the Grand General. If Ethan was that confident of his position that he could merely slip a spy into Rass's knights, then he was gravely mistaken.

Ethan was becoming more and more complacent. But Rass would let him be. For now.

Rass had always believed that no one, not even the Grand General, was above him. Rass was his own, you did not tell him what to do. And you should never order a half-baked knight to monitor him.

"Watch yourself. You won't like to see what happens when you choose to cross me any further."

Rass felt the knight stiffen. "Y-yes, sir. I'll wait for you here and guard the carriage."

"Good." Rass smiled and his tone was light and cheery when he said, "I advise you to stay put and behave. I'll be back in an hour."

Besides, he wasn't planning to do anything worthy of suspicion. Really, how ridiculously silly. Rass was here on behalf of the preparations for the Spring Gala. Why would he have to be watched over?

With the matter of thieves, though, he was quick and strong enough not to need any security.

It would have been better if 'that other knight' was to accompany him. Though he was more an acquaintance than a friend. Even so, he'd prefer him over the one Ethan sent. But instead, that knight was in a far place doing gods-know-what.

Rass continued forward, the breeze from the river ruffling the hood of his cloak. When he reached the end of the bank, the wind picked up and his hood fell. It left his slightly long silver hair exposed, a few strands swishing past his nape.

His head whipped involuntarily to the other side of the river. There, where the richest people in this part of the city lived. Far enough, among the rows of large buildings, one particular manor caught his attention.

The House of the Viscount, looming on the other houses as though it was the greatest of them all. In fact, it was not. But Rass thought that it certainly gave off that kind of impression.