My breath turned deep and more focused as I stepped into the dark and watched Wilius walked back into the hallway cautiously. He looked around multiple times in my direction, but never realised someone was clearly standing not very far from him. And then, he left the location very quickly. I popped my head out the small door from when he came from and saw the Vigilantes. They weren't very far away from me, they were walking very slow; perhaps as if they had no concern if anyone saw them. I followed them, convinced that I would never find a chance like this again to know more about these people's role.
Wilius's wing accomodated more space than I expected it to, and it directly was connected to the back entrance of the palace. He had taken a great risk, if the guards found out about some random men exiting the palace in the dead of the night.....unless, the guards were involved within this arrangement as well.
The hunky men glided down the stairs and reached the back entrance and my wild guess was correct. The guards were involved in as well. They stopped and passed some laughter amongst each other while I stood at the top of staircase waiting for them to proceed.
It was me taking the great risk currently, considering I wanted to follow the Vigilantes but was faced with the barrier of the gurads. If I simply walked through and past them, I would definately be in trouble. What could be done?
Attack the guards.
That was it, I had no other option. I would make them unconscious and they won't know who attacked them. There were two only, it cannot be too difficult.
"Help me, dear God." I whispered and noted that the Vigilantes had crossed the entrance and had traversed quite some distance.
There was a torch hanging on the wall, which could easily become the trap for atleast one of the two. And so, I picked it up from it's holder and threw it down the stairs, causing a great rattling noise and deliberaly alerting both of them. I immediately hid myself away from the moonlight bathed stairs and waited.
"Hey, go and check. We don't want an intruder." One of them grunted. As ordered, the other guard climbed up the stairs, minding each and every step.
As he reached the last step, I yanked his hand forcefully and swung my arm around his neck and had my palm clamping over his mouth and nose. He panicked and and started to squirm around to seek around for help, but I had the upper hand. He was a soldier after all, he would do his best to defend himself so he tried attacking me with his elbow. He was not making this quite easy for me. I managed to have him under my thumb and my other hand went under his chin and pressured it slightly. His efforts slowed down and admitted defeat. And then his movements seized and he went limp, his eyes quitening down as well.
Before going any further, I checked for his breath. He was just unconsicous not dead fortunately. I grabbed his arm plate and foisted it around myself, thinking it may be of some help.
The second guard's voice echoed faintly from below, "What is taking so long?"
I landed on the last stair just behind the chain doors and caught my breath. He was standing right in front of me, all of his attention outside in the wild.
I should try being effortless. I thought.
And so, I tapped his shoulder twice as if I was trying to start a useless conversation with him. Only it was not. As quickly did he turn around and tried to see who it was, my plated arm had hit his forehead and he was staggering down, out of his senses.
Second one was easier.
I looked up to towards where the Vigilantes had went and saw them not too far away. Do they not feel worried that they could be seen? Talk about being blithe. But however could I get atleast one of them to answer me?
There was a iron rod near the wall, sitting with no purpose and meaning. Everything exists for a reason, doesn't it?
I didn't think it twice after it. Picking up the rod, I ventured outside behind them; running like my life depended on it. My gown made it difficult but it was the least of my worries.
Soon enough the few men dispersed away and went their own ways. I followed on of them at random stealthily, begging all those above for their graces on me. After a few minutes of walking, I had managed to close the distance between us and keep my presence a secret. One hasty move and he would be alerted. The rod was limiting my access but I had to make it work.
And then slowly, I had it in my grasp. I sneaked up to the giant of a guy, and hit his head with my rod. A loud thud was heard as he gasped and put his hand on the injured spot.
"What?" He slurred and whizzed around for a few moments. He was so muscular and healthy that a hit to the head needed some time to take damage. No wonder he was 'supposed' to be a Vigilante. And then he slowly lost his consciousness as well.
He fell on the soil, completely unaware of what hit him.
"Good lord." I sighed and threw away the rod from my hand. "Took some effort."
____
Bringing the Vigilante to a safe and secure space was difficult to think. Not difficult to perform. He was heavy, but my spirit of curiosity bested him. The question was, what was the secure place where I had bought him?
There was a few pieces of lands that we, the Royal family owned personally. To let them not go into vain each of us siblings claimed them as 'our estates' and owned a house there. One could call this as being spoiled brats and all the degradation for being so needy, but this was the reality. I had named mine Daven Manor. I was the first one from amongst all of us to be granted the ownership by the King, so I could accept the fact that it was the grandest of all and was closest to the Palace. I was just plainly surprised no one took suspicion yet that I had the biggest one, especially Wilius.
Anyways, Daven Manor was the secure place for me. All of the staff here were personally hired by myself and they kept their loyalty to the owner. Not the King. I hope they do. But in any case, the Manor was empty and held no servants since I was currently residing in the Palace for the season.
I had dragged the man into the Manor's living room and had strongly tied his hands and blanketed his face so he could not know who was his attacker.
"Viper," I whispered to the slithering coil. I had done myself a favor by bringing my snake with me just for the sake of....well...intimidation? Men always thought they could get away with blabbering nonsense, so I had to be up my sleeve. I sat on the sofa infront of him, patiently waiting for him to wake up.
The man slowly came back to senses, grumbling and fidgeting around restlessly. Scared out of his wits. "Yes, get up you worthless dimwit." I muttered.
"Who is it?" He grunted. "Where am I?"
I smirked. "Never you mind. You weren't really very careful so.....you can only blame yourself."
"Who are you, Woman? What do you want?" He raged, still trying to gain some strength.
"It will be very easy, Man. You give me what I want and I let you go." I replied, nurturing to one of my daggers that I kept secretly here.
"Hmph!" He chuckled. "I know what you want. Ask me nicely and you will be rewarded. I have quite the experience." A haughty smirk grew on his face, igniting my blood.
My nose flared, and teeth clenched. The next moment, my dagger had reached his throat. Spared only by an inch. "Mind your tongue, I hold no mercy for people like you. Or worse....." my dagger now reached his face and had ruthlessly spliced some skin of his mouth. "You could lose your despicable speech."
The man was now actually scared, his smirk was lost and raw panic once again took over, but he tried to hold his composure. "You don't scare me enough."
I gave a hollow chuckle, "Well, my Viper here says otherwise...." Upon my word, Viper had started approching the Man's body. He climbed up the leg and hissed at him, clearly dominating over him. "His venom can a lot worse than expected, you know..." I lingered.
"Alright, alright!" The Man blurted. "I will do whatever you want!"
"That's more like it." I said and went back to the couch and seated myself. "What buisness did you have with the Crown Prince?"
The Man hesitated for a bit. "That's confidential. I cannot share that."
"Well you should think once again. Because I will not be asking....AGAIN." I spiked dangerously.
Viper raised his head higher, fangs glinting in the dark. The man's breathing wentt shallow and sweat beaded over his temple. "Fine."
"We are the Vigilantes. Well, we are supposed to be in a way. The Crown Prince hired us a few years ago upon the instruction of the King." He choked out. "We should be guarding the outskirts of the towns and villages in Asnovitch. Especially during the night....."
"And let me guess, you do the exact opposite?"
"Yes. Only the ones that are assigned to the Palacetown work, we are given minimal wages to keep this concealed."
"So you never show up. You never perform your duty and beg money to keep your damning mouths shut?" I rasped.
"We were hired for this. You cannot blame us, we have a family to feed." He replied, taking offence.
"And the Monarch has a country to protect. You sit around all day eating with the money you definately do not earn and think you have no other option than this."
I reasoned.
"The Prince is more at fault than we are," He argued. "He keeps the greater amount of the Fund for himself. He was the one who initiated this scheme...he is one who steals from his Father and King, not us."
I smiled maliciously. "And he will answer for it. His truth will come to light. I will make sure of it. However.....right now, you are to tell me something I don't know about the Prince."
"You don't understand." He expressed urgently. "If he gets to know I've spoken about this, I will be done for."
"Think and pray that you aren't done for before you see this morning's light. Now...speak."
"I don't know much more, but I do know he has arrangements in the Legion as well. I've heard he benefits from there as well....he has some...some people under his wing."
"What kind of arrangements?" I asked restlessly.
"Some kind of higher officials. I don't have anything else, I've told you everything I know!" He shrieked, kind of convinced he was going to be killed.
There was no way Wilius could've gotten this malicious.
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