Their attire was no longer formal and they travelled on foot. They
hurried along the streets, never stopping for too long. They hurried
down all kinds of alleys, then hurried along a set of garages. Korat
took out a set of keys and opened one of them. They all hurried in,
Kiyor switched on a light. Korat shut the garage door and locked it
from the inside. The garage contained benches, concrete blocks and a
small fridge.
“How long do we stay here for?” asked Rowan.
“Until we know what to do next,” answered Korat.
Rowan stayed still as the other four took their seats. “Why are you helping me?”
“You heard what they might do to you?” Niss asked.
“Yes, it’s most likely they want to sacrifice me.”
“The worst thing to happen when someone is
sacrificed in a spell is that everyone is either killed or loses their
free will,” explained Korat. “You’re a problem to
everyone right now.”
Rowan sat down on a bench. “We need to find out who wants to do this to me.”
“How can we?” Kirrinis asked. “We’ve run out of leads.”
“What about investigating Kron’s Sect?” suggested Lona.
“They’re manipulative and corrupt, but
they’re never behind anything like this,” said Kiyor.
“Well where else can we look?” Niss
asked. “We can’t ask Mellarus to tear apart the amulet.
He’ll find nothing.”
“What about investigating the body?” asked Rowan.
“What body?” Lona enquired.
“The one that fell behind me last week,” the Kirilian answered mechanically.
“What makes you think that might be connected with this?” asked Korat.
“The fact that it fell behind me might be
coincidental but…the markings. They seemed almost
threatening,” Rowan reminisced.
“The next question is who to ask to investigate this,” said Kiyor.
“The Sorcerer’s Guild are hard to bargain with,” Niss pointed out.
“We should go to Lord Winguard again,” finalised Rowan.
… “I’m not so sure,”
disagreed Kiyor after a moment. “His price almost got us killed
last time.”
“I’ll make sure that his price is more agreeable this time,” she promised.
“Well if you’re that daring,” he dared.
“Tanus,” Lona gently remembered.
“What?” enquired Niss.
“That incident reminded me of
something,” explained Lona. “You said Kiyor, that Saraias
dealt with someone called Tanus. We haven’t even wondered if he
is a link to this. We’ll need to ask Winguard about him
too.”
“So it’s agreed,” announced Korat.
“As soon as the bodyguards arrive, we’ll see
Winguard.”
“However Kiyor identified a member of the
Bloodknife Gang at the Ball,” added Rowan. “They could be
after anyone but cannot be left uninvestigated.”
“That’s easy,” boasted Niss in a
bored tone. “We can easily capture one of them and interrogate
them.”
As if on cue, footsteps and mutterings could be
heard. The footsteps became louder, then a rattle of keys could be
heard. The garage door was unlocked and opened. The open door revealed
that standing outside were Manar, Hawk, Siren and several bodyguards
that Rowan had never seen before, but they were all of the same
ethnicity as the siblings.
“See! What did I tell you?” scoffed a
bodyguard in her late twenties with blonde hair. “Lona is wearing
a skirt!”
“Does that pose a problem?” Lona innocently asked. Manar walked to Rowan.
“It just means that we’ll see your
panties whenever you fight,” sneered a bodyguard in his late
twenties with short, purple hair. His answer caused snickering.
A younger bodyguard with long, red hair exclaimed:
“Possibly the only reason their parents sent us to drag them
home!” Laughter began, accompanied by jeers that the Vilkon youth
were nothing more than children in need of babysitters. This particular
young bodyguard was a strange sight. As well as having blood red hair,
her lips were a metallic dark blue. The black drawings around her eyes
were so ornately detailed that the markings were like those around the
eyes of a Falcon or a Tiger. Above her eyes, the black drawings were
set against the background of red to match her hair.
“It’s true that we do not require your
services yet our elders do,” pointed out Korat quietly.
“Because you are in their services, you also obey us.”
“Well what are you gonna do if we don’t?” taunted Siren.
Rowan and Manar engaged in their own conversation as
the array of insults continued. “Why is there so much hatred
between the two?” Rowan asked.
“I was explained how the bodyguards were
serviced by the Vilkons,” began Manar. “The Vilkons
currently own 3 major families of guarding service, all Light Citizen
by heritage. I was told that Kiyor’s mother, Zareen, was a member
of one of them. Next week, a fourth family will be owned.
“The bodyguards don’t mind carrying out
their services for they do it out of adventure and do not fear much.
But the more able Vilkons are skilled fighters, so they do not need or
sometimes want the services. The bodyguards know this and it angers
them.” Rowan climbed onto a bench.
Kirrinis grinned. “If you are so bold, then join us in combat.”
“Enough!” called Rowan sharply,
mimicking her mother and causing heads to turn her way. She looked
sternly at the set of Vilkon cousins and the bodyguards in turn.
“We have a mission to carry out and we must do it working
together. Are we clear?”
Many nodded. The Vilkons reluctantly displayed their
shame. Rowan straightened. “Now, we will go to Lord Winguard for
we need information. Let’s go.”
As the four Vilkons and eight bodyguards filed out,
someone could be heard muttering: “Kirilians: the best
diplomats.”
“An impressive performance Mistress,” commented Manar.
“Why thank you,” replied Rowan,
seemingly uncaring. She stepped down from the bench. “I even
seemed to provoke the Vilkons.”
“Dawn is approaching,” observed Manar.
“It seems strange that they are expressing their emotions more
openly.”
Rowan stonily halted. “Yes…it certainly is.” She and her Mistress followed the others.