173 Clear and Present Danger (2/2)

My brother must have noticed the urgency in my voice as he looked through the stack of scrolls on our table and quickly found the information I needed.

\”There are a hundred palace guards stationed there including two well-known captains who work directly for Chancellor Kairon,\” Luca read out loud.

\”Well, I think they're all dead,\” I said ominously.

I felt rather than saw the group around me stiffen.

\”Impossible,\” Dain breathed. \”The palace guards are elite soldiers trained specifically for defensive maneuvers…\”

\”Everyone's down…\” I relayed to them what I could clearly see with my bird's eye view of the courtyard. \”I don't know how but no one's moving… I think they're all dead.\”

\”You must be seeing things wrong,\” Dain insisted.

\”I see things pretty well, you know,\” I responded with a little more hostility than usual. \”And I'm telling you that they're all dead.\”

There was another bout of silence following my statement which really wasn't productive at all as we could have at least be sending sprites out to warn the other groups in the palace. It was a fact I clearly pointed out to the rest of them.

\”Let's send word to the council as well as to the Starfall clan's entourage just to be safe,\” Al agreed. \”Riardon call the sprites—\”

\”—Calm down, Sheridan,\” Verania warned. \”We can't alert the council or any of our other allies about what Dapper saw…\”

\”What? Why not?\” Al asked surprised.

\”Because then we'd tip off the assassins that we know they're coming,\” Verania explained. \”Or did you forget which groups were mentioned in the Justiciars intel?\”

Al began to protest but then stopped himself. He, like the rest of us, knew exactly what Verania meant. It wasn't just the drow we'd seen, there were a lot more parties involved in today's plot, and no one knew who'd set this in motion.

\”Assassins from the Claw, the Under Ring, The Crippling Blades, the Blood Monks, and worst of all, the Hashashin…\” Luca enumerated. \”These are the worst of the worst of the criminal underworld…\”

\”Informing the council now will only alert these experts that we know they're coming,\” Verania insisted again. \”But… if they weren't any wiser then we might be able to turn the tables on them.\”

\”You want to ambush the assassins?\” I guessed.

\”Smaller numbers don't matter when you have the advantageous ground,\” Verania explained. \”And I have confidence in the soldiers I brought with me. I assume you three are the same.\”

\”The council and other guards are all aware of the situation as it is,\” Dain reasoned. \”Our information might just cause chaos in an already well-planned formation.\”

It was at this moment where I decided to release Fool's Insight so I could look at my fellow young commanders and confirm the decision in their faces.

By the determined look on his face, Dain had come around to Verania's line of thinking, believing that we alone could take advantage of this situation. That was very dangerous thinking. Al, on the other hand, looked like he was still undecided. It was up to me to either agree or turn things around.

I glanced down at the map and saw something written there that filled me with all kinds of dread.

\”The southern courtyard… it has a direct entrance to the southern wing, doesn't it?\” I asked in a whisper.

I expected the response I already knew the answer to.

\”Yes,\” Al answered. \”It's right past the Garden of Mana which is next to—\”

Al just realized what I realized, and the color drained from his face as it had with mine.

\”Warn everyone…\” I ordered. \”Do it now!\”

I jumped out of my seat and rushed toward the stairs. Luca followed quickly behind me while Al ignored Verania's protest to hold on and think about it.

Verania must not have known, or if she did, then she probably didn't care. But the southern wing was home to the princess' bedroom, and last I saw her, Aura was exhausted enough by the talks that she looked about ready to drop.

She was probably sleeping now and was no doubt defenseless, and as I ran down the steps, the sunlight bathing me in a fiery orange glow, I prayed to whoever gods or spirits or even devils that would listen that I wasn't too late.