The grand fortress was in the general's sight. At the present moment, he and his men were crouched about a hundred feet from it, staring at it... but saying nothing. None of them knew what to say. All of them had been training and traveling for what felt like forever, and now? Now they were here: their destination. Zayn was healed enough and it was time.
"What now, general?" Dregar finally asked.
Zayn looked over at his soldier, surveying him. This whole time, he'd known Dregar to be a brave and intelligent man. For the most part, the swordsman had been completely somber and serious about this whole mission. But now... now as they all looked upon the end of their journey, he saw a fire in the man's eyes.
"Now we get in. Let's head for the back entrance."
"Very well, sir," Dregar answered with a nod and began leading the general toward the other entrance.
After a moment, the swordsman stopped walking and pointed toward the building. Zayn couldn't quite tell what he was supposed to be looking at. With a turn of his head, he raised an inquisitive brow at his soldier. All Dregar did was nod forward in response. The general turned his head back and squinted his eyes, trying desperately to find what his Dregar what motioning to.
After nearly ten minutes, something happened. A door opened. It surprised the general when it opened because the door was so cleverly disguised that it blended right in with the rocky citadel. He watched as a woman walked out of it. He was surprised at how scant her dress was, but showed no emotion in his expression.
"See?" Ra asked quietly, "I told ye."
The general nodded in response, noticing the small veil that concealed her face. On a vacant thought, he wondered if that was some sort of strange custom here. He wouldn't be surprised to find out that it was.
"Should we go through there?" Shen spoke up after a while.
"Hm," the general voiced, "I'm not quite sure. Right now, it seems like the best option. I'm just worried that these women will frighten at the sight of us coming in through their somewhat secret passageway. If there's anything we don't need, it is a bunch of shouting... people."
It was in this moment that he wished all girls were like Iris. Brave. It would make this part of this mission a hell of a lot easier. Then again... it would be bad if all of them knew how to fight like his previous soldier did.
"Right," Dregar spoke, "But won't alerting a bunch of soldiers be worse?"
"Quite possibly," Zayn agreed, "but we can't dispatch a group of innocent women. We can defeat their soldiers. The soldiers we can keep in check."
"Ha!" Ra laughed, "Not sure innocent is the right word for those women. They're concubines." It was a jest.
The general snapped his head to the warrior, and chuckled slightly in amusement. In that regard, Ra was right. The women there were there for one reason alone, Zayn knew. However, they had no say in the death of Eldian soldiers; therefore, Zayn would not kill them... else he would be no different from Erodyne.
"What does everyone think?"
"Well, I agree with you general," Shen started, "I do not want to kill a woman. I do not want them screaming and alerting others. I say we take our chances with the few soldiers on the way in. After all, the fortress looks all but emptied out."
"I say we go in through the back entrance," Jehrth disagreed, "We don't know how many men are standing about inside. It's too risky."
"I say we go with the soldier route. I'd rather kick some ass before I made a lady scream," Ra added, looking at his general as he spoke. The general nodded and then cast his eyes at Dregar. "Got a score to settle with them shits."
"Hmm, interesting points, all of them. I say both choices are risky. We can't say much without having a scout. However, we no longer have one of those, considering that we lost Ingred in Wallfront. He might could have snuck in and gotten a good look around..." Dregar said, "I think both are equally dangerous."
"I say we go in through the front --fight our way in," Zayn said, making the final choice.
"Very well, general. Let us be quick about it, then."
----
Erodyne was sitting in the main room of his fortress when he got the news. A soldier guarding the main hall came running in, breathless and injured. Upon seeing him, the Tokenmaster stood up, confused as to why his soldier was acting in such a way. He placed a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Yes... the guards, they're dead. I got away. I was the only one. There weren't enough of us," the panicked Token said between gulps of air.
"What?" the Tokenmaster said, dumbfounded.
"They're coming up the fortress... killing all in their path. I think that they are coming for you --they were shouting, asking where they would find you. One of your soldiers told the man... trying to save his life. But he was killed anyway," the soldier continued.
"Slow down for a minute, friend," Erodyne said, "Who is in the fortress? Who is killing everyone?"
"General Rothstead. He's here."
"Are you sure about that? I had their general killed. I received reports of his death around two weeks ago," Erodyne asked.
"No," the soldier gasped for air, "he's not dead. He's alive and he is here. He is coming to kill you."
"That's unfortunate," Erodyne said, "Guards!"
It didn't take but a few seconds for several men to come in. They were all large... and clad heavily in armor. One of them was the captain that had been stationed here for this very purpose. All of them walked up to their Tokenmaster for orders. As soon as they were close enough to Erodyne, Erodyne spoke. "It's time. There are men inside this fortress and they are hostile. One of you is to go and get the Eldian prisoner. She is a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, the only one of her sort. The other one is to go get the emperor and the woman accompanying him. The emperor will watch what is to come."
"Why the woman?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Because, my friend," Erodyne answered, "he must suffer."
"Very well."
Without another word, the guards dispatched. As the Tokenmaster had ordered, quite a few of them remained at his side and two of them walked out, both ready to bring the people they were commanded to retrieve. As they were doing so, Erodyne faced one of his men and began talking again. "I need my battle gear. This is to end in blood, I should think. It's right over there," he said, pointing to his left.
With a quick nod, the man followed orders, walking toward Erodyne's things. His pace was quick as he brought them back to the Tokenmaster, deftly placing his weapons in his hands. With his own haste, the leader of the Tokens began to change out of his robes and into his gear. Everyone took care to turn away as he did so.
After Erodyne was equipped, he heard a door open from behind him. Without even looking, the Tokenmaster knew exactly who was there. After a second, he turned to face Lillian and the guards that held her. Coming in next was the emperor... accompanied by more Tokens and the girl who'd been assigned to him."
"Ah, hello my friends," Erodyne spoke, "I hate to say that we're having some trouble today. As it would so happen... we have a general heading toward us as we speak. But that is quite alright."
"I thought there were more men," a soldier pointed out.
"Oh, there are. But I am hardly concerned. They should be easy to put down. As of right now, I command you to disarm them only, and bring them to their knees. Then, I wish to kill them. I will do it myself as soon as the general is also brought down to the ground. He will watch as his men die for him."
Erodyne turned to the emperor. "And then the general will watch you as he dies."
Geh'lien said nothing.
"Gwen, my flower, make sure he's watching," Erodyne ordered, glancing at the veiled prostitute.
In the meantime, the woman nodded and took a good look around the room. She was surprised to find that she recognized someone here. With a breath, Gwen spoke to the Tokenmaster.
"Why is she here?" she asked, turning her veiled face to the Eldian prisoner. Lillian turned to look at the servant. Gwen could see the panic in the prisoner's eyes through the veil that concealed her face. She's never seen a lady so frightened. Immediately, she was prepared for the worst answer.
"To make the Eldians ache," he explained, "That's all I will say. Prepare yourselves."
Everyone in the room assumed their position. The Tokenmaster stood behind his soldiers; Lillian stood with the Token guards; and the emperor and maid stood together in the very back. Gwen wanted to shake her head at Erodyne as she laid her hand on the emperor's shoulder. What kind of leader stood behind his soldiers... as if they were nothing but mere pawns?
It wasn't right.
The maid took a deep breath, waiting for whatever was to come through that door. She could only hope now that things would work out the way that she wanted them to. She had planned so long for this. Until now, she was sure that it might never happen. They were late... really late.
If she ever got the chance, she would ask why. With a small sigh, she ducked her head. In her time here, she had learned that Erodyne was nothing but a despicable man. Despicable and bat-shit crazy, to be true.. She just hoped that whoever it was that burst through the doors would win the fight.
She wouldn't be there to see it. No. She had another mission.
She had to get Emperor Rus out of there. With everyone distracted, she could make a run for it. She could drag him out. Then, she'd go back with hope that everyone was alright. Gods, she wished she could stay and help. Yet, she knew that if they all died and she didn't take the chance to leave with the emperor --their mission will have been worth nothing. Because without him, Eldia's fall would be certain.
It would be a when... not an if.
With a few deep breaths, she listened as best as she could. Everyone was quiet, and she knew that they were listening too. Waiting. It didn't take long for their wait to end, because a few minutes later, she heard clanging and walking coming from the other side of the door. It would only be a minute now --only a minute before they burst in.
With a sneer, she touched the fabric on her leg. She knew that her plan wasn't foolproof. One of them might catch her.
She found it funny that in all of her time here, all of her time playing as a concubine, no one had seen what was under her dress. Not even once.
Well... if something didn't go according to her plan, someone would finally know what hid under the sheer fabric she wore. Someone would finally know what her palm now grazed against.
Daggers.
The door burst open.