by Hans Bezdek
Finding a column nearby, Anselm posted up at it, kindly rejecting some finger foods as a servant went by. He was now roughly a dozen feet to the side of the Grand Duke, which felt close enough for him. Anselm watched the surrounding area to see if anyone was acting suspiciously, which was more difficult than he had hoped. Many of the guests continued to glance at Jaspar, hoping to find a moment between conversations to slip in and start one of their own. An ideal situation for an assassin. Not so much for a guard.
“Ah, there’s one of them now!” called Grand Duke Jaspar. The man snapped loudly to get Anselm’s attention then nodded for him to come over.
Anselm wasn’t one to like being called like a dog, but he had a role to play. He swallowed his pride and approached.
The Grand Duke was standing next to a man dressed in fine, dark gray clothes. Grayson probably would’ve known who made it and how much it was worth, but Anselm didn’t care. The assassin assumed the man was important, though.
“Guard,” said Jaspar, clearly not bothering to try and remember Anselm’s name, “this is Duke Cadmus Emms.”
Cadmus must have been in his 40’s, with salt and pepper hair and a firm chin. His green eyes were bright and intelligent, and his smile seemed genuine. He looked like a man that was used to getting respect and was one of the rare ones that gave it back.
Anselm gave a slight bow. “Anselm Brooks, sir.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” smiled the Duke, extending his hand.
There was an awkward pause as Anselm attempted to shake his hand, but couldn’t get his arm to move.
“Are you really going to embarrass me in front of a friend?!” asked Grand Duke Jaspar, anger flaring in his eyes.
“Apologies,” said Anselm, bowing deeper than before. “My right arm has been, uh, broken recently.”
“I’m sorry to hear that!” said Cadmus, quickly dropping his hand. “I hope you’ll make a quick recovery.”
“Thanks,” nodded Anselm.
“Calina wanted me to hire a one-armed guard?” laughed Jaspar without much humor. “I haven’t a clue why she would do such a thing.”
“We’re old friends,” lied Anselm. “She knows I’m capable, I’ve just had some trouble getting work recently.”
“Sounds like the new Alchemist believes in charity,” nodded Duke Cadmus approvingly. “She already sounds like a better fit into Durzheim’s elite than Tyson ever was.”
“I rather liked Tyson,” mused Jaspar. “He was a harsh man, but he was a talented Alchemist. Best we’ve had in generations.”
“Perhaps Calina will surpass him,” offered Cadmus. “She clearly is taking an interest in protecting the lives of others, since she’s got guards for you.”
“Adorable, isn’t it?” snickered Jaspar, gesturing at Anselm. “As if I needed protection, let alone from a cripple like this one!”
Anselm wondered if the Grand Duke realized he could clearly hear them…
“Is there anything else I can help you with, sir?” asked Anselm through his teeth. He was rarely insulted to his face, and he didn’t have much practice showing restraint. He preferred to leave before he did something he’d regret.
“The Grand Duke mentioned something about a secret plot?” asked Duke Cadmus. “I’d love to hear about it, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“I know it sounds silly, but I think it should be taken seriously,” said Anselm, glancing back at Jaspar.
“I promise I won’t laugh when you tell me,” said Cadmus, raising a hand as if he was taking an oath.
“Do go on, Guard,” nodded Jaspar.
Anselm didn’t see the harm in sharing some of the vague details with Cadmus. That man was polite enough, and Jaspar appeared to respect his opinion. Perhaps if he could convince the Duke that this was a real threat, the Grand Duke would take it more seriously.
“We have reason to believe that a group of assassins is after the Grand Duke,” said Anselm, lowering his voice so those nearby wouldn’t overhear. “We found a hit list with the names of several high ranking members of Durzheim’s society with their names crossed out on it. Grand Duke Jaspar was the final one.”
“A hit list, you say?” said Cadmus, sounding confused. “How did you come across it?”
Anselm hesitated briefly. He didn’t want to give everything away since he’d then have a lot more explaining to do. It would be best to keep his story straight and not give too many details up.
“While on duty the other day, a man in a mask with an iron gauntlet attacked me,” explained Anselm. “His name was Phantom, and he’s the one that broke my arm. I saw him drop the note in the fight, and was able to come back and get it once I recovered enough.”
Duke Cadmus looked surprised. “A man in a mask that’s part of a group of assassins? Why, I thought assassins rarely worked together!”
“Preposterous, isn’t it?” chuckled the Grand Duke.
Anselm ignored him. “I believe Phantom is the leader of this group, and I think he’s the one that’s coming for the Grand Duke. If I were an assassin, tonight is the night I’d choose to take him out.”
“But there would be so many witnesses!” said Cadmus.
“It’s the easiest time to get into the Lance District, and he’d be able to enter Grand Duke Jaspar’s property without getting anyone’s attention,” replied Anselm. “While the Grand Duke will be among people most of the night, there are bound to be a few exceptions. If an assassin is keeping a watchful eye, he’d get plenty of chances to eliminate his target.”
Grand Duke Jaspar scoffed at this, but Duke Cadmus nodded slowly. His eyes took Anselm in with more appreciation, but with a hint of suspicion.
“You sound like you know a lot about assassins,” remarked Cadmus. “Have you had many dealings with them in the past?”
“Let’s just say I think it’s important to always study your enemy,” said Anselm.
Duke Cadmus laughed and patted Anselm on his good shoulder. “We can certainly agree on that. While Jaspar here might not believe what you have to say, I’m of the mind we should be safe rather than sorry. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for anyone that looks like they’re up to no good.”
“You can’t be serious,” said the Grand Duke, shaking his head.
“I am,” said Cadmus in a friendly tone. “I’d be a wreck if something happened to you!”
“That makes two of us,” laughed Jaspar.
Anselm smiled politely at the bad joke.
“I’ll let you know if I spot anything… Anselm, was it?” said Duke Cadmus.
“Correct,” nodded the assassin. “And I really appreciate it. I’ll let the two of you get back to chatting.”
The Grand Duke immediately draped an arm over Cadmus’ shoulder and guided him away, clearly done with the conversation. Anselm was a little annoyed that the threat on the Grand Duke’s life wasn’t being taken seriously by the man, but at least Duke Cadmus didn’t completely throw the threat away. Maybe Cadmus would spot something Anselm or the others didn’t.
The hairs on the back of Anselm’s neck prickled and he suddenly felt like he was being watched. Turning as slowly and naturally as he could, he did a quick scan of the area. A few of the guests were giving him curious glances, probably trying to figure out why the Grand Duke had wasted his time talking to someone like him for so long. It wasn’t any of them that gave him this feeling, though. It must have been the beautiful woman in a golden dress that was staring intently at him from the other side of the room.
Olivia.
Anselm’s rival gave him a wink once she had his attention, then slowly walked to the room painted light blue. What would Olivia be doing here? Anselm’s blood ran a little cold as he considered the possibility that she was part of Phantom’s group. Could she be here to kill the Grand Duke with Chaos?
He decided there was only one way to find out.
The blue room was filled with around thirty other people, all of them paired in cheerful conversation. All of the lounge couches
were in use, but Olivia wasn’t on any of them. She was standing at the far end of the room, her back to the others, examining one of the paintings on the wall with a glass in her hand.
Anselm took a breath and approached her. He stepped up next to her and pretended to be admiring the painting of an ocean. It wasn’t particularly interesting.
“Olivia,” he said quietly.
“Anselm,” she purred back.
“I must say I wasn’t expecting to find you here,” he said. “Are you here for work or pleasure?”
“Honestly? I just came for fun,” smiled Olivia.
With a burst of movement, she pulled Anselm close to her in what looked like an intimate hug from the outside. In reality, her left hand glowed light blue and turned into a shard of ice with a very sharp tip. The magic ice blade stayed less than an inch away from Anselm’s neck.
“I think we have different definitions of fun,” said Anselm, careful not to make any sudden moves.
“Well, now this is business,” she grinned. “It’s not every day I get a chance at a bounty as large as the one on Demarcus’ killer.”
Chapter 16
Grayson and Calina inched toward one another with their weapons up and pointed at Chaos. Grayson hadn’t assumed it would be easy sneaking up on the assassin, but he didn’t exactly think they’d be the ones getting surprised and blocked from a quick escape.
“Strange outfit,” muttered Chaos, looking Grayson over. The man’s eyes widened with recognition after a few seconds. “Wait a minute… You’re that elf that was in Demarcus’ office yesterday!”
“Guilty,” smiled Grayson nervously.
“Is your friend here, too?”
“Uh… Maybe.”
“Impressive!” laughed Chaos. “I thought for sure the two of you would be dead! Did Demarcus’ goons not chase after you?”
“No, they did,” conceded Grayson. “We had some help from our friend, here.”
Calina took that as her opportunity to speak. “Chaos, w-we are detaining you in this room for the death of Demarcus until further notice!”
Chaos tilted his head and looked back and forth between them.
“Is… Is that a joke?” he asked. “You’re sayin it with such conviction that I can’t tell.”
“It’s no joke!” she said, her voice shaking. Grayson didn’t blame her for being nervous. He was, too. “You’re an assassin. You n-need to be brought to justice!”
Grayson winced and lowered his dagger. He had a bad feeling he knew where this was headed.
“Now I know you’re jokin,” said Chaos, shaking his head. “You wouldn’t actually mean that if you’re workin with two of them.”
It was Calina’s turn to narrow her eyes and looked confused.
“Enough nonsense out of you!” tried Grayson quickly. “Will you surrender peacefully?”
“Wait, hold on,” said Chaos, a wicked smile spreading as he held his empty hands up and took a couple of steps closer. “Does she really not know?”
“Know what?” asked Calina.
“I, uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” lied Grayson poorly. “I don’t think we should believe anything that comes out of this guy’s mouth, Calina.”
“Quiet!” Calina said sternly to Grayson. Her glasses were crooked now but she didn’t bother adjusting them. “I want to hear what he’s claiming I don’t know.”
Grayson opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to do or say. In the end, he couldn’t decide and let the inevitable happen.
“They’re assassins, too,” grinned Chaos. “Well, the one-armed man is, anyway. I can’t be sure about the elf. He comes across as more of a sidekick.”
“I… I can get the job done, too!” said Grayson, not sure if that was the time to get defensive.
Chaos shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning against one of the bookshelves. “Either way, together they are just as much of an assassin as I am. If I need to be brought to justice, surely they do, too.”
“Is this true?” asked Calina, turning to face Grayson. Her face was stoic but her sad eyes betrayed her.
“We might have dabbled in killing people for money from time to time,” admitted Grayson. “But we’re nothing like Chaos!”
Calina looked down at the ground and took a step back from Grayson and Chaos. The elf didn’t think he could take Chaos on by himself, and he really didn’t think he could fight the assassin and Calina at the same time. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.
“Ha!” laughed Chaos. “You can pretend to be better than me, but you aren’t. You two even had the same target as my group did just a couple of days ago.”
Calina’s eyes widened and her head shot up. “W-Who? Who was the target?”
Grayson was getting nervous. “Don’t listen to-”
“Shut up!” she half cried. “You and Anselm have been lying to me long enough!”
Grayson complied and looked away.
“Now, tell me,” Calina said to Chaos. “Who was the target?”
Chaos answered indifferently, not knowing the name he was about to say would work in his favor. “The Alchemist.”
Calina’s shoulders sagged, defeated. Grayson wanted to explain, but knew there was nothing he could say or do that would make her okay with this revelation. He waited uncomfortably for her to speak again.
“What’s it matter to you?” asked Chaos, curious about Calina’s reaction. “You know him?”
“I was his apprentice,” she said quietly.
Chaos’ face lit up more than ever. “For real? And now you’ve been working with the dirtbags that were sent to kill him?! That’s priceless!”
The Alchemist’s apprentice was silent. Calina wasn’t finding the humor in it.
“We weren’t the ones that killed him!” Grayson insisted. “Phantom did!”
“Only ‘cause your friend was too slow,” sneered Chaos. “You know, you might have been right when you said you weren’t like me and my crew. We’re not cold enough to trick one of our victims’ friends into working with us!”
Grayson shot a glare at the assassin then turned to Calina. “We never intended for this to happen. We were paid by Demarcus to take out your master, but it wasn’t anything personal. We would never hurt you.”
Calina didn’t respond. Grayson worried she was in shock now. His chances of making it out of here alive weren’t looking great.
“Seems like you aren’t workin with people you can trust, Apprentice,” said Chaos slowly and happily. “Should you really be fighting alongside them?”
“I understand if you’re angry and want to turn us in once this is all done,” Grayson said as calmly as he could to Calina.
Of course, he had no intention of turning himself in, and Anselm wouldn’t either. But if saying that was what it took to get her to work with him on taking Chaos out, so be it. She would hate them even more than she did right now, but at least they’d all still be alive.
“What’s it going to be?” asked Chaos, greatly enjoying the situation. “You want to walk away, or are you going to fight with this liar?”
The room was quiet for a moment as Calina thought through her options. Grayson wanted to point out that there was no way Chaos would let her leave this building alive, but he didn’t want to push his luck. He had to hope she would come up with a reasonable idea.
“The only solution is for both of you to turn yourselves over,” said Calina quietly. “I’m placing you both under citizen’s arrest right now.”
Chaos’ eyes narrowed dangerously while Grayson groaned.
“Come on, Calina!” complained Grayson. “Something bigger is going on here! You want to save the Grand Duke, don’t you? You need us to help protect him!”
“I-I’ll figure something out,” stammered Calina, sounding very unsure.
“The Grand Duke?” repeated Chaos. The assassin’s eyes shifted back and forth as he tried to figure out how they knew. “How… How do you know we’
re coming for the Grand Duke?”
“Your buddy Phantom is a little sloppy,” smirked Grayson, happy to see the assassin being the flustered one. “Left his hit list back at the Alchemist’s Mansion.”
Chaos let out an annoyed sigh. “The idiot…”
This hadn’t been going like Grayson hoped it would, but at least they were stalling and frustrating Chaos. Surely Anselm would come and check on them sooner or later, and then Chaos would be outnumbered three to one.
“Grand Duke Jaspar won’t be killed today,” continued Grayson. Calina wasn’t making any moves toward him yet, so he hoped the longer he talked the more she would hesitate on detaining him before Chaos was taken care of. “We’re stopping you, and we’ll stop anyone else you’ve got with you.”
“You two know too much,” said Chaos, nodding to himself. “So does your friend out there. I need to erase all of you so Phantom can get this job done. I’ll deal with him after.”
“Er, no reason to be hasty,” said Grayson, but it was too late. The assassin had made up his mind.
Chaos pulled two daggers from his belt and sprinted at the two of them, reaching them in seconds. Grayson let out a surprised cry and held his own blade up, barely keeping the assassin at bay. Calina was caught off guard and brought her stick up defensively just in time for Chaos’ other dagger to swat at it. Her hold on the wand wasn’t strong enough, and the item spun out of her hands and across the library floor.
“Move!” shouted Grayson, stabbing at Chaos to get his attention off of the woman.
The assassin sidestepped the elf’s blade effortlessly, then kicked Grayson hard in the chest. This knocked the wind out of the elf and sent him onto his back.
Meanwhile, Calina scampered for her weapon. Chaos shifted his attention her way and dashed after her, quickly catching up. He had the chance to stab her in the back and finish her off, but instead, he got ahead of her and kicked the wand to the door.
“Not gonna happen, sweetie,” grinned Chaos, shaking a dagger at her disapprovingly.