Iron Sky
Procedurally Generated
Session 31, Part 6
Harold ducked behind a counter, listening closely to see if the cooks had noticed him as he stepped into the mansion.
“What is going on out there? It looks like the officer's barracks is on fire,” one of them was saying.
“I don't know, but whatever it is, I heard Lady Hadral just arrived, so get back to those cakes. There'll be hell to pay if she gets hungry and we don't have anything to feed her.”
“I wonder if it's one of those Fae Bent creatures. I heard that they found one of the forbidden gates to the Fae Wood open near the north prison. Who knows how many got in - and I don't want to even know what they were. I saw a squad of Fae Hunters killing something in an alleyway on the way here. Whatever it was they were fighting filled up half the alley and killed two of the Fae Hunters as I stood there.”
“And you were stupid enough to stand nearby and watch? The Fae creature might have gotten away and killed you in passing, or the Fae Hunters might have gotten suspicious and killed you or taken you away on their griffins to never be seen again on just the suspicion-”
“I'm not that stupid, give me a little credit.” There was a pause and the rattling of pans and plates. “Seems like an awful waste of food just making this and letting it sit here on the off chance that Lady Hadral-”
“Shut up you fool!” The other's voice dropped to a whisper that Harold had to strain to hear. “She's probably got a dozen of those invisible assassins of hers here. There could be one in this room right now, listening to every word we say!”
Harold froze for a second, glanced around the room, then stepped.
***
Someone was in the hallway he stepped into with him. He grabbed her mouth and slammed his shoulder into a nearby door, dragging the woman behind him. In one quick motion he pressed her against the wall by the hand over her mouth, closed the door, and drew a knife, placing the point under her chin.
The woman was young, probably in her mid-teens. Strands of red hair dangled down out of the white cap she wore on her head and freckles dotted her face. Her eyes were huge.
“I'm going to remove my hand. Don't make a sound or...” he waved the dagger in front of her face. “Got it?”
She nodded and he withdrew his hand, ready to kill her if she made a move or tried to scream. Neither occurred, the fear in her eyes turning rapidly to curiosity. “Like something out of a bedtime story. Are you here to kill Hadral?” she whispered.
Harold stared at her, trying to gauge the intent behind the question. “Why do you ask?”
“Everyone thinks someone is here to kill her, that's why they killed most of the officers of the household guard and lit their barracks on fire,” she said. “You don't look like your from the Black City, are you from... somewhere else?”
“You don't think I'm a Fae Bent?”
She pursed her lips as she considered it. “I was almost killed by a Fae Bent a couple years ago. You don't have the same feel to you.”
“What if I told you I was from a distant land called the Crystal Towers?”
Her expression lit up. “I knew it! They tell us there's nothing beyond the Fae Wood except for the Red City and its fanatics, but I saw one of Hadral's maps when I was cleaning one of her rooms, it had all sorts of stuff out there, in fact, the Fae Wood barely took up any of the map at all and the Black City was little more than a speck and a scribble!”
Harold studied her as she talked. He smiled. If I play her right, I could use this one, he thought. Eyes and ears in the mansion to scout for me, like a mouse...
“The world beyond is vast and wild,” he began, adopting the posture and tone Suniel's troubadour did whenever he told a story. “The Crystal Towers stands like a beacon, the mightiest and purest land in all of Felskein...”
Within minutes she was enraptured by his stories. I have her now, he thought, a plan forming in his head. She could be most useful.
Harold ducked behind a counter, listening closely to see if the cooks had noticed him as he stepped into the mansion.
“What is going on out there? It looks like the officer's barracks is on fire,” one of them was saying.
“I don't know, but whatever it is, I heard Lady Hadral just arrived, so get back to those cakes. There'll be hell to pay if she gets hungry and we don't have anything to feed her.”
“I wonder if it's one of those Fae Bent creatures. I heard that they found one of the forbidden gates to the Fae Wood open near the north prison. Who knows how many got in - and I don't want to even know what they were. I saw a squad of Fae Hunters killing something in an alleyway on the way here. Whatever it was they were fighting filled up half the alley and killed two of the Fae Hunters as I stood there.”
“And you were stupid enough to stand nearby and watch? The Fae creature might have gotten away and killed you in passing, or the Fae Hunters might have gotten suspicious and killed you or taken you away on their griffins to never be seen again on just the suspicion-”
“I'm not that stupid, give me a little credit.” There was a pause and the rattling of pans and plates. “Seems like an awful waste of food just making this and letting it sit here on the off chance that Lady Hadral-”
“Shut up you fool!” The other's voice dropped to a whisper that Harold had to strain to hear. “She's probably got a dozen of those invisible assassins of hers here. There could be one in this room right now, listening to every word we say!”
Harold froze for a second, glanced around the room, then stepped.
***
Someone was in the hallway he stepped into with him. He grabbed her mouth and slammed his shoulder into a nearby door, dragging the woman behind him. In one quick motion he pressed her against the wall by the hand over her mouth, closed the door, and drew a knife, placing the point under her chin.
The woman was young, probably in her mid-teens. Strands of red hair dangled down out of the white cap she wore on her head and freckles dotted her face. Her eyes were huge.
“I'm going to remove my hand. Don't make a sound or...” he waved the dagger in front of her face. “Got it?”
She nodded and he withdrew his hand, ready to kill her if she made a move or tried to scream. Neither occurred, the fear in her eyes turning rapidly to curiosity. “Like something out of a bedtime story. Are you here to kill Hadral?” she whispered.
Harold stared at her, trying to gauge the intent behind the question. “Why do you ask?”
“Everyone thinks someone is here to kill her, that's why they killed most of the officers of the household guard and lit their barracks on fire,” she said. “You don't look like your from the Black City, are you from... somewhere else?”
“You don't think I'm a Fae Bent?”
She pursed her lips as she considered it. “I was almost killed by a Fae Bent a couple years ago. You don't have the same feel to you.”
“What if I told you I was from a distant land called the Crystal Towers?”
Her expression lit up. “I knew it! They tell us there's nothing beyond the Fae Wood except for the Red City and its fanatics, but I saw one of Hadral's maps when I was cleaning one of her rooms, it had all sorts of stuff out there, in fact, the Fae Wood barely took up any of the map at all and the Black City was little more than a speck and a scribble!”
Harold studied her as she talked. He smiled. If I play her right, I could use this one, he thought. Eyes and ears in the mansion to scout for me, like a mouse...
“The world beyond is vast and wild,” he began, adopting the posture and tone Suniel's troubadour did whenever he told a story. “The Crystal Towers stands like a beacon, the mightiest and purest land in all of Felskein...”
Within minutes she was enraptured by his stories. I have her now, he thought, a plan forming in his head. She could be most useful.
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