Royal Rebel 4 ~ The Return

Chapter 53: Ulterior Motive

"And... done." My father huffed as he slipped his second boot on, and then he stood up off his bed and pushed his hair out of his face, stretching both of his arms out in the process. He grabbed four masks stacked up on the bed and fanned them out to us. "Here are your masks, kids."

"Are you sure they won't figure us out?" Azu asked as Ellet helped to pull the head of his costume on before doing the same for himself.

"Yeah, what if we get interrogated or sent to do an assignment or something?" I followed up on his question, and I went to pull on my hood but I realized my hair had gotten loose from its binding. My father noticed my struggle to fix and walked over to help me.

"Fortunately, your old dad thought of that ahead of time." He smiled as he let my hair down and then started combing it. "Dorian used to be a part of the clan, and since he was a captain, he had a special badge he managed to keep with him." He pulled a shiny golden eye shaped badge out of his pocket and pinned it to the left side of his chest. "Other captains don't have higher power over us if they think I'm one, so as long we stick together, we'll be fine."

"Good thinking, Link!" Azu said as he put his mask on, and then he looked to Ellet for approval. "How's this, Ellie? Do I look like a believable Yiga soldier?"

"Far from it, Azzy," Ellet chuckled, pulling the mask up to Azu's head so he could see his face. "Your mask is upsidedown. It basically reveals to them you're on the other team."

"Dangit." Azu went to take the mask off his head, but then he remembered something. "Oh, hold on, I'm gonna go grab my sword really quick before I put this back on. This whole outfit is messing with my senses." He rushed to the other room where our other things were, and Ellet sat back down and lifted his large claymore onto his lap.

"So if this all goes well, we're going to be able to take on Elric right after, right?" The brunette asked as he studied the desgins on his large blade, sliding his palm along the top of it.

"If we can take down at least Sooga and Esther, then yes." My father answered as he took my hair tie and began pulling my hair back into a tight ponytail, and then he started wrapping it into a bun. "Hopefully Elric won't make this too difficult for us. Normally, I like a challenge, but not when it puts my family's life on the line." He finished my hair and helped me pull over the head part, and then he handed me my mask. "There you go."

"Thanks, dad." I smiled as I put on my mask, and my dad did the same. "We're pretty much just proofing the clan now, right? To be sure Sooga isn't there?"

"Pretty much," He breathed, grabbing his stolen windcleaver. "Idalia, you have one of his swords, right?" He asked, and I nodded and drew it halfway from its scabbard. "Then we may have a bit of an advantage over him if we play our cards right."

"Ellet!" Azu called as he poked his head back into the room, and we all glanced back at him. "Did I leave my mask in here? I can't find it!" We all looked at his head and saw it still upsidedown where he left it, and I saw a devious smile meet Ellet's face.

"Maybe you left it on your bed. Have you searched there?" He asked, and Azu shook his head.

"Ellet!" My father exclaimed, and the young knight and I started laughing. "As much as I wish we had time to play games, we have to leave soon." He turned back to Azu, "It's on your head, kiddo."

"Oh." Azu went a bit red as he felt for it, and then he pulled it down and over his face. He slipped his sword into the scabbard on his hip, and then he sat down next to Ellet. "So when are we leaving?"

"I'd say in an hour. The sun hasn't shown any signs of rising yet, so we have a bit of time to plan our first move." My father fiddled with his gloves a bit as the other three of us finished getting ourselves together, and then he had an idea. "We could also go grab some breakfast before Riju and Urbosa get here."