When Kingdom Goes

Act I - Chapter 7

During the aftermath of Rex's attack, Rose carries Vuella off to one of the palace's spare bedrooms for interrogation. The room appears to be nearly identical to Rose's own bedroom, with different paintings on the walls. For the first few minutes, the two girls sit there staring at their new surroundings in silence.

"Sooooo... What do you want to ask me? You brought me all the way here so we could talk without those freaks listening in, but now that we're here, you decide not to say anything. Also, when are you going to untie me!" Vuella rants to Rose about her situation.

"Sorry to ignore you like that, but I needed to gather my thoughts for a sec. But I'm ready now so let's get down to it. First question: Would you happen to know why your cohorts decided to let me take you away?"

"They let you take me? Without resistance?"

"Yeah. I knocked you unconscious and got into a bit of a scuffle with Elajuel. But before anything too serious happened, your other partner told Elajuel to stop. Specifically, 'not here and not now'. After that, they told me your name, asked me to spare your life, and let me take you as a hostage. I'm assuming you know what he meant by that?"

"I guess I do owe you some kind of information for protecting me. Firstly, my other 'partner' is named Velajul, and we're all siblings. As for that last part you said, Velajul said that because we were in an orphanage of sorts."

"An orphanage? It looked like a regular old abandoned building to me."

"That's because it is an abandoned building. After a mass execution of underworld figures in our village, we, along with several other children were left orphaned. Elajuel, being the oldest of those who remained, took care of us by becoming an assassin. After the adults were gone, word got around that there was a village filled with defenseless children and loot left behind by their dead parents, causing bandits to raid what was left of it. The first few attacks weren't too bad, but after a year or so they started coming in bigger groups and more frequently, so we had to leave. We came here afterwards with all of the other orphans and started hiding out in that building."

Rose was both shocked and relieved at hearing this. She wanted anything to grab onto to help plead their case to Hiro for a peaceful capture and this was more than enough to do that, but by the same token, this was definitely more than she thought she was going to get from them. They're doing this for more than themselves, and have been in dire need of help since it started. But if they came clean, they would all be arrested and likely executed, so they simply stayed their course. She begins to feel a bit more empathetic to the assassins' case, seeing her previous situation in theirs.

"Oh. I uhh... didn't expect that... Why did you tell me all of that? I still am your enemy, as well as the one who captured you and is holding you hostage." Rose says, still in a bit of shock from Vuella's past.

"I said it because I feel like I owe you somewhat of an explanation. That, and the way you protected me from that freak back there. It was hard to believe that you two were on the same side. To me, it looks like you're a bit different from those other two. Like you're the friendlier one of the bunch."

"Thanks for the praise, but I'm more like them than you think. You just don't really know them like I do." Rose says, giving her a light smile.

"After hearing that, I've got one more question for you. Is there anyway to contact your brothers? I need to bring them here and have an audience with the king."

"I can, but that sounds like a fight waiting to happen. Why put them face to face all of a sudden?" Vuella asks skeptically.

"I can't plead you guys' case without all of you present." She says nonchalantly.