Secrets of the Crown Assassins

61

NOTE: This is the fourth chapter in a five-chapter update. Chapters 58-61 and the "Code of Thieves" chapter have been published throughout the past two days. Please read those chapters first if you haven't already. They are integral for understanding and possibly enjoying this chapter. Thanks!

XAVIER

Something was wrong.

The gut feeling hung like a dark cloud haunting my very presence from the moment we soared through those doors. It was as though Nefaria itself was off balance—tilted as it veered towards a veiled unknown.

What the unknown threat was, I could not tell. My mind was far too scrambled, its contents strewn about lawlessy. Arielle's decisions—our relationship and going along with Phoenix's acceptance of the crown—were clouding my judgement. They were making it harder to think unburdened and objectively. I needed to clear my mind, or we could all lose our lives.

For a moment, I thought that perhaps all the clutter was what elicited the uneasiness, but that couldn't have been all. I knew better than to ignore instinctive reactions—they were, afterall, patterns that one's subconscious brain was picking up on. But what triggered this pattern recognition?

So, I waited, trying to test my surroundings. I introduced Phoenix to Princess Eris as Sophia Livingston, the name of the little girl who's mother we killed and brother we captured. If the Thieves were plotting against with the Ravens or even monitoring us beyond a reasonable extent, Eris would've known who Sophia Livingston really was. She may have even known that her name wasn't Sophia, it was Phoenix. But she didn't seem surprised in the slightest, merely off-put by meeting a supposedly notable assassin who she had never heard of.

So it wasn't the royal family, or at least Eris, which set off the warning bells in my mind. What was it?

I followed them inside. I hardly registered Arielle inquiring about the dome—they were all things that could've been inferred from the basic organization of their security systems. I scanned the entry hall, watching the Court members as they milled about, talking in hushed tones with each other.

We clearly had interrupted a meeting, one which must've started off with a heartfelt speech about the death of the Prince of Thieves, followed by a debriefing of Concorde's declining security state and the growing power of the Ravens. It was mostly unimportant—merely bare minimum information that we had released to the general public. The fascinating part wasn't their opinions of Concorde, but rather Nefaria's own politics. The Court of Thieves whispered to each other, using indirect words which would be misleading to most, but the real story was fairly transparent me.

They King told the world his son died of illness. He lied. He had just revealed the truth.

The Crown Prince of Thieves was poisoned.

Poisoned by the Ravens, most likely.

I suppose the idea that the Thieves were working the Ravens was now proven wrong. The Thieves may have been cunning opportunists, but they were loyal to blood. They would never kill their own son or brother for the sake of a mostly pointless war. This would make it rather easy to convince the King to aid Concorde. Of course, he would be dramatic about resisting just to get a better deal.

Only a fool would believe his act was real.

I scanned the area further, searching for new information. There was nothing else of high value, just typical court drama—whose business ventures are being backed, who is facing more competition, who seems to carry the most weight amongst the court, who is secretly sleeping with whose husband—all of it was quite routine.