The Invisible King

Chapter 14: Xienorra

Chapter 14: Xienorra

Hide, Xienorra. Let's play hide and seek.

Xienorra grunted when she heard that annoying voice in her mind. Yet, she was here in the kitchen, crouching behind the tables, hugging the package, playing hide and seek.

The moment she met the eerie silence in the mansion, the only word that came to her mind was opportunity. But before everything else, she needed to convert this mansion into her domain first–not that she has a special ability like Razuhas, but it's about knowing the settings and the characters that would play. Therefore, she could control the scene without any surprises.

She then heard a hiss and looked above where Roh was crawling on the edge of the ceilings, with his knives wedged on the wall, lifting his whole body through his arms without sweating. He had to release his one hand to sign numbers–raising his one finger and pointing at the outside, then three fingers to point at the inside. And used hand language to tell:

"Confirmed." Meant that they were facing the rebels.

Then Roh left.

One enemy on the outside and three enemies coming inside. But she would anticipate that the two would stand by to block the doorways to trap them. And this was, as she guessed to be the opportunity–to let the rebels find them and drag them into their hideouts as prisoners for interrogation–if they decide not to just kill them and go.

What about Efran? Roh questioned earlier.

She wished she could just dump him and find another forger. But unlike Roh and Caesura, her client picked Efran itself, and she knew why. Efran might have no social life, but he could still be another gate of connection–his father.

Xienora wore her fox kimono mask and walked casually in the hallway. Now that she had known the stage and characters, all she needed now was to perform the script.

Through the dim yellow lights of the torches, a lad in a black buttoned cloak and a giant sword appeared from the dark. They both stopped and stared at each other.

Xienorra met thousands of people and repeatedly saw similar patterns in different characters. If you're a stage writer, you should be aware of these things that you'll put in your characters to make a consistent personality and connect with their backgrounds.

This one has a laid-back posture, lazily carrying the heavy sword over its shoulder. Even though his eyes were hidden by his black hair, she could sense a stare of boredom. No doubt he's the one who made this mansion a butchery. Meaning, this guy has no moral compass. He may be mentally unstable, but doing things according to instinct was the most dangerous opponent against deceivers.

"You're blocking my way," Xeinorra said calmly but with authority.

The lad grinned in his raspy voice, "And so what if I?"

She dropped the box, blagged on the ground, as she yanked her double-glaive from her back. "I wish there was no blood to shed, but I'm in a hurry for gold so I need to cut my walkway for a shortcut."

The man giggled. "Gold? People are really blind when it comes to gold, huh?" Right. Gold was the keyword she inputted to continue the conversation.

She pointed the blade. "I won't need one if I wasn't born in this filthy country." This would make it clear that she had no loyalty to the kingdom.

The boy pulled out his sword from his shoulder but instead of aiming at her, he tucked in on the floor, leaning his palms carrying the weight of his body, his spines arched down, giving interest in her story.