Before There Was Braveheart

Chapter XXIV: The Ball

When Rae heard about the news of an upcoming ball, hosted by the Crown Ruler himself, they immediately planned on a way to bring the Rebellion to the source of corruption itself.

But what they didn't expect was the invite that had laid right in front of the doorsteps of Bertram's tavern.

Leaving Città Delitto in the hands of the retired thief, the Crown Royal and their paladin decided to go back to the guild. The moment Rae, Johann, and their troops returned to Stadtbergen, they were surprised to see Bertram pacing around the tavern in a panicked manner.

"What's wrong, Bertram?" Rae asked, a bit worried.

Bertram simply showed them the invitation that the Crown Ruler had made personally for his niece.

"For some reason, an invitation to Crown Ruler Leofric's ball ended up in the tavern," he explained, "It's addressed to someone named 'Raelynn Fairbourne' and I suppose it's a trap someone has laid to lure us to our doom."

Rae took the invite from his hand into theirs.

A smirk crawled its way into their face as they held the invitation; their uncle was expecting them, and they wouldn't let his hopes go to waste.

"Not to worry, Bertram, the invitation is in the right hands," they said, a sense of purpose reflected in those golden eyes of theirs, "It's time to do what we came here for."

"You mean?"

Rae turned to him and nodded.

"It's time for Ambrosia to break out of their cage."

They whirled their head towards Johann.

"Get the others, we need to hold an emergency meeting."

Johann nodded.

"Understood."

Johann went outside the tavern to look for the others. It was then that Bertram became suspicious of something.

"Hey, Rae," he said to the former mage, "What is your full name?"

But Rae didn't hear them, for they were already headed towards the underground guild.

While the rebels were busy planning their siege, the assassin was busy pondering over all the choices he had made throughout his life.

His childhood flashed through his eyes, and he remembered the touch of the cold snow of his hometown. He reminisced about the village people's cautionary message about the violent bears of Mount Severnoy and the sudden blizzards that would pass by their homes without warning.

And then he remembered that fateful night...

Now that he had known the truth from his commissioner, he began to question his purpose. The reason Dom became an assassin in the first place was because he wanted to find out the truth about the massacre of his village. No one knew what happened that night, and the case was rarely brought up because of how small and enclosed Vernost was. Barely anyone around Ambrosia knew about his village, for it was a traditional village that didn't even recognise itself as a part of the kingdom.

But now that he had known the truth about the massacre, he was confused. What will he do next?

Not only that but was the pain and suffering he went through all these years worth it?

Was the truth all that mattered?

If he could turn back time, to the day he was recruited as an assassin, would he stop himself from accepting that offer?