The Hunt

Chapter 13- One, Two, Three

Nothing mattered to Alma Reebank more than surviving the night with murderer sleeping in the same room as her with only a cot and an assassin separating the two. It wasn't a comforting thought, all things considered.

The assassin, who had no reason to protect her, not to mention he didn't seem to like her too much, was hurt. She, as enthusiastic as she was about checking for weak spots, had no way or idea in how to protect herself. And she had no weapon.

Yeah, not helpful thoughts.

As you can imagine, that didn't lead to the best nights sleep.

So now, she had a bit or a problem. She was sitting across from her prince, in both a literal and nonliteral sense, and the criminal, fully rested, was sitting next to her. And she was tired and still had absolutely no way to defend herself.

So, problems.

"We got our targets in," Zephyr said, holding the tablet in his hands while swiping and scrolling through and across pages, or whatever you did on tablets. Alma was never the best with technology. "Sei Wong, head of my fathers north port. According to this, he's been suspected of giving aid to pirates over the past few years. Trading with mostly. However, there's been evidence that the trading also includes slaves which is highly illegal and has been since the Free Man's Act.

"Target number two! Francis Pugh. He's been aiming his eyes at the throne for a while now. There've been things like assassination attempts and that kind of thing.

"Finally, number three! Blair Southwood. She's been, um, also aiming for the throne, in a different way. Ever since the queen passed, she's been, um, you know, to my dad... You get the point. Anyways, she'd definitely be one to take a stab at me if the king didn't agree to marry her or something like that. So any questions, complaints, or those kind of things? No? Then we need to start planning."

"I voted we start with the Francis guy," Reiko said, taking a seat next to the prince.

"He is the closest."

"Well yeah, there's that. He's also an ass hole."

"Plus there's that. Any objections?" When no one spoke up, he kept talking. "Then I'll work on finding the layout of his mansion. Reiko, Magnus, and Cecily, I want you grabbing whatever weapons you think you'll need." He gave the killer a look for a second. "I'm trusting you now, so don't disappoint me."

"If I wanted you dead I wouldn't be peacefully sipping tea in your headquarters."

Terrifying yet to the point. Alma was starting to get that this Cecily girl wasn't the kind to joke around. Or maybe she was and she just didn't like any of them all that much. That also seemed like a viable option.

"What happened to all the riddles and crap you used to talk in, huh?"

"It only works on people who don't think much."

Okay, maybe she did like to joke a bit. Or, judging from the 'no nonsense' look she was wearing, she was, again, being very straightforward.

Honestly, Alma had an easier time dealing with dead bodies than reading emotions.

The prince cleared his throat. "Get going, you three. Alma, I need you to-"

"I need to know what we'll be doing before I can decide what weapons I'll need."

---

Zephyr couldn't decide if the woman liked challenging him or if she was just being logical. Maybe both. Even court trained eyes couldn't tell with this oddity.

"Fine. Give me a few minutes to find the layout."

"I'll need a picture of this Francis Pugh."

Zephyr was already on his tablet, hacking into Pugh Industries to see if he could find layouts.

"Why?"

"So I don't go around attacking everyone who looks like a conniving old man with plans to steal the throne."

Maybe she was just serious all the time.

"Yeah, sure, just give me a few minutes. I'm trying to hack into Pugh Industries to see if I can find the layout of his mansion. If this doesn't work I might have to hack his actual house or the company that built it."

There was silence.

"What? No one has a problem with the Prince knowing how to hack?"

"Boredom is a dangerous thing," Cecily said, taking another sip of the steaming tea in her hand.

All eyes flew to her for a few seconds. She just shrugged, shaking off all the terrifying accusations that flew through all their heads.

Still, she was right. He had to give her at least that much.

A small smirk played on his lips when he finally found the blue prints. He flicked the blueprint up in a quick motion and, suddenly, the coffee table was no longer a table. The blue prints were spread across the whole thing for everyone to see.

Zephyr set the tablet aside to lean down and reach the table. When her moved his finger across it, the picture moved as well.

"Useful," he heard Rei comment. "Very useful. But the rooms aren't exactly labeled."

"No, they're not. However, using security footage from the mansion, I should be able to pinpoint exactly what each room is used for. Not to mention patterns with guard rotation and Francis Pugh himself. There should be a collection of technology in one of the back rooms. Orion, can I ask you to find it and bring out enough tablets for everyone? It'd be easier if everyone took a bit of the workload."

The assassin nodded, wondering off for a few minutes before coming back with a few tablets and passing them out to everyone.

"I hope you know," Cecily said, "I'm not exactly up to date on technology."

"Of course. Just look at Alma's."

Poor girl, Zephyr thought. Cecily clearly scared her. He didn't really have any other option. If he told her to move over to see Reiko's the idiot would probably make a big deal out of it. If he told her to move anywhere else but towards Alma, the Saint would probably be embarrassed because of the fear.