Shards of Darkness

Chapter Three

Austin Allen Ace

"Did you find anything?"  I asked anxiously.

    "No, Austin, we didn't," Esmeralda sighed.

    "Are you sure?  Nothing?  Not one little detail?"  I pleaded.

    "No, nothing.  Sheesh Austin," she growled.

    "Alright, how about our spies?"

    "Found out and executed."

    "How about turning some of Bruce's men?"

    "Failed."

    "Is there something else we actually can do and not fail?"  I asked exasperatedly.

"Austin!  We found something!"  One of my people shouted.

"Actually, it's someone," another person corrected.

"Bring him here!"  I ordered. 

"It's a her," came the reply.  A moment later, Dan came in with Thomas, dragging a bounded girl into my office.  The girl was looking at me with her soulful dark blue eyes.  She was wearing a slightly tattered red dress with a black cloak and other fancy things.  Jose was holding a pack and a belt full of weapons.  Those must belong to the girl.

"Who are you?"  I demanded.

"I'm Irina," she said softly.

"Why...Why are you wearing such fancy clothing?"  Esmeralda interrogated.

"I was the emperor's courtier," was Irina's reply.

"Kill her!"  Jose said immediately.

"Wait," I held up a hand to stop him.  I knelt down so that I was at Irina's eye level.  "If you were Bruce's courtier, how come you're...like this?"

"Because I never wanted to become his courtier," all of a sudden, Irina's pleasant voice and expression became harder, colder, dangerous.  "It was for survival.  Stupid fool thought he had me under control."

"Oooh, I like her," Angus approved, smiling.

"And by the way, I know who you are," Irina grinned evilly.  "Your group is called Shards of Darkness and you're Austin, Austin Allen Ace, the leader of the group.  Your goal is to bring down the emperor but you need inside information.  A lot of inside information since the emperor have a lot of yours."

"H-How do you know all this?"  Conrad's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards.

"Because what the emperor knows, I know," Irina smiled maniacally.

"You know, you could just be a spy, sent by Bruce," I accused her.

"How about this?  You let me join and let me become a Shard, don't kill me, and in return, I'll give you inside information," Irina bargained.

"How do we know your inside information is actually real?"  I grumbled.

"Either that, or you can kill me and kill your best source for information," Irina shrugged.  "It's your choice, and I know that some people here would like to keep me alive."

"Yeah, we can't waste this opportunity to get some information," Angus agreed.

"But what if she really is a spy?"  Esmeralda argued.

"Well, I'm not," Irina scoffed.

"How do we know for sure?"

"You can make someone guard me day and night," Irina said, rather boredly.  "If I do something suspicious he or she can report to you, I guess."