A Blaze in the Dark (A New Dawn #1)

Chapter 30 - Alex (Part 1)

I hope you find Kindness and Temperance in your heart. With greatest Humility. Mallard, toy manufacturer of Darkhill Tower, purveyor to the Silvermark court.

The main square was drowning in a sea of people, the salty scent of their sweat mingling with the cacophonous aromas coming from the various stalls. Every step she took, the Sundalers looked up and around from whatever activity they were doing–drinking wine, gossiping, buying from the one hundred and one merchants–to gawk at the General and the Princess.

She had to lose them and quickly too. With them, finding out where Fox was living was impossible.

"George!" Lana hissed through her mask. "Papa didn't bestow the title of General on you to be my personal watchdog. People might start assuming things."

"That you need protection? I can live with that." He put his hand around her and steered her away from a group of extremely loud men in simple red masks clinking their cups so hard that wine spilt all over the cobblestones. "Your father asked me all those years ago because of my wealth of talents. I'd say me turning your teenage life into the seven hells is one of my better qualities."

"Don't flatter yourself. That's Mama's duty." She snorted, yet changed her voice as a toddler girl with a golden mask waved at her with both her tiny hands. "Oh, isn't she just adorable?"

"Yeah, very cute." Alex nodded.

Far more interesting was the General, who had no attention for the child, but instead raised his head to the temple's rooftop. On each of the houses surrounding the square stood two to three fully armoured men, but none were standing on the highest terrace of the temple.

His eyes widened with fear, followed by a few rapid blinks. From what she could see through the mask, he had the same experience as the little girl receiving a tickle on the belly from Lana, with the only exception that her expressions were from sheer happiness.

For a split second, Alex contemplated using the moment to dash off and start her investigations, but the cohort of guards behind her prevented her from doing so.

Lana pressed her head against George's shoulder pad and whispered, "Missing some men, are we? You know what that means, don't you? When orders aren't thoroughly understood one can only blame the leader."

The General hummed. "Yet when orders were clear and the Muttonheads disobey nonetheless, the leader must smack the heads of his inferiors together."

"Now that's just butchering the literature, George. You're clearly forgetting that a true leader should always treat his men as he would his beloved sons."

"Your point being?"

Alex suppressed a grunt building up in her throat. She should smack their heads together. Precious time was being wasted while they outsmarted each other through book quotes–a game often played over dinner and which usually ended by Nick uttering something that baffled both of them into silence.

If only he and his wit were here to distract her companions.

"What are you waiting for, George? I know you want to investigate what's going on." Lana hooked her arm into hers. "Alex and I are going to Jason and Belinda's now. She has to try their pancakes."

"Yeah, I have to abide by the Greenlander tradition, don't I?" She forced a smile on her face. Not that anyone could see it, so it was mostly to sound inconspicuous. She was just an ordinary girl enjoying the fair.

She wasn't fooling anyone.

Before taking off, General George gestured his men to keep following them to the pancake stall. Wherever she and the Princess walked the crowd parted like butter above a high flame, even those poor people who had been queueing for ages to get a snack from the odd-looking couple.