Beautiful Crime ※ DogNut

twenty six

The group stood in front of the dark Buckingham Palace, only illuminated by the few torches that surrounded it. Admittedly, Adelaide was a little nervous about what she was going to do. But she knew that she had to do it and it was far too late to back out now.

Pushing aside her anxiety, she turned towards her group. "Edison, I need you to focus. Eyes and ears need to be kept in front of you in case someone tries to kill us. You'll be my ears, if you hear something, you need to tell me."

Edison nodded. "Understood, Commander."

"Harper, I need you to be my eyes. As soon as you see things going south, give me the signal to abort."

Harper nodded.

"Shadow, I need you to be my guide and first line of defence."

Shadowman frowned, his eyebrows creasing together in confusion as he looked at Adelaide. "Why would I need to do that?"

Adelaide sighed, her eyes narrowing a little. "It's common curtesy, Dylan. You want Jester? You'll have to protect me, that's just how this whole game works. You don't have to be the ride or die type like everyone else, but you do have to protect me no matter what."

"Alright, princess, I'll protect you."

"Do not call me that," Adelaide hissed, pushing past Shadowman and walked towards the back door, leaning against the wall beside the door before she began fiddling with the handle quietly to distract herself as she gave out the remainder of her orders to the other group members.

Shadowman looked around the group in confusion, his hands raising in defence. "What did I do?"

Harper bit her bottom lip as she looked at Adelaide for a moment before turning to Shadowman. "DogNut used to call her princess – he died saving her life three months ago; his death was the reason why she left North London and returned to the south. It's a sensitive subject for everyone, we don't tend to talk about it."

"We've all lost someone, why would she get special treatment?"

Harper sighed. "I'm going to be beheaded for this," she muttered quietly to herself before she placed a hand by the side of her mouth and whispered something into Shadowman's ear.

Shadowman's face dropped as soon as he heard what Harper told him, all the colour drained from his face. He knew Adelaide's big secret and now he had to take it to the grave or god forbid Adelaide would have his head.

Rather literally in her case.

Before Shadowman could say anything, the back door was opened and Adelaide moved in silently, her sword drawn. Shadowman walked swiftly to catch up to Adelaide and direct her around the dark room. Thankfully for the group, Shadowman knew the palace like the back of his hand; even in the dark, he knew exactly where he was going.

Directing the group through the dark and silent rooms, they ended up in one of the many corridors. Adelaide and Shadowman were at the front, while Harper and Edison were slightly further back.

"I know your secret," Shadowman half-whispered, breaking the silence between him and Adelaide.

"Huh?" Adelaide frowned, twirling the handle of her sword in her hand as she looked at Shadowman for a moment before turning back to the corridor in front of them.

"The real reason you have so many guards around you at all times... it's not just because you're the commander."

"I have no idea what you're talking about; it's their job to protect me, I just choose to have more than two guards sometimes."

"I think you do. Harper told me everything."

Adelaide froze, her grip on her sword tightening before she held her sword against Shadowman's throat and pushed him against the wall, the fear evident in her eyes. "Now that you know the truth; you cannot tell anyone. Please. I'll be taken out of the fight and I can't let that happen."