The king and his queen

Chapter 18: Preparations

Isaac came out of the room, a small air of horror around him. He looked at me dead in the eyes
"Quite a mess you made in there" he stared sharply. Sniffling could be heard from Valerie
"Why-why did we have to kill him?!" She said in a weak, broken voice
"He violates a serious code, and out in the field the punishment is put upon the team leader, which is me" responded Godfrey "Val, you need to remember that I had a serious problem here. We couldnt let him go and there was no time for an arrest. He had to die Val, no other way around it"
She looked towards the floor and pulled her hood down, blocking the world out
To give her some space, Isaac and Godfrey took you to a room at the top floor of the cabin. You had thought it was a storage or something of the sort, but it was, in fact, an intelligence room with maps, books and documents spilled everywhere

Godfrey led you 3 to a trio of chairs in front of a board filled with pictures and notes with different pieces of string linking them together. You sat down with Isaac as Godfrey went up to the board with a large ruler.
"So" he said in a authoritarian tone "this is the group that you encountered the other day" he poked each picture while he was talking with his ruler. The pictures, while of varying quality, could still make out sinister shapes and figures. "This group is called inside the guild as the Rogue Talons, as they seemed to be a band of rogue or shamed monsters, or in a special case" he said crossing out the 3 dead knights "hunters". There was a small crack in his voice. Easy to miss yet once you heard it, you heard it all. The pain and stress of these decisions were hard, and he knew he had more to come.

I cleared my throat and took a small sip of water "so, who's are next target?"
"Well, we have word about 2 witches living north of here underneath a bevy of trees" said Godfrey pointing to a small wood 6 miles north
"Would've thought that was elf country"
"It was" said Isaac Gravely "why do you think we have the witches on our list?"
"Ahh, I see"
"Ok then" Godfrey exclaimed, clapping his hands together "Tonight we shall kill these witches and make them pay for their sins, but first we must prepare. Isaac you gather up our tools and sharpen our weapons. Valerie, grab some potions and search up some spells. (Yn), familiarise yourself with witches in the beastiary. I will startup a strategy of beating them efficiently. We have 2 hours until dawn is upon us. Let's go!"
"Right!"

(About an hour later, Valerie POV)
I was searching through the local library the cabin had, hoping to uncover a reflect spell to case on the witches. While there may have only Been 2 according to Isaac and (Yn), witches are still extremely powerful adversaries. ("Wait! Maybe they are in the armoury")
I swiftly exited the library and went into the armoury. Isaac was sat down on the workshop bench sharpening up beastburner and dawnstar. He also seemed to be crafting some sort of bombs and other strange items. I snuck up behind him and playfully tapped his shoulder. He spun around like he heard a wraith and tensed up a bit when he saw me
"H-hi there Val...w-what do you need?"
I beamed at him "hiya Isaac! Ye I just need to find a reflect spell. Do you know if there's any in here?"
"Oh well um I think there some spells in that drawer over there" he said pointing to a cabinet next to some mage's robes
"Ah ok thank you so much!"
I smiled and walk off to the cabinet ("how can I ever tell him I like him?? Does he even like girls? Or will he even like me? I mean...I'm just a whore in robes after all...he probably would like a princess, I'm so pathetic and-oh! The book")
I rummaged up an old and dusty spell book that was from a previous generation. I opened up the small book to be greeted by a wheezing amount of dust. After a few coughs I cleared my throat and peered around
"Yes! This is it!" I squealed in delight and ran up to hug Isaac "Thank you thank you thank you soooo much!" I say squeezing him tighter. He blushes like a strawberry at my embrace
"Uhh you-your welco-ome" he states, barely muttering our the words
("What has gotten over him?? Ever since this morning he's been acting so...strange")
"Well, I'm gonna read up on this spell. Bye bye beasty!" I tease playfully and wave. He gives me a shy goodbye before I close the door

(Isaac POV)
"Jesus Christ....I can't believe this...does she really have no idea?" I bury my face into the table and rub my hands on my temples "I need to talk to her about this one day. After the witch hunt...I need to tell her"

(Godfrey POV)
"So that's the plan. Two witches, two teams. You and me as one team and Val and Isaac as another. This should be quite an effective combo, especially against these witches" I say staring intently at (Yn), making sure he gets the plan
He nods and goes over the notes "ok easy peasy" he declares confidently
I laugh at his enthusiasm "ok good, get yourself prepped and ready, for dusk is upon us"
He nods "right, see you in about an hour or so"

He walks out of the room and shuts the door. I lock the door and open up the keychain on my neck to reveal a photograph
"Alice....I'll see you again soon, my love..."