Eros

Divine Execution - 22

Newly appointed as the queen's personal maid, Mila assisted the waiters during her meal times. When Roxwell and Avina finished their breakfast, she came to remove the plates from the table as another waiter filled their cups with steaming tea.

The two dined alone, so most of the lavishly dressed, long dinner table's length was unoccupied. They sat next to each other, much closer than noble manners dictated. So close that they could easily reach out and touch one another. Which they frequently did.

One of the plates nearly slipped from her grasp. The waiter glared at her, but the royal pair didn't seem to notice the slip up. They were engaged in a conversation that included too many names and titles for her to follow.

"My king." A Paladin called from the entrance, bowing.

"James." Roxwell called, and beckoned him inside with a wave of a hand. The Paladin raised his head from his greeting bow, and then dipped it once more in a bow of gratitude before he walked up to the table. Mila had never seen Sir James Devias before, but heard endless gossip amongst maids that were to the castle.

With his rich blonde hair, and deep blue eyes, he didn't fall short with any of the handsome Paladins who starred in her childhood dreams.

"I apologize for the intrusion on your breakfast, my king, my queen." Sir Devias said.

"You know you're always welcome here, James." Avina smiled at the Knight. "Would you like to join us for tea?"

"I would've loved that, my queen, but there are pressing matters at hand."

"Do elaborate." Roxwell said as he lowered the cup of tea from his lips.

"The assassin we caught trying to sneak in last night." James said. "He spoke."

"Did he now?" Roxwell brushed his mustache with a thumb and a finger. "Quite odd, considering the four sent before him were each tortured for weeks, and yet they didn't say a word."

"If you think that's odd, wait until you hear the name he gave us."

"So it's not the Delib underground's response to Garus' death, as we suspected?" Roxwell noted, and took a large gulp of steaming tea. James shook his head.

"Julian." He said, and the furrows across Roxwell's brow deepened. For a short moment, he was quiet in thought, as if reviewing the possibility.

"Nonsense." The king made a firm statement. "Julian is prideful even by kings' measures. He wouldn't hire Syndicate Rats."

James' eyebrows arched. "Do you think he's lying, shall I have our investigators resume the questioning?"

"No. It will be a waste of their effort. He had already said what he had been intended to say. Have him executed by tonight."

James nodded. "Yes, my king."

"Also," Roxwell stroked his mustache again. "I think this investigation needs to proceed from within the Syndicate's home town. Contact our agents in Deadmen's Bay."

-

"Rise and shine doll!" William's call woke Alora up in an instant. Her eyes opened and then squinted shut again when they met the sunlight. A silent groan slipped past her lips. Her skull pounded from the inside out.

"I know you partied hard last night, but it's nearly noon. Even thieves have places to get to."

Last night? Her memory became blurred after the first bottle, pieced by fractured images in her mind..

There was laughter, a lot of it, both hers and Kaido's. Then there were tears. The small of her back pulsed with a dull ache, and she recalled falling.