Chapter 11 - The Conspiracy

Fire rages across the estate. Rolfe and William are in a bind and need to think of a way out to save Lenato from these assassins. William dodges the attacks from the green assailant while using his Sense half of its capacity. If he uses his Sense to its max, his eyes will turn red.

He can defeat the enemy that way, but William doesn't want Rolfe to panic. He is sure that once Rolfe sees his red eyes, he will be delivered to the Inquisitor and brand as a living demon.

As William was fighting the green assassin, he felt the floor below them soften up and began to lose. William steps onto the floor, and the wooden plank flips, hitting the green assassin on the head and rendering him unconscious. 

Seeing that William bested his foe, the red assassin retreated. Rolfe drops his weapons and rushes to his father's side. Rolfe put his drunk father on his shoulder and began to drag them away from the fire. 

As for William, he too was about to assist Rolfe, but the green assailant stood up. Seeing Lenato was at the range, the assassin picked up a sword and began to run towards Lenato and Rolfe. William tackled the man to the ground to prevent Lenato's death, but as they hit the floor, the ground beneath them gave way, and they both fell to the lower level of the manor, the wine cellar.

William was woken up by Rolfe's voice telling him to get up. The green assassin is back on its feet and begins flailing his sword at William.

As William came to, he found the fire had reached the lowest part of the manor. The wine cellar's keg began to burn from the heat. And the manor's rats scurried everywhere as they panicked to escape the fire.

Then something mysterious happened. The masked man whistled in a soothing melody. The rats, enticed by the song, gathered around the masked killer. The man changed his whistling tune and turned into a harsher tone. In response, the rats began to attack William.

William was back in a corner with no weapon for him to defend himself. The rats began to overwhelm him as more and more of them piled upon him. While he was distracted, the masked assassin started to hide in the smoke. He was waiting for the moment to strike William when he let his guard down.

William looked above and found Lenato and Rolfe gone. He smiled and saw this opportunity to attack without holding back. 

William activates his Sense to its full capability. 

As the rats saw William's red eyes, they scattered away from him. Just like when William encountered Shadow Scale, the rats began to fear his gaze.

William then turned his attention to his enemy. Even with the smoke obscuring his sight, his Sense enhanced his hearing and allowed him to hear the assassin's footsteps. William prepares himself for a counterattack. The red killer was faster than him and reckons this one is stronger yet slower than his accomplice.

"Focus, William," he mutters to himself. His breathing matches the ones he hears from the smoke. The smoke began to fill the room and engulf his vision. He closed his eyes and used his ears.

William picked up a sudden shift in the assassin's stance. There! The attack is coming straight at his face. William swiftly sidesteps and then punches the assassin's wrist. The sword dropped from his hand and allowed William to finish this.

William countered his attack by grabbing the assassin's mask and slamming his head to the floor. William's slam was so strong that his head began to bleed. The mask shattered at impact with a mighty thud, and finally, William sees the man's identity. The green assassin was a member of the Corvus family, killed earlier in the Royal Court. 

"We almost have our chance. If we didn't fail in killing the Princess and Lenato, Corvus would have taken the seat of power." the man laments at his failures. 

"But it doesn't matter now. Plan B is underway, and I will see them in hell soon enough."

"What plan B?" William asked as he looked at him. 

The man was struck with awe by William's eyes as if he had already seen red eyes before.

"My lady? Have you come to visit me before I die? Did I do good for Pentalium?" as the man says these words, he looks at William's eyes until his last breath. He was admiring the red eyes with love and admiration.

William holds his head in bewilderment with this revelation. Another Zonian is a Pentalium member. Is this something William needs to deal with eventually? Is every Zonian a Pentalium member? William regains his composure and hurriedly picks himself up and begins to move.

He was just about to leave the wine cellar when he smelled an overpowering smell of chamomile tea, and yet sinister was a part of it. 

He followed the smell, leading him to a barrel of wine. It looks ordinary, but the red paint surrounding the barrel came to life with his Sense. Like the painting inside the mountains of Ingrid's tribe, the red color began to move with the flame's light. Then it began to form the words "Chalice."

William began to piece together what happened tonight: Pentalium agents had infiltrated the Ball. Pentalium sent the red and green masked assassins to kill the Einherjar. If they fail to kill them, they have a contingency plan. Plan B is to burn everything to the ground. 

William assumes that this is "Chalice" wine, some Plan C, a poison. He cannot piece together how this fits in with his plan. Still, with all events he experienced recently, he reckons this is Pentalium's plot to overtake the Kingdom: killing their enemies replace them with their rival families like the Corvus.

William grabbed an empty bottle and filled it with the wine. He dashed and escaped before the whole place collapsed.

As the manor burned, most of the attendees made it out alright. Rolfe and his men began to organize the guest and help them leave in an orderly manner. William looked at Rolfe with admiration. Despite the attack and losing their manor, he stands firm and keeps his head cool. He was putting the safety of his people before his well-being.

William admits he is wrong for judging both but feels that the Princess will need to hear this first before he puts the Einherjar to their cause.

As William was about to leave, that same chamomile scent lingered among the crowd. Seeing that this might be his only chance to reveal a member of Pentalium, he began to push thru the crowd. The scent led him to the carriages where the guests hurry to get out of the premises. 

The smell led William to a man with a top hat, and beside him was the lady Rolfe danced with at the Ball. Her dress matches the red color of the assassin he had fought earlier. Thou her attire is different from the assassin's; she fits the height.

The lady was about to climb the steps to her carriage, and William noticed a limp on her left foot. Then a man with a top hat assisted her as she lost her footing.

"My lady, I hope the wine didn't get to you." The man says.

"Not at all. I was just tired from everything." The lady in red says.

The carriage took off and disappeared into the night. William is too tired to follow the cart. He instead used his Sense and memorized all the carriage's features, the man and the lady's. All he needs to do now is report back to the Princess.

----------------------

William made his way back to the Royal Court. Just in time, John arrived no later than him. John looked at him, noticing all the burnt leather on his fancy clothes.

"William, you looked like you were dancing in an oven," John says, worried that his friend might have burned himself.

William looked at his friend sees a small red stain below his neck. He used his Sense and smelled the scent of lipstick on him. "And it seems you have a lot of fun with the ladies, eh?"

John was surprised. He looked at his face by the nearest window glass and saw no trace of lipstick on his cheeks. John then realized he had used his Sense and finally saw that small lipstick stain below his neck.

"Man, if Ingrid is here..." William says jokingly.

"Not a word!" He yelled. The two shared short laughter before heading up to the Princess' office.

The two boys are surprised that the Princess is still up this late, but she is more surprised at the look of the two. One is brunt and the hit by a whirlwind. The two began to lay out what happened. 

William gave a summary of what happened to him at the Ball: From Rolfe and Lenato's innocence and their investigation of Eldric's death, the report of the shipment of tea, the "Chalice " wine, and to the attack of two assassins sent by Pentalium. 

William described two suspects he saw before he left the Ball: a man with a top hat, who exhumes the scent of the "Chalice," and the lady in red, who he suspects to be the red assassin.

The Princess and John are intrigued by William's adventure. The Princess took the wine and promised the boys that she would have her alchemist analyze its content. As for John, he is puzzled by something. 

"William, is their carriage colored maroon and black? And are they being pulled by brown horses?" John asked. William was surprised that John had guessed the details.

"Then my hunch was correct," John muttered. 

John then began to provide a summary of his mission. His night started with a lot of gossiping among the attendees. Some of the guests told him they thought they could not attend tonight as they had been sick with high fever and coughing for the last few weeks. But luckily, they got a cure for their sickness. There's a person named "The Doctor" who offers the treatment to them. It comes with a steep price, but it works. Within a day or two, the fever and coughing lessen. Give it a week, and it will surely go away.

When John asked how to contact the Doctor, they all replied with different answers. Some say that the Doctor travels across the Kingdom and gives his treatment like a traveling merchant. Some say that the Doctor happens to arrive at their doorstep as if the heavens sent them to heal them. But they all say that the Doctor wears a plague mask and dark robes. 

John also heard some of the rich are not concerned about tea attacks on Lenato's shipment as they gladly drink wine instead. But they are worried about the recent execution of Corvus. 

The rivalry and assassination between different houses are typical in the Kingdom. But having the other family members held in contempt for the crime of their head of the house is something new. The rich called this a conspiracy. 

"The Princess, the Inquisitor, and Einherjar's action spread fear among the rich family and influential houses," John said.

The Princess smiled. "When justice and truth are at work, the wicked cower."

William and John couldn't agree more. The Princess' actions might be brutal, but it's a clear message that everyone can understand.

John continues with his summary. When John was about to leave, the same carriage that William saw at the Ball was there. The man in a top hat was carrying two empty barrels of the wine and placed them in the carriage before leaving the scene.

"If William's theory was correct and those wines barrel is poison, then Pentalium might poison many the guests," John says. "Luckily for me, I just drank water as I didn't want to get drunk during my mission.

The Princess congratulates the two boys on a good job. She then advised the boys not to tell the Einjhar about their finding of Pentalium. The recent attacks on Lenato show that the Einjhar is a target. If John or William interacted with them, they might put the Pentalium eyes on them and paint them too as their target.

"Right now, the only thing that concerns me is the lady in red as she saw William's face. But if I were Pentalium, you are the least of my concern and might consider you a guard that also burns in the manor." The Princess says.

"Princess, I am aware of the lady's face as well. I know her description, height, and even the limp on her leg. If I were to find her identity, we might be able to link her back to Pentalium." Willaim suggested.

"I agree, Princess. If William's theory is correct, everything that has happened is all connected. The spreading of disease, the Doctor, the masked assassins, the "Chalice" wine, and Einjhar's tea shipment. I'm sure all of this is connected." John stands beside William.

"You both handled yourself well tonight. I trust that both of you are skilled enough to handle this. You have my blessing. But, both of you are only to investigate and infiltrate. I do not want both of you to engage with the enemy. Our responsibility is to bring Pentalium to justice." The Princess says as she gives the two a stern look. The boys then nodded and assured her that they would respect her wishes.

-------

As the clock struck midnight, the Kingdom began to rest. But somewhere in the darkest corners of the Kingdom, three Pentalium members gathered before a table with a dimly light candle. A tall and a short with wears cloak that covers their faces, and one wears a plague mask.

"Doctor, the rats have grown larger since you feed them upon the mountainous corpse at the mountains." the shorter one in a cloak says.

"But of course, every one of us has a role to play. Even in death, the Chief and his Hand will serve nutrients for my pets." the Doctor says as he places a rat the size of a cat on the table. The rat heard the Doctor whistling and followed her commands. She then commands the rat to attack the two other members at the table.

Both cloaked Pentalium members activate their Sense and turn their eyes to red, scaring the rat back to the Doctor. The two cloaked Pentalium are impressed. 

"The rats commanded thru whistling or our eyes." the Doctor says as she cuddles the rat back into her arms.

"Then we are ready. The Kingdom is slowly spreading the disease. The tea that can remedy them has burned to the ground, and now you are their only cure." The tall one says to the Doctor.

The three Pentalium smiled as their actions to conquer the Kingdom were at hand. It is only a matter of time until their plans come to fruition. 

They are confident they will win. 

But they are not ready for fate is now shaping someone to stand against them.