I woke up bright and early the next morning, unable to get much sleep due to the dream as well as the excitement of finally being able to complete a mission for Lancelot.
"Sophie, you should eat more," uncle suggested, handing me another slice of bread, already covered in strawberry jam. He smiled brightly at me, a face I was unable to say no to. I reluctantly took the bread from his hand, knowing it was for my own good even if I wasn't hungry in the slightest.
The carriage Lancelot had sent to take me to Oreane was already waiting outside the door by the time we finished eating. Thankfully, I had already packed the previous night and was all ready to go. A group of six little golems was standing underneath my luggage, holding it up with their tiny clay arms and ready to go. They heaved the heavy box onto the carriage, making little squeaks of fright whenever they almost dropped it. Looking at them struggle right now, I knew I'd definitely miss the cute little golems.
"Good morning!" I nodded to the driver as I stepped onto the carriage.
"Hello, Miss du Lac."
Uncle Merlin waved to me while we drove off, his figure becoming smaller and smaller as we headed towards the roads that'd take us to Oreane. According to my uncle, it'd take about a day or two, so we'd have to stay at a tavern halfway through the trip. He had given me plenty of money, so that wouldn't be an issue either.
"Uh...mister…"
"You can just call me Kline, miss," the driver answered politely.
"Ah, okay. Kline, how many towns do you think we can make it past today before we have to stop?"
"Hmm. Perhaps three at best? There's a large trading town ahead of us but past that should be plain meadows and the countryside for miles without end."
"I see. Then, will the guard my brother sent be meeting up with us when we arrive in Oreane?"
"Yes, he should be. He actually left a few days ago to survey the area that the murders are occurring within."
I nodded thoughtfully, leaning away from the window and sitting back down in my seat. Like Kline had said, we smoothly transitioned from the little streets that soon became wider roads as little shops and boutiques also started appearing. This trading town was known for its wide variety of jewelry, so it was no surprise that I never came, as jewelry never interested me.
Deciding this ride was starting to get too long, I leaned my head outside the front windows again.
"Kline! How long have you been serving our house?"
"About a year now. Duke du Lac has been very kind," he replied. "I had been working for Duke Pendragon for a while, but it was decided that I'd start serving Duke du Lac for security reasons, and now here we are, haha."
"I see! How's my brother doing?"
I had wondered about how Lancelot was acting as the new duke. It was hard to see him being a proper leader, remembering that the last time I saw him he couldn't even sort through all the funeral papers for our father. Instead of answering my question though, Kline said nothing and continued to smile, facing the front of the road as if he hadn't heard my question. Feeling too embarrassed at the awkward silence, I left the conversation at that.
Halfway through the trade city, I grew tired and started dozing off. It was only during naps like these that the nightmares didn't appear, and thank goodness for that, or else I'd never get rest. The clouds from above made it even easier for me to ignore the sun, easily able to drift away into sleep while the carriage swayed me from side to side.
***
"Hey! Get back over here!"
I frantically ran away from the angry maid, holding a cookie in my hand. How stereotypical of me to be frantically scurrying away with sweets in my hand. How pitiful it was for the maid to still not know to lock the sweets away. Even if they locked them away though, I'd find the key!
Laughing maniacally as I raced through the hallway, I forgot to watch my steps and bumped into a tall figure in front of me. The oatmeal cookie fell from my hand, landing on the ground with crumbs scattered in all directions. I looked up to see who had made me drop the cookie I risked my life to steal.
"Sophie...really?"
I began laughing once again, giving the tall boy a hug.
"They didn't hide the cookies, Lance!"
My brother sighed and looked behind me at the maid who was now out of breath, wheezing as she finally caught up, trying to explain to my brother what had happened and why father should tell me to eat fewer sweets. I ignored her and buried my face into Lance's arms as he crouched down, wrapping me in his arms. When the maid finally finished her long lecture that I didn't listen to a single word of, Lancelot released me and stared at me with his clear blue eyes.
"Do you want cavities?" he asked.
I shook my head, trying to suppress the grin that was only growing closer to escape.
"No Lance. I don't want cavities," I answered. "I want pearly white teeth just like you and Gwen!" I answered sarcastically, cheerfully slapping my hands on his cheeks, where his supposed "pearly white teeth" were located. Lancelot dramatically rolled his eyes, standing up and taking my hand in his.
"Come on Sophie. Don't forget you have an image to uphold."
"Image? What's my image?" I asked in confusion.
"Hmm. It's how others see you. People treat you differently based on your image. It could be based on how you look, the way you talk, or the way you act."
I frowned and looked up to Lancelot.
"Does that mean people think I'm different from you guys because I have brown hair and amber eyes instead of blond hair and blue eyes like you and Guinevere?" I stomped my foot and stopped walking, showing my discontentment with Lancelot.
He sighed once again, stopping mid-hallway to crouch down and talk to me.
"No, they won't judge you for that. I promise. If you act as the daughter of a duke, you will make up for it despite your appearance."
***
The carriage suddenly jerked to a stop, flinging me out of my seat as I frantically grabbed onto the window's ledge, attempting to regain my balance.
"Kline?" I asked, sitting back up. "Kline? Kline! Hello?" The horses whined loudly from outside, their hooves kicking into the ground in panic. I scooted my way over to the front window, trying to see what had happened. My eyes widened as I saw the empty space in front of me, the driver's seat without a trace of Kline previously sitting on it.
I moved back to my seat and started to reach towards the door handle when my hand stopped midway of opening the door. The bump I heard, as the carriage stopped, happened in the same instant. There's no way Kline would get off without waking me up first and informing me of what happened, especially with such a strong jerk like that. This could very well be an ambush someone set up to stop us from arriving in Oreane.
Not wasting another moment, I dived my hand into the suitcase I had packed and fished out my dagger, hoping this would be enough to at least buy some time for me to escape into a safe location. I sat against the door, pressing my ear near the window to listen for any sounds or noises around the area. Through a sliver of space between the drawn curtains covering the window across from me, I could tell that we were probably in a desolate location with no large towns or cities. I tried to calm myself down from the fear that ran through my body, forcing myself to focus on possible ways I could stop the assassin.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of shuffling, and more than one person.
Shoot.
The door suddenly flew open, nearly knocking my head to the ground. I quickly jumped out, knocking an attacker to the ground as I frantically tried to scan the two people who were now holding swords at me. They were both wearing masks, hiding the lower halves of their faces. The other one lunged at me, immediately using his sword to stop me from running away. I winced in pain, the sword grazing my cheek, leaving a trail of blood to run down my face. I dashed aside, only to have the attacker I had knocked over grab my hand as I screamed in retaliation, hoping someone would hear me.
"HELP! Somebody help!" I shouted, trying to pull my hand away. Neither of the attackers seemed worried about my screams in the slightest. Finally, I jerked my hand out of his grasp for a second, but attacker number two now gave a shout of frustration, running towards me with his sword and slashing it down once again. Barely escaping the reach of his sword, I continued running down the road with both of them chasing after me. At this rate, I had no chances of escaping. I was too slow and non-athletic compared to the two attackers that were right on my tail. I darted my eyes to the side of the trailing countryside road, hoping there would be a farmhouse nearby or something of the sort. To my disappointment, there was nothing but fields of corn and wheat.
Where are all the people and busy streets when you need them?
I took a sharp turn into a field of corn, hoping it was tall enough to at least give me some extra time. Not bothering to look behind anymore, I continued to dash forward, making every effort I could to not slow down.
"AH!"
A scream echoed from behind me. Did the attackers find someone else and hurt them in the process too? My head rang loudly, so loudly that I couldn't even locate where the scream came from. Unable to hear anything from behind me, I continued racing ahead, into the unknown maze of corn, taking random turns every few meters to make my path more confusing.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed my left wrist, pulling me to a stop. Without any hesitation, I took the dagger in my right hand and stabbed it at the hand that had grabbed me.
"Oh my, that's a dangerous weapon for a lady to be holding."
I peeked open my eyes, not even realizing that I had closed them. Instead of the masked men I had run away from earlier, this person seemed to be my age. A boy a little taller than I was, with pitch-black hair gleaming from the sun's light, smiling down at me despite the blood running down his fingers.
"Miss? Are you blind? Mind pulling your dagger out of my hand?" the boy asked sarcastically with a smile, showing me his hand, still very much pierced.
As my eyes started to refocus and my ears stopped ringing, I finally registered his words and pulled my dagger out of his hand. He glanced at his hand sorrowfully, trying to use the cloak to wipe it off a bit. When it didn't seem to do any good, he only chuckled and tossed it aside, leaving the hand to bleed freely. I looked at him in confusion, but he seemed to be totally oblivious to my questioning gaze.
"Let's head back to the horses before they ambush us again!" He immediately turned around and began to make his way through the corn maze, starting to whistle a catchy tune as well.
"W-Wait!" I shouted, trying to keep up with his brisk steps, strolling through the cornfield like it was just a walk in the park. This person was the definition of 'sketchy'. Dark cloak, black hair, all dark clothing, with a belt and a sword.
"Try to keep up, we don't have all day, miss! The horses might run away if they get spooked like that again, and you wouldn't want that would you?"
"Who are you? What about the guys that were chasing me? Us? Where did you come from?" I asked in confusion.
The person ignored me and continued walking, not slowing down at all. I noticed his cloak staining the nearby corn leaves red with blood, also getting on my clothes in the process. The dagger in my hand was coated with more, but I did my best to ignore it, unable to stand the sight of it.
"Ah, watch your step there."
In front of me was a body on the ground, unmoving and drenched in blood. The mask covered face instantly gave away the identity of the corpse as one of my attackers, now surrounded by splashes of blood around them. I gulped and went around the attacker, still tightly gripping my knife.
"Careful though, I don't know where the other one is," he said with a lighthearted laugh.
Once we made it out of the cornfield, the two of us started going back to the carriage, treading on the path that I had run across only a few minutes ago. With the little bit of energy I had remaining, I caught up to the boy and grabbed his cloak, pulling him to a stop.
"Who are you! Hey! Tell me now!" I shouted, refusing to release him.
The boy looked at me, then to my hand on his cloak. After a few seconds of this stare-off, he sighed and tugged away his cloak from me.
"Alright, Miss. My name is Lonan, you don't have to keep saying 'hey.' Duke du Lac sent me on a mission to Oreane to help you solve the mystery of the masked murderer. I was supposed to survey the area for a few days before you arrived, but yours truly noticed that there was something wrong with that driver of yours--he leaked the path you guys were going to take for some money. The things you learn from underground sources are amazing. Nice to meet you!" A wide smile appeared on his face as he turned back around to continue walking.
"Wait, then Kline...he's a traitor?" I was now briskly walking, struggling to stay right behind on his trail. Dazed by his offhanded response, I tried to piece the information together without much success. The person in front of me was also refusing to respond, so I gave up and followed along without another word.
When the two of us finally arrived at the carriage, there was still no sight of Kline, nor the other attacker that had run away after the first one was slaughtered. The streets were as empty as they were when the carriage had first stopped. After further inspection, I discovered that one of the wheels had fallen into a ditch.
"Must've been the ambushers...digging a ditch, boring…" Lonan mumbled as he gave a small laugh to the attempt. He glanced at my luggage on the carriage, then back to the horses, and finally back to me.
"Get your luggage off," he asked with a forced smile.
Annoyed but knowing he was right, I obediently got onto the carriage again and lifted my luggage off, suddenly grateful to Kline for lifting my luggage earlier, not realizing how heavy and packed it was until now. As soon as I successfully got my luggage to the ground, Lonan got on the driver seat and violently yanked the reins of the two horses, setting them into a panic. The carriage slowly moved forward, but the wheel was still caught by the small hole.
"Can't you help a little?" Lonan asked me, his seemingly permanent smile still plastered on his face.
I gritted my teeth together to prevent any unnecessary words out my mouth as I walked to the back of the carriage and pushed it against my back with all my might. His sarcastic and fake smile annoyed me more than I thought it would. A few seconds later, the carriage quickly moved away, leaving me sitting in the dirt from the force. Luckily, Lonan stopped the horses before they ran any further, allowing me a short five-meter walk before I got onto the carriage again, this time heaving the luggage on by myself. The carriage began moving again, this time a lot faster than it had been when Kline was driving.
I stuck my head out from the front window, this time facing a sketchy looking boy instead of the polished driver.
"How do I know you're not lying about your identity?" I stared at the back of his head, wondering just who this person was. How did a person like this come to work for Lancelot?
Lonan grinned, then took a letter out of his shirt pocket and handed it to me. The seal was broken, but I could clearly tell that the wax stamp was from the du Lac family crest. I slowly opened it, making sure the wind didn't blow it away.
"Make sure you stay safe and hidden. Do not trust the police, I do not know which side they are on. Feel free to ask them questions, only share what you need to share. Do not expose your true identities, say you were sent from the Gwalchmei family. This needs to be solved within five days. Sincerely, Lancelot."
"Five days!?" I asked in bewilderment. Only five days? How were we supposed to do that!
���Yes. Three families have already been slaughtered, it'll be calling for a riot if we don't stop the fourth noble family from being murdered as well. Nobles, dropping like flies. Honestly, could care less," he stated matter-of-a-factly. Lonan snatched the letter out of my hand, wrapped the reins around his wrist, and started ripping the letter into shreds. He let them float into the wind, keeping his eyes on the road in front of us the entire time.
"We don't have time to waste. Your grace might not be used to this, but we'll be traveling for the next day," he announced.
"Wha-hey! Don't decide that without asking me as well!" But I knew he was right. There was no way we could spend another day traveling, especially when Lancelot wanted the job done in five days. Assuming it took Lonan a day to reach here, we technically had three days to solve the mystery once we arrived in the northern region of Oreane. I slumped back into my seat, feeling even more overwhelmed than before.
The trip felt much longer now that I was awake, watching the unchanging corn fields pass by. I had never thought that the guard my brother sent would be a vigilante, much less comfortable with ordering around the family he was supposed to be serving. Either way, Lonan wasn't someone I wanted contact with, and someone I didn't feel like I could trust, despite the fact that he had saved me from the attackers earlier.
A few minutes later, a little knock came from the front of the carriage. I got up from my seat and shuffled over, leaning my head out the window for what must've been the sixth time today.
"So Miss du Lac-"
"Just Sophie is fine," I snapped.
A sly smile appeared on his face as he clicked his tongue, twisting his body a bit so that we were facing each other.
"How about Your Grace? Or does that also make you uncomfortable?" he asked.
"What's wrong with Sophie?"
"Nothing, just that most nobles prefer a title of status. Were you perhaps unaware?"
I sighed. This boy was going to be a hard case to deal with.
"You can call me whatever you want."
He turned away for a moment, his eyes squinting together in concentration. A few moments later, he finally snapped his head back towards me and smiled.
"I'll call you Blindy then! You didn't even look to see who you were stabbing that knife into did you?"
"That's fine, what did you want to talk about?" It was obvious I forced the words out, yet, Lonan remained just as joyous as he was a few minutes ago, ignoring my murderous air.
"How much do you know about the murders? Any ideas on how they were committed perhaps? From what I've heard, you've received quite the extensive education, no?" a polite smile formed once again, giving me no reason to answer with an attack, as much as I wanted to...
I shook my head. "I don't know that much. I know that it's only noble families and that people are close to rioting. I was wondering if it had to do with competition over the throne, but Lancelot never mentioned which noble families were targeted."
"Wow! That's not a lot of information you have. At least one of us came prepared." Another grin, cheerful that he was another step ahead of me. "The murderer has been killing off each family within a span of approximately five days. The strange thing is, the murders within a single household are always a day or two apart. When the case originally popped up, the police ruled it off as a mental illness, a mother going mad and taking five days to kill her husband and then her own child. After three other murders, it's safe to assume that's not what's going on. There is a serial killer. Ah--hold on."
Lonan pulled the horses to a stop, quickly put his hood on and hopped off the seat. He approached an old farmer who was pulling some stalks of hay across the countryside and started chatting with him, pointing to the road ahead.
I returned to my seat, leaning my head on the walls of the carriage. There was a serial killer who was targeting noble families and using some skill to make sure no one found out they were dead until the entire family was killed. Could the killer be threatening the rest of the family to stay silent? It might even be an ability that involved mind manipulation.
When Lonan came back to the carriage, I had buried my head under my arms, hiding from the world outside.
There are too many possibilities for what method the killer could be using! How does he expect me to come up with a plausible theory before we even investigate?
"Uhh...you alright there?"
I peaked up from my frustrated state, only to see the corner of his mouth twitching to hide his amusement. I jerked back up and went back to my position of crouching next to the front window.
"Whatever. What were you asking the old man?" I asked.
"Right, right. I was asking him how long it would take for us to reach the city of Summerset. There shouldn't be an issue with us arriving early morning if we ride fast enough," he answered casually.
Summerset. The city where noble families had resided for centuries, most of them receiving lands and power from kings. While newer noble families were scattered across the land, Summerset was always a place where those with a heritage of nobility could find respect and land to settle on. It was no surprise the murderer had decided to set camp at the largest concentration of nobles in the country.
"Have you come up with a theory yet, Blindy?" Lonan smirked.
I frowned, giving him a scowl as I ducked back to my seat. Of course, he just had to emphasize that point once again, that I couldn't figure out a plausible way the murders had been committed. It was a challenge to me, someone with no prior experience, to determine whether or not Lancelot should've entrusted this crucial mission to me.
The countryside flashed by as Lonan picked up the speed once again. Every once in a while, a fence full of cows or horses would come into view but quickly return to the dull landscape of wheat fields and empty lands. As the day faded into dusk, then dusk into night, we took a quick break for the horses to get some water from a small stable. Before I knew it, we were back on the road again, riding without much chatting between the two of us. Not wanting to fall asleep and experience the nightmare, I took out some slices of bread that Uncle Merlin had packed for me as a "precaution", he said. I glanced out the window again, seeing Lonan somehow still wide awake, keeping the horses on track as we continued riding towards Summerset.
I furrowed my eyebrows in frustration as I sighed. What an interesting guard my brother had assigned, if only he weren't so tricky to handle.