The corridors ranged from brightly lite to complete darkness and well maintained to lightfilled and falling apart. Takeo and Jia travelled up staircases after staircase trying to find the meeting room. Fortunately, it seemed the bandits had neglected to assign parols to the inner most parts of the old base; they rarely saw anyone and could quickly duck into an empty room if Takeo didn't decide to dispatch the oncoming enemy.
When they finally got close to the meeting chamber, Jia pulled out his imperial medallion. Takeo looked on the wall next to them; a large mirror with the imperial creast carved out of in the center was inviting them in. It had been a while since they had to the "hidden key" as the Emperor called it; across their Empire in bases, palaces and put posts there were certain areas the imperial medallion could unlock. In the past in had gotten both the Prince and his body double in as much trouble as it got them out. Takeo hoped for the latter.
"To old times."Jia said as he pressed the medallion into the intention. The mirror glass slid back to let them come into the dark room behind it before sliding back in place.
Takeo's crystal revealed that the hidden hallway hadn't been touched in decades. Spiders had decorated it with cobbwebs on top of cobbwebs. Carefully, the two men walked toward the old war room.
"So, Princess Guinviere. . . Does she have enemies?" Asked Takeo.
"Who doesn't? Last I checked, your name was still mud on Mount Shiva." Replied Jia. Takeo glared at him, but sighed. Only Jia could get away with that. In so many ways, the Prince was the little brother Takeo never had. "But to be honest most people like her if they don't love her, or at least from what I've seen."
"What about opponents of the peace? I heard some villiagers were starting riots over alliance talks." Reworded Takeo. Jia was holding back.
"You mean insighted by war mongers? It wouldn't surprise me." Explained Jia. "It sounds too simple. Probably a cover of some kind. Unfortunately, my experience with most Draconians has been negative. If not for Guinviere, I would've given up on my peace initiative."
"Any relatives who want her throne?" Takeo knew there was something missing. War mongers wouldn't go so far to directly go after royalty; there was too much risk for normal thieves. "Political rivals? Or what about you?"
"She has a cousin who is next in line, but as far as rivals go . . . There are 3 tribes that are actively against any type of contact with our kingdom." Jia answered with a cough. "Curse this blasted dust!"
"Keep your voice down." Ordered the ninja. A large panel of light was infront of them. Takeo glanced through it to see bandits and pirates heading to the meeting chamber. "We're getting closer. The last thing we need is to be discovered in this narrow space."
"Considering you're the one doing an interrogation, don't complain." The prince was annoyed and coughing every few steps. "Besides, odds are they'll think we're ghosts. Quite afew of them are very superstitious."
"I would rather not take the chance that none of them would dare challenge ghosts." Countered Takeo. Another large panel was head of them, much bigger than the one before. He looked to see an old war table in a well lite room with all manners of bandits and pirates gathering. He moved to the other side of the two way mirror and montioned for Jia to stay. They leaned against the wall, just out of view in case someone took notice of movement within the old mirror.
They waited as more appeared in the meeting room. Finally, several figures in dark colored cloaks; it was obvious by the wing silloutes two were Draconian. They filled the chairs at the war table. One tall man in a black cloak with large wings began the meeting.
"So, what do you have to report?" He said to the female winged figure cloaked in crimson. She was very petite with an hourglass figureclear under her cloak and her wings looked larger than her body.
"Princess Guinviere will be travelling soon. Her exact route hasn't been comfirmed yet." The figure responded. Her voice was proper and she spoke with a Draconian accent. From Jia's expression, Takeo knew the prince recognized the voice. The woman passed the black cloaked man a piece of parchment. "My mistress was able to send a map of both routes the princess and her guards are considering."
The black cloaked man unrolled the map and traced the routes with his finger. He laughed, "Serpents' path and the misty forest? Setting up traps in both will be easy enough. Now, about our current captive. Has news of his disappearance gotten out yet?"
"The Emeperor is aware of his son's kidnapping, but it seems he is trying to hide it from his subjects." A short fat man in a green cloak answered. Jia's eyes widened and he mouthed the name Saito. The only problem was the only Saito in the palace was a woman. "Peace is more important to the Imperial family than the security of their heir apparent. The prince and his whore queen's offspring have made him unnecessary," Takeo had to stop Jia from busting thru the mirror, not that he blamed his friend for the raging fire in his eyes; if anyone made such a comment about Reisha, Takeo would've seen to it that would be the last thing the speaker said. "but I don't expect that the Emperor and Empress won't bury their only child without making an attempt at a rescue. When I left the capital, there were secret meetings happening involving the Emperor's Hand."
"So, your Emperor is deploying his private army to find his son? Interesting, but you were unable to find put any of the talk inside these meeting?" The leader questioned. He strummed his fingers on the old cast iron table. Takeo and Jia looked at each other. Who was this spy? How had he gotten so close to the Imperial family? How did he know about the Emperor's Hand? "Perhaps seduce the Prince's bride into revealing information?"
"Unfortunately, my lord, the meetings are limited the leaders of the Hand or most of them anyway." The green robed man continued. "Even simple servents can't be in the room, not even to deliver food or drink. It seems their resolution is stronger than their favorite wines. As far as the Whore queen bride, " Jia growled and Takeo once again had to hold him back." She's too concerned with mirrors and has already turned down my advances and that of my doll. If I didn't know any better, I would suspect her of being a soul devouring mirror demon. I don't think she would allowed in on these meeting in any case. Heck, if I dare speculate I would say they're getting ready for to install in a fake Prince and if they do she'll be none the wiser."
"A fake Prince?" The dark blue figure laughed. His voice was that of a clown; high pitched with a eerie melody that hung in the air even after he stopped talking. He wall and thin, but not as tall as the man in black. Every mannerism reminded Takeo of a performer. "So, are just going to prop up a dummy and proclaim it Prince Jia?"
"Actually, Prince Jia had a body guard who also served as his body double. The two were nearly identical, except for the eyes." Explained the green cloaked man. Jia and Takeo looked at each other. They still looked as though they could as much as brothers as they felt. As much as they loved playing tricks on servants by switching places as late as their teens, there was no possibility of them being able to fake being the other without getting caught. "They were waiting on him to arrive before they acted. His identity however is unknown."
"It makes you wonder if the Dragon Emperor's blood even sits on the throne." A woman in a deep orange cloak replied. Takeo couldn't place her accent and Jia didn't look as though he recognized her voice. She was thin and muscular. Takeo caught a glimpse of a necklace made from sharp feline fangs and red glass beads. "And they say my bloodline is full of false kings and queens. Ha, ha, ha!"
"As soon as we find his name, I want your assassins to find his family. " The leader ordered the woman in orange. He hit the table with his fist. The ringing echoed in the room. "A man loyal to a ruler doesn't just leave to fade into obscurity for no reason. The Prince could've committed an unforgive able act that either angered him or insulted him, but he could've found a woman."
"As you say, Master, just be sure to keep your end of the bargain." She answered.
"You will have your brother's throne, as promised." The leader turned from her to the Draconian man in the purple cloak. "As for you, sky pirate, . . . "
"I already have the perfect spots picked out for the bodies. My crew is on stand by. Just say the word, pay me the gold and consider it done." The Draconian answered. His muscles shown though the fabric. He turned to the man in the grey cloak. "So, did our guest eat well tonight?"
"He drank the both and left crumbs of the bread." The grey cloaked man was indifferent. He looked to be an old man, not a Draconian though. "Even if he escapes, he'll be dead in a week."
"Plan B, I take it?" Asked the leader. The purple skypirate shook his head and laughed with grin.
"Goodness, no! Plan B is use him as a human shield. This is Plan E." He corrected. "You won't catch this captain off guard untill the sea goddess swallows him whole, but even then don't think you've heard the last of Captain James Storm McCloud."
"Then let us turn in for the night. You have your assignments; succeed and your reward will be beyond your wildest dream." The leader cackled. His tone immediately changed as they started to leave. "But fail and you'll wish for the gallows."
They paused a moment before leaving. A woman cloaked in indigo had a cold aura about her; although she hadn't said a word, Takeo felt like he knew her and that made his blood run colder than usual. A clock began to ring and Jia motioned Takeo that they needed to leave as well. "In one hour, they'll the guards watching me. We need to leave while they still think I'm the their prisoner."
"That doesn't leave us much time." Takeo answered. Jia felt along the wall.
"We can use this passage. I remember father telling me the labyrinth fortresses from the olden times had a hidden central staircase. It was always placed near the war room behind a two way mirror." Explained the Prince. He hands were looking for something.
"Which way do we go?" Asked the ninja.
"The opposite way the dragon is going." Answered Jia in a slightly annoyed tone. He kept running his hands along the wall.
"Which is . . . .?" They didn't have much time before Jia's escape would be discovered. Takeo wouldn't have put it past the villians to burn the fortress to the ground if they couldn't find Jia.
Jia smiled as he found the craved dragon in the wall. "Back the way we came. Be warned though. There's many more mirrors and vents before we get to the bottom."
"You plan on cutting that traitor's throat if you see him?"
"Let's just say I wish these walls had better sound proofing around the dungeon and be grateful your ears aren't as sharp as mine. And if we see that green man, he will pay for insulting my Rin!"