"Cough… Cough… That… stinks. What is it?"
"Errrrrrrgh."
Mouse opened his eyes and stared at the blurry figure standing in front of him. "Ahhh. The dart, then you must be one of the keep's people."
"Kid, your safe. Your pursuers are having pleasant dreams far from here. I'm not owned by the keep. I'm my own man."
Mouse nodded and slowly stood up. "Head hurts." He groaned again putting his head in his hands. "That would the aftereffects of the dart that they used. It was only a trapping dart…" Mouse watched the blurry figure hold something in their hand inspecting it. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He stared at the person in front of him.
"Are you a shadow?"
Mouse opened his mouth in awe and his eyes sparkled while rubbing his head. He watched the dark clothed man nod.
"You can say that I am, but also I'm not." Mouse looked at him in confusion. "That doesn't make any sense."
"You'll know the difference when you actually met a shadow. For now, we must move… There is someone who wants to meet with you."
Mouse nodded. "Yes, my head is still pounding, but I'm able to move."
He followed the shadow through the streets surrounding the markets until they came to an alleyway behind the tavern. Mouse stood in silence watching the shadow. "This is one of our many different entrances…"
"Entrances to what?"
"Kid, this is not the time for questions and answers. The guards are out still looking for you. You just need to follow me and be quiet." Mouse nodded sadly and watched as the shadow touched the wall at the end of the alleyway and removed a loose brick. "The battery is still here good…"
Mouse stood in shock as the wall started to shift revealing a dark passage. He followed the shadow into the darkness. "I can't see anything in here."
He felt a hand on his shoulder pushing him and stopped walking. "Hey shadow, I hope you're not planning anything here in the dark with me…"
"Hahaha" He heard the shadow laugh. "Relax. There's only one for me, and you don't even measure anywhere close to them. I'm leading you since you can't see in the dark."
Mouse took a deep breath and relaxed. "That's good to hear."
As they walked through the darkness Mouse closed his eyes. "If my eyes don't work in here, then I'll use my ears. I should be able to hear something." He focused on the sounds he could hear. "There is no water, no dripping so we're not in the sewer or water aqueducts." He paused and stopped walking.
"Is that music, or is the poison of the dart making me deaf as well?" He listened for longer. "That was laughter. We must be under the tavern."
He felt the shadow push his shoulder and he started walking again. "We're walking towards the music. It's getting louder."
"Owww. Bright light… Music… Are we here yet?"
His eyes got used to the light and he stood with his mouth open. "This is an underground tavern… This place is amazing. What is this place?"
He turned to the shadow who was standing next to him. "This is the tavern of the thief queen." The shadow raised a hand and Mouse followed his pointing to a red-haired woman standing on a balcony above the drinkers below singing and drinking at the same time.
He turned to the shadow who pointed to an empty chair. "You sit there and wait. I'll go speak to her." He sat in the chair and put his hands on his head and cursed.
"What have I got myself into this time?"
He looked up and watching in silence as the shadow spoke to the woman and looked down as her gaze landed on him. He cursed under his breath and looked up again watching as she walked towards the stairs.
"Here she comes. I wonder what she wants from me."
His mouth fell open as he watched her walk down the stairs. "She… is gorgeous. Better than any tavern or bath girl that I have met." He took a deep breath and slapped his cheeks.
"Wake up. I'm not in her league. Just a nobody. She needs me for other things." He looked around him. "The music has stopped…" He saw everyone's eyes were focused on the thief queen. He felt his body react to her and cursed again.
"She is staring at me…" He started to breath heavily cursing. He put his hand over his chest and looked down. "She isn't near me, and my heart is racing. Who is she?" He smiled at her and swallowed as she winked at him. "Why is my face so hot? She can't be human…"
He watched as she walked slowly towards him staring at him. She stopped and her eyes no longer were looking at Mouse. "I want her to look at me…"
He shook his head. "I don't want her to be near me." He stood up and didn't move as he saw everyone's eyes were looking at a smiling drunk staring at their hand. He heard her quiet, yet commanding voice fill the silent tavern.
"Do you all know the rules of my tavern?" He watched all the heads nod in silence in the tavern. He felt a chill run down his spin and his body start to break out in a cold sweat. "How is she doing this?" He looked down at his body. "I want to move but I can't." He looked up with a white face. "She is very dangerous…"
He watched her slowly move towards the drunk who was smiling and looking around at the others in tavern. "Thennn… You know the punishment?"
Mouse blinked.
He saw her holding a bloody dagger. He took a deep breath and watched as the drunk's hand fell to the ground. Her voice full of ice. "Never… Ever… Touch me. If someone touches me, that part is forfeit and lost."
He took a deep breath and nodded in silence with the others in the tavern.
"AAAAARRRRRGGGHHH! My HAND!"
"Thud."
He watched in stunned silence as the knife embedded itself into the drunk's chair between their legs. "You broke the rules. Get out of my sight, or my next blade will not miss."
Mouse fell back onto his seat speechless."How did she move so fast? I didn't even see where she pulled the dagger from, let along make a cut." He sat in stunned silence with his mouth hanging open sweat forming on his forehead.
"You're the one who got in?"
Mouse looked up and stared at the thief queen. "Y…y…you mmean in…n the kkk…keep?" He watched her shake her head and he looked down to her ample chest pushing tight against her clothes.
"Hahaha. This young man is growing up well." He heard her laugh and his face turned red. He took a deep breath. "Your perfume smells very nice." He looked at her smile and could feel his heartbeat quicken.
"Handsome. What is your name?" He smiled as she placed her hand on his face. "My name is Mouse."
"Mouse… Interesting name… Well Mouse I've been told you're from the outside?" He nodded with a smile on his face. "Excellent. That means you have some talent getting into places others can't. How did you get in?"
Mouse smiled. "I walked in through the front door while the guards were busy with the supply transport. "He took another deep breath as her body got closer to him. "I've never smelt your type of perfume before. It is amazing." He looked at her as she winked at him and put her hand on his.
"Yes. It's unique and special. Hahaha."
Mouse looked confused for a second then smiled as he smelt the perfume again. "I've also been told that you got into the keep and was chased out after a few days of watching." Mouse nodded silently again. "There is more to it than that."
"Then Mouse. I want to know everything about why you got in and what happened in the keep. Don't miss anything out please."
He stared into her eyes as they became larger and he couldn't look away and just nodded at her not blinking. "About a month ago all the gangs were called by the district bosses to meet under the docks at meeting point bridge. The person we met was an attendant of the Supreme. They were asking us to find and inform them of any shadows in the city as there was a murder in the keep."
He took a breath enjoying her perfume.
"During the meeting my team and I found it out to be a trap and tried to escape the meeting. All the district bosses were carrying strange battery powered weapons and had scars all over their body. Then there was a flash of red and I was the only one who escaped." He frowned for a moment and then smiled as he smelt the perfume again.
"After recovering from the blast, I returned to the meeting point finding that everyone had gone. No traces of them ever being there at all. So, I went through all the districts and found that there are no gangs out there at all. So, I entered here looking for answers in the keep."
He felt his face was turning red from talking too quickly. He took another breath and took a drink from the pitcher while staring at her large eyes.
"I entered the keep and overheard from some noble family no idea which one that the Supreme was planning something and everyone has lost their contacts and are all blind in the districts. Every person that was sent in has not returned."
Mouse sat in silence waiting for the thief queen to speak. He stared at her as she played with her hair.
"Agune… Can you come here for a moment!"
He watched as a tall skinny man approached the queen and bowed. Mouse looked at him and then the thief queen with a sense of urgency in his voice. "That is the person who stands at the servant's entrance to the keep. Maybe he is a spy."
"Hahahaha. He's worried about me. Agune here is a spy in the keep. He is a spy for us here in my tavern." Mouse smiled at the thief queen.
He heard Agune's voice while staring into the thief queen's eyes. "I've had my eyes on you, sitting on the crates watching us. To get in and out of the keep without my knowledge shows you have some skill."
"Add him to the servants list. Keep an eye on Borgis and this one..."
Mouse just stared into the thief queen's eyes not paying attention to what was happening around him. He shook his head. "Her eyes… Her perfume is gone." He felt sad and looked up from where he was sitting and saw Agune sitting across from him.
"Where did she go? Why do I feel sad she isn't near me?"
"Mouse is it? Follow me from now on you're mine to bring into shape." Mouse followed Agune to the rear of the tavern where several tunnels were leading into the darkness. He followed Agune down the leftmost tunnel.
In the darkness of the tunnel he lost sight of Agune. "Agune?" He felt a heavy punch to his stomach winding him and forced against the tunnel wall with Agune's forearm against his throat. He grabbed at Agune's forearm and saw Agune's face come closer to Mouse speaking through his teeth.
"The queen wants you, and I listen to my queen. If you ever do something against me or our plans, you'll be cut into tiny pieces without you even knowing it. Do you understand me?"
"Cough… Cough… Yes… I get… you."
Mouse couldn't breath and fell into a heap onto the tunnel ground as Agune let him go.
"Cough… Cough…"
He groaned as Agune bent over his body. "Good… Not only will you learn how to be a servant. You'll also be taught some special skills."
"Oooof."
Mouse cried out as he felt Agune's kick him in the stomach. "From now on you're on your own. Learn how to survive… If not, then I'm happy to end your life."
Mouse rolled onto his back and felt Agune spit on his face. "Your useless, and worth nothing in my eyes. The training is going to kill you, and I'll be rid of a weak, useless piece of trash. Down the end of this tunnel is a door. Go through it, and that is where you'll eat and sleep from now on."
Mouse nodded as Agune leaned over his body. "Sunrise servant's entrance. If you're not there, then pray to the Creator that we'll never met again." Mouse felt Agune's punch in his stomach and cried out in pain. He laid on the ground as he heard Agune's footsteps echo off the walls of the tunnel until they faded, he didn't move.
Mouse sat against the wall, sighed to himself, rubbed his throat and stomach cursing. He stood up and leaned against the wall of the tunnel and walked in the direction that Agune told him to go.
"This is too troublesome. I just wanted to find out about Sai and Garrn. Yet I'm dragged into this mess." He stood in front of the door opening it slowly.
"The garden, this is an entrance to her tavern through the garden." He smiled and closed the door. "It slides in with the rocks perfectly. I'm sure I've climbed over it several times before."
He walked to the bottom of the waterfall. "Let's see how bad I look."
He undressed and slid into the pool of water.
"Ahhhhhh. That feels refreshing."He pulled an apple from an overhanging branch taking a large bite of it. "Thank you, tree. This is exactly what I need right now."
He leaned back in the pool against the rocks and stared at the sky. He lifted one arm in the sky and closed it over the moon. "For Garrn and Sai. I'll go through death and be the one that is still standing. To find what happened to them, I'll walk the path that people are scared to walk down."
He lowered his hand and saw them both shaking. He sighed throwing the apple core into the bushes below the tree.
"I'm willing to walk this path, but why am I still afraid?"