(Unedited)
Chapter 39:
Elegy
The ethereal sound of a woman's voice drifted out from the open room, and people stood, cheering in excitement as they watched the beautiful singer in the red dress sing, her gloved hands reached forward towards the overfull audience as she sang, a seductive smile across her lips as she drifted from note to note with a sultry swish of her head, her eyes entrancing the overwhelmingly large crowd.
Outside of the large hall, Clarence and Alywin stood on the ivory white balcony auspiciously, listening to the faint voice of Lady Ivana across the hall in the large performance hall of the inn. The heavy velvet curtains of the balcony had been pulled, muffling the sounds of workers passing to and fro in the hallway inside. The chilly autumn air made Alywin close the clasp of his jacket as Clarence stood with his coat open in the front as the edge of the jacket fluttered in the wind soundlessly. Even his long hair, tied back behind his neck, fluttered lightly just past his shoulders, making him look pensive as he stood, waiting.
Clarence's eyes moved around the balcony with a fervent heat. The blue hue in his eyes darkened as his gaze hovered down to the ground below, his fingers tracing the intricate railing as stood still, like an immobile statue, waiting for what he had been searching for. He could feel that he would see the elf soon, and the tingling sensation in the back of his neck was too hard to ignore.
Alywin stood next to him and stared out at the crowd outside. People of all ages stood around, craning their necks and ears in hopes of hearing or seeing Eva's performance. Some of the flower sellers had gone inside to sell flowers, while the rest had stayed outside, prodding at the audience while watching the small number of people who had chosen to ignore Eva's performance. These people instead took the time to walk the empty streets, their heads high with the pride of not joining the rowdy crowd.
"At least those sellers are still keeping their eye out. Not much help it was though." Alywin said, lifting his chin, before he shrugged, "But, in all fairness, I'm not sure how they were supposed to find that elf with a sketch. Especially if he's in disguise again."
"Even if they don't, it's fine." Clarence said shortly, his eyes scanning outside coldly.
"Is that so?" Alywin asked, putting his hand next to Clarence's as he leaned off the balcony too. The cold from Clarence's hand made Alywin shiver slightly, but he still smiled as he leaned in towards Clarence, "Are you saying you're giving up on this little treasure hunt then?"
Clarence smirked as he turned towards Alywin, leaning in towards him, their lips almost touching, "No. I'm going to find him myself." Clarence then stood up and looked out again, "If anything, they'll be a helpful distraction."
Alywin's face fell flat as Clarence stood up, and he sighed as he said, "And how do you suggest you're going to do that? In case you forgot, we are going to have to return to the palace soon. Theo can only pretend to be you for so long."
Clarence's sharp eyes shot over to Alywin's as he smirked, "I won't be long. Don't worry. Or," Clarence began, straightening up again and stepping towards Alywin, closing the distance he created between them, "Are you worried about something else?" Clarence asked, slipping his arm past Alywin to comfortably rest on the stone railing of the balcony. Alywin glanced down at Clarence's arm, then back to Clarence, using all of his willpower not to crack a smile.
So he's using my own techniques against me now? Alywin thought to himself, Then let's see how far he's willing to go.
With Clarence still propping his hand against the marble railing of the balcony, Alywin began to move closer, lifting his head and chest closer and closer to the prince, until their noses were only a short distance apart, and their breaths intermingled. The air around the two was ambiguous, and rather than backing down, Clarence held his position, smiling a shallow smile towards Alywin, who was pushing the boundary between the two further than he had before.
"What do you think?" Alywin responded lightly, his smile teasing.
There was no doubt that Clarence had changed. The young prince would have shied away from such intimate contact, and the mere closeness of their bodies now would have made him blush like a maiden in love. Now, the prince stood, leaning his body towards Alywin proactively in a teasing manner, as if it had never bothered him before.
Just as they stood, attempting to overpower the other with the pressure of their two bodies, there was a loud sound that took their attention.
POP! As the two stood, there was a loud popping noise just below the balcony, and Clarence moved back slightly, his eyes widened as he looked down towards the loud sound. His arm was still leaning against the balcony, and Alywin could only turn his head behind himself, still startled somewhat, to look towards where the prince's eyes remained frozen on a small group of people below.
As the voice of the singer had faded from the outside balcony, there was a small commotion below the balcony, and Clarence's attention was drawn downwards, towards the flower sellers Alywin had mentioned previously. The colorful object Clarence had given the flower sellers flew high into the air, looking particularly noticeable in the clear outside area in front of the hotel.
Clarence's body froze, his limbs halting to a stop as his eyes fixed on the human-looking figure standing below. He blinked once, then twice, fighting the urge to pinch the skin of his palm as he looked down at the small group of humans below the balcony. Clarence's eyes moved over the people in the group until his eyes met with a shorter man in the group.
The short man had wavy, short brown hair and small, rounded ears, but looking at the man, there was no doubt in the prince's mind, it was that elf. Even shrouded in human clothes and made to look like a human, Clarence could look at the young man and tell, even looking into his rounded, human eyes that he was not a human, but an elf in disguise, more particularly, that elf he had seen ten years ago, the elf that had attempted to assassinate him.
"That's him." Clarence's voice was hoarse, unnaturally so. His fingers trembled as his hands clutched the ivory white balcony rail in his hands. His eyes were fixed on a small group not far from the back entrance of the inn, where performers and other workers would enter and exit from. Standing by the door like that, it was not hard for Clarence to see them where he stood. Only, it would be hard for the people below to see the people on the balcony, other than their figure, as they were on the third floor.
The colorful confetti inside the item sprinkled down like twinkling stars, falling softly like snowflakes in the air. Bits of red, purple, and other colors fell rained down, highlighting the elf's human features and pale skin with a colorful halo. Clarence's view of the elf was shrouded by the colorful flakes, and the longer he looked at the distant elf, the more his hatred began to boil in his chest.
The hair stood tall on the back of Clarence's neck as he looked forward, his hands clenching the railing of the balcony so tightly, his knuckles turned white. Cold sweat poured down from his brow in drops as he looked on, his eyes unfocused as his mind returned to the scene on the stage that fateful day ten years ago, when the elf had stood over him, preparing to stab the child prince with the dagger in his hand.
He could recall every movement of the elf's, as if time had gone slow that day, and looking at the man below, the tingling sensation on the back of his neck only became stronger. His heavy, devout gaze was fervent and unwavering, as if he had returned to his childhood when he worshiped the blonde elven man in his picture book, The Martyr Elf.
Though now, it was like a game of hide and seek. Clarence was no longer forced to hide due to his weakness. Now, he had grown, and with it he had grown power that could make it easy for him to send guards to seek the elf for him, but it was not fun to play with such an unfair advantage. Clarence wanted to seek for himself, to make the elf feel the same weakness he had as a child, and to make the elf pay for his sins.
Without waiting for Alywin, Clarence grabbed his baggage and placed it hurriedly on his back before he grabbed the scabbard of his sword in his hand before he turned on his heel, preparing to run inside the hotel. Alywin watched the prince, yelling out his name as he attempted to grab Clarence's arm, but when his fingers landed on the crook of Clarence's arm, he was quickly brushed off with a heavy shake of his arm. Without speaking, Clarence took off inside the hotel, making the velvet curtains dance as he ran.
Alywin could only gather his things, holding his own sword close to him as he followed behind by a second, running into the empty hallway. He could only listen to the prince's distant footsteps and follow closely behind, cursing under his breath at the prince's impulsive move.
…
Behind the curtain of the stage stood Saoirse, the large book from before rested in her hands as she looked over the foreign words written inside with a neat cursive handwriting. Her eyes squinted as she read it, the time of their departure nearing.
"Are you ready?" The door to the backstage opened, and Neema walked inside, a smile on her face as she looked at her preoccupied sister.
Saoirse looked up towards Neema, responding in their native language, "Did you finish the preparations? Eva will be done soon."
Hearing Saoirse's nervous tone, Neema sighed and patted her sister on the shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry. Vahn and Holland will be here any minute with Meredith and his guest. All we need to do now is wait for the show to end."
As Neema finished speaking, there was the loud sound of cheering from the audience, followed by Eva's melodious voice trailing through the thick velvet drapes on the stage. She lowered her hands, placing one on her hip casually, as if she were speaking to a casual acquaintance, charming her audience even more. The amicable expression on her face was almost convincing to Neema and Saoirse.
"Thank you all so much for coming today." Eva smiled, her face warm under the crystal chandeliers. "I hope you are able to join me at my next performance." The audience, full of adoring fans of Eva, cheering loudly, flooding out the end of her words as she spoke again, waving her gloved hand with the same seductive smile on her face.
Behind the stage, Neema motioned with her hand, and Saoirse was quick to move. Saoirse moved to the side, grabbing a long woven rope in her hand as she looked back towards the stage curtain. With a heavy tug of her right wrist, Saoirse pulled down the rope and hurriedly moved towards Neema, who had already opened the floor latch to get under the stage. With practiced movements, the two girls jumped down inside, into the darkness, and disappeared from view, locking the floor panel as they disappeared from view. Smoke began to fill the stage as Eva stood in place, her figure disappearing from view from behind the dense cover of the smoke. The audience members took a step back, moving out of the area of the smoke, some even waving their hands to clear the air in front of them.
"Let's go." Neema had already prepared a glow stone, provided by Meredith. Using it, she and Saoirse disappeared towards the front of the stage, standing tall in the narrow, dusty area. The dirt underneath their feet cracked, some loose stones moving with their movements. "Eva will be just down the walkway here."
The space underneath the stage was tall enough to accommodate the height of an average-sized human, leaving Saoirse and Neema enough room to stand comfortably as they moved forward, Neema holding the glow stone in her palm as she moved forward, lighting up the dirt path. Spiders and other bugs scuttled down the path, making Neema squeak aloud, taking a step back towards her sister, who had an equally squeamish expression on her face.
The pair walked carefully ahead until they saw a shadowy figure towards the end of the path, under the wooden stage. The figure had bent slightly, brushing dust off of their clothes as they stood, looking somewhat uncomfortable in the narrow space.
"Lady Eva." The warm light of the glow stone lit up the space in front of the girls' feet, exposing Eva's figure in the dark as she stood up straight, adjusting her silk gloves as she looked up, meeting the gazes of Neema and Saoirse.
"We need to hurry. The others should be here by now." Eva said in her cool voice, stepping forward in her high heels as she walked across the dirt, looking unbothered by the bugs crawling around the heel of her shoes. The small group maneuvered through the dark with ease, using the dim light to move from the stage area back towards the exit hall for the special guests and other visitors. There was a latch just to the side of the hall, in a small storage room to allow performers to escape the stage to perform tricks and grab other items when necessary. Having found the path, Eva made sure to use it to allow her a quick and efficient escape with her companions.
Lifting up the heavy wooden board of the stage, Neema was the first to jump up through the hole, lifting Saoirse up with her hands. Once the pair of sisters was up, they reached their hands down and pulled Eva up with a gentle tug. As the two girls dusted off their armor, grimacing as they plucked off the dust and cobwebs off of themselves, Eva only had a trace of dust on the bottom of her dress and shoes, and she was able to wave the dust off with a flick of her wrist.
"Here is your disguise, Lady Eva." Before they were able to leave the storage area, Neema reached into her storage back and procured a pair of comfortable traveling shoes and a long travel jacket with buttons. Changing into the shoes, Eva passed her old shoes to Neema, who stored away her heeled shoes carefully in a fabric wrap in her bag. Buttoning the jacket, it was difficult to tell that Eva had dressed to perform beforehand.
"This should do. Thank you." Eva smiled at Neema and Saoirse as she retrieved her bag and pulled out a traveling cap. Wearing it on her head, she was able to hide most of her short curly hair. Tucked inside her cap, Eva appeared like a foreign traveler moving from destination to destination. Even with her heavy makeup, she looked like a Bethinian citizen, donning more intricate clothing than the popular Yursinean style.
The performance had just ended, but Vaan, Holland, Meredith, and Silas were already supposed to have arrived in the side room. Having stood for only a moment, Eva felt a bitter premonition rise in her mind as he adjusted the last button of her jacket. "They should have been here by now." Her relaxed expression fell somewhat, making her look more irritated than anxious. It should have been easy to take care of Beau. What else would be hindering them? With Vaan and Holland, they would be able to take down the captain even without the sleeping powder. There was no way they would still be fighting the man.
Unless they ran into another obstacle.
Eva's expression tightened as Saoirse and Neema looked at each other with a slight nod of their heads, and Neema spoke up. "Lady Eva, what should we do? Would you like me to go find them?" Neema moved a strand of dark purple hair out of her face as she looked forward, looking somewhat nervous, but prepared, her face firm with determination. Even though they had the stone to communicate, they had not used it yet. That could only mean that they were unable to use it at the moment.
There was a low possibility of her crew being captured by the guards, but Eva immediately put that thought aside, trusting her crew to complete the mission she had assigned them. Her fingers rested on the delicate button of her jacket by the collar, her gloved hands fiddling with the thread.
The mission had been going smoothly until Meredith brought his nephew… The delay could be caused by him. Eva thought pensively, her eyes narrowing. It's too dangerous to wait here for them.
As Eva thought to herself, there was the sound of loud commotion from outside of the room, and Neema looked towards Eva with a surprised gaze as she hurried across the room and towards the door, her bangles on her wrist jangling with her movements. When she opened the door to the dressing room, there was a servant running alone down the hall with a worried expression, his face dripping with cold sweat.
Neema stepped out from the doorway, closing the door enough to hide Saoirse and Eva from view as she stepped beside the man and stopped him with a light grab of his left shoulder as he passed her. "Excuse me, what was that noise?"
"N-nothing, young lady. You don't have to worry, the inn staff is taking care of the problem now." The young man was dressed in a formal suit, but the front was covered in dirt, and his hair was messy, obvious from being thrown to the ground by someone.
Neema looked at the young servant as she asked, "Such a loud sound… was the inn attacked by something?" Her words sounded innocent, but there was a probingness to them that made the young man lower his guard in front of her.
The young servant looked frightened, but when he saw Neema's mercenary armor, he calmed slightly, looking a bit more confident now. He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief as he said, "There are two patrons fighting outside of the inn. I tried to separate them, but they only pushed me aside and pulled out their swords! They threatened to stab me if I tried to stop them!" The young man was obviously not a fighter. He would have no chance of fighting against the two. "The manager told me to get the guards, but I can't find them!"
Neema smiled comfortingly at the young servant as she said, "My mercenary troop is here and would be happy to help the inn. Where are the swordsmen?" Only mercenaries and knights could carry swords so casually here. Neema had a feeling the problem included Vaan and Holland.
The young servant naively told Neema the information before he rushed off to continue his search for the Ivory Inn's guards. It was unlike them to be away from their posts, but with the surprise performance from Eva, everything had changed.
After the man ran off down the hall, Neema entered the room again and looked towards Eva as she asked, "What should we do now, Lady Eva?"
Eva raised her head to look at Neema and Saoirse as she said firmly, "We can't wait any longer. Let's go."
Eva began to walk towards the door with an elegant gate. Her lips were twisted into a small smile as she placed her hand on the door frame. She thought to herself distantly, Maybe I'll see Captain Laurent again? I'm sure he's missed me since our last meeting. Eva laughed under her breath as she pushed open the side door to the abandoned hall.
Neema and Saoirse were only steps behind as they ran behind her, their things gathered as they quickly followed, preparing their weapons at their hips. The heaviness in the air stagnated, and the feeling of a looming battle hung in the air like specs of dust under the light of the morning sun.
The bad feeling in the bottom of their chests rose again as they neared the door, where the commotion grew louder.
Hello all! Thanks for reading!! Happy almost 40 chapters, and we're about to reach a milestone on discord of about 170 subscribers! :D Ah, so exciting~ (´ ω `♡) Having people read and enjoy our work feels really nice.
I've been writing online since 2008, but I stopped posting for 7 years until recently due to life stuff and prioritizing what I really want to write. I still have all my old art and writings..... (￣ ￣|||) My oldest project is 18 years old, actually! Maybe you all will get to see it if I keep my productive streak up? ┐( ´ д ` )┌
Hunny was busy today, so this was solely edited by me. It may read a little rough in a few areas, but that will be fixed when we have more time o(TヘTo) I need to stop playing Beholder and get some things done..... hehe Love you, Hunny ♥