Chaos erupted in the square as hundreds of people trampled over one another, hastily running towards the exit.
"My word!" Sir Ivan shouted looking up at the bursting fireworks above all the insanity. "Is this Gods judgement?"
"Now is not the time to be contemplating Scripture!" Lindor yelled, shuffling out of the inner square.
"Prince…" Godefroi said, falling to his knees. He hunched over, grabbing his ears, trying to prevent their excruciating ringing from continuing any further. "My 13 swords… have you managed to defeat them in one blow?" He said
"Not quite," Weisheng said, returning to Godefroi.
"You're alive" Godefroi said perplexed. "But what of the explosions?"
"It was a faint, it seems he used fireworks to mimic the sound and look of an explosion, we have suffered minor injuries but everyone seems to be ok."
"I see… Then his true objective was to send me a message, you were not his targets."
"I underestimated him! He not only anticipated we would come after him, but also our route! Because the square was so packed, he predicted we would use the rooftops of the adjacent buildings to jump to his location on the clock tower. Now we have no trace of him and hundreds of people retreating in all directions! Our chances of catching him are near none! If I had just list-"
"Stop Weisheng" Godefroi interrupted. "You should be thankful that by the grace of god my nephew chose fireworks over explosions. It was most likely to avoid casualties among the innocent," He said looking on at the crowds of people fleeing.
"Right now I am less angry at you and more concerned about my nephew. In a matter of moments he nearly toppled my entire network of protection. If he had been more audacious, he might have even killed me today" Godefroi said pressing his hand to his forehead.
"Sir!" Weisheng said.
"We withdraw for now" Godefroi said. "We need to use this chance to bolster our defenses, we have been… too careless."
"I take full responsibility for this!" Weisheng said "The Royal family of Qing would be ashamed if they saw me now!"
"Take this as a lesson" Godefroi said "Do not underestimate my nephew again, or disobey my orders. Those two things are not always mutually exclusive. If you fail to do so again, you will likely lose your life"
"Yes sir!" Weisheng said.
"Now as for his accomplish" Godefroi said "Who in the world would assist him in such treachery?"
"Sir?"
"There is no way he was able to set off an explosion like that while standing afar at that tower!" Godefroi said.
"What about a trap or trip wire?" Weisheng said.
"Do you believe the 13 greatest assassins would trip over wire?" Godefroi asked.
"No sir, I don't, you are right, and even if we did we would have noticed."
"This bothers me" Godefroi said. "Those who share a common enemy become allies, and those with common allies become a team, if this is what he is capable of on his own… There's no telling what he will become if we are not careful"
"Prince" Alicia said running into his arms. She squeezed him as tightly as she could imprinting herself into his chest.
"Alicia you did well, I knew I could count on you" Prince said running his fingers through her hair.
"I don't have much time," He said, caressing her. "I will be unable to move freely for a while, I need to move towards the next stage of my plan."
"I will always be ready and waiting" She answered "Whenever you need me just send a raven"
Prince wrapped his hands around Alicia, bringing her close to him.
"The next time we make love" Prince said gently kissing her "I won't leave you in the middle of the night"
"Prince" Alicia said blushing
"Next time, I will hold you in my arms until the sun rises, until then I will hold no other woman" Prince said letting go of her.
"Au revoir Alicia" Prince said(farewell)
"Au revoir mon amour" Alicia replied(Farewell my love)
Sir Ivan ran through the streets of France searching for his carriage.
"Excuse me sir! Have you seen a Carriage" He said running up to a man on the street.
"Carriage?" The man said "I've seen plenty of them! Don't you know what today was?" He answered
"I suppose your right?" Ivan admitted scratching his head. "Well my carriage had a blue flag of the Dewberry family on it, our coat of arms is very distinct! It has a yellow cross and pair of white roses!" He said
"Hmmm, Yeh I think I did see that carriage! A man with long white hair asked me the same question! It went down that street!" The man said pointing away
"Knock Knock" Prince heard outside of his carriage
He creaked open the door anticipating his guest.
"Bravo bravo my boy" Lindor said clapping his hands "I had no idea you were capable of a show like that."
Lindor sat beside Prince inside of Ivan's carriage
"What do you want backstabber" Prince said taking off his hood.
"I want to know what you're plotting" Lindor said "If the circumstances are right, I may be able to assist you" Lindor said
"Don't worry" Prince said "I have no intentions of blowing up the Den of Wolves, this was a one-time thing" Prince admitted
Prince looked into Lindor's eyes expecting an apprehensive response. But Lindor had not a single drop of fear in his eyes, what Prince saw was greed, and avarice feverously burning in Lindor's gaze.
"No…." Prince said
"That's right boy, I was planning to do a larger scale event of this kind on someone else" He said rubbing his hands together "I could, use your help" He said extending his hand. "You and I have shared fates now… isn't it best we help each other?"
"Well boy are you going to accept? He may be a conniving bastard but he is a useful one." Pedro said
"Your right." Prince said "But once a traitor always a traitor, he will wait for the opportune moment to do me in" Prince said.
"We could do the same to him" Pedro said.
"True, but now is not the time for this." Prince said." Now is the time to start anew building strong and trustworthy relationships"
"Thanks, but no thanks" Prince said dismissing Lindor's handshake. "I'm going to join Sir Ivan's estate, and work there" Prince said. "I'm going to build myself from the ground up just as you did."
"That is quite the long road" Lindor said "Are you ready to shovel manure and go weeks without showering? That is the life ahead of you! I can provide you a much better future" He said smiling
"A future of no showers and sleeping in my own filth would still be cleaner than whatever dastardly mishap you are planning for my eventual betrayal" Prince said.
"Hehe we'll see how you feel a month from now!" Lindor said laughing "The offer will still be there for you."
"In a month I will have become a knight." Prince said
"Hehahahah what! You think you can climb through the system of peerage in one month? Even a squire takes two years to become knighted!" Lindor barked
"You are dismissed Lindor" Prince said "I pray my uncle doesn't kill you before I do." Prince said smiling. "That would be unfortunate."
"Sneer all you want boy," Lindor said "This conversation is proof that I am always closer than you think." He said leaving the carriage
"Though, I'm not closer to you then the Baroness is, she seems to be quite fond of you doesn't she?" Lindor said stepping out.
"Lindor!!!!" Prince yelled after him
"Hahahaahahhaha! I will see you in a month, after that we can renegotiate our stances,"
"Au revoir Prince!" Lindor said laughing, waving his hand as he walked away.
"Damnit!" Prince said slamming his hand down on his seat "I'll kill that bastard!"
"Prince!" Sir Ivan said barging into the carriage a few moments later.