"Welcome to the Imperial City," a tall man in an elegant suit greeted us. "I am minister Palor one of the Emperor's hands."
"I am Rain Axel of Axel, these are my companions and friends of the Hero Lara, Taylor Tiana and Master Swordsman Earnest," I spoke on behalf of the others pointing them in turn.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," the minister bowed. It seemed like he and those behind him had better attitudes than the soldiers from before. It could also mean that they were better actors.
"Likewise," I made a slight bow in return.
"Please follow me into the Palace interior. Your companions and friends are already waiting inside."
"Of course, lead the way," I gestured for him to move and we kept a steady pace behind him. Pina and our carriage were allowed to disembark as well but were taken elsewhere.
Everyone we passed bowed at the sight of us. Many of them were the Palace staff but a few looked to be high ranking nobles. As we entered the interior I was once more blown away by the elegance displayed. Fine art almost everywhere you looked to the point it was being shoved down your throat. The Kingdom's Palace had quite a few pieces as well but this was overkill for sure. Taylor however practically ignored it all and kept her eyes forward while Earnest occasionally gazed at one in mild interest.
"Ah minister Palor," an infuriatingly smooth voice called out towards us. My body suddenly tensed up at the mere sound and I had to stop my mana from reacting on impulse. The source was a tall man in what looked like his late thirties, though he could have been older. His features were handsome and his body strong. Even covered in armour you could tell his physique was well built. The problem was the seething hate I was feeling by just having him in my gaze.
"General Elroy," the minister bowed to him. "I am just taking the Hero's companions to the waiting room."
"Oh?" his eyes fell to us and the knights cleared a path. "I am Elroy, General of the Empire and part of the Council."
"Rain," I replied straining mentally to be normal. Kill him! A dark voice screamed inside my head. The worse part was that it felt incredibly convincing. As if there was a reason to do so, as if my entire being was hell bent on his destruction. I needed to know what this was, "Have we met somewhere before?"
He looked at me curiously, "I do not believe so. Though I did spend some time in the Demon lands while I was younger, I'd doubt you'd have been born then."
I nodded. It was taking far more than I wanted to admit to stop myself drawing my sword and gutting him.
"Why if it isn't our famous thief Empress," his eyes met Taylor's in recognition. "It's been some time. To think you were helping the Hero."
"I'm not the Empire's. I go and do what I want," Taylor answered coolly. "Helping the Hero was a worthy cause."
He laughed, "So even someone like you can turn a new leaf."
Okay now I really wanted to kill him. I knew he was joking but that tone he took with Taylor was the last straw. Earnest stepped in front of me with his hand pointed towards the General, "I am Earnest."
"The Master swordsman correct? I do hope we'll have time for a bout," Elroy shook his hand. "Perhaps we will talk later. For now I must be off."
Minister Palor turned to him, "Is everything going well?"
"Perfectly," the General smiled. "Tonight's ball will be beautiful." He left just as quickly as he came. The tension in my body receded. I had never felt that kind of hate before, not even against the Demon Lord or the Monster of the border forest. Heck even when I wanted to kill Ronalt it paled in comparison.
We were guided further into the Palace and into a large well-furnished room. An assortment of food was laid out on table and a large window opened up to a veranda overlooking the city. More importantly however Lara and the others weren't there.
"Please wait here," Minister Palor bowed. "I shall ask for the Hero and the rest of your companions to meet you soon. If there is anything you need simply ask one of the maids or butlers outside."
"Thank you," I nodded my head to him as he left. The knights followed, leaving us in privacy.
I sat in a nearby chair and heaved out a tense breath.
Earnest frowned at me, "Rain, what was that? If I hadn't interrupted you would have killed that man."
Taylor sat beside me, "Really? I mean I was surprised he recognized me but that's no reason to kill him."
"I-," I opened my mouth only to close it. "Honestly I don't know what it was. I just really, really don't like that General."
"That's unlike you," Earnest said.
"Was it magic?" Taylor asked.
I shook my head, "No, if it was I'm confident I would have felt at least some trace."
"Just don't lose your head okay," Taylor poked me in the cheek. "You're the one who told me not to cause trouble."
"Right…," I breathed out slowly. "Though if you see me pull a knife out please stop me." They laughed thinking I was joking but I was entirely serious.
Two hours passed with us doing not much more than looking outside the window and tasting the assortment of foods that they had left for us. It was taking longer than any of us had expected to meet with the others and we had seen no sign of them so far.
"Don't you think this is a bit weird?" Taylor asked. "I'm just going to remind you but the Empire's government is not a small bit shiftier than the Kingdom's."
"I know, I'm getting a little antsy here." I turned to Earnest, "What do you think, should we go find them ourselves?"
He smirked, "It would be interesting."
"Let's try this by the book first," I stood up and opened the door leading outside. Two knights stood down the corridor and several staff were walking by. I called to them, "Excuse me, I was wondering how much longer we would be waiting."
The knight turned to me, "Please remain where you are. The Minister should not be much longer."
"Can't you just take us to him now?"
"Apologies sir but my orders are to stay here and guard."
"Then can we take a look around ourselves?" I narrowed my eyes at the pair.
It was slight but an agitation crossed his body, "Sir please stay in the room."
"I'm starting to feel less like a guest and more like a prisoner." My voice became haughty, "Is this how you treat one of the Hero's companions? We faced the Demon Lord for the sake of peace! Don't you have any respect?"
"I must obey my orders sir," he was becoming flustered.
"And what were your orders exactly?"
He paused just a little too long, "To guard you sir."
"Earnest, Taylor we're leaving."
The pair pointed their halberds towards me, "You will stay were you are." The last straw was plucked. Their actions clear that something more nefarious was on the rise.
"Is that so?" As I said those words Taylor descended from the ceiling above and with a quick knock to their unarmoured necks they fell to the ground unconscious. If this really was a misunderstanding we could talk it out later.
The servants that had seen the commotion blanched, staring at us with wide fearful eyes. Earnest nodded his head to them, "We'd appreciate if you kept quiet about this."
"Taylor you didn't kill them right?" I asked to make sure.
She looked at me insulted, "Of course not… wait did you want me to?"
"No you did well," I gave her a thumbs up and walked up to the closest maid. "Hi there, we're looking for the Hero. Would you happen to know where she is?"
Her eyes continued to shift from me to the pair of knights on the floor, "N-no sir. I just clean."
"Then when people cause trouble where are they taken?"
"Th-the dungeon sir."
"And where is this dungeon?"
For a moment her mouth clamped shut but seeing something behind me her eyes widened in fear. She shook her head, "P-please I don't know."
"Then where do they take people who make mistakes?"
"Mistakes?" though she was confused it was clear she had somewhere in mind.
"You must have at least heard rumours," I pressed further.
Her eyes flicked past my shoulder, causing her to flinch, "Under the garden… they take people and they never come back."
"Thank you and sorry," I pulled out some powder and blew it into her face. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to the floor as well. I turned around to have Taylor suspiciously close. "I appreciate the help, but that poor maid was terrified. What did you do?"
"Oh I just scowled a little," she smiled innocently. "Anyway we should clean up." Her eyes turned to the remaining staff who peeked from the corridor in fear.
After leaving their bodies in the room opposite where we had been kept, we snuck down the corridor. It would be quite difficult to reach the outside with the amount of people working through the halls. In the end we decided a different route and pretended like we belonged. Walking freely past the lower class servants and avoiding the others. As we made it to the gardens we found a small corner to hide in.
"Taylor what do you know about the Palace?" I asked quietly.
"Never been personally but I'm pretty sure the building there should lead to the dungeon," she pointed across the garden where a squad of knights blocked the door.
"Awfully heavily guarded for a weekday don't you think?"
Earnest cracked his neck, "Well I have been meaning to get some exercise since getting off that boat. Don't worry I'll go easy on them."
I grit my teeth anxiously, "I feel like we're taking this too far but… better to ask for forgiveness than permission I guess. Taylor we'll sneak inside while they're distracted."
"Follow me," she squeezed my hand and let go, leading the way behind the bushes.
Earnest waited for a minute before waltzing straight to the centre of the garden. "Why hello there!" his voice bellowed towards the knights. "I was wondering if you've seen my companions."
"Y-you!?" a knight at the front drew his sword. "Stay where you are."
"Hey now, no need to cause a fuss. I was just taking a walk."
"You're not meant to be here." Out of the six knights guarding the building four approached Earnest. From their postures they were ready to attack at any moment.
"I was under the impression I was a guest here. The gardens are lovely by the way, it would be a shame if anything were to happen to them."
"Hand over your sword," the knights spaced themselves in front of him.
"Sorry this thing is my responsibility," Earnest placed his hand on the hilt.
At this point Taylor and I had reached the building. It had no windows but with our ability to sneak by and the knights distracted, getting in was easy. Their eyes didn't even flick by us as we walked in front of them in plain view. I just hoped Earnest wouldn't take things too far, though if they touched his sword there would be hell to pay. As we reached the stair case leading downwards a loud crash resounded outside filled with the shouts of men. Footsteps ran towards us climbing the stairs as Taylor and I shoved ourselves into a small nook, our bodies pressed together. On the plus side there'd be less people to sneak by downstairs.
"My, we're quite close aren't we?" Taylor whispered in my ear. "Feels nice."
"Time and place Taylor," it was a tight squeeze with the two of us and I'd be lying if I said a part of me wasn't thinking that way. "Let's go. Even Earnest can only stall so long."
We quickly made our way down the stairs and they soon opened up to a larger room. Three guards were in clear sight watching the entrance. Being that vigilant even Taylor's technique would be seen through but it gave us enough time to get close.
"Hey you're-," the guard screamed and pointed his spear towards me. I charged in from the front sword drawn as Taylor disappeared around them. My sword beat away his spear as he stepped back trying to stab me again. As he did so his eyes wavered causing his aim to miss by a long mark, making it easy for me to knock him in the head. My heart beat painfully as I cut off my mana. Taylor had already taken care of the other two.
"After fighting Earnest so much this is actually pretty easy," I commented and made sure they were unconscious.
"You say that but aren't you in a lot of pain?" Taylor remarked.
"I'm used to it," I sheathed my sword as we entered the next room. It was a dungeon alright. Sectioned off cells with thick metal bars imbued with magic. Several people I didn't recognise were chained to the wall. They were bruised and battered, their eyes hollow from the torment of being locked away. What caught my eye however was the hulking figure at the end of prison. His head forced downwards and locked tight, the chains binding him twice as thick as the rest and worse still were the metal spikes plunged into his back sealing him.
"Ronalt!" I ran towards him.
He couldn't even look up at me as Taylor threw me the keys to open the door. I worked quickly to unbind the chains and free him. The spikes vibrated with magic and as I grasped them, a foreboding sensation passed through me only to be expelled.
"Sorry Ronalt," I wrenched the spikes from his body as a black ooze spilled from the wound. "Taylor stay away from those spikes." I warned her and drew out the few potions I had on me, pouring them on his wounds and forcing him to drunk the rest.
He drunk it barely conscious. Seconds passed before he was finally able to speak, "Rain?"
"What the hell did they do to you?" I asked angrily. I should have known something wasn't right but to go this far…. "Can you stand?"
"Almost," he groaned as the potions did their work. If I had known things would go this way I'd have brought some stronger ones.
"Ronalt where's Lara and Ardent?"
He coughed and shook himself, "Ardent went to the guild and never came back. Lara… they took her away."
"What about Marley?"
"I haven't seen her," he roused himself to stand. There was every chance that Marley hadn't arrived yet. Hopefully she was safe. "We need to find Lara."
"How did they even do this to you?"
"The first day we arrived we were welcomed with open arms. Then the next, they lined up a dozen orphans and threatened to kill them if the Lara didn't do as they said." He shook his head, "I didn't think they would go that far and Lara gave herself up." His eyes focused on me, "Rain, they're working with the Imperium."
My heart thudded in a fearful anger. From dealing with them once we all knew just how far they could and would go. "For now we need to get out of here. Earnest is outside. If we can reach the slums we might be able to hide and form a plan to save Lara." The worst thing we could do now was be captured and held as hostages.
"Give me a sword," Ronalt stood to his full height. Though he wasn't at complete health, his will was.
"Here you go," Taylor handed him one. "I get the feeling there isn't going to be a ball."
"Not one for dancing at least," I also drew my sword. "No more mercy. Kill anyone in our way. They'll pay for what they've done to us." Unlike Lara a simple hostage wouldn't stop me.
Ronalt gestured forwards, "Lead the way."
"Taylor stay hidden unless we need you," I faced her seriously. "Worst case I need you to warn the Kingdom. Whatever you do, you cannot die."
"Same goes for you," she nodded stepped back and seemed to disappear.