“We?” Sam asked her wide eyed.
April gave him a look. “Oh please, a thieves den hidden below the streets? This trip is finally starting to get interesting. I’m going.”
Lucas looked back at Sam and the Guardian shrugged. “Looks like it’s the three of us.”
Lucas nodded. “I’ve made some headway down there, but because I’m royalty they keep me at an arm’s length. You might be able to make more progress than I, if you can earn their trust that is.”
“And these thieves know where food is?” Sam asked.
“They have access to fleets of smugglers and pirates. For a price they can get us as much food as we need, albeit it will be stolen from other kingdoms,” Lucas shrugged.
“Serves them right for refusing to help us,” April exclaimed.
Sam thought long and hard, but finally nodded. “I agree, regardless of politics, our people are in danger of starving. If they won’t give us the food, we’ll take it. Will they help us?”
Lucas sighed. “That remains to be seen. I suggest we meet with this ‘Underlord’, see what his price is. After all, he is a business man.”
“Can you get us the financial backing?” Sam asked.
“One thing Lochkary is not short in these days is money. I know my father can get the Senate to fund the operation if it meant feeding his people, regardless of how we’re receiving the food,” Lucas promised.
Sam and April nodded to each other. “Ok, how do we find this ‘Underlord’?”
Lucas took a candle that was burning on the nearby table and held it close to the map. Before their eyes, the black ink of the map began to disappear and a red ink started to show a completely different pattern of store rooms, access tunnels, and escape routes to the outlying boroughs. It was the layout of the Underbelly. “Amazing,” April was aghast.
“How did you get this map?” Sam asked.
“I told you, I’ve made headway already with this thieves’ guild,” Lucas smirked.
This wasn’t your average prince. Sam and April liked Lucas a lot more than Edmund. “When do we leave?” April asked, almost giddy with excitement.
“Immediately, let me get dressed,” Sam said, standing and moving towards the stairwell.
At the top of the stairs, Sam nearly ran into Haven. She had been eavesdropping and her face looked like it had lost its color. “Sammy, you can’t go down there! It’s full of murderers and rapists, not to mention ruffians and thieves. You’ll get hurt.”
"Are we really going to have this argument again?” Sam asked, walking past her towards his pile of armor and clothes.
Haven followed him down the hall, careful to whisper as to not wake the others in the house. “Light’s blessing Sammy, you’re still going to be this bull-headed? I’m talking about your life down there. I won't be there to heal you and by the time you got to the church you’d bleed out. These people are master killers, I’m talking assassin level skill.”
“I’ll be fine. Why don’t you go do your hair or something?” Sam said, starting to dawn his armor.
Haven’s face flushed red with anger. She picked up her mother’s antique hand mirror and threw it at Sam, who dodged it easily and it shattered against the far wall with a loud crash. Haven wasn’t worried about whispering any longer. “Fine! Go get yourself killed you stubborn moron!”
April came sprinting up the stairs after the crash, watching as Haven stomped past her. “Haven, what are you doing?” She asked.
“My Hair!” Haven yelled down the hallway, slamming the door to her room behind her.
April looked at Sam now exiting his room with armor and equipment ready. April raised her eyebrows at him. "What’s her problem now?”
“It’s nothing, let’s go.”
Lucas met them at the bottom of the stairwell and they left through the front door. The streets were dark with nary a soul walking the cobblestone. Lucas retrieved a lantern attached to his belt and lit it, looking at the map and leading their party towards a sewer entrance.
High on the rooftop of Whitespell Manor, Dinaer and Poikaer watched as the little group descended into the sewer system. “One has to admire his initiative,” Poikaer stated.
Dinaer grunted. “Foolishly brave is still foolish.”
Another door on the street opening gathered the elves’ attention. A blonde haired elf in regal attire entered the streets holding a stack of papers. Her high heeled shoes clicked down the cobblestone roads to the palace. “What is she doing here?” Dinaer asked, stunned.
“Persephone came here after our departure, brother,” Poikaer looked at her kin pleadingly.
“She was supposed to stay in Lorie,” Dinaer grumbled.
“It’s been a very long time since we left there. Did you expect her to wait forever?"
Dinaer said nothing. Poikaer sighed. "You should speak with her. It would be good to reconnect.”
“If she has come here, then I am nothing more to her than a bad memory,” Dinaer turned his gaze as Persephone entered the palace grounds and into the gardens out of sight.
“One does not simply forget their betrothed, brother. She loved you.”
Dinaer opened the door to the attic. “I’m going to bed,” He grumbled as he disappeared into the house, leaving Poikaer alone in the moonlight.
* * *
Edmund collapsed onto his pillow, pouring sweat and gasping. His lover, a beautiful woman with black hair and tanned skin laid her head on his chest, also panting. “Oh your majesty; you are definitely a ruler in the sheets,” she moaned seductively
Edmund grunted in acknowledgement. He rose from the linens and donned a robe over himself. The woman held the silk bedding to cover her nude body as she sat up to watch him move about the room. “You seem distracted lover,” the woman cooed.
“It’s nothing,” Edmund blurted, pouring himself some wine.
The woman pouted her lips and stood, draping the bed sheet around her. She glided across the floor and wrapped her arms around Edmund from behind. “What’s the matter princy wincy? The big bad king taking his time to kick the bucket?”
Edmund scoffed. “Away woman. It isn’t him at all, it’s that blasted Guardian.”
The raven haired beauty was taken aback for a moment. Her eyes fluttered and a sly grin crossed her lips. “Guardian? He’s real? I’ve heard the stories…”
“Yes he’s real,” Edmund sneered. “He claims he will fix the famine and then find the lost shards of the Tevan crystal. What a childish notion.”
The woman turned Edmund around slowly and kissed him passionately. She could taste the grape wine on him as she suckled his lower lip until she drew back. “Come on, I bet I could get your mind off this silly little thing with a little… distraction,” She said, dropping the bed sheet and exposing herself to him in all her feminine beauty.
There was a knocking at the door and Persephone entered the room. She jumped, shocked by the naked woman and half naked prince. “Oh, a thousand apologies your majesty, I was under the impression you were alone in here.”
“What is it?” Edmund barked. His mistress did not make an effort to cover herself, only placing one hand on her hip and the other tracing through Edmund’s chest hair.
“There are some urgent matters that need your attention,” Persephone beckoned, averting her eyes.
Edmund finished the goblet of wine and slammed it down on a table. Grumbling to himself, he walked out of the room, Persephone cast a judgmental glare at the woman still standing bare. The mistress, in response, opened her arms for an embrace. “Like what you see sweety?”
Persephone scoffed and walked out of the room after Edmund, closing the door behind her. The mistress made a rude gesture towards the closed door and reached for her red and black dress that was draped over a chair. She dipped into a pocket and pulled out a handful of red powder. She splashed it across the roaring fire in the fireplace nearby and the powder began to create a red smoke like the pyre from the night Sam attacked Cain’s
forces north of Cortendale. Sure enough, the haunting red eyes appeared in the smoke and the woman bowed respectfully. “Lilith, what have you to report?” Cain’s voice echoed through the room.
“The Guardian of the Wind, Master. He’s here in Lochmare,” Lilith stated.
“He’s there?” Cain asked, the eyes squinting. “So, Blaine has failed me.”
“The Guardian plans to save the people from the famine, and then find the lost shards of the Tevan Crystal,” Lilith added.
Cain seemed to think for a few moments. “So my brother lives…”
“Master?” Lilith asked.
Cain’s eyes snapped back onto her. “Proceed according to plan. Find out where he is, who’s supporting him. It’s time this boy and I met face to face.”
Chapter 5
A Criminal’s Bargain
Sam was thankful he had Lucas there to guide him. Several times he had gotten turned around in the sewer tunnels and narrow passageways that made up the Underbelly, the maze underneath Lochmare’s central borough. The Underbelly was what was left of the Aquifer base after the city had been built on top of it. Some passageways had been collapsed to add more stability to the larger buildings above it while others had remained, used as sewer run-off, construction access, and of course, thieves’ escape routes.
They were well below the surface of the water, the temperature dropping dramatically the lower they went. Every few hours, Lucas would recheck his map with his lantern, making sure he was leading them in the right direction. Much like the maze of tunnels leading to the dragon brood’s cave underneath Courttop, there were trick passages, moments where they doubled back, and traps that would result in an instant death if you didn’t step properly. When Sam and April both barely squeezed against the wall as a swinging blade passed inches from their noses, they were both again thankful Lucas was there to guide them.
“We’re almost to the first checkpoint,” Lucas said after another hour of walking. “Just let me do the introductions.”
They could hear music coming from the light in front of them. The tunnel ended into what looked like a giant cask of wine, but the closer they got Sam noticed a door had been placed into it and a burly man stood in front, arms crossed and equipped with a scimitar. “What’s the password?” The man grunted.
“Kittens and bunnies,” Lucas recited.
The man nodded and opened the door for them. Lucas sent Sam a smile and they went inside. Through the doorway was a bustling tavern the size of the throne room in the palace. Creatures of every shape and size were participating in the usual bar activities. Drinking, brawling, arm wrestling, singing, and games all attributed to the drunken mayhem. April turned to the prince with a cock-eyed grin. “Kittens and bunnies?”
“No one would guess that password in a million years, not considering the reputations of those who frequent this establishment,” Lucas shrugged.
“What do we do now?” Sam asked.
“Now, we have a drink,” Lucas winked.
The three moved past a fist fight that had just broken out between a human and gatoen and sat at the bar. A small human bartender was wiping down a goblet and smiling at them with a mouthful of rotten teeth. “Well well, Lucas Hayze. What brings your pampered arse to the Underbelly?” He asked.
“Just in the neighborhood, thought I’d drop in. Three of your house ale please Boris,” Lucas tossed a gold piece on the counter.
“Anythin for ‘is majesty,” Boris smiled, causing Sam to grimace.
Three mugs of a dark beverage slid towards them and the prince held his up for a toast. Sam took a whiff of his goblet and cringed. “To backroom deals that may save a nation…” Lucas said.
The three clinked their mugs together and took a swig of the concoction. It tasted like a mix between sour goat milk and lamp oil. Sam and the prince gagged after placing their goblets down, whereas April chugged her drink to the last drop. She slammed her goblet down and wiped her mouth. “Whoo!” She cried, followed by a loud belch.
“Now that’s my kind a woman!” A voiced bellowed, with the thick drawl of the dwarfs.
Lucas’ face lit up as he walked over to hug a heavily bearded dwarf. The stubby, barrel chested little person wore various layers of leather armor and wielded two daggers on his hips, looking like short swords due to his size. He had reddish-brown hair with matching beard, each braided into a stylish tail. He had a patch over his left eye and a canine tooth missing from his lower right jaw. Lucas patted the dwarf on the back and motioned towards Sam and April. “May I introduce Christian MacDougal, finest purse snatcher in all of Lochmare.”
“Purse snatcher?” Sam questioned. “We came all the way down here to speak with a pick-pocket?”
“Yup, pick pocket that can rob the seventy-five gold coins right off yur belt before yew ever notice!” Christian exclaimed.
“How did you know…” Sam reached for his purse at his belt and found it missing. “…Hey!”
Christian stood exactly where he had been, tossing the purse up and down in his hand, letting the coins jingle with each catch. “oops, my mistake, that’d be seventy-three gold and two silver.”
April was wide-eyed. “That was amazing! How did you know the exact amount without even looking inside?”
“We dwarves have always had a nose for shinies, Missy,” Christian patted the side of his nose with a stubby finger. "Like this pretty gold locket ‘a yurs.”
April felt her neckline, her mother's locket was gone! The auburn haired woman withdrew her blade and had it to the dwarf’s throat in a flash. She didn't seem impressed anymore. "Give it back!"
Christian was surprisingly chuckling. "Oh I really like her, buddy,” He said to Lucas. "Who’re yur friends?”
Lucas Hayze looked nervous, April still had not relaxed. “This is Samuel Gale, Guardian of the Wind, and his friend April Aidyn.”
Christian’s eyebrows rose and a sly grin crossed his face. “Well take my socks and call me a hobbit, a Guardian you say? Best be handin’ these back to ya then.”
April snatched back her locket and sheathed her dagger. Sam accepted his purse, feeling it over in his hands. Christian chuckled. “It’s all there bo, I promise ya,” The dwarf turned towards April. "and I meant no offense.”
April almost growled at the tiny pick-pocket. The dwarf adjusted his belt over his belly and changed the subject. "What brings ya’ll down here?”
“Lochmare is starving. We were hoping to meet with the Underlord about a business proposition,” Sam stated, reattaching his purse to his belt, making sure to double knot the straps holding it this time.
“There is no Underlord anymore,” Boris piped up behind them.
“Yup, ‘fraid he’s been booted from his throne not three weeks ago,” Christian agreed.
“What happened?” Lucas asked, obviously hearing the news for the first time.
“Well he was betrayed!” Christian started getting visibly upset. “Theivin’ rat bastard calls himself Reaver launched a coup in the early hours. Caught everyone hungover after a huge score.”
"Wait a second,” Sam stopped him, "did you say Reaver?"
"Yeah,” Christian nodded. "Wadda aboud‘im?”
Sam and April shared a look. "We've dealt with him before,” April said.
“Killed half of the Underlord’s men before they knew what hit ‘em. No one’s seen the boss since,” Boris added, cleaning the counter.
“I don’t suppose there’s any reasoning with Reaver on the food shortage,” Sam asked, optimistically
“Not on your life, bud,” Christian answered. “Man’s got half the Underbelly locked up tighter than a virgin bride’s panties. No way he’s takin’ new business while this civil war’s goin’ on.”
“Besides, it was the Underlord who had access to the smugglers and the pirate lords. No way they’ll swear loyalty to a new leader of the Underbelly so quickly,” Lucas sighed.
“So what do we do?” Sam asked.
“We reinstate
the Underlord,” April said suddenly. “Kill Reaver.”
The whole bar went silent, faces of shock across most of the attending. Fights ended mid punch, waitresses overflowed mugs they were refilling, even the band stopped mid song. April and Sam looked around nervously, ready for a fight to start at any moment. After a few painstaking seconds of silence, Christian laughed heartily and slapped Lucas on the back. “Ha! I knew this was my kind a woman! Come on ova’ere, we’ll hammer out the details in the back!”
The band started playing again and the patrons continued pummeling, drinking, and laughing as Sam and April bid Boris a farewell and followed Christian and Lucas towards a back room. Sam leaned closer to April’s ear. “Bold move Ms. Aidyn. You nearly got us killed.”
April smirked at him. “Are you arguing again? I’d hate for you to get another headache so soon.”
Sam chuckled and shook his head. “I hope you know what you’re getting us into.”
* * *
David was roused awake by the sobbing coming from down the hall. Both he and Ahtash raised their heads to listen more intently. They looked at each other and rose from their sleeping positions. They crept down the hall, Ashtock’s snoring echoing up the stairs from the den below. David heard the sobs coming from Haven’s room. He gently knocked on the door, the cries stopping suddenly, replaced by the sounds of bare feet on hardwood floors and the lock in the door clicking. The portal opened a crack and in the pale light David could see Haven’s eyes were puffy and her cheeks flushed, tears still streaming down. “Haven, are you all right?” David asked, Ahtash’s horned head floating just over his shoulder, both looking concerned.
“Yeah,” Haven sniffled, wiping her nose with a tissue, “I’m fine.”
“May I come in?” David asked.
“Uh… sure,” Haven replied, walking away from the door and sitting on her bed.
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