Chapter 193
The walk through the capital was eerie, to say the least. I had just been through this part of town earlier but now it was deserted. It wasn't even sunset yet but most of the people that had been out on the streets were confined to their hos and only guards were patrolling the streets. There were so clues as to how the riot had gone based on the patches of blood on the stone walkways that hadn't been cleaned up yet.
I turned to the guard who was escorting the three of us to the guard captain's office. "Were there a lot of people killed in the riot?"
He glanced at and shrugged. "I'm not sure, I know that a few citizens and rioters were killed but no one from the guard has died as far as I'm aware. I'm not sure about the paladins or priests from the Tamin church though, so of them were targeted in the chaos."
I nodded and we returned to silence. The situation didn't really call for levity or more questions. The town had been completely shut down and the quiet was infectious. Even the other guards and soldiers we passed by didn't speak much as they patrolled the streets. So of them were leading people back to their hos or cleaning up so of the damage from the riot.
Looking over at Talis, I was a little confused as to why he was joining us. I was aware that he had been the one to inform the guard captain that we were in the Great Library but I had assud he would return there once we t up with the guard that was escorting us. I wondered if there was more to him joining us than that.
I assud that Sir Noreth wanted to help with the demon problem considering they had discovered it was the cult of Amphores behind the collar suppression in the city, though I'm not entirely sure about that. I was still a little unsure what they needed from in particular, the Tamin church probably knows significantly more about them than I do. All I knew about them was what Nathaniel in Goldenhearth had told in his letter and the things I discovered from the ledgers, all things I'm sure were already shared with him.
Near the eastern gates of the city, we were being led toward a large unmarked building made of the sa utilitarian shaped stone most of the walls were built from. The building was notable for its size and nothing else, it didn't even have any markings, flags, or signs. Sothing about the building gave the creeps but I didn't really know why.
"Are you alright, Lilith?" Silva whispered to . I looked over at her, she looked calm and collected. She stood tall and her large rabbit ears flicked and turned to nearby sounds but her eyes were focused entirely on .
"Nervous," I replied.
"It will be alright. I'll protect you if anything happens." She turned back ahead toward the building as we got closer. The confidence and reliability with which she spoke those words made my gut twist in guilt. I was conflicted with her, I had only brought her with because I didn't trust her, but here she was confidently saying that she would protect without any hesitation.
The guard opened the door and let the three of us through before following us in after. The building looked empty right now, the only signs that anyone was here at all were the quiet voices I could hear through the door to the left of the empty reception desk.
"Do not speak until you're addressed. Sir Noreth is an impatient man and our guest is... well... you'll see. Leave your weapons here on the table." I nodded and undid my belt before placing my sword on the table next to Silva's spear and Talis's pair of thin sabers.
After he did a quick inspection of our armor and gear he opened the door and we walked into what looked like a long dining room without the table. The room was dark, only lit by a handful of candles since the building had no windows. There were five n, all human, three were normal looking human guards, a tall man wearing full plate mail stood near the end of the room and a young man with blond hair and fine looking clothes was seated on a chair next to him. The guard that escorted us closed the door behind us and stood to the side of it.
The man in plate mail, presumably the guard captain, stepped forward. "Kneel before the King of Torlimal."
My eyebrows rose and I followed the other two after a mont of hesitation, kneeling on one knee facing the end of the room.
The young king scoffed and waved at us. "Rise. We don't have ti for this. Just get on with it Noreth."
Sir Noreth frowned slightly but nodded deferentially. "Yes, Your Highness." The guard captain waited for us to get back to our feet before starting. "We were inford not long ago that you were involved in uncovering information related to the cult of Amphores. We have reason to believe they are attempting to rally a rebellion right here in the Capital. You are ordered to tell us anything you know about them so that we may better hunt them down."
The King interrupted right before I was about to speak, "Noreth, you didn't tell the specialists that ca to our city yesterday were animals. Why do you think these beastkin are any more likely to track them down than the the Tamin church is? Why waste the effort of asking them to use their heads when all animals are good for is beating people up with their fists?" He scoffed. "Won too, what a waste of ti."
Sir Noreth turned his back to us and faced the King. "Your Highness, with all due respect. Won and beasts or not, they are specialists, recognized by the gods as demon hunters. Please allow to—"
"Hey, Animal! What are you doing?" One of the guards suddenly yelled.
I turned to Silva just in ti to see her steel collar turning to slag. Electricity poured from her hand where it t the lting collar, her teeth were clenched and molten tal dripped down her neck. The light of the magic suddenly flashed bright enough to blind and send stumbling back as a loud crack of electricity deafened .
Before I could recover I was shoved to the ground and could only raise my arms in front of as I tried to blink the spots out of my eyes. My sight ca back before my hearing did. I was still disoriented but I could tell Silva was on the other side of the room with the King of Torlimal pinned to the wall with a spear made out of crackling electricity. The side of Sir Noreth's skull was caved in and he was slumped against the wall, dead.
Next to , Talis was defending from one of the guards. The original guard that had called out to Silva had already been killed and the remaining guards were running at her. Talis was unard but he was skillfully deflecting the guard's sword strikes with the tal parts of his gauntlets, he wasn't able to strike back effectively but he defended himself with surprising ease. Silva spun, letting the crackling lightning spear disappear and drop the King's limp body to the ground as she turned to face the approaching guards. With an insanely quick movent, she dodged the first guard's slash, ducked into his guard, and punched him so hard his body fell to the ground despite his armor.
After Talis blocked another attack I activated [Coin Flip] which thankfully went off and knocked the guard he was fighting on his ass, the spell was powerful at close range. Talis jumped on the man, took his fallen sword, and imdiately slashed the guard's throat with it. The sudden brutality Talis showed was surprising. I managed to scrabble to my feet just as Silva finished off the last guard and turned to face us. She was also holding a sword now, having just killed the guard holding it. The only ones left in the room were the three of us.
Silva's neck had painful looking burns and marks on her chest where the tal from her collar had dripped onto her, the knuckles of her right fist were bloody and she was staring at the two of us with a cold and confident glare. The king was dead, his body was slumped over on the ground, his lifeless eyes stared into the void. He had a burn mark pierced through his heart the size of a half dollar. There was no blood, the electricity of her spear had cauterized the wound and killed him near instantly.
Talis was the first to speak. "I received a quest from my Goddess to protect Lilith just now. Now that all of the guards are dead I'm curious whether or not I'm ant to protect her from you as well."
Her eyes left Tails and looked at . "I would never hurt Lilith. Whether she is my mistress or not. I told her before we entered this room that I would protect her and I still will as long as she wishes to." Her eyes flicked back to Talis. "We were told that no one else knew of this eting. How much ti do you think we have before others co looking for the King or for Sir Noreth?"
Talis's grip tightened on his sword. "How am I supposed to trust you at your word? I just watched you rip your slave collar off and kill a king! Even if this eting were secret you just put all of us at trendous risk!"
Silva's eyes t mine again. "That's a risk that I believe Lilith and I are willing to take to free our lovers from slavery. I wouldn't do it if I thought we couldn't get away with it though. This isn't the first noble I've killed and I suspect it won't be my last."
I gulped. The young king of Torlimal is dead and he had no heirs. That ans his bloodline has ended too. Does that an Morrigan and Torien's collars are already gone?
"You cannot trust this woman. She left you to die when her attack blinded you. Her collar must have been suppressed, she must be in league with Amphores," Talis said.
Silva's eyes looked back at Talis. "I told you before this, I serve Lilith of my own will. I've been able to remove my collar this entire ti but I chose to accompany her and watch over her." She looked back at and smiled. "Who else was going to keep this fledgling demon hunter from getting herself killed?"
The man's grip tightened on his sword again. He looked like he could attack her at any mont. "Swear it," he spat out. "Sorsette is watching us right now, I know it. Swear on her na that you wish Lilith Baphot no harm."
Silva relaxed her posture a little, letting her sword down. "I swear on Sorsette's na that I have no intention to harm Lilith Baphot, now or ever."
In the center of the room a pulse of magic identical to the [Zone of Truth] passed through the three of us. Truth. As if a switch had been flipped Talis completely turned around. "We need to hurry. I'm not sure how long it will take to escape here without anyone noticing." He began to pull off his purple robes indicating his relationship with Sorsette and stole one of the guard's surcoats to disguise himself with.
Silva relaxed and tossed the sword to the ground in front of her, leaving her unard. Well, as unard as she could be. It seems the fighter has had hidden electricity magic up her sleeve this entire ti. She kept her trump card secret, wearing her slave collar as so kind of disguise. I knew it was real, I rember how it looked the first ti I had given her an order and when she had been transferred to . But it felt fake after finding out she could have removed it all of this ti. I didn't know whether to be happy my friend was free from slavery or scared of her now.
"Before we go," I rasped. "How much of what you've told is a lie? Was the story about your parents a lie? Sothing to tug at my heartstrings and manipulate ?"
Silva frowned. "I don't think I've told you many lies, I mostly just withheld so details." She shifted her weight. "All of the stuff that happened with my parents was real. It was why I started training in the first place. It just wasn't the noble I told you it was."
I shook my head. "Who are you? I heard you talking with Lorriene this morning, I didn't catch all of it but I know you've been keeping things from . I'm missing sothing, how do you two know each other?"
She sighed. "You heard so of that huh? Probably not the most important bits then, otherwise we probably would have had this conversation sooner." Silva crossed her arms and took a breath. "I'm an assassin, Lilith. I've trained since I left my dead family's farm to infiltrate and kill targets for The Order of Lilith."
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