Ch9-7: Fair Exchange
Cutting deals with humans… what’s the sense in this? I could have snuck in this place with no problem at all. I don’t get why we had to go involving outside sources.
Kip leaned back into the shadows along the castle wall, only the single burning green eye glinting from under the heavy curve of his hood. Baron was in the process of a victory celebration – the sounds and the feelings carried up into the twilight sky. And in the middle of it all was O.M.E.G.A., crouched in the shadows. Waiting. Unnoticed.
It would have been nothing for him to have scaled the castle wall. Not with all the noise going on in the city. Just a few quick manipulations would have had the human guards knowing none the wiser. But instead, Kip was instructed to wait there until nightfall and deliver a wrapped package to someone who would meet him there. In exchange, Kip was supposed to be granted access to Castle Baron.
I sure hope this Luccious guy knows what he’s doing.
A chill ran over Kip’s body when he thought about the place he had just come from – the world of the Mists. And of the creature he had met there that called himself Luccious. It was a name so familiar, something that Kip knew he had heard before. A name he felt he should know from somewhere. But he just couldn’t figure out why.
It doesn’t matter.
O.M.E.G.A. repeated that to himself like a creed. Nothing mattered now – everything was do or die. Luccious had granted him renewed ability and power to take down Golbez. And in order to do that, he had to destroy the rest of the Elemental Crystals. Achieving that meant he had to reclaim the lost Incrytan. Which pointed him to one very obvious move.
I have to get Joran back on my side. Even if it’s against her will.
Kip scowled at that thought. It was really distasteful. But then O.M.E.G.A. reminded him that nothing mattered.
Incrytan sees me as an enemy… chances are, only Joran and Golbez can even use the thing. Much less turn it against other Crystals. I have no other choice.
Impatience began to set in as night washed over the celebrating city. O.M.E.G.A. pushed away the sounds of happiness and mirth, focused on what lay ahead. Planning. Running over the plan again and again. Thinking of how it would happen. What could go wrong.
What he would do when all of this was over. When O.M.E.G.A.’s objective was finally won. When Kip could finally rest.
“Have you come?” a voice suddenly spoke from the shadows.
It took Kip by surprise. Having been lost to his thoughts, his normally keen senses did not alert him to the presence of someone else. Or maybe, that someone else had ways of not alerting others.
Secondly, the voice had spoken in the Lunar language. It was strangely accented like someone who was still just refining pronunciation. But it had certainly been Lunar.
“I am here,” Kip replied, speaking in Lunar, with a frown.
I thought I was meeting with a human here. I wonder what the deal is.
The figure that strode down to join him was most certainly human, however. A man, dressed in fairly well-to-do attire, all plain brown in color. He, too, wore a hood over his head, obscuring all but the glitter of two dark eyes and the hook of a rather largely pronounced nose. The man carried nothing but a darkwood walking stick that held an amber-colored stone encased in the grip. To the untrained eye, it seemed rather plain… but to one who spent time hunting artifacts, it was easy to see the hidden magics in the piece.
Now this is… interesting.
“Do you have the exchange?” the man asked, once again speaking in Lunar.
“Yes,” Kip slowly unwrapped the package, letting the corner of a dark box peek out, in the light of the moon.
The man nodded shrewdly and received the box, quickly stowing it away in the folds of his cloak. There was a no-nonsense manner that told Kip could that he was a business man and had many shady transactions similar to this in the past. “Good. Follow me. I have yours waiting.”
O.M.E.G.A. did just that, chafed slightly by the thought that he had to put his half-trust into a deal cut by two parties that he had very little knowledge of at all. The man strode forward, leading him down into a gully between two tall hills, then along a path that took them straight to the road.
With a few flicks of his walking stick, he brushed a few stray bits of weeds from the hem of his cloak. Then he continued straight for the gates of Baron Castle, looking no more out of place than anyone else. As they came closer, he withdrew the security of his hood, revealing common looking middle-aged human features under the fall of well-kept brown hair. Something strange and glittery on the back of the man’s neck caught Kip’s eye. But it was hard to tell what it was with hair obscuring the sight.
The guards at the castle gates gave the two of them a quiet glance as they strode up to the door. Their eyes seemed to linger on Kip’s hooded figure for a moment longer than he would have liked. But no move was made to keep them from entering.
“All this noise,” the man said to the guards with an arrogant wave of his hand. He was now speaking in perfect common. “It’s enough to give a migraine. Don’t you think?”
The guards’ attention was pulled away from Kip and back to the brown-cloaked figure. The one on the right answered quickly, “Just folks having a good time, Master Bradhoc. Nothing too wrong with that.”
“As long as they keep it to themselves,” Bradhoc muttered back with a haughty frown. Then he strode through the gates, past the guards, with Kip following on his heels.
Well… here I am. In the castle. The human held his part of the deal… so far, anyhow. I wonder what his connection is in all of this.
Kip didn’t know exactly where Bradhoc was leading him. But the man seemed to have a purpose in the direction he was heading. So O.M.E.G.A. followed silently, the single eye keeping watch for anything that might be a trap.
This seems too easy.
But nothing unusual happened as they made their way through the long, grey halls. In the distance, Kip could still hear the sounds of the celebration in the city. There was the occasional voice of servants or maids wandering the corridors. But for the most part there was no one in the castle to see them. And those that did, paid no attention to the two of them the moment that they recognized Bradhoc.
He must be a regular around here or something.
After tracing the length of a few more hallways, the man stopped in front of a line of doors. There was a shifty hint to his eyes as he studied their surroundings. Seeming content that there was nothing to pose danger or interruption, Bradhoc turned towards Kip and spoke in a low voice, falling back into the Lunar language.
“The third door from the end. On the left. That is the guestroom where Golbez is staying.”
Of all the things that had happened, this alarmed Kip the most. Instantly, his body stiffened with paranoia. Afterall, he had not told the human his motivations for being there… much less whom he was looking for.
Bradhoc seemed to realize that his companion was on the defensive. As he opened the door to his own guestroom, he shot a quiet look over his shoulder, “I was told that was who you were looking for. Is that incorrect?”
“You were told that? By whom?” O.M.E.G.A. grated through clenched teeth.
“Do you really think I’m going to answer that?”
Luccious…?
O.M.E.G.A.’s face must have darkened because the human replied quickly, “This is not the best place to discuss this.”
“Mmm…” Kip made a grudging sound. But the words had sense.
Pushing the door open, the human stepped into the guest room. With a motion, he indicated that Kip should follow. Cautiously, O.M.E.G.A. stepped through the door. Even when it was closed behind him, he did not stray too far from the room’s exit. It seemed like a normal enough guest room – a bed, bookcase, counter and desk – but one could never tell.
“Golbez may be the king’s brother, but that doesn’t mean everyone in Baron accepts his return to the Blue Planet,” Bradhoc walked over to the far wall and pulled down a glass, pouring himself something. Just as a proper host would, he glanced across the room with upraised eyebrows, “Drink?”
“No thanks,” O.M.E.G.A. frowned.
“You could use it. You’re strung as tight as a spring,” the human murmured, downing the glass in a few long swallows.
O.M.E.G.A. didn’t feel like trifling. He placed his palm heavily on the nearby desk, a sharp look to his single eye. “What were you told?”
“Relax. No one is going to expose your cover, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Bradhoc seemed hardly phased. In fact, he poured himself yet another drink. “I’ve been instructed to observe Golbez and his ward since they returned to Baron. I assume you’re the one being sent in for assassination.”
“Sent in?” irritation thickened Kip’s voice. “I don’t work for anyone.”
“No. Of course not,” the human snuffed.
Already, O.M.E.G.A. was getting fed up with Bradhoc’s conceit. It was too bad the human was somehow connected to Luccious, or else he would have considered relieving the Blue Planet of some extra, unneeded arrogance.
Right now, my hands are tied. I need Luccious’ backing on this… so I gotta play by the rules. Just until Golbez is dead.
Bradhoc tapped his walking stick against the side of his boot with a hint of impatience in turn. “You are here to remove Golbez, yes?”
“Eventually,” Kip answered, forcing himself to be somewhat civilized. Since he had the employment of an overbearing but knowledgeable guide, he figured he should make use of it. “Right now I need to know where the girl is rooming.”
The human paused for a moment, obviously questioning to himself about the reasoning behind Kip’s request. When he spoke again, it was slower, this time. “She stays in the room across the hall from him.”
“Is she with Golbez often?”
“Nearly constantly. I’ve not seen the two of them apart, at least in public,” Bradhoc answered.
“I assume they are out at the festival tonight,” O.M.E.G.A. inquired.
“They were. I saw them earlier,” came a slow nod. “However, the king is holding a special dinner soon. It’s likely that Golbez and the girl will be attending that.”
“So they will be coming back to the castle shortly?”
“Yes. I would rely on it,” Bradhoc confirmed. He fiddled with the lock on a metal safe on the far end of the room. The door opened with a sharp click. He then reached inside and pulled out a small, wrapped parcel in one hand, holding it carefully.
O.M.E.G.A. was already starting to calculate, plan and figure how things were going to fall in place. A slow, twisted smile wound its way over his face, “Do you have means to enter the guest rooms?”
“Of course,” the human answered. A moment of rummaging in one of his pockets produced a set of numbered keys. With a practiced twist of his wrist, he pulled a pair from the ring and held them and the parcel out. “This is what you came here for. And you’re going to need these.”
Kip couldn’t help the nasty quip that rose in his throat at the sight, “You’re so eager to trade away your loyalty to Baron?”
Something about this statement must have rubbed Bradhoc the wrong way. For the first time, a look of sharp disapproval marred the lines of his face. “My loyalty to the kingdom of Baron is unquestioned. I do this because I am loyal.”
“Oh? And how do you see that?”
“Golbez is only a part of the royal family by relation. Anyone should be able to recognize that he’s only here to take advantage of his brother’s good intentions,” came the frowned explanation. “Once a Dark Lord… always a Dark Lord. I’ve already seen one puppet king of Baron. I don’t want to live through it a second time.”
“Mmmm…” O.M.E.G.A. studied the man for a moment. Bradhoc’s words made some sense in a strange sort of way. Enough to give Kip a slight change in opinion about the human. Not a whole lot — just a little.
“Royal dinners are long,” Bradhoc informed him with a hint of suggestion. “But they don’t last forever.”
“I know,” with a dangerous smile, O.M.E.G.A. reached out and took the parcel and the keys.