As the minutes rolled by, the clouds drifted away, and the moon reappeared in the night sky surrounded by her entourage of blinking stars. A cool breeze blew from the east, soothing the senses, and cicadas buzzed in the distance, adding to the feeling of solitude.Ezra moved closer to Tanya, and she gently leaned on him, laying her head on his shoulder. “I wish this night could last forever,” she whispered. “I don’t know how this war will end, but I just want to freeze this moment and take comfort in your company while I still can.”“Don’t worry, we will get through this. Even the darkest night ends when the sun comes out. We just need to have faith,” Ezra replied.Tanya looked at Ezra and put her hands on his suit. “You know, I always thought I would join the sisterhood of Ishani and become a High Priestess someday. But somehow, I can’t imagine myself in those white robes anymore. And I think it’s because of you, Lord Ezra Romanov.”Ezra blushed as Tanya looked deep into his eyes, an
The Royal Guards patrolling the palace gardens started searching the area, and the Manticore summoned by Servius crawled across the grassy path and positioned itself in front of the back gate, securing the only escape route.Ezra guided the princess to the ladder, and Tanya followed behind them. Under the cover of darkness, the trio quickly disappeared inside the tunnel. “Take her to the tower,” Ezra instructed Tanya before handing Aleena to her.Frantic shouts and warnings resounded from above as the guards continued yelling into the night, searching for the missing princess.“Seal all entrances and exits and gather the attendants in the courtyard!”“No one is to be allowed to leave the palace grounds until the princess is found!”Just then, a much calmer voice rang out in the background. It was none other than the chief court mage, Servius. “Unyielding Dawn.”His spell lifted the darkness, summoning an artificial sun to illuminate the palace grounds. It pushed the shadows back and b
After flying around all the neighboring villages, Princess Aleena was finally satisfied and decided to call it a night. But instead of returning to the palace, she asked Ezra and Tanya to let her explore the city streets.It was a dangerous idea to wander the streets of Magaravia at this late hour, especially since Aleena was next in line to the throne and Tanya had a bounty on her head. However, Ezra agreed to the proposition and promised to give her a tour of the city since it would allow them to win her trust.Setting the Wind Rider down on the roof of the mansion in Verdant Gardens, Ezra and Tanya escorted Aleena through the estate and hailed a carriage to take them across the city.Since it was past midnight, most of the people were fast asleep in their beds, but Aleena’s escape had put the guards on high alert. The Longmans were prowling the streets at every turn, and the riflemen from the city guards were scouring the alleys and knocking on every tavern door to find the culprit
It was just as Tanya had feared. Aleena being a naïve young princess had fallen for a simple damsel trap and walked right into an ambush. And the worst part was Ashton Alley was the most avoided part of the city and the guards would not even think to look for her over here.Ezra knew the assailants would not harm Aleena if they discovered she was the princess of Magaravia. Her royal blood would help her squirm out of trouble since they could leverage her and gain something far more valuable from the king in return.However, Ezra still had no clue whether these six women were working alone or if they were part of a larger criminal organization.“Who are you?” Ezra asked. “Are you not afraid Madam Moonfrey might string you up if she found out you were robbing nobles right under her nose?”The oldest in the group chuckled at his words. “Do you think our dear madam would punish us for helping her? If you know Madam Moonfrey then you must also know how she restocks her supplies.”Ezra grinn
Ezra kept watch as Tanya opened a teleportation portal and escorted the princess back to the safety of her royal chamber. Once the portal closed, Ezra quickly barred the front door with a wooden table and set to work, searching the hideout.The shabby walls of the dilapidated building seemed to reflect the dire poverty of those unfortunate few who had been destined to live inconsequential lives amidst the squalor of the largest slum in Valaria.Judging by the creaking floorboards and the cracked ceiling, Ezra could tell that this place was used as a temporary hideout since it looked completely inconspicuous and barely attracted any attention. However, since this place was frequented by so many members of the Bleeding Roses, he was confident of finding clues if he looked around.“You can try interrogating these women when they return to their senses,” Marlin advised while Ezra gathered the unconscious assailants and tied their hands and feet together, securing them to a wooden table in
When Ezra had set out with Tanya, he had plenty of things on his mind, but running into the Bleeding Roses was something completely unexpected. It was as if fate had guided him to this hideout and pointed him in the right direction.The letter Ezra had retrieved from Madam Moonfrey hinted at a strong connection between the Bleeding Roses and the loyalists. However, the elusive noble at the helm of affairs still remained a mystery along with his secret plans.But now that Ezra had found out about the prostitution racket, he could feel he was close to unraveling their secrets.The token Ezra had just pocketed was marked with the initials L.H. and had the numbers 0230 hyphenated with it. Together, they identified the name of the customer as well as the appointed time.Ezra pulled out his silver pocket watch and glanced at the time. It was still a quarter past one and the minutes were crawling by a lot more sluggishly than he would have liked. He still had plenty of time to prepare for his
Once the sounds in the hallway had ceased and the place had slumbered back into silence, Ezra quietly slid the door open and slipped outside. The cloaking spell kept him safe from watchful eyes as he walked down the narrow corridor flanked by rooms on each side.Ezra could hear muffled moans and peals of ecstatic laughter coming from the adjoining rooms. They were occasionally interspersed with heavy groans and excited shouts. He could tell the pleasure house had plenty of other customers tonight.As Ezra continued walking down the corridor, one thing puzzled him. He could not understand why Madam Moonfrey would allow a young vice lieutenant to have fun with her girls. His thoughts went back to that day when she had caught a guard collecting bribes from the poor folk of Ashton Alley and given him a sound thrashing.Ezra wondered if Holmes was the only city guard who had been invited to the pleasure house or if there were others like him. To confirm his doubts, he peeped through one of
The conversation between Eva and the captain of the City Guards made it perfectly clear that Duke Carrington was no longer loyal to King Reginald, and his show of allegiance to the throne was only an act to fool the other nobles.However, the evidence was still too inconclusive for Ezra to suspect the other loyalists. It remained uncertain whether Marquis Desmond and his men were being manipulated by the duke or if they too were involved in the whole conspiracy.Ezra knew he could not trust the loyalists, but the stakes just went up as he discovered Duke Carrington was using Madam Moonfrey’s connections to buy the City Guards. As Ezra continued eavesdropping, the conversation became more interesting. So far, he had only figured out a part of the duke’s plans, but Eva spilled the remaining details in no time.“Our most honored patron, Duke Carrington, has everything planned to the letter. You need not fret about anything at all, my captain,” she spoke coaxingly while running the back o