Blackthorn is in front of me. His black mane is swept back with a mix of feathers braided throughout, and he is wearing a full set of black armor with 3 red claw marks painted on the front of the chestplate. The brand of the Wardogs. He wears a black mask that hides his face, but his green eyes are still visible.
"We're almost to the throne room, it's just around this corner." He whispers, looking at me, "Let's get this over quickly and get out of here."
I nod. We are up against the wall of one of the many corridors in Monarch's Keep. The limp bodies of the Wardens who had tried to stop us litter the hall, their blood staining the celestial granite floor red. We have one mission: kill King Tomias of the Kingdom of Ardent.
"Let's move," I silently step over one of the bodies and move around the corner towards the door to the throne room.
My hand touches the door handle, and I give Blackthorne a final nod. Then everything around me is spinning.
I jolt awake, almost slashing Ironvine's face with my claws, who expertly dodges my attempt.
"Woah there, sleepy!" He laughs, gripping my wrist firmly but gently, "It's just me."
"Ironvine? Where are we?" I try to get a feel for the environment.
We are no longer in the forest. Instead, I am lying on a bed in a room with a very soft, blue blanket on top. It looks like we're in a high-quality tavern. One we probably can't afford.
"We're safe, for now." Ironvine stands up and wipes his hands off on his legs. "Renald got us a pair of rooms for free."
"How'd he get them for free?" I try to sit up, and to my surprise, I don't feel any pain in my back or side where I was hit with those arrows.
"You can ask him if you want, after all, you two are sharing a room." Ironvine steps out of the bedroom.
"What do you mean we're sharing a room?" I feel my cheeks begin to heat, "Ironvine? Ironvine, wait!"
He's already gone, though. As soon as the door to the room closes, I hear a knock.
"Who-who is it?" I ask, looking at myself to make sure I'm in some decent clothing.
I have to stop myself from shrieking when I see that Ironvine has removed my breastplate, leaving me with a bloody set of wraps to cover my breast.
"It's Renald." My head snaps to the door, "Can I come in?"
"J-just a second!" I scramble around the room, looking for a shirt. Unable to find one, I grab Ironvine's doctor's jacket and throw it on.
"O-ok! You can come in now!" I yell.
The door slowly opens, and Renald, wearing a white tee and a pair of shorts, steps into the bedroom. His hair is wet and shaggy, hanging down around his eyes, allowing his horns to show more prominently. I can see the leathery black wings growing from the back of his shoulders. A towel is draped over his arm, and water drips to the floor by his feet, which, to my surprise, are very clean but covered in scars. He must have just gotten out of the shower.
"Doc said you're all good, but I wanted to see you for myself." Renald looks me up and down.
To most women, this would be embarrassing, but Renald was a knight at one point, a soldier like me. Being examined for battle wounds is a normal occurrence in our lines of work.
"I feel alright. Where's Glimmer?" I look around, taking in the fact that Glimmer is nowhere to be seen, and I haven't heard any of his questions or songs yet.
"He went to drop the bison off at the stables with a ranger we ran into. Some saber named Goldenclaw." Renald turns to head back out, "By the way, I've got some more information on Blackthorn."
"Really? What'd you find out?" I almost jump out of my skin, but manage to contain myself.
"He's here in town with us right now." Renald's face is dead serious. "He's been having his goons steal as much equipment as possible for an underground auction happening somewhere in the city tomorrow night."
I stay silent, contemplating. Vesper told me that Blackthorn stole something from her, an enchantment scroll of some kind. Maybe he plans on selling it with everything else he's been stealing. That con artist. He should be ashamed of himself.
"Whisperclaw?" Renald's voice pulls me out of my thoughts.
"Huh? Sorry?" I wasn't listening at all. I don't even know what to say.
"Just…" Renald sighs, "... don't do anything stupid. I know you guys have some kind of history."
"Renald…" I feel like I should tell him about the mission Vesper gave me. I want to tell him everything, about Blackthorn, about the Wardogs, about my sister back in Keyona.
"Yeah?" He looks worriedly at me.
"I have to steal something from Blackthorn!" The words explode from my mouth before I can fight them back, "That was Vesper's condition for…"
Renald's hand slams over my mouth. He raises a finger, ushering me to be quiet.
"Are you mad?" He whispers, "What if the wrong person heard you saying that?"
I try to speak, but his hand is stopping me.
"Oh, sorry!" Renald jumps away from me, a slight rose color coming over his face, "W-we'll talk about this more tonight at dinner. I'll come get you. Later."
He rushes out of the room and closes the door before I have a chance to respond. How did we have enough money for two rooms and dinner? Why did he rush out of the room like that? Questions flood my brain. What is Blackthorn really up to? What does he have to do with Vesper?
I spend the majority of my time, before Renald comes and gets me for dinner, stretching and sharpening my knives. I spend a few seconds putting on my leather breastplate and gauntlets. This is followed up by hiding my bag in the top drawer of the dresser in my bedroom. Then I hear Renald knock at the door.
"Let's go, Whisperclaw! I don't want to keep our host waiting!" He yells.
"Who's our host?" I swing the door open. "The same one who paid for the rooms, I assume?"
"He gave us the rooms for free, and he has a name," Renald says.
"So what's his name then?" I smirk.
"It's Liaz, and he's the owner of this tavern." My jaw drops a little as Renald answers, "No fighting, alright?"
"You know the owner? Plus, he gave us free rooms?" I am seriously starting to question Renald's connections right now. "How'd you manage to pull that off?"
"He owed me a favor." He stops at the top of a set of stairs leading down a lively bar area, "Promise me you'll behave while we're in the city."
"Ouuu, he owed me a favor." I laugh.
"Whisperclaw!" He narrows his eyes at me.
"Ok, ok, I promise. I'll be on my best behavior." I pat Renald on the shoulders lightly and go down into the bar to find a seat.
As soon as I make it down the stairs and enter the bar, I can see how busy it is. It looks like it's the middle of a rush. The tavern is completely swarming with adventurers.
"Renald! Your table's over here! The booth in the back!" The barkeep yells over the sounds of the crowd at Renald and me, pointing to a booth in the back of the tavern where Ironvine is presently.
"Hey guys." Ironvine greets us, "I trust you're enjoying the room."
"Shaddup, Ironvine," Renald thumps Ironvine in the head softly and slides into the seat next to him.
"Hmf." I turn my nose up and sit down across from them.
"Aww, c'mon guys. It was only a joke." Ironvine pouts.
A female saber with white fur, a nice figure, a waitress outfit, hoop earrings in one ear, and stunningly beautiful blue eyes walks up.
"Alright, guys, I'm Ice, nice to meet you all and-" She finally looks up from her notepad and surprise comes over her face, "-oh, it's you guys. What'll it be?"
"A mug of ale for me. I'll probably order something else later." Renald looks nervous as he orders.
"Alright, and you, sweetie?" The saber, Ice, looks at me.
"I'll take what he's having," I say quickly, not too sure.
"I see we've got a couple of drinkers on our hands." Ice scribbles on her notepad, then looks at Ironvine, "For you, sir?"
"I'll take a coffee, please, if you have it," Ironvine says.
"Yeah, yeah, we got coffee. One coffee for the big guy." Ice finishes scribbling and heads towards a door in the back of the tavern, "I'll be right back with your drinks."
"Alright, spill it. What did you guys do?" I give Ironvine and Renald a side eye, "I'm unconscious for a few hours, and you guys are like legends around here."
"What? Renald just took care of some rude customers, is all." Ironvine looks puzzled. "He didn't tell you?"
"He didn't. He specifically told me not to start anything, though." I'm glaring at Renald now.
"That's funny, Renald's been picking fights with everyone since you…" Before Ironvine can finish his sentence, Renald stares at him with a murderous glare.
"Here are your drinks." Ice breaks the tension by slamming two large mugs of ale onto the table, sliding one to me and the other to Renald. Then she slides a wooden coffee mug to Ironvine and places a pitcher of steaming hot coffee on the table.
"How much?" I ask her.
"Don't worry about it, thanks to your friends, it's on the house." Then she goes to serve another table, "Let me know when you're ready to order again."
I look down at my mug. It reminds me of the night before everything went wrong, before I was betrayed, before I was forced to climb this stupid tower. Everything was simpler back then. There were no mysteries. Everything made sense.