A Guide to Kingdom Building

Chandea, Year of Severus, 21st, I.R., the 79th day of Spring, Ardantean Township, Nhils' Il Bucay Outskirts

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The night was cold, and the wind blew hard as Orphella walked from the seemingly deserted streets of Aburucay, the slums just outside the western gate of the town. Lamentosza brought her there shortly after meeting her.

"There are too many ears and mouths inside the town's walls." Lamentosza said as he snuck her out of the western gate a few nights ago.

The veteran spy took her to a small shack at the edge of the slums, near the dreaded ancient burial grounds where most of the Ardants would prefer not to go, let alone step a foot in its cursed grounds, or so they say. There, she was brief of the assassination attempt. As she walked, she recalled their conversation.

"The plan is simple," He said in a monotonous voice. "You need to infiltrate the general's inner circle and kill him." Lamentosza gave her a small bottle filled with poison.

"Should I let him drink this? "She asked Lamentosza. 

"That would have been an easy task, however, General Maharmoun has this magical cup that neutralizes all kinds of poison before he drinks it. The moment he knows about that, we are all screwed." He shook his head.

"Then, what is this poison for?" She signed, baffled by the bottle in front of her.

"In case you get captured." Lamentosza answered. "You can die peacefully with this bottle of poison. I was told it wouldn't be a painful death. You'll simply pass out and then, eternal sleep."

There was nothing simple about this mission, everything was quite the opposite of what the veteran spy said. No matter how much he tried to sugar-coat or rephrase his words, Orphella's mission was a guaranteed death sentence.

She shouldn't have accepted this mission in the first place, but with Prince Arterius promise of reuniting her and her comrades, Orphella had no choice but to take it. She nodded at Lamentosza and carried on with their briefing and the rest of the mission.

Another cold wind blew and with it, a stench of death coming from the clogged sewers of that district. Orphella tried her best to calm down. Being with her comrades was more important to her than that of her life. Their laughter and spirits made her through one of the darkest moments of her life. She missed the campfires and the banters they would do.The least she could do was to be with them, with people she considered her family. She missed them, especially…

"Hey, are you thinking about him again?" Papillion interrupted her thoughts.

"No," She answered back. " I am thinking about the mission and how to survive—"

"To see him…I meant… to see them again." The weapon snickered.

"You know, I might die at this mission, right?" Orphella changed the subject and gave her weapon a piece of her mind.

"I know, sister." The weapon sighed. "But I don't think you should worry so much, to be honest."

"And why is that?" Orphella raised her eyebrow.

"Because… you have me!" Papillon confidently said. "I have saved you many times before. Have faith in my abilities and you shall never see the afterlife." It added.

Orphella nodded and crossed the bridge just right past the dark alleyway. She passed the bridge and was immediately met by hooded men. Papillon immediately went into her attack mode, but before it could fire an arrow, one of the men bowed down on her feet.

"We bring to you peace." The man said in his soft, yet thick Ardantean accent.

"Who are you?!" Orphella signed.

The men took a quick glance at each other and answered. "We were brought here by Lamentosza to assist you." Answered the man. From his voice, Orphella could tell that he was young, around his 20s if she hasn't mistaken.

"I could sense trouble, sister." Papillon suddenly whispered in her mind.

"Are they here to kill me?" Orphella asked.

"No," The arrow answered back. "But I still sense they're trouble."

"We shall be your distraction!" An older voice answered in desperation.

"Distraction?" Papillon said it out loud using Orphella's tone. "I need no distraction. I can handle this alone."

Both men were stunned to hear her talk.

"I-I thought you were…mute?" The younger one wondered.

"Master, I believe, she keeps her voice to herself." The older one answered. "A sign of a true spy."

"But…they said she's—" The younger man was still confused.

"Would it matter?" Papillon said. "Don't get in my way, gentleman. I am not shy to put both of you out of your misery if you annoy me." The weapon threatened them, slowly glowing and building a magical arrow at its bow.

Orphella felt the older man's anger and frustration. He was just about to test his mettle with her and Papillon, when the younger man stopped him.

"There is no need for that." The younger Ardant said. "We shall leave you in peace. I wish you well and may the lady goddesses protect you in your sacred mission." They bowed down and disappeared in the shadow of darkness.

It seemed too strange for Orphella. Normally, she was able to follow movement in the dark without any problems, but she had difficulty with those two. It seemed that they had some sort of sensory magic that concealed them in the darkness; a magic spell that even the Principalian knights and scholars hadn't known or used yet.

She immediately went to the general's estate where she was greeted by a huge crowd of people lined up outside the gate. She looked around until she saw the red, vibrantly colored flag with a yellow rooster in the middle of the crimson banner. Orphella, immediately hid her presence along with the crowd of musicians. They stood for about an hour before the line moved once again, until they were finally admitted into the estate.

Orphella's heart pounded as she walked through the well-lit corridors of General Maharmoun's home. His gilded statues and colorful walls made him looked like a wealthy noble rather than a military man. It was exactly what Lamentosza said to her.

"The man is filthy rich. In every sense of the word." Lamentosza said to her during their briefing. "I think the only ones that would mourn for him are paid mourners, and a small group of supporters. That man has messed up with this town's income so much that nobody likes him." He added.

She knew how this general coveted gold and woman so much, that within a span of a month he almost drained the reserved coffers of the town. The only reason why he made extravagant banquets was to try and appease the merchants and small noblemen of the town, so he could continue his plundering and raping of the poor people.

They have finally arrived at the garden. She looked around in awe and disbelief as she saw how the designs were blatantly taken from elven architecture mixed with the Indecens' artworks and shapes. On the far side of the garden was a huge gazebo stretching to 20 footlings. It had a long table which was the same length of the gazebo and was filled with food both exotic and local.

She could hear a man shouting from the center of the garden. It looked like an announcer, informing their guests about the next part of the evening's affair. The man dressed in colorful clothing bowed to someone at the middle of gazebo. He shouted at the top of his lungs the name of their musical troupe and what the song they were about to perform.

Her heart pounded even more as they took the center stage. She looked around at the crowd and saw a man dressed in white sitting at the middle of the gazebo. He had a thick beard perfectly shaped like an arrowhead. He was clad with gold and precious stones, with both hands wearing rings of different color.

Orphella took a deep breath and with Papillon's encouragement, acted normal as she sat a stool at the front right-hand corner of the make-shift stage. Their troupe leader bowed to the crowd and focused his attention to the gilded man sitting in front of the gazebo.

"Gabiin, Kapto il Maharmoud! (Good evening, General Maharmoud!) The leader bowed. "Il gabii senta ut saaw, Iq Maradara! (Tonight, we shall sing and dance for you, the Maradara!) He smiled at the general.

The general showed no interest with the troupe leader. He made a hand gesture urging the troupe leader to carry on with their performance. The troupe leader immediately made his gesture and asked them to begin.

Like what she practiced, she made her weapon Papillon appear in front of her as a harp while the drummers beat their drums to start the song. All of the sudden, the general raised his hand and asked everyone the troupe to stay quiet.

The general immediately called the announcer from earlier and after a whisper, summoned the troupe leader into his table. There seemed to be a short, heated discussion and it was clearly obvious how their troupe leader was fairing.

Going back to stage with a bone-white face, he went directly to Orphella and asked her if she could remove her hood and mask.

"It is the general wishes… you do so that." His voice trembled as he tried to explain it to her in his broken Arterian.

Trying to save her mission and the troupe in the process, she agreed to request. She took out her hood and unveiled her face to the crowd. General Maharmoud was pleased to see such a rare, beautiful elf in the mix. He clapped his hands in delight and shouted for them to continue with presentation.

The drums thundered once again, before turning mellow as she delicately strummed her harp while keeping an eye for the general, timing the right moment to execute the man.