Shackled Exalted

Emil

The estate of House Nacht was located on the fringes of the First Sector. The vast property stood at the natural end of one of the many side streets that branched off the First Sector's main road. Contrast to the crowded Second Sector, the First Sector was comparatively more suburban. There were denser residential neighborhoods for workers and Academy affiliates, but most of this part of the city was filled with the sprawling estates owned by nobles and wealthy businessmen.

Sentinels guarded the main roads to maintain public order while the owners of the estates had Exalted and soldiers of their own. Before Vigil's attack on the Academy, however, these private armies served nothing more than a show of force and a display of authority.

Emil peered through the dimly lit undergrowth by the rear end of the House Nacht estate. The main mansion towered in the distance, illuminating the night skies with bright opulent lights. The Nacht's masquerade appeared to be going strong despite being deep into the night. This stretch of open land was technically the Nacht's backyard, albeit unfenced and detached from the walls of the main estate. The current head of House Nacht, Isen, apparently had a fondness for nature, and so allowed a portion of his land to remain untouched by human hands. The result was a grove that had grown in the middle of a city.

Maybe the rumors of Isen's love for nature were true, but Emil thought it was more likely that the grove served a different reason.

Looking at the ground, he spotted several fresh imprints in the soil and a trail of trampled blades of grass.

They looked like tracks left by wheels and horses. Likely from the caravans of the now-deceased Rubare clan.

From the Rubare's information, the victims were transported to an underground dungeon on the Nacht estate. Associates from the Nacht family would then assess the "quality" of each "product" before auditioning them off to various distribution channels. Emil was shocked that the Nacht family had the audacity to run an illegal business directly on their estates.

Does the Council know about this? Or are they just turning a blind eye?

Based on what he knew from the Council, it was likely the latter. From a political standpoint, House Nacht's meteoric rise was beneficial for the Council of Mana. The noble family currently had its fangs bared at the royal family. Isen had ambitions to establish the Nachts as one of the Great Houses of Ardair amongst the Belle and the Ulster families. In the ensuing power struggle, the Council of Mana can continue its machinations undisturbed.

Whatever. The Council is corrupt. I already knew that. It's irrelevant right now.

Emil took a deep breath to silence his rampant thoughts. He could feel his body twitching, desperate for action. Mia was somewhere beyond the walls of this estate. Growing impatient, he glanced to side where Petra rested lifelessly against the foot of a tree.

Please hurry up.

Mana suddenly swelled from her unconscious body. Petra shot up like she had been jolted awake from deep sleep. She immediately held her head, wincing from the recoil of using her Gift.

"I found it," she said, heaving, "The rear of the estate is a large courtyard with a walled garden. There's a detached building at the far end that resembles a shed. Inside is a hidden door that leads underground. I saw people moving in and out."

"That's convoluted," Emil grumbled as he wrote down the instructions on a small piece of paper, "How about the guards on the perimeter?"

"No Sentinels, but there's a few guards from House Nacht. They all have weapons and armor. From what I can tell, they're all Ordinary soldiers, but I'm not certain. My perception is not sensitive enough to detect hidden Azurite accessories."

"We'll assume there might be Exalted. And the masquerade?"

"Packed. The party doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon. I spotted the royal carriage as well parked on the estate grounds. I think it's safe to assume that Her Highness is still in attendance."

Perfect. The prerequisites were all in place. Emil sneered as he reached for his Azurite pendant. I'm getting more reckless, aren't I? The plans he was coming up with recently had grown more foolish and insane. But what could he do? Life kept throwing challenges onto his path. He wasn't going to let himself sit still and do nothing while he got trampled over. The only choice was to confront them head-on.

Emil closed his eyes. With his Azurite pendant in hand, he forced the still mana within the stone to move. Mana spiraled with violence. He breathed out slowly, controlling the mana's voracity to match the rate of his exhale. Gradually, the mana's violent torrent calmed to an orderly flow. In the process, his pendant began to radiate a small light.

"Resonate," he uttered right away.

A thin ring of mana was expelled from his pendant. The ephemeral ripples quickly spread outwards and then dispersed into the infinitesimal strands too small for the naked eye to perceive. Only the air appeared to tremble briefly until there was no more artifact of what Emil had done.

"Did you catch that?"

"Just the air flickering for a moment. Did it work?"

"Yeah. That means I did it correctly," he muttered, scanning the vicinity for movement. The Nacht soldiers by the rear of estate seemed none the wiser. Even if there was Exalted amongst their ranks, Emil doubt any of them could have perceived what he just did.

He waited. A minute passed.

Emil was about to channel mana again until he heard a faint shuffle to his left. He turned, finding himself face-to-face with a masked figure perched atop of a nearby tree.

"It's Miles," he revealed his alias immediately in case there was a misunderstanding. Everyone had their faces shrouded.

"Speak. What do you wish to convey to Her Highness?" the figure spoke. A deep masculine voice. Emil didn't recognize the timbre.

"I have a note for her." Emil handed over the piece of paper where he had written down Petra's instructions to reach the Nacht's hidden dungeon. "She should read it right away. And as a heads-up, she's under no danger for what's about to happen."

"You're scheming something in the presence of royal blood?" the man asked, indignant.

"She will stand to gain from this. The royal family will have one less enemy after the night is over."

Emil could feel the man's eyes boring into his skull. He was contemplating what to do. Truthfully, Emil was abusing his position as Aoife's unofficial guardian. The only reason he could make this type of request was because Aoife wanted them to be friends.

"Avoid the front of the mansion if you can," the man said after scanning the note. Emil blinked. The man was suddenly gone. Not a trace of his presence was left. It was as if he had never been here to begin with.

Petra stepped towards the spot where the man had been perched. Her eyes were wide with awe.

"Was that—"

"An Ebon Guard," Emil whispered.

The man who was delivering his note was one of the Lionheart's elite warriors. They operated in shadows to the protect important members of the royal family from unseen threats like assassination attempts and kidnappings. The Ebon Guard had a reputation for being vicious and cruel combatants. All of them were Exalted, possessing acute mana perception and Gifts that aided them in subterfuge, espionage, and ambush.

Things would have been easier against Vigil if they had been assigned to Aoife during the Clash of Dawn banquet.

At the time, Aoife was deemed unworthy of the Ebon Guard's attention despite being a legitimate member of the royal family. Things changed after her Awakening and Prince Rory's subsequent disgrace.

"Do you think Her Highness will do what we asked?"

Emil grinned. "She has to. Otherwise, she'll lose a friend." He held out his hands, beckoning towards Petra. Realizing what he wanted, Petra reached into her pockets. She produced two syringes.

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"…Are you sure about this?"

"Never been more certain," he said as he jammed the two needles into his arms. He pushed down on the syringe, letting out a groan as he felt the fluids flood his veins.

A cold wave coursed through his body. All of the scalding pains were washed away and replaced by a soothing chill. His mind brimmed with clarity. The injuries plaguing his body seemed to fade into oblivion. He felt strong. Powerful. Light on his feet.

The monster in his head screeched with glee.

Aoife

Purple, gold-laced carpets blanketed the floors. Dazzling chandeliers livened the room. The lights bounced off the arched ceilings of the House Nacht mansion which was adorned in vivid tapestries. The intricate patterns and symbols apparently depicted some sort of mythical retelling of this kingdom's founding.

Aoife was none the wiser, however. To her, it just looked like a series of antiquated drawings.

Colorful, but lacking substance.

Just like the most of the nobility here in attendance.

"Oh, careful dear," a pompous voice called out from behind her over the chaotic symphony of chatters and music.

Aoife turned around slowly, reminded of her etiquette training. The one who addressed her was a short, plump woman. At least, that's what she assumed from the small bits of humanity that she could discern underneath all of the makeup, mask, and extravagant clothes.

The noblewoman wore a mask resembling the visage of a bird. An array of rainbow-colored feathers protruded from her shoulders—apparently inspired by the elaborate plumage of a peafowl. The rest of her outfit was simpler by comparison, consisting of a black and red dress woven with gemstones and decorated with piercing eye-like symbols scattered across its length.

It was…bizarre. The grotesque bird mask in particular was unnerving to look at, especially with the long papier-mâché beak that extended from her nose. And with the plump woman's physique, each time she moved or breathed the feathers protruding from her shoulders and the eyes on her dress would flicker blindingly from the chandelier lights.

Aoife was sure that there was some artistic intent behind this outfit's design, but all she was could see was an uncanny caricature of an otherwise beautiful animal.

Money really warps a person's tastes. She thought, fighting the urge to shudder. If she ever lost her mind, she hoped her friends at the Academy would scold her to bring her back to reality.

"You must be wary of your surroundings, dear. Heaven knows who might be beneath all of these splendid outfits. Misfortune may find you if you step on the wrong person's foot!" the noblewoman chortled with a faux laugh.

Aoife realized that she must have accidentally bumped into the woman in the midst of her thoughts. It was hard not to—the venue of this banquet was crowded with nobles, most of them adorned in similarly unwieldy outfits that had no consideration for space. The carpeted floor was already littered in broken accessories that had come off from the guest's costumes. She felt a pang of guilt towards the Nacht maids who would have to clean this up later.

"My apologies, madame. I got caught staring at all the beautiful colors," Aoife said with a polite bow. The noblewoman waved her off despite being clearly pleased by her deference.

"Oh, don't you worry, it's nothing much. I'm just making sure you don't get yourself into trouble. Rumors has it that even the princess is in attendance today! House Nacht sure knows how to organize a masquerade! But imagine if little you accidentally ran into the princess instead of me! She might not play so nice like myself!"

The 'princess' again?

"Is that so? Have you gotten the chance to speak with her yet, madame?" Aoife probed out of curiosity.

"I sure hope not! Otherwise, she might just throw me into the cellar for harmless slander! Hahaha!" the noblewoman laughed before suddenly leaning in close. Aoife tilted her head to the side as to not get poked by the long beak from her mask.

"But honestly, don't you think it's strange?" the noblewoman suddenly lowered her voice to a whisper. The shrill timbre of fake politeness vanished, replaced by visceral malice and distain. "She got kidnapped by those Vigil terrorists and then came back as an Exalted? And then next thing you know she's replacing His Highness Prince Rory's spot as the royal representative at the Academy? It's all quite convenient of a timing, isn't it? If I didn't know any better, I'd think the royal family and Vigil were in cahoots!"

"You think Vigil is working for the royal family?"

"I have no proof. But think about it. Everyone knows the royal family and the Council of Mana aren't on the best of terms. With His Highness Prince Rory's disgrace in the Clash of Dawn, the royal family suddenly lost an edge to their enemy in the eyes of the Ardairan elites. So how do you get back on equal footing with your enemies?" the noblewoman asked, her eyes gleaming beneath the bird mask, "You can try to restore your reputation. Or you can simply drag your enemies down with you."

Aoife narrowed her eyes.

"I see. That is a compelling perspective."

The noblewoman distanced herself, seemingly content after delivering her conspiracy theory. "I'm glad you think so. Now, feel free to enjoy the rest of your evening, my dear!"

Aoife watched as the noblewoman sauntered away, the unwieldy plumage on her shoulders brushing against the heads of nearby guests as she passed by.

I don't think she realized who she was speaking to. Aoife sighed. Like the rest of the attendees, she was also in costume. She had a white mask with a black veil shrouding her face. The veil was intentional, designed to hide her emerald-colored eyes, which would have likely outed her identity. The rest of her outfit was a pallid dress modestly decorated with flowers and petals. For the princess of the nation, it was a remarkably simple costume.

While masquerades were intended to give elites a space to gossip and speak their minds incognito, most of them also used it as another performative opportunity to demonstrate their wealth and creative aesthetic. In the other words, it was relatively easy to guess the stature of the person you were speaking by judging the extravagance of their outfits.

The lady earlier was probably a countess. And she likely thought Aoife was some backwater noble given the simplicity of her outfit.

Still, Vigil and the royal family corroborating? Aoife sneered at the thought. Similar rumors and conspiracies had been spreading throughout the night. Of course, she had also been one of the main topics of conversation.

"The princess allegedly has commoner blood in her veins."

"Well, isn't that a given? Otherwise, why would she need to be legitimized?"

"Who's her mother?"

"One of the king's consorts. She died a while ago. Apparently, she was Exalted."

Aoife was reminded of her childhood when she was introduced to the royal court for the first time. Back then, the malicious eyes and whispers had driven to her near insanity. Tonight, the chatters around her were noticeably less hostile. The sentiment of the nobles was curiosity rather than outright disdain. Still, there were many like the countess earlier who denounced her commoner blood and thought of her as a mere tool of the royal family.

It's suffocating. She wanted to leave. The air in the venue was growing oppressive. She hated hearing her name from the mouths of these people.

The only reason she remained was because her brother Aidan mandated her to. The Crown Prince wanted her here to judge the sentiment of the royal family in Azure City and to gather intel. Rumors and gossip revealed about what's happening amongst the elites, even if most of it were smoke and mirrors.

The music from the orchestra suddenly rose. The buzzing chatters were drowned out by the lively music. A waltz. The middle of the room began to clear, making way for those who wanted to dance.

Aoife watched from the sidelines. A particularly enthusiastic pair stormed onto the dance floor. Despite their relatively plain costumes, they quickly drew everyone's attention with their energy.

That's—

She recognized the pair. Her eyesight had improved considerably after her Awakening. As Aoife focused her eyes, she caught glimpses of dark skin beneath the man's glamor.

A Gharian. A rare sight amongst the parties of the elites.

I almost forgot Kai and Charlotte were attending this masquerade as well.

Aoife hadn't known the pair for long, but she found herself smiling as she watched the two lose themselves in the waltz. Kai took the lead with his adept footwork, and Charlotte followed his guidance expertly while anticipating the flow of the music. It was a mesmerizing sight. In a place littered with schemes and agendas, those two were able to let loose and enjoy each other's company regardless of the whispers.

How wonderful.

She felt her chest tightened with envy. The royal blood flowing through her veins came with many privileges, but also an abundance of burdens. And her blood was impure as well. Her Awakening had improved her standing somewhat, but Aoife was always caught in the middle due to her mixed lineage. She was expected to carry the responsibilities of royalty, but she would never be truly accepted as a full-fledged member of the family. The stigma of her commoner blood ran deep.

Maybe I'm just being spoiled.

There were much worse ways to live in Ardair after all. Aoife witnessed it firsthand during her escapade in Lower Dannan. Even if she was denounced for her impure blood, she was still a legitimate princess at the end of the day. She would never have to fear going hungry or not having a roof over her head to sleep in.

But is it wrong of me to wish for more?

Her days at the Academy were filled with joy. Sparring with Emil. Speaking with Liesel on the affairs of the kingdom. Watching Anna and Kai bicker while Charlotte cunningly observed from the sidelines. Because she was secluded in a mansion with her mother, Aoife never had friends of her own while growing up. Spending time with people her age was a happiness that she didn't know she had been deprived of.

"Seek out the Consortium."

Kleine's parting words echoed in her head. For the moment, she was content with the status quo. But one day, she would have to make a choice—whether to seek out the truth behind her mother's fate or continue a life of ignorance.

Let me enjoy this dream for a little longer.

"Milady, you look parched. Would you like a drink?" A servant suddenly approached her with a tray.

"Oh, thank you, but I—" Aoife was about to refuse when the servant snuck something in her palms along with a glass of wine.

"Glad to be of service." With a small bow, the servant left to attend to another set of guests.

Aoife took a sip of the wine while discreetly glancing at what the server handed her.

A note?

It had been folded up. Aoife casually parted from the crowd and made her way towards one of the empty balconies. The cool night air brushed against her skin—the cold was a necessary reprieve from the stifling heat of the party room. She made sure no one was trailing her before unravelling the note.

This is from Miles.

Aoife's eyes widened.

Don't be alarmed by what's about to happen. You're in no danger. But one of my friends is. She's in a dungeon hidden within the House Nacht estate. I've marked the location on the map below. House Nacht is running a human trafficking business. My friend, and likely many others, are victims. I'm unable to stop them. But you can. A royal princess has jurisdiction to enforce the laws of Ardair. And I'm sure kidnapping and selling off citizens of the kingdom is not something that should be overlooked.

Emil, what are you—

The floor of the balcony suddenly shook. Screams echoed from the interior of the mansion. A thunderclap roared from the rear of the mansion. Something huge crashed into the House Nacht estate. Aoife spun around. The night skies were ablaze in a rain of flames.