Their Mission At The Party
“What did I say about not leaving my side, Elora?” Rafael began as soon as he let go of her palm once they reached the middle of an empty hallway. While the commotion went on a few minutes ago, he’d taken the chance to continue their walk into the mansion.
“I clearly told you not to.”
His thoughts weren’t on the words of the prime minister but on his wife who’d defied barely an hour after his warning. She never listened to him.
“I…I. It was just the Viscount,” she softly replied. “You were busy with the prince and I saw the Viscount and thought it was only polite I say hello. He is your friend after all.”
“He is not my friend,” Rafael retorted almost immediately. It was quite funny that she thought of them as friends. Although they were allies, he wasn’t sure that that would remain so. It was time they cut all ties. He wanted to make sure they had no contact anymore.
“Oh. I thought it would be nice to say hello. He was kind enough to gift…”
“Will you stop going around calling him nice, kind, polite, and all of that shite?” He drew closer to her. “You do not know the kind of man that he is. He is a goddamn evil loser.”
But his words only seemed to anger him. She pouted and maintained her gaze on him. Somehow, his wife seemed convinced that the Dean was the ‘nicest’ and ‘kindest’ person she’d encountered in Elyria.
“You just can’t admit he is a good man. Or perhaps, you are jealous.”
“And what if I am?”
Her mouth fell open. She parted her lips to say something closed them again when no words fell out.
“You seem to go back on your words a lot, Elora. You agreed to stay by my side, did you not?”
“And you seem to be teaching me how to go back on my words. I’m not the one who… who…” she paused and then continued. “Who is still thinking of taking a concubine after promising not to. Don’t deny it.”
“What I told you is nothing but the truth.”
He let out a grunt. Did she just roll her eyes at him? His wife was becoming more and more audacious as the days went by. “Or perhaps you are jealous,” he muttered.
“And what if I am?”
Rafael groaned “Heavens, Princess.” He threw his hands into his hair and sighed. “We’ll discuss this later. For now…” He dipped his hand into his pocket and when he brought it out, a tiny slip was nestled between his fingers.
“What is that?” He heard her voice ask, her eyes fixed on the tiny slip which when he unfolded it became large.
“A map.”
“A map? What map?”
“Of this mansion.”
She instantly slipped to his side and stood on her tiptoes to view the map. After a minute, she drew a step away, her face morphed into a frown that made him certain she hadn’t understood the map.
“But what do we need a map of a person’s mansion for?”
“To make this easier.”
“What?” Her large round eyes peered up at him in curiosity and he found them… cute.
He shook his head as if to remove the thought from his head. “This,” he pointed to a spot on the map. “Is the late princess’s bedchamber. This is where we shall go first and then…”
Elora’s gasp caused him to pause and lift his gaze. She had a hand closed around her mouth. “Why are we going to someone’s chambers? We’re not thieves.”
“No one said that we are.”
Rafael almost lost it when she asked. “Then why do we have to sneak around?”
He was starting to be impatient. They needed to be done before anyone found out.
“Because we’re investigating, Princess. The strange death.”
She opened her mouth to ask another question but before she could let out the words; he shut her.
“No more questions. Come on.”
He brushed past her. Seeing as she didn’t make an attempt to move, he rounded a corner, away from her sight, and paused. A smile tugged at his lips when he heard her heart pick up its pace. Instantly, her hurried footsteps resounded in the hallway, and before he could count to three, her body crashed against his.
“Goodness. I…I thought…”
“It would no longer be a thought if you don’t walk beside me,” he warned.
He bit back a smile when she gripped the side of his coat and stepped beside him. He looked down at her. “Are you scared?”
“I…I’m not.”
“I’ll protect you.”
As if relieved by his words, he felt her hand loosen around his coat only to tighten again. He pursed his lips and started walking. Rafael swiftly avoided the parts of the mansion where there were servants and guards. And after rounding several corners and passing through numerous hallways, they arrived at the floor of the late princess.
Four guards stood before the double door of the princess’s room, whispering amongst themselves. The first guard whispered to the others and they burst into laughter, unaware of their surrounding. His lips twitched. How foolish of the Prime Minister to appoint weak vampires to his mansion. He thought it it as rather careless. Had he thought everyone in Elyria bought his lies? Did he think no one would dare try to investigate further?
“Do something for me, princess,” he whispered.
Elora popped her head from behind his back and peered up at him. “What?”
With his hands on his sheathed silver sword, he commanded. “I want you to shut your eyes, turn around, and close your ears.” He gently pulled her tiny hand off his coat. “Now, princess.”
Terror crossed her face and seeing his expression, she didn’t wait to be told again before she turned around, shut her eyes, and closed her two hands around her ears. “D…done.”
He tasted her fear as he unsheathed his sword and the guards realized his appearance.
Their eyes shot wide in shock and terror overtook their face. Before the first guard could pull out his sword, Rafael leapt into the air and his silver sword pierced the heart of the guard. The others stood shaken as they watched the first man slip to the floor, a large silver hole in his heart, blood pooling on his body.
“Wa…wait.”
The second slumped to the floor same way as the first. The third guard unsheathed his sword.
Rafael clicked his tongue and shook his head. “So untrained. You should be calling for help now. Did you forget how to do that?”
Their swords clashed against each other in a sword fight. But the guard was unaware of his hand that slipped into his waist and before he could react, a dagger was plunged into his eyes and then his heart.
“Learn to cheat too.”