A/N: Thanks for reading, please review. I'd love to hear what you have to say and also any ideas for the plot. Thanks again!
Oliver walked into his quarters and slammed the heavy wooden door behind him. The room was large and contained many luxurious and suave trimmings but Oliver ignored his surroundings and sat down on the edge of his large bed. He put his head in his hands and sat in silence for a few minutes. The news that his father had been talking about surely must not be good for the kingdom. Oliver didn't know the details but, he hoped that his father would summon him to discuss the matter. Twenty minutes passed as Oliver paced his room. His long black cloak lined with red velvet trailed behind him, it barley touched his ankles but he could feel it behind him as he paced. He was wearing tight black leather pants, a loose cotton shirt and a brown leather vest under the cloak. He was also wearing a belt and his sword was hanging from the belt on his lefthand side.
Suddenly, there were three loud bangs on the door. Oliver rushed towards it and pulled it inwards. There was a knight standing there. He was dressed head to toe in brand new chain mail and he had the queen family crest on his chest. It was a green Q on top of a red background. The knight was a new recruit, he had just moved up from squire. His name was Diggle, at least that is what Oliver thought his name was.
"Prince Oliver, King Robert requires your presence," He said. Oliver nodded and followed the knight out of his quarters. They walked down several corridors that were very familiar to the Prince. But, he didn't notice his favorite paintings, or his favorite tapestry as they walked by. Oliver's mind was solely focused on whatever his father was going to tell him tonight. He strode into the throne room and heard bickering voices.
"Sire, this cannot continue, let me double the guard in the palace, we can draw the guard out of the peasant factions and we can easily have enough guards for the whole castle grounds and one guard for each member of the royal family," Captain Lance, the head of the guard argued.
"We need the peasants to keep working the fields in order to keep us from starving," Oliver heard his father's voice fire back.
"We can afford to lose some peasants in order to keep the Royal family safe!" Captain Lance urged.
"No, why should other people suffer just because they don't have Royal status," A new voice chimed in.
"Harper Squire, silence, no one gave you the right to speak," Captain Lance barked. Oliver strode into the throne room and he could have cut the tension with his sword. Diggle walked to stand next to the Captain and the Squire boy, Harper. Harper was a new face and Oliver wondered what his first name was. Harper had a stocky build but, Oliver wouldn't call him buff, he had stiff brown hair and a stern look on his face. As Oliver observed the room he noticed his mother, Queen Moria was sitting next to his father. she had a concerned look on her face that made Oliver worry.
"Why is the prince here?" The Captain protested.
"Soon he will be learning to rule, he needs to know about this crisis," The King protested. The Captain sighed and relaxed as King Robert began to explain.
"Son, there is a crisis, something that is poising our kingdom, a group of stealthy assassins have been killing members of the royal families in other kingdoms,"
"Is Thomas," Oliver interrupted.
"Yes, Prince Thomas is fine, his kingdom hasn't been hit yet," The King said, reassuring his son that Oliver's best friend was safe.
"Now, these assassins have just recently begun killing off peasants in order to damage our food supply, I have moved some of the guard there to protect them but, Captain Lance disagrees with my decision," The King finished.
"Then what are we doing to fight back?" Oliver asked.
"We can't, we don't know anything about them nor when they will strike next," Lance said, finding his voice again.
"So we just lie and wait, we need to do something!" Argued Oliver.
"We can do something, we can draw the guard out of the peasant factions!" Lance exclaimed.
"And how safe will we be when we are starving," The Queen chimed in.
"I agree and I forbid you to bring the matter up again until the next attack has passed," The King said.
"Yes sire," Lance responded.
"Son do you have any ideas?" King Robert asked.
"No sorry, if I think of anything I will come to you immediately, now I would like to return to my quarters please," Oliver said. The King nodded and Oliver left the room with Diggle following behind him.
"Are you going to follow me everywhere?" Oliver asked.
"Yes Sire, the Queen had me assigned to you," Diggle replied.
"Please it's Oliver," Oliver said. Diggle nodded and soon they reached Oliver's room. Oliver was about to walk inside when he turned to Diggle and asked,
"Could you possibly smuggle an archer's uniform for me?" Oliver asked. Diggle looked surprised but it passed as he said,
"Why would you want that?"
"For personal use, can you do it or do I have to request a guard change?" Oliver urged. Diggle just nodded and Oliver retreated into his room, closing the door behind him. He took of his cloak and hung it next to his bed. After that he took off his vest and fell on top of his soft bed. He fell asleep almost instantly, his head swimming with thoughts of his plans for tomorrow.
When Oliver woke up, he woke with a start. There was a soft glow shining through the window and bird was singing nothing was out of the ordinary. There was not a sign of anything that should have caused him to wake up the way he did. He passed it off as a bad dream and he started to get ready. As he walked across his room he noticed an archer's outfit was sitting on top of his wardrobe and Oliver smiled. That guard had come through after all. Oliver put on his cloak and placed the outfit and his bow and quiver into a wooden box that had a handle on top. He picked the box up and walked along the hallway until he found a servant.
"Tell my father that I am going out today," He told the small messages boy that he a run into. The boy nodded and ran down the hall as Oliver continued to walk outside. He ditched his clothes at the stables and changed into the outfit. It was tight fitting chainmail and the crest of his family was displayed on the front. The only difference were the two arrows that were above and below the crest. He picked up his bow and attached his quiver.
Town was as busy as ever. People were rushing around always on their way to somewhere. A fool was on the corner entertaining some children, a man next to him was selling apples and across from them there was a loud ruckus coming from a pub. Did they know that their lives are in danger? Did my father warn them? Oliver thought as he walked through town with the chainmail pulled tightly around his face.
No one payed him much attention. There were a few other guards milling around and it didn't look like they were doing anything productive. One or two guards nodded to Oliver as he passed but didn't say anything. He even saw a trio of guards stumbling out of the pub across the road. He sighed in disgust at the amazing men that made up his father's army. He grumbled along and tried to remember where the bookkeeping building. There was someone that might know something about the assassins. The building was in between the blacksmith's and the leather tanner.
It was an old building, made of stone and old wood that was chipping away. The windows were too dusty to see inside but, only some blurry movement was visible. Oliver walked inside and was faced with shelves of dusty books. There was a small glow coming from candles around the room. The candles were placed on top of shelves and on the desk in the front. The desk was empty but Oliver heard shuffling in the back of the room.
"Is anyone here? I'm looking for a Felicity," Oliver announced.
"Are you here to shoot me or lock me up because if you are I'll run out of the back entrance right now," A small voice said from behind a stack of books.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk," Oliver said. After a few seconds a small woman walked out. She was blonde and was wearing a long brown dress. She had ink on her hands and a book under her arm. She looked flustered and almost scared then that look changed to surprise.
"You're the prince," She said.
"What that's," Oliver started but she cut him off.
"No, you're Prince Oliver I would bet my life on it," She said.
"Please don't say anything," Oliver urged.
"I won't unless you try to arrest me, then I will yell that the Prince is in here and I'm sure some drunk guards will come and check it out," She joked.
"Yes, I intend to speak to my father about that, but I need some information," Oliver said.
"Ask away Jacob isn't here, he's the owner of this place, so we're completely alone, I mean not alone in that way, I just meant, I'm sorry go ahead and ask your question," Felicity said.
"You're okay, I need to know anything that you've heard about some assassins killing peasants recently," Oliver asked.
"I've only heard rumors," Felicity said.
"I just need anything that you know," Oliver said.
"Well, I know that there is more than one, and that they only attack at night and most of all I know where to find one of their former members but, first I need to find out how you knew to come to me," Felicity said.
"I uh, heard your name from a trusted source maybe you know him, his name is Prince Thomas," Oliver said.
"Yes, him I knew him a while ago, he came by to pick up some records and he got me talking about how I was taught to become literate, and he told me I was smart and then he left, that's it," Felicity said.
"He tells the story a little differently, in a more love at first sight way and how you were totally into him," Oliver said.
"That sounds like him, well shall we go see my assassin friend," Felicity said.
"Yes, we should do you think he will be happy to see you?" Oliver asked.
"I'm not sure if she will be happy to see me," Felicity replied.
"Oh well can we find this she right now?" Oliver asked.
"That depends on if you can sneak us into the palace dungeons," Felicity said.