Ah, I guess I am a little bit disappointed in myself now... Plot Holes... Sobs. Ga, sorry! Okay, anyways. All ideas are welcome. Tell me about my plot holes and I will fix them immediately! Living toward the perfect plot future! Hehe
"Look, here!" Alyss pointed excitingly to the large dusty book in front of her, "That is him, right?"
"You sure the name says Morten?" Jenny plopped down next to Alyss, "And the image sort of match Gil's?"
"I am absolutely sure." Alyss nodded confidently.
The three of them bent over the book as Alyss started reading out loud, "Originated from small village in the outskirt. Awarded for saving King Siegfied, the previous king's life. Disappeared after the king was assassinated. On the list of the suspects."
Alyss's eyes scanned the page quickily as her finger strolled down the basic information and landed on the last paragraph, "Whereabouts currently unknown."
Alyss looked up excitingly, "This got to be him!"
Jenny agreed with a nod of her head, "Possibly."
"But this just might be another random guy with the same name and similar look." Horace grumbled, "How do you know it is him?"
"Why don't we ask Princess Cassandra?" Jenny suggested, "She might tell us what His Majesty Duncan might have said about this man."
Alyss raised one of her eyebrows, "Good idea."
Then her face felled and she sighed, "But Castle Araluen is too far from the Redmont fief."
"What about me?" A sudden voice spoke up from behind them.
Horace screamed quite childishly and the two girls leaped up from their spot. Their eyes widened in realization when they identified the man in front of them.
"Your Majesty!" They hurriedly bowed.
"No need for such courtesy here." Duncan dismissed their bow with a wave of his hand.
They stared at the man in front of them in total awkward silence until Alyss shifted uncomfortably and asked, "May I ask what you are doing here, Your Majesty? Shouldn't you be in Castle Araluen?"
Duncan sighed and leaned against one of the bookshelves, "The rangers explained that I wouldn't be safe in the castle and I will only get in the way of their plan so I decided to take a short leave."
"May I ask what plan you are talking about?" Alyss asked again.
"Capturing the assassin." Duncan said.
"Assassin?" They asked in unison.
"Haven't you hear?" At the shake of their heads, Duncan continued, "An assassination was attempt on my daughter Cassandra a few days ago. Ranger Halt, Gilan and Crowley are currently investigating on it, saying that they want to capture one of them. It seems to me that they had found a lead and something that might help them in their search for your friend Will."
At the name, they instantly looked up, "Will?"
"Yes." Duncan smiled and looked at them, "So, what it is that you wanted to know from me?"
They all looked anywhere but Duncan and shuffled their feet nervously until to their surprise, Horace spoke up, "Do you know anyone by the name Morten? Can you tell us about him?"
"Morten?" Duncan's smile faltered for a moment, "I knew him."
"'Knew'?" Catching the choice of words, Alyss inquired.
"He died." Duncan said, closing his eyes.
"He died?" Alyss frowned, "That is impossible."
"What do you mean?" Duncan looked up at her, surprised, "Do you happen to know him?"
"No, not really." Alyss said, explaining, "Gilan told us that the man who took Will, or rather, the man Will went with was called Creep—I mean, Morten."
Alyss bent down and picked up the large book, pointed at the paragraph, "See, here. It said that Creep disappeared on the night of your father's assassination and his current location is unknown. He didn't die, Your Majesty."
"Who is Creep?" Duncan was confused.
"Ah, bad habits." Alyss flushed, "That is my nickname for Morten."
"Oh." Duncan chuckled.
"But," Duncan pointed out, "They told me he died. They told me."
Alyss glanced sympathetically at her King, "They probably don't want you to worry."
"Then, is he the one who killed my father?" Duncan asked, trying to stay calm.
"No, I don't think so." Alyss answered thoughtfully, earning several surprised looks from her ward mates, "Now this is all starting to piece together."
"What do you mean?" Horace spoke up, "How does this all make sense, Alyss?"
"Shush, Horace." Jenny said, "Let her think."
So the two teen waited with their king on the sideline, looking at the girl who was deep in thought.
Then finally, "Your Majesty, do you think this Morten creep dislike your father?"
"No, not really." Duncan answered thoughtfully, "He doesn't like my father, but he doesn't dislike my father either. More like neutral, in between."
"I don't think he killed your father after this." Alyss spoke up, "One possible explanation to his disappearance is that Cr-Morten just happened to stumble upon your father's room when whoever killed your father spotted him. Then that man took Morten so he will not speak of what happened. Either he captured him and kept him, or he killed him. But it is not quite possible it is the latter. He could have just killed Morten along with the man and get away with it. No, something of this Morten must have caught the man's eyes. Your Majesty, why was Morten awarded for saving your father's life? No, how did he saved your father's life?"
She suddenly blinked and apologized hurriedly, "I don't mean to be rude and intruding into your personal life, Your Majesty!"
Duncan chuckled and smiled, "No, not at all. Let's see. I remembered that the guards mentioned to me that he was quick and quiet like a rat. They told me that it took them several days to track him down and he almost escaped."
"That is it!" Alyss came to her conclusion, "The man must have been an assassin and he took Morten because he fits well in their line of work."
Duncan was startled but he asked calmly, "That seems like a logical answer, but aren't you jumping too fast to the conclusion?"
Horace piped in, "True. Maybe Morten didn't met that guy at all. Maybe he just grew tired of court life and decided to make his escape that very night."
"Yes, what you said might also be true." Alyss nodded her agreement, "But I don't like coincidence. Judging on what Your Majesty just said, Morten will make an excellent assassin, if trained."
"How do you know it is an assassin, not just some…" Horace shrugged, "Random drunkard who grew tired of Your Majesty's father? Sorry, no offence."
Duncan shrugged that aside as Alyss smiled, "Do you think your random drunkard can evade sentries, pop open locks, sneak past patrols, murder the king and get out easily without alarming one single person?"
"No." Jenny spoke up, "But what if it is not a random drunkard but a nimble thief? He wanted to steal something from the king but the king woke up and he had to silence him?"
"That is still pretty much impossible," Alyss argued, "No thief can sneak past all the patrols, guards and alarms. And besides, why will any average thief be stupid enough to attempt a thievery in the king's palace? Even normal wealthy people should be enough for them. They know the risk very well."
Duncan reluctantly accepted the girl's point of view, "So let's say your situation was what actually happened. And?"
Alyss smiled, "So the same thing happened again in the next generation."
"What do you mean?" The other three were confused.
"The man who worked as an assassin took Morten, who possess the traits of a qualified assassin. Morten who also work as an assassin took Will, who is trained as a Ranger and also possess traits that satisfied this Morten."
"So Creep took Will to train him." Alyss finished, "And since Will loss his memory, thanks to the late information from the ignorant rangers, it is the perfect opportunity."
"This is all starting to get even more confusing." Horace complained, "Will is a ranger, not an assassin!"
Duncan spoke up again, "So what are you planning to do to get your friend back?"
Alyss turned toward him, startled then replied, "That is easy. We don't."
"What?" Horace nearly yelled, "What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said." Alyss replied calmly, "We don't."
"What do you mean?" Duncan was surprised at her answer.
"Well," Alyss shifted uneasily, "I really wanted to be the one to find Will first. But Halt and Gilan need to do it. They are the cause of all this. They need to explain to Will. They need to be the one to find Will, not me."
Duncan understood the logic but he was amazed at the girl's resolve, "But aren't you upset?"
"Upset?" Alyss laughed slightly, "I am beyond upset! First, the rangers didn't inform me of this until too late. Then, this Creep just popped up from nowhere, taking Will with them. It is all spiraling down. This is what I called fate knocking on my door!"
Duncan froze at her phrase, "What did you say?"
"What?" Alyss stopped.
"What you just said," Duncan said slowly, "That is exactly what Morten used to say whenever something bad happens."
"Oh." Alyss smiled sheepishly, "Lady Pauline used to say that a lot. I guess I inherited her bad habits."
"Never mind." Duncan shook his head, thinking that it probably is just a big fat coincidence that seems to happen a lot lately, "Well, hurry along. You might want to tell your find to the rangers. I am sure they are so disappointed in themselves for letting the assassin they captured go."
"How do you know they failed?" Alyss asked.
"I don't see any guards running to me, telling me that I am needed in the castle because they captured the assassin, do you?"
"You are right." Alyss said then looked pass the man's shoulder, "But a guard is coming right now. Or rather two."
Duncan turned and sighed, she was right. When he turned back, he was surprised to see Alyss giving him a small bow.
"Well, Your Majesty. I had fun today." The other two followed and they hurriedly exited the library, ducking out of his sights.
"Your Majesty!" The two guards reached him, "The rangers wanted me to inform you that they had failed to capture the assassin and that you can return now. Also, they have important information for you."
"I am coming."
"When are we doing this last mission?" William asked as they ate their breakfast.
Morten had his feet up on the table while Arch was trying his best to ignore them. Morten glanced up at his question.
"Today. My Lord is going to tell us about it today." Morten replied and returned to his book that seems to be always present.
"Who is the client?" William wondered as he ate.
"Some fat chubby wealthy man." Arch shrugged indifferently then sighed, "I really need the payment today."
"Why?" William couldn't say that he was interested but there was nothing better to do.
"I need to fix my Celeste." Arch said, leaning back on his chair, "They broke mine."
"What do you mean?" William was curious as his hands fingered his Celeste by his belt.
"They poked and poked." Arch complained, "And managed to break it. Don't even ask me how. They pressed the insignia too many times and didn't clean it well."
William had no idea what he was talking about, not that he really care about it right now. The only thing in his head right now was the mission and moving away from here. Those two are the only thing that matters right now.
"Where are we moving?" William asked suddenly.
"Skandia." Arch replied.
"Where is that?"
Arch glanced at him and sighed, "Take the ship off coast."
"Oh. Is it far?"
"Far from here, it is."
William resumed eating. He can't wait to get away from here.
"When you finish munching that toast for the billion times," Morten stood up and pocketed his book, "William, you might be interested to know that My Lord is waiting for us."
William gulped it down and stood up, pushing his chair in, "I am ready."
"Good." Morten smiled, "For this will be our last mission here."
"Our?" William was surprised at the word, "Are we all going on this together?"
"No," Morten shook his head, "Just you and Arch."
"Oh." William was disappointed. He had wanted to see Morten in action too. Well, maybe not. He will probably finish the whole mission in the blink of an eye before he even started.
"What is with that disappointed tone in your voice?" Arch complained.
"Because it is you again." William sighed, "Remember what happened on the last one? You nearly broke my neck?"
Morten turned at that, "Archelous?"
"No, not like that!" Arch yelped, "Look, I just forgot to give him a false name and well, I had to act like a high and mighty baron so I had to hit him when he whispered."
Morten nodded thoughtfully, "That is a good explanation."
Arch sighed, "Right? Exactly. It is not my fault."
Morten thumped him on the head non-too gently, "That will be enough for your punishment. For now."
They stopped in front of K's room and Morten knocked on it. Without waiting for an answer, they strode in. Final mission. The thought pounded over and over again in William's mind. He was excited, yet nervous at the same time. Final, last mission, then I will be gone and far away from the rangers. William thought with a small smile. This is going to be easy.
How wrong he was.
Since I just posted the previous chapter(24) earlier today, I will skip the reviews this time. Haha...My laziness is showing.
Cheers and please review if you find any thing...wrong.