32. A New Mission

Recap:

"Are you suggesting that Chaos is sending a troop of warrior to aid us?" Welch suddenly said looking interested despite himself.

"No," Rimor said. "I am certain that he already has."

Continuing-

"Do you mean that their troops are already dispatched and will land soon?" Trish asked.

"No," Rimor shook his head. "To make it clearer, Chaos has sent a troop almost four months ago. Their ship crash landed on this planet four months ago."

"That isn't possible," Welch protested. "If a Chaos ship landed here, then we would have known."

Trish's eyes were widened in shock. She nodded her head agreeing with Welch. "We have resources and spies scattered on this planet. We would have known if a ship of that stature landed here."

Rimor stared at the smoot texture of the table underneath his fingertips and sighed. "How could you have known when the ship landed inside the palace walls? Do you have a spy of higher stature there?"

Trish stared into his eyes as if she could discern the truth from them and then muttered, "Within the palace walls? But of course, it could be possible."

"What! Do not tell me that you believe his ridiculous story," Welch pleaded.

"Don't you understand brother?" Trish took him by the shoulders and shook him for good measure. "The last word we heard of our informant was that the castle was being sealed and only the most trusted guards could come and go at free will."

An informant in the castle? Now that was interesting. It had to be someone in a high position by the amount of respect and secrecy shown. He'll find out soon enough.

"So," Rimor said stretching the word. "Do you believe me now?" The question was directed at Welch.

"Say that we do, then answer this," Welch replied with a calculating gaze boring into his eyes. "The brutality and competency of the Chaos army is known everywhere in this universe. Our technology or soldiers is not that superior as to the army of one of the creators. If they have been here for the past four months, what are they doing?"

"That," Rimor said while dragging the word, "is something I haven't been able to find out."

"Did you not say you would be able find out such information?" Welch demanded. "Brother," Trish said warningly.

"What use are you if you cannot find the entire story?" he continued furious with his arms crossed.

"Oh please. If I hadn't come here, it would have taken you years to acquire even half the knowledge I just gave you," Rimor snapped back. "You might act all high and mighty but the only reason you even get to hear this right now is because you're related to Trisha. Otherwise, you would've heard this along with the other faction leaders," he snorted. "If you'd even been a faction leader."

Rimor thoroughly enjoyed watching how Welch's face grew redder by the second. If this had been a cartoon show there would have smoke streaming out of his ears.

"Rimor, enough you have made your point," Trisha said sternly, not giving her brother a chance to protest. "From what I have gathered, the Chaotic soldiers are somewhere within the palace territory. That is the reason you were not able to get any more information, correct?"

It did not surprise Rimor that Trisha was correctly able evaluate his situation. She like a good leader with a great strategic mind. He nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I can't get into the palace walls without some inside interference." He gave them a pointed look.

Trish nodded like it was what she had expected him to say. She observed his profile thoughtfully. Welch had a disbelieving look on his face. "You aren't considering it, are you?" he hissed.

Trish ignored her brother's question and spoke, "You bring an interesting piece of information, Rimor. There is a chance that we might be able to provide assistance from the inside," She raised her hand to stop Welch from spouting a number of protests and continued, "But, you must understand that this is a serious matter and can be turn of the tide that we need right now. We cannot go into this half-baked. We need the confirmation that the facts you have provided are indeed correct and accountable."

Rimor tilted his head curiously. His gaze flitted from Trish to Welch. The anger and outrage in Welch's countenance had all but melted away. Trish looked as calm and calculating as ever.

He knew that it wouldn't be fair of him to expect them to take everything at his word. So, he quelled his impatience and said, "That's fine. But be careful not to take too much time that we might not have."

"Every day, the king is getting closer to whatever his plans are and I have no doubt that it would end badly for the people," he warned gravely. Without glancing back at them, he walked out of the room. He didn't notice them sharing a nervous look.

Rimor was having a very difficult time keeping his powers in check. With the control of water, he already had pipes bursting here and there but with the added bonus of fire powers, it took a lot for him not to blow this place up.

"No Mr Hickey, for the last time we do not take any returns or give refunds," he huffed, his impatience leaking out.

"Look here foreigner, my wife is the north noble's daughter and asked for a bottle of clear toxins and I'm not leaving here without it," the native Regulian man stubbornly stated.

"I do not care if your wife is the consort of Chaos himself," Rimor hissed. "If you want a bottle of clear toxins instead of the violet one you picked up last time, you'll have to pay out of your pockets like every other peasant."

"How dare you?!" Mr Hickey said indignantly.

"Oh, I dare," he rebutted.

"Let me talk to Darla," Mr Hickey demanded, his eyes flaring.

"Of course," Rimor replied irritated. Be my guest, he thought. It was no secret that Darla was as stubborn as a mule too. It would be better for him to let her deal with Mr Hickey's demands.

Usually, he would have been able to control his frustrations and deal with the difficult customers himself but he was anxious since that talk with the rebellion leaders, a couple of days ago. He had a bad feeling that time was running out.

Rimor sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. He opened the door to the office without knocking. "Darla, Mr. Hickey wants to see you."

The woman in question lifted her head from the documents she was reading and sighed exasperatedly. "Again?"

"Yup," he said popping the 'p'.

"If he wasn't such a valuable client, I would have banned him from the shop by now." It meant that Hickey's wife was rich and he was only too eager to spend coins buying items as long as it made her happy and came from her money. Their income and thus, the Dermiti rebels depended on such clients.

She shuffled the paper and placed them under a stack of books. Before she walked out, she leaned into Rimor and whispered, "The rebels want a word. Back door." She nodded to the secluded back door and strode out.

Rimor startled a little at that. His eyes quickly swept across the hallway for any stragglers. When he was sure that no one was watching, he summoned his cloak and wrung it around his neck.

Whom he expected to find outside was Shira. He hadn't ever seen anyone else of the rebellion outside their headquarters. The one he did find was the face he did not want to see.

Today was not of his better days.

"Welch," he said, frowning. "Did Trish demote you to be a simple messenger?"

Welch's smirk melted away and he glared fiercely at Rimor. "Of course not, but this is a confidential matter that cannot be heard by the wrong ears."

That is true, he'll give him that. "Alright, so I assume that you have made your decision."

Welch nodded with an amused glint in his eyes. Rimor narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Welch was up to something.

"We have spoken with the other leaders of the factions and your facts check out. Apparently, it's all true. We are going to send a team of rebels to infiltrate the palace and find out and if they can, get the Chaos warriors out." Welch spoke in a monotone voice yet; his eyes were mocking him. Rimor let what he said wash over him once again.

His eyes widened in realization. "You mean your team."

"You mean that you are going to use my idea and not include me in it."

"Now, now Elpis, you promised us this information. Without being a rebel yourself, you cannot possibly take part in this mission and you denied being one for the beginning," Welch mocked. He was enjoying this game. Clearly Welch had played a big role in going against Rimor's participation in this mission.

Too bad, Rimor did not play by anyone's rules. "Fine," he smiled cordially. "Thank you for informing me of this development."

Welch looked confused but Rimor gave him no chance to ask questions. He turned sharply and briskly walked back into the shop.

He closed the door behind him and whispered into the silent hallway, "Oh, I'll be on that mission. Make no mistake, Welch."

A/N: Hello, my wonderful readers! So, this chapter was mainly about filling in some blanks about what's going to happen next.
I promise next chapter there will be tons more action! I hope you like the story so far!