Chapter 11: I need comfort, not a party!

The kidnapping quest was one of the last ones Hannah needed for Paige to take her seriously. The princess traipsed through the yucky sludge of Bowerstone sewers to reach the rebellion hideout, she was thankful she changed frequently. Back when they escaped the castle she was still in her regal outfit but at Mistpeak she changed into local clothing then at Brightwall she donned the women's highway outfit minus the hat she let her hair cascade down. She had the outfit dyed deep red with gold trim, which is what caught Reaver's eye when he spotted her in the crowd outside his factory she looked exactly like Reaver from his pirate days which warmed his heart ("chip off the old block") he thought at the time.

"Ah, there you are. The triumphant hero returns"

Hannah smirked at Ben as he did an over the top announcement that she was back.

"Thanks Ben. Major Swift, Paige, Walter *nod*"

"Princess- "

Hannah lifted her eyebrow at Walter with an annoyed expression putting a hand on her hip.

"*clears throat* Sorry, I mean Hannah. Come see what we're planning"

"I must admit I'm impressed you've done a lot to prove to me you are worth trusting. Now let's put that trust to good use, one of my men Kidd hasn't returned. He was sent on a mission to Reaver's mansion in Millfield's to gather information. Reaver holds a weekly masquerade party at his mansion and I've got us entry, we'll sneak in and save Kidd"

"Ok sounds like a plan"

Paige walked around the table pulling something from under the table, wrapped in brown paper tied with string was Hannah's masquerade outfit. Paige told Hannah to get ready then meet her outside the mansion. Walter told Hannah to be careful as did Swift then the two older gentlemen left the room to continue talking, Paige also left the room to go and change leaving Ben and Hannah alone. She opened the paper wrapped outfit inspecting it, it needed serious dying the mismatched colours were dreadful.

"Forget the colours you'll look amazing in it"

"Thanks Ben, now you going to give a lady some privacy?"

"I'll stay here and make sure nobody spies on you"

Hannah blushed when Ben said that, it was the most flirtatious remark the pair of them have exchanged.

"No need to worry about that, I have my own changing room"

With that she activated her guild seal disappearing in a sea of blue lights reappearing in the guild room, leaving Ben gobsmacked he hasn't seen that much magic so any he did witness surprised him.

"Ben? What are you doing in here? Where is the princess?"

"Oh ugh… She said she needed to change then disappeared Walter"

"Ah she's gone to the guild rooms, ok then"

Hannah got changed into the masquerade woman's outfit then dyed the whole thing deep purple leaving the gold trim. Jasper commented saying it looked much better in that colour scheme. Ben had moved to talk to Swift and Walter, Paige turned a corner in her outfit she told the men to be prepared for anything then disappeared heading to the mansion. Using her fast travel Hannah teleported directly to the mansion seeing Paige just down the path from the main entrance.

"Nice outfit, it weirdly suits you the fancy dress"

"Did you just give me a compliment?"

Paige just smiled at Hannah before they walked up to the mansion, the butler (Barry) there greeted the ladies explaining they were very late for the party. Paige quick on her feet made up some excuse which the butler oddly accepted, he even let them into the party with their weapons clearly on display. This did not sit right with Hannah she knew something was up.

Across the mansion Reaver was walking between rooms with his party guests wearing his own mask. Barry received word from the staff that there were two rebels coming to the mansion tonight to rescue the kidnapped rebel. He informed Reaver who devised a cunning plan to turn these thieving rebels into his entertainment for tonight. Of course, Reaver had no idea one of the rescuing rebels would be his daughter. He told his lackey at the start of the night if anyone arrives who isn't on the guest list and appear armed just let them through to the main hall.

Back with the girls, the butler lead them through a few rooms. There were colourful paper bits everywhere on the floor and furnishings along with empty champagne bottles and glasses with soft classical music playing in the background. The butler stopped when he reached the last door to the main hall telling the ladies to continue that way into the party. Preparing themselves they waited for the butler to disappear then snooped around, they took the long way around eventually heading into the main hall. There was a circular cage in the middle of the room and inside was Kidd, Paige ran up to the bars asking if he was ok, but he looked at them in shock.

"No. Leave now! It's a trap!"

Just as he said that the doors locked, and his cage lifted into the air, Hannah had a hold of the bars, so she was lifted too.

"Well, well. More little bee's here to steal Reaver's honey. So committed, so dedicated, so loyal, so bloody annoying"

Reaver was on a higher platform with his party guests and Barry stood just behind him to the side.

"Reaver! Let him go!"

"Now where's the fun in that? Tell you what you play a little game for me and I'll consider it. After all what's a host to do without entertainment"

Paige fire her gun at Reaver but being the hero of skill he moved his cane effortlessly blocking the incoming bullet leaving Paige shocked but even more enraged.

"Now I have no doubt that you are probably a thrill between the sheets, but you are boring my guests, time to play something I like to call the wheel of misfortune!"

Paige physically shivered at the idea of Reaver flirting with her. Hannah was swinging from the cage all this time, by the time the conversation ended she dropped to the floor unable to get Kidd out of the cage. Reaver and his guests moved to the next room leaving the girls with no other choice but to play his game. When they entered the room there was a large black glowing mechanical wheel with symbols of creatures on the end of each point and a large arrow. Reaver burst through the doors with a seductive swagger smirking at his party guests then looked down at the rebel misfits.

"The Wheel of Misfortune! It's rather simple. I spin, you die, we watch. Really *laughs* It's, it's a riot! *laughs*"

"You'd have this on your head when you're in the presence of royalty!? This is the king's daughter, the princess"

Reaver froze but not long enough to seem suspicious he merely raised an eyebrow at Hannah, inside his head he was screaming ("Shit! Shit, double shit!") he didn't want to hurt his daughter, but no one knew she was his daughter. Confident in her abilities as a hero, from what Walter has told him in letters, he decided he'll carry on but keep a watchful eye on her. After all he is the hero of skill, if anyone can obliterate everything in the room quickly it is Reaver.

"Well I was never one to come between a family… Well that's not strictly true *clears throat* Anyway I digress! I'm sure a hero can complete this game with incredible ease"

With that Reaver tapped his cane several times above the wheel making it spin, getting their weapons ready Hannah and Paige entered the first room ready to battle whatever the wheel landed on. The pair battled through different stages of dreadful creatures emerging victorious every time. Reaver and his party guests watched carefully, the guests obviously wanted to watch them die but Reaver was secretly cheering his daughter on in his head.

There was one where a particularly nasty bunch of Sand Furies cornered Hannah-Rose, getting slightly concerned Reaver was going to cause a distraction so he could help but Hannah charged a force push spell sending the Sand furies flying then she pulled out her gun shooting each one in the head with perfect precision ("huh, definitely daddy's girl"). They got to the last round which landed on Balverines, the guests suddenly changed their attitude rather than watching the fighting with mild interest they looked at the pair with hungry eyes. One of them was being bothered by Barry who then transformed into her true Balverine self, devouring the poor Barry Hatch leaving Reaver to only express his disappointment.

"*sigh* Do you know how hard it is to find good household staff these days?"

The rest of the party guests transformed into a pack of Balverines with their sights set on the hero and Paige, leaping down into the pit the beasts attacked them. Now Reaver was alone on the upper platform he watched as his daughter fought the beasts, a few of them knocked her over and even slashed at her leaving red stains on her outfit as she bled through. Not one to reveal his true intentions Reaver did wait for Hannah to be closer to the platform, with Paige distracted with a few beasts herself she didn't notice Reaver. He did a low whistle making Hannah look up he winked at her then kicked a health potion down into the pit, Hannah caught the bottle taking a swig feeling relief as her wounds healed, she looked back up at Reaver curious to why he helped her but he didn't dare look at her he just watched Paige struggle with the last few beasts. Not saying anything to Paige, Hannah jumped in the way on a Balverine kicking it over then shooting it in the head, they then looked up the address Reaver now all alone.

"Well, you've made me look like a terrible host. Dispatching all of my party guests is hardly what I'd call hospitable"

"Enough! Reaver release my friend, now!"

"Oh, very well. Looks like I don't have a choice, do I? Well I'm sure you can all see yourselves out. Goodbye princess I hope we'll meet again in more desirable circumstances"

Reaver turned on his heel walking out of the room knocking the cage controls letting the cage lower releasing Kidd. Paige helped the man out of the cage then all of them left the mansion, Hannah said she'll head to her guild room to change and meet them back at the rebel quarters. Paige smiled at the hero telling her thanks and for her to promise she'll end Reaver's reign on the industry, the rebel leader and her comrade then hobbled back to Bowerstone. When Hannah appeared in the guild room she greeted Jasper telling him what happened, since Jasper was always in the guild rooms she felt ok to tell him the full truth including Reaver's help in the last battle.

"Jasper, do you know what that meant?"

"*clears throat* Well, perhaps Reaver didn't really want to see the princess get hurt knowing it would get back to the king"

"Hmm, maybe, but I get the feeling there's more to it"

"How do you mean your majesty?"

"Jasper, stop using my title I'm more of a fugitive right now. Hannah is fine"

"Very well, Hannah. How you do mean?"

"Well, he knew I was the princess because Paige told him. But, when she told him he looked at me differently, like he was shocked to see me, but he must've heard I was on the run?"

"Try not to overthink it your grace… I mean Hannah. Sorry, force of habit"

Back at the mansion, the staff were clearing up the mess of party confetti and bodies from the deceased party guests and Barry. Nursing a large glass of red wine, Reaver pulled out some writing paper then wrote a letter to his wife.

My dear Angelia,

Since I want to be honest with you I want to tell you I saw our daughter this evening. She has joined the rebellion that lives underground in Bowerstone. They attempted a rescue mission to save some of the rebels that broke into my mansion searching for information, you know me, I don't like intruders so only one survived.

I had no idea it was her since most of my parties with the secret society are masquerade balls, behind the mask you could be anyone.

I put them through the wheel of Misfortune, I've mentioned my handy little training come entertainment before, knowing our agreement I had to let them fight. If I pulled her out it would rouse suspicions, I am sorry though my love I didn't want her to go through that either but circumstances being what they were.

Though, I must admit she fought brilliantly she is definitely our daughter, she is a strong independent woman that I'm proud to call my daughter. If only she knew about us.

I did slip, only slightly, her ridiculous 'friend' Paige wouldn't have noticed, but I did give her a health potion when the Balverines attacked her. What's a father to do when his daughter is in pain? Hopefully she won't read too much into that, it's getting hard to keep this secret I just want to help protect her… Maybe I'm just getting soft in my immortal years and I need my wife.

Be safe, I love you.

Forever yours,

Reaver

A small smile creased her lips as Angelia looked up from Reaver's letter, back in Samarkand the hero of Bowerstone was going through a pile of letters she's recently received. She always read Reaver's first then it just depended on who else sent a letter. Angelia read one from Walter who confirmed what Reaver told her about the masquerade. Another from Jasper who mentioned Hannah questioning Reaver's intentions with the health potion ("Oh, Reaver my love what are you like"). The final letter didn't have a name just a shop name here in Samarkand, curiously inspecting the letter Angelia opened it reading it carefully.

Dear Hero of Bowerstone,

I know who you truly are. I know the terrible truth that you conceal from your children because the king who rules Albion is a complete phony! I want to help you and Reaver, you both deserve to see your children again.

Curious? Come by the furniture shop: Brightwood Farm.

Sincerely,

Your biggest fan

Chapter 12: Help in the unlikeliest of places

Angelia read the letter from a furniture shop about three times, she sat back in her chair biting one of her fingers just staring at the opened letter. She didn't know anyone in Samarkand besides Garth and Hammer ("Who the hell knows about me and Reaver, no one but Walter and Jasper knew of our marriage. They know our kids too? I'll have to find out who this person is"). As if she had a sixth sense, Hammer walked into the kitchen holding one of the triplets, Halvar by the looks of it. She clocked Angelia nibbling on her finger anxiously then she saw the opened letter.

"Angelia, what's wrong? Has something happened to Reaver or the kids?"

Angelia shook her head slowly not breaking eye contact from the letter.

"Do you mind?"

The hero just shrugged not minding if Hammer read the letter.

"*scanning through the letter* Who is this person?"

"No idea, hence my worried look"

"The shop is here in Samarkand? I can come with you? We can go now?"

"Yeah… If you don't mind?"

"Of course not! Let me put him down for his nap and we'll go"

Hammer disappeared off to put Halvar down for his nap by the time she returned to the kitchen Angelia tidied away her letters dumping them in her room grabbing her satchel then slipped on her boots waiting for Hammer. Smiling at her friend Hammer quickly mentioned to Garth her and Angelia are popping out and will be back shortly. The two heroes made their way to the main village where all the shops were localised, after wandering up and down the sandy streets Angelia finally spotted the name 'Brightwood Farm'. Taking a deep breath Angelia stepped inside listening to the bell ding above the door, a middle-aged woman popped up from behind the counter and at that moment Angelia knew who sent the letter.

"Anna? Is it really you?"

"*squeals in excitement* Angelia! Hammer! You got my letter?"

"Yes, we did, very surprised but I should've guessed that from the shop name"

"Ah, like to keep a part of home with me and following in dad's footsteps by opening up a furniture store"

"What was with the cryptic letter Anna? You nearly gave Angelia here a heart attack"

"Hammer it wasn't that bad"

"Oh! Angelia I'm soo sorry I didn't mean to cause alarm!"

"It's fine but I'm with Hammer, why be so cryptic?"

"I wasn't sure if you were being watched so I didn't want to reveal myself unless I knew the letter got to you personally"

With that Anna moved from around the counter asking the ladies to join her upstairs, Anna moved to the front of the store turning the open sign around to closed. Once upstairs Anna made them all a cup of tea then sat down on a nearby sofa next to Angelia, Hammer didn't sit down she just looked out the nearest window.

"I can help you get back into Albion"

"You mentioned that in your letter, how?"

"Your daughter might be building herself an alliance of allies to take back the crown, but here I've amassed my own mini army of followers"

"Really? But Cartwright told Walter if I step foot into the kingdom I'll be killed on sight"

"Yes, we are aware of that, that's why you are not going as you"

Angelia looked at Anna like she had three heads.

"We've been monitoring the purple guards that the king brought in when he took the crown, we know how long they are stationed at one area for. We've recently been speaking to someone called Major Swift and Captain Ben Finn who've agreed to help us"

"*sigh of relief* My royal army, so they weren't all killed or worse"

"No, though from what Swift told me not many are left"

"That Bastard"

Anna then explained her full plan to Angelia, it was never mentioned before because it took years gathering the followers here in Samarkand and they couldn't even get into Albion with Major Swift's help. Of course, he wouldn't have helped if it wasn't for the princess's help in Mouringwood, so timing was a big factor. Anna said she'll dress Angelia as a helpless woman dressed in black covering as much of her skin as possible since her Will lines were a big give away. She'll arrive in Albion with others dressed like her, just wandering travellers seemingly uninteresting and not a threat. Being in the army Major Swift still had some pulling power and was able to intercept instructions given between soldiers telling a small group to remain at the border that connected Albion to Samarkand. Only having a handful of purple guards to deal with the group of travellers will sneak up and hijack the guards knocking them out and taking their uniform disguising themselves as the purple guards.

"I can't believe you did this Anna"

Angelia couldn't hold back the happy tears that trickled down her face, opening her arms Anna pulled Angelia in for a comforting hug. Pulling away she passed Angelia a tissue to dry her eyes.

"It's not a problem, honestly! You and Reaver saved my father's life and you are dad's best friend. I saw you and Reaver get married, I mean I was only like a year old, so I barely remember it, but my father's told me what a beautiful ceremony it was. You helped them setup shop in Brightwood too"

"They would've done the same"

"Exactly which is what I'm doing now"

"Thank you, Anna"

"Stop thanking me *giggles* we haven't got you across the border yet"

"So, Anna, when is this happening?"

"Sorry Hammer, I get off tangent easily. If you are ready to leave Angelia, we move tomorrow night"

"Yes, let's do this!"

Anna clapped her hands excitedly giving Angelia another hug then rising from her seat she moved over giving Hammer a hug too. The heroes said their goodbyes making their way back to Garth and Hammer's place. When they got in Angelia went straight upstairs to get ready, she threw all her clothes and books into her satchel then rummaged for a plain outfit to conceal herself. Anna said to Angelia wear black if you can as that's the colour the others are wearing, makes her less likely to stand out. Keeping it simple Angelia pulled out her black skin-tight skinny trousers with her black leather knee high wedged-heeled boots paired with a long sleeve black blouse complete with black waist clincher. Using her black leather gloves to conceal her hands and a black long cape with a hood Angelia tried on the whole outfit pulling her hood up she looked in the mirror.

"Well, that certainly covers my Will lines, but I can't help my face. I just need to keep my hood up and avoid eye contact"

There was a knock at her bedroom door, Angelia opened the door pushing her hood down as she opened the door. Garth stepped into her room regarding her outfit then smiled walking out onto her balcony, not saying a word Angelia followed him out there, they both just admired the sunset then Garth turned to face his friend.

"Angelia, don't worry. You will see your children again"

"I take it Hammer told you the full story?"

"Yes, she did. But I'm here to add to it"

"Really?"

"When you've contacted your children and you all are about to take back the kingdom, let me and Hammer know. We will join the fight"

"What about your own kids?"

"Hammer spoke to Anna already, she's more than happy to watch them for us"

"Wow, Garth I don't know what to say"

"A thanks wouldn't go amiss"

"Hahaha… Thank you. Thank you so much"

Angelia wrapped her arms around Garth in a tight hug, slightly caught off guard by the surprise hug Garth quickly recovered returning the hug smiling. They heard a cough at the balcony doors, pulling away from the hug they saw Hammer standing there with a big smile on her face. She approached the pair then scooped them up in a big bear hug lifting them off the ground squeezing tightly then putting them down.

"Thank you both for offering to come and help"

"What are friends for?"

"I am truly grateful"

"We know Angelia"

"Ah, Angelia I just remembered isn't your anniversary soon? Well, can't think of a nicer present to give Reaver eh?"

"Yes, that is true Garth. I was thinking exactly the same thing"

"Well, we assumed you'd stay with him until battle time"

"Yeah, seems like the most logical thing to do Hammer"

"How many years marriage has it been now?"

"Oh, um well *muttering* it has been, ooh 27 years"

"Whoa, you need a medal for putting up with Reaver for that many years"

"Har, har very funny Hammer"

That night Angelia, Garth and Hammer enjoyed an evening meal together with Anna. Garth walked back to her shop whilst Hammer was cooking to invite her which Anna jumped at the chance to spend an evening with three of the great heroes. Angelia only took off her cape staying in her black outfit when Anna came around she gave the outfit a thumbs up agreeing it concealed enough and just to keep the hood up. Anna managed to meet the triplets before they were put to bed she praised them highly to Hammer and Garth saying they had wonderful children. Soon the meal reached the end they were all enjoying a local fruity dessert with a few glasses of wine.

"Angelia… Can I ask a personal question?"

"Oh, grief ok. Do I need to mentally prepare myself?"

"Haha, no. How did you and Reaver become, well, an item?"

"Ha! I'd like to see how you answer this Angelia… go on tell us how you met the wonderful Reaver"

"Hammer you're such a… *sigh* never mind. Anna, I met Reaver when I was on a quest for Lucien's downfall. The only way to stop him was to unite four heroes; one of strength, skill, will and a fourth who binds them all"

"So, Hammer is strength, correct?"

"Yep"

"And Garth must be Will… are you the fourth that combines them?"

"I am and yes, Garth is Will"

"That means Reaver is the hero of skill!?"

"You sound surprised"

"Well he's Reaver. His stories are still legendary across all of Albion as the most notorious pirate king and now the ruler of Bowerstone industry"

"Haha… Well, yes. That being true we met in frosty conditions. I'll give you the short version. Basically, he was tied to an ancient darkness known as the shadow court. Reaver is actually over 150yrs old, he traded all the souls of his village in order to be granted eternal young and immortality. The conditions of this trade were he had to provide one sacrifice every few years to preserve his youth. Guess who happened to bump into him whilst finding the hero of skill"

"Oh no! He wanted to use you as the latest sacrifice?"

"Correct, although it didn't go as planned for either of us. I went to the shadow court under false pretences when the shadow judges revealed the true intentions of my visit I had to think fast, now I'm not proud of this, a young woman was also trapped in the shadow court, so I gave her the seal. Her youth was stolen not mine. Then I headed back ready to drag Reaver if I had to kicking and screaming to Theresa. But the son of a bitch tricked me again notifying Lucien where I was selling me back to Lucien, however karma was on my side, Lucien betrayed Reaver knowing who is really is the hero of skill"

"Oh, my avo! So, you both escaped together?"

"Exactly! Once we fought together we had no choice but to trust each other as we brought down Lucien. After the fall of Lucien, Reaver and Garth travelled to Samarkand I thought I wasn't going to see him again"

"But you did?"

"Yep, me and Hammer were doing some bounty jobs when my dog Treacle ran off because she heard Reaver's gun. He was using the roof of Garth's tower as target practice. So, we all reunited briefly, now we weren't being hunted or required for some life changing mission we saw each other in a different light"

"Kinda like wiping the slate clean and looking at each other again as if for the first time?"

"Yes, exactly! So, we went out on a date together and took an adventure to a certain island… The one we later got married on"

"So that's why you chose that island!"

"Yes Hammer"

By the end of the night the gang consumed a few bottles of wine, it was refreshing, and different hearing Angelia tell the tale of how she and Reaver became what they are today. Anna didn't mock, ridicule or scoff, she just listened with great enthusiasm. Towards the end of the story Anna did a big yawn which made the other heroes yawn, Garth offered one of the spare room, but Anna refused saying she needs to sort a few things out in the morning anyway before they do project get hero into Albion. Angelia gave Anna a hug saying her goodbyes and arranged a rendezvous point for tomorrow. Retiring to their own beds Angelia got cosy in the duvet looking out towards the window admiring the moonlight.

"Don't worry my love, I'm coming home to you"