Cearbhail:

I'm back. And it's finally started up. I started introducing my random humor I'm kinda known for. Anyway, enjoy.

[King John]

Dearest brother,

How is your conquest of the holy land going? I am sure that the almighty Lord has blessed your campaign and will aid you in your quest to enter the promise land once you drive the unsophisticated sand mongrels from it. While you have been away, I have been watching over the kingdom as per your request. Nottingham is as beautiful as it has always been, nothing wrong here. Nope. Well, there has been one rogue sand mongrel terrorizing the streets but I have it under control. No need to come home just yet. Do take care in your war, and don't forget to consult De Sable on your conquest. He is very invaluable to your war effort. Best of luck to you, dearest brother.

John.

…

I held my note out to Errant-Knight Locke. "Deliver this to my brother."

The knight took the note, taking a knee in prayer. "It will be done, milord."

"See to it that it is. I'm sure my brother has heard about the Assassin here in town by now. No need to distract him on his crusade." I said grimly to the knight. "If you fail in this assignment, and the holy land is still in the hands of the forsaken sand crawlers, the Almighty Lord will punish you and strike not only you but your family down in plagues for your failure."

The knight swallowed hard and dipped his head in acceptance. "I will not fail you, milord." He rose and ran out of the throne room as quickly as he could. I shook my head as he disappeared from my throne room. What an idiot. God may not punish him for his failure, but I sure would. If my brother returned here because he was worried about the safety of the town, I would not only string up that knight but have his family executed for war treason. Or I could just claim they're witches and burn them. It's already shown the effectiveness of getting rid of my enemies. Killing that entire section of town did have its benefits. Squatters lived there before, and now they don't. I can use that part of town to house returning knights now, instead of filth-ridden beggars living out in the streets.

I started to stand up from my seat to stretch my legs before one of my royal guards entered the room. "Milord, Duke Wolfe is here to see you."

I nodded to him. "Let him through." I sat myself back onto my throne, exhaling in exhaustion. I just wanted this day to be over with. While I waited for Wolfe to walk into the massive room, I started checking over my mental checklist of things that should concern me. One: the mines were open again and iron was coming back into the town. That was a good thing; it would help the families of the miners to get their gold. Two: We had a shipment of slaves and volunteers helping us rebuild our wall and our port town. I've yet to go see them myself but I plan on it when it gets a little warmer. Three: several witches were spotted in town. They have apparently dyed their hair so no one will notice them. I wondered if I should do something about them. That made me think about the wall and the port town. No, it was messing with them that led to parts of my town being destroyed. For now, they weren't doing anything to hurt my town. Well, maybe if I sent in a taskforce to kill them all at the same time? I don't know what the consequences would be for that. I might be killed as a result. I should consult my own captives about what would happen to me if I mess with witches.

Wolfe marched into the room with haste, smiling. "Sir, I have some news."

"This had better be good news, Wolfe." I said to him.

He nodded back. "It is, sir." He had on a huge traveling satchel that looked old and worn down. He opened it up, pulling out what appeared to be a golden cross with gems symmetrically placed around the borders. Wolfe held the cross up to me, signaling me with an arched eyebrow. "Sir, this is it. This is the holy cross from Spain, the one that heals people who kiss it."

I nodded, sticking out my hands. "The holy cross, huh?" When Wolfe handed me the cross, I could feel the light hum of ancient technology playing into my body. Ah, yes. I could feel the vibrations of healing spreading throughout my body. It was indeed the transmitter I had been looking for. I nodded to Wolfe again. "This is it. Now, we have one of three pieces. Now, we only need the round orb and the lance. Where is Piper?"

Wolfe shrugged. "Last I heard he was in London, on his way up. I haven't heard from him since."

"How long ago was that?" I asked him.

"Two days ago, sir." Wolfe replied.

I found myself nodding. "Give it a week, then. If Piper is not here within the end of the month, you will travel down to London and see about finding out what happened to him."

Wolfe nodded. "Aye, sire. Also, there is some news about the tournament. While lesser knights are joining in expectation of becoming higher in society, there is one unknown mercenary from Spain here to join. Diego 'Zorro' Vega. He signed into the roster for the tournament. I remember him. He's the one that brought me Red and asked only for passage to France. But when shit hit the fan and my ship started to sink, he was fighting my crew and freeing the witches. Should I have him executed for being involved in the port incident?"

I shuck my head. "No." I replied. That would be too easy. This guy, I don't know why he wants to join us so badly, but there has to be a reason. "Bring him to me." I called to Wolfe. "And keep an eye on him during the tournament. If he is a skilled fighter, he may be of some use if we end up going to London." Wolfe nodded to me and backed out of the room.

I turned to my left to see a strange cart full of hay sitting inside my throne room. I started looking around the room for some answers. This cart full of hay…it wasn't here a minute ago. And yet…here it was. It was a very strange sight, this cart full of hay. I would have gone and checked it out, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. As I was about the exit the room, Wolfe came running back in, with another letter. "Sire, a letter from Piper has just arrived."

I nodded to him. "Keep it down, we don't know who's listening to us." I pointed back to the pile of hay. "For all we know, some random guy could be hiding in that hay and eavesdropping on us."

Wolfe and I stood there for a second before we both broke out in laughter. "Yeah, sure." Wolfe replied. "Who would hide in chicken litter and horse feed?" He turned back to me. He opened the letter, saying, "Dear Brothers of Understanding, I have the holy lance and on my way up to Nottingham. I have stopped in London because of an incident involving my escort. My escort has been killed by someone. Everyone one of them had their throats slit, but only after their organs were pulled out and smeared on the walls of a local tavern. To be honest, I was a little scared. I'm en route now, but I stopped to report the incident to the guards in London. I have a new escort given to me by the sheriff there and should be back in Nottingham within two days' time." Wolfe closed the note, looking at me. His eyes looked grim and worried. "Think someone knows about the lance's power?"

I shook my head. "No. These artifacts are holy and powerful, yes, but no one suspects what they can do when put together." I gestured to the cross in my hands. "Take this cross for example. According to legend, it heals people. They do not know that it sends uplifting vibrations into the bodies of people and fixes corruptions. They do not know its true power of getting inside someone and affecting them. The lance of Antioch may be a holy symbol but none know of its power to amplify the power and range of the cross's body invasion. Nor does anyone know that the orb can create illusions and give truth. Nor does anyone understand the fact that whoever controls the Apple controls the world. People will bow to you, swear fealty to you, go to war for you, and surrender to you. The Apple of Ultimate Destiny, whoever owns it owns the world. But only if you can reach everyone in the world. The Lance will give me that range, and the cross will make sure the Apple will send the vibrations into the bodies fully. We will rule the world, Wolfe. It is only a matter of patience."

Wolfe nodded to me. "Thank you for reminding me of our massive scheme to take over all of England and use the Apple's power to force King Richard to swear fealty to you, so that you could rightfully rule over all of England. Not to mention the fact that we would use the Apple to take over all of Europe, the holy lands, and Asia in less than a year's time."

I looked back at the cart full of hay. "It's a good thing that Assassin isn't here. If he heard about this, he'd probably try to intercept Piper traveling along the main road in the south from London. If he got his hands on that lance and managed to keep it away from us, we wouldn't be able to forcefully take over the town. In fact, he might have an edge on us because he'd have the only amplifier around. But of course, if he touches the cross, he'll be affected by my will. So, I openly welcome him to come and try it."

I turned back to Wolfe. "Bring me this 'Zorro' character you mentioned. I wish to talk to him."

Wolfe hurried out of the room and I turned to my royal guards. "Get this cart of hay out of here!" Two of my guards rushed into the room and began pushing the cart out of my throne room. Once it was clear I sat down in my throne and started to wait. I'm sure Wolfe will be back shortly with this…Zorro.

…

[Malik]

I am the wind, I am the night. I am silent and out of line-of-sight. I waited until the coast was clear before I hopped out of the cart filled with hay. Before anyone noticed, I brushed the hay off of my borrowed knight's armor (armor I collected off of a dead knight at the mine). As long as I kept my visor down no one would take notice to me or the fact that I shouldn't be walking around the courtyard. Of course, I blended in with the other knights so I didn't have to worry about that. Besides, it wasn't like anyone was going to notice that I didn't belong here.

"Hey, you. You don't belong here." A strong voice called from behind me, causing me to freeze in my spot. Oh, shab! I thought to myself. Someone knew that I didn't belong here. I casually readied the last exploding bolt I had from the crossbow. According to what Goose said, all I had to do was pinch this end and it would ignite after a three second delay. That would be enough time for me to run out of here and get out of this armor.

I turned around and readied the bolt. The person who called me out was standing in front of a maid with long curly blond hair, addressing her as a superior. Wait a second…long curly blond hair? I knew that hair, that was Marian. Wait…Marian worked at the castle? I wish I had known that earlier. I…wait, wait, wait. I'm getting too worked up over this. This very well might be a coincidence.

"Marian, you don't work down here in the courtyard. Your job is to maintain the throne room and the King's personal quarters, or have you forgotten?" The Knight said to Marian.

She nodded. "I'm on orders from the King. He wants me to fetch him his sword from the armory. Something about testing some Zorro person in a fight."

The Knight nodded. "I will get his weapon, you return to your duties."

She bowed in respect and turned around, heading back to the throne room. Huh…if she worked there, that would mean I could ask her to tell me things about the King and his doings instead of sneaking in giant piles of hay to hide in. That would make my life so much easier. Ah, who am I kidding, it was fun to see the King overreact to piles of hay in his throne room. Besides, there was no guarantee she'd actually spy for me. That didn't stop me from watching her return to the castle in wonder. She did like me. I shook my head at that. No, it was wrong to use physical attraction to manipulate someone into doing something treasonous or dangerous.

I started to turn away and head back home. "Hey…you don't belong here either." The knight called out. I wonder which servant he was picking on now. I didn't stay to find out. I kept walking but I felt a hand clamp around my shoulder, pulling me back and spinning me to face him. I snapped my head around to see the same knight that addressed Marian. He wasn't wearing a helmet like I was. He glanced at my shoulder, tapping it. "That symbol tells me you're a patrol officer. What are you doing up here in the courtyard?"

Ok, think fast. "I'm dating Marian." I blurted out. Shit…ok, can't stop now. "I just got off duty and wanted to see her before heading home."

The knight nodded. "Your accent sounds weird…almost Islamic."

I nodded. "Yeah…I spent a couple years spying in Syria for King Richard. I picked up the accent down there." I sure hoped he bought that.

The knight pursed his lips in thought. "Ok, makes sense." He slapped me on my armored arm, nodding to me. "That was very brave of you." He said to me. "And dating Marian…wow. She's a fantastic woman once you get past the fact she's a servant." He shrugged. "I don't know many knights who would date her just because of her social status." He nodded to me again, smiling. "You must be pretty humble to court the help like that." He turned around. "Well, I have a sword to go fetch for the king. Take care of Marian." He pointed to me and then walked off. Wow…he actually believed me.

I let a slowly building breath escape my lungs and I turned around again. I quickly jogged out of the courtyard before someone intelligent decided to ask me more questions. Once I cleared the castle, I rounded an alley corner and started to strip off my armor. That armor was the only reason I could even get into the castle with the cart full of hay in the first place.

Once I got my armor off, I tied the parts together in a carry system I designed and started walking back to the den. I had some things to think about. The artifacts the King was looking for…no, not exactly. The artifacts the Templars were looking for. The Templars…I didn't know much about them other than the fact that we're at war with them. They are our enemies, but little else than that. I know who would know about the Templars, the Master. I should write him a letter and question him. I'm sure he'd like to know about these artifacts and what they do too. I couldn't just stop there, though. These Templars wanted the lance that was one its way here from London. And indeed, I was going to go intercept it, take it, and keep it away from Templar hands for as long as I could. Maybe I'll chuck it in the river. No one would ever find it then. Or I could break it; make it so that no one could use it.

"Are you calling my dress ugly?" I heard a nasty snarling voice call from the tailor's building. I sighed as I recognized the snarl as my sister. I had to go stop her before…

Just like that, fire and roaring thunder blasted through the windows of the shop. A giant hole erupted through the roof, and several bystanders inside the store came running out, their bodies engulfed in flames. They quickly dove into the closest water source, which was the moat surrounding the castle. No one seemed to get hurt, for which I was thankful. However, my sister was still inside that building that was now burning to the ground. So, I rolled my eyes and walked up to the entrance to the store. I rapped on the doorway, saying, "Oh sister. It's time to go home and feed the chickens."

She was lying flat on the ground, covered in soot. Her foot was stuck on a giant blowing device that was placed right next to the fireplace. Oh, I see what happened. She tripped on the blowing device and blew the fire so high that it exploded inside the shop. Man…that just stupid of the shop owner to leave a blowing device right next to a fireplace like that. The shop owner stood there stunned as all hell as he examined his burning display of clothes.

I took this time to call to my sister again. "Ok, sister. Time to go home."

She looked at me and smiled, standing up. "Brother! I didn't expect to see you here."

"You're a knight?" The shop owner said. He looked around. "I need compensation for the damages."

A candle lit up above my head. "Ok, sure. Be sure to tell the King about the incident and he will repay you. This is one of his most valued servants after all."

The shop owner nodded. "I'll be sure to do just that."

I turned to my sister and said, "And we need to have a little chat about a shipment of goods coming up from London."

Cearbhail:

Ok, so the real arc is going to start soon. The true villain will be show his face in a few chapters. I hope you enjoy.