Chapter Seventeen

Unlikely Alliance

JANUS

This is madness. Janus adjusted his grip on the riser of his compound bow. They'd expected to creep into the castle and make a beeline straight for Hans, and now they'd just learnt that he had usurped Eleanor's throne and crowned himself as the new Emperor of Exon. And if that wasn't already enough, he was now the host of the Eternal King and had the entire Crimson Order backing him up.

And not to forget, Janus glanced over at Melody and the others who were speaking with Eleanor. We're working with the former Empress of Exon, the one who's responsible for the war in the first place. It still baffled him how quickly the entire game had changed in just a few short minutes. If the cards hadn't been stacked against them before, they definitely were now. Which was why he couldn't argue with Melody's idea of recruiting Eleanor to their side…for now.

"Where's Hans now?" Deirdre asked. She sounded uncomfortable being on the same team as her sister - the sister who'd essentially destroyed her life years ago.

"Knowing him, he's probably in the throne room now." Eleanor spat. "The bastard's been planning this for so long, he'd want to revel in his victory now that he finally has the throne."

"That makes sense." Melody said. "So how do we fight him?"

Eleanor shook her head. "I don't know."

"You fought him." Janus finally said. "What can you tell us about his weaknesses? His strengths? Any loopholes we can exploit?" His mind was already beginning to whir with all the possible outcomes of having to confront Hans.

"Exactly what I said." Eleanor snarled. "I don't know. He's too damn powerful. He shrugged off my attacks like it was nothing. None of you stand a chance against him."

"We'll see." Janus muttered, taking out the chalk from his jacket and pressing it against the wall, leaving a faint white mark on the chipped stone surface. He might have a few tricks up his sleeve, but there was no telling how they would measure up against the Eternal King. And he still hadn't forgotten the main reason he was here.

"It doesn't matter." Maui said. "We've fought sorcerers, demons and armies. Hans - or the Eternal King - is just another name on a long list."

"Take us up to Hans." Melody ordered. "And no tricks."

Eleanor narrowed her eyes and nodded slowly. Janus already had a hand on his dagger, just in case the erratic ex-Empress tried something stupid. She led them out of the dungeon through an old spiral staircase, and up another few flights of switchback stairs which smelled old, musty and long out of use.

Another iron gate lay at the top of those stairs, and Eleanor used her demon powers to rip the door of its hinges with a thought. Janus watched as Eleanor tossed the the iron gate without laying a finger on it, and it clattered to the ground noisily, raising thick layers of dust from the ground.

"A little stealth would be nice." Melody said dryly.

"You want my help, we do things my way." Eleanor retorted without turning her head, continuing to lead the Warriors through the lower levels of the castle. "Just a little further."

Janus stayed at the rear of the group in case of an ambush from the back, while Melody remained close to Eleanor in front. Maui and Deirdre, were busy keeping a lookout too, ready if a fight were to break out. Again, Janus chalked the wall they passed, and his hand returned to the dagger on his belt.

This is ridiculous, he mused. Here he was, creeping through the sewers and basements of the Empire's capital, vastly outmatched and surrounded by enemies with all forms of sorcery at their fingertips. This felt more and more like a suicide mission the closer he and the others got to the surface, and he was sure that the others had the same premonition too.

Nonetheless, they finally reached a false wall, and Maui helped to muscle it aside, revealing an opening in the wall. As they stepped through the opening, the Warriors found themselves no longer in tunnels, dungeons or catacombs, but an actual room. It was dark and musty smelling, but it was still a proper room that looked like a storage facility of some sort. It was packed with boxes, crates, wine barrels and hundreds of bottles on shelves. There were cobwebs everywhere, and layers of dust could be seen against what faint light came from Deirdre's ball of fire on her palm.

"Been squandering all of Exon's resources for yourself, I see." Deirdre said flatly. "Mother and Father would be proud."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Eleanor hissed, whirling around. "I brought stability and success to my empire. The people love me."

Deirdre snorted. "What rubbish."

"Focus." Melody came between the two sisters before they could start fighting in the basement and attract attention. "You girls can fight it out later. We need to find Hans first and save our friends."

"Whatever." Deirdre muttered.

Eleanor paused for a moment. Then, she grabbed a bottle from the shelf and the cork fell out with a pop. Grunting, she motioned for the Warriors to follow her as she took a long pull from the bottle and walked towards the exit.

A long hallway lay outside the storage room, and at the end was yet another flight of stairs, this one narrower. It was rather humid now, a stark contrast to how cold it had been previously, and Janus could feel himself sweating beneath his mask and clothes even as he pressed the chalk against the wall every twenty paces. This entire basement must be used by the castle staff for logistics, laundry and the nitty gritty chores and responsibilities that kept a castle running.

"Quiet now." Melody said in a low voice. "We probably don't want to run into any of the staff down here."

"Too late." Maui reported as a servant dressed in red came round the corner behind them. Gaping, the servant dropped his stack of laundry and muttered something in Exonite.

Janus, who was the nearest to them, whirled round and tackled the servant to the ground, putting his forearm against the man's mouth.

"Stay quiet," he growled. "Unless you wish to die down here. Nod if you understand."

Wide eyed, the servant nodded and swallowed, whatever fight he possibly possessed had gone out of him.

Melody came to his side to aid in the interrogation. "Where is the Emperor?"

Janus slowly removed his forearm from the man's mouth. The servant swallowed again, fear crossing his features as he spoke in slow English.

"I cannot. I will not betray my Emperor."

"Are you more afraid of what the Emperor will do to you later, or what I can do to you now?" Janus growled, leaning dangerously on him.

"Look," Melody motioned for him to ease up. She'd always been the good cop. "No one's going to know you talked. The Emperor has too many things to worry about than to concern himself with a servant."

The servant's eyes darted between her and Janus, and he relented. "The Audience Chambers. I overheard him telling the Imperial Blitzguard that he is not to be disturbed, for he is expecting guests."

Guests? Janus shot a glance at Melody, who returned it.

"What guests?" Janus said.

"I don't…don't know." The servant said hastily. Janus could tell he wasn't lying by watching for facial tics.

"Then we're done here." Janus pressed his glove against the man's face and nose, restraining him from struggling until he passed out.

Melody tossed Janus some rope, and he used it to bind the man's wrists, and Maui helped to drag and stash the man in a random room of the basement. Snapping off the door handle, Maui crushed it with his bare hands, and dusted away the remains.

"So now we know he's in the audience chambers for sure." Melody said.

"I told you that." Eleanor looked offended.

"Excuse us if we don't exactly believe you." Deirdre glared at her sister. "Can you really blame us?"

Eleanor scowled. "I guess not."

"We need to keep moving." Janus said. "We don't know how many more we might run into down here. If Hans gets wind that we're already here, we lose our edge."

"Agreed." Melody nodded, and turned to Eleanor. "Let's move."

The basement led up to a wide foyer which spanned at least seventy yards in both directions. It was a magnificent piece of architecture, with beautiful archways and gold-fitted chandeliers hanging from high ceilings. Multiple staircases had been built at each of the four corners, leading to different wings of the castle.

Janus' eyes darted round for enemies as he chalked the wall again. Unnervingly, the entire foyer was empty, devoid of any servants or Blitzguard soldiers. Something was fishy. Why would Hans leave his new fortifications unguarded like this?

"Which way from here?" Maui whispered, his voice a low rumble.

"North Wing." Eleanor sniffled, finishing whatever remained in the bottle she had snagged from the basement. When she was done, she used her demon sorcery to destroy the glass and it shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Didn't we say to be quiet?" Deirdre hissed angrily, grabbing Eleanor's arm.

Eleanor waved at her surroundings, already looking half buzzed. "Are you blind? Do you see anyone around here? Hmmn?" Eleanor jerked her arm away. "Hans pulled them all back because he's expecting us. Why else do you think the castle's empty?"

"He knows we're already here." Janus said under his breath. It made sense. As Anna and Elsa always said, Hans was the smartest man in any room. If the Warriors were here, it was because he wanted them to be.

"Go on. Lead the way." Deirdre prodded her sister, who swatted away her hand and began traipsing up the stairs. The Warriors followed suit, ascending up to the sixth floor of the castle's north wing.

A long, carpeted hallway lay ahead of them, furnished to the nines with ornaments, jewellery, expensive furniture and elaborate sculptures of ancient monarchs. It was well lit and felt like the trappings of a haunted house. Janus spotted an air vent on the wall near the ceiling. No doubt a ventilation system that circulated air to the various rooms connected by pipes.

"Here." Eleanor said shortly, stopping outside the unguarded audience chambers.

"The rest of you head inside." Janus told them in hushed tones. "I'll find another way into the audience chambers. I'll need a better vantage point to get the drop on Hans."

Melody nodded. "Do you need backup?"

"He'll suspect something is up if too few of you show up." Janus shook his head. "I'll be fine. Just give me three minutes to get into position. Three minutes, then breach." With that, he picked an arrow from his arsenal and nocked it on his bowstring. Pulling it back, he took aim at the vent. The arrow flew, and the arrowhead latched between the grates. Tugging down on it hard, the vent grate dislodged off its hinges and fell towards the carpet. Janus caught it before it hit the ground, and gently leaned it against the wall. There was no use in covering his tracks, for he was about to ambush Hans in a few minutes' time anyway.

Leaping, he found purchase and scaled the wall without any hand holds, hoisting himself up into the cramp ventilation pipe opening. Years of training had made him accustomed to squeezing into spaces that smaller people had difficulty getting into, and this was no exception. Lying on his belly, Janus leopard-crawled across the length of the ventilation pipe and up one floor which would take him above the audience chambers.

He found another vent which blocked his exit, and wedged it free. Without making a noise, he climbed out of the ventilation pipe and swung himself over a parapet which overlooked the audience chambers. The large room had two levels, the bottom one for the reigning monarch to address his subjects and the balcony where others could spectate.

The former Chancellor was alone in the audience chambers, seated on his new throne, patiently awaiting the arrival of his guests. The Warriors would burst into the chambers at any moment, and the Emperor was ready for them. Just like how Janus was ready for the Emperor.

He put down his pack silently and removed the long rifle strapped across his back. It had been modified with a longer barrel to give the lead ball more distance, and a coarser and more explosive form of blackpowder. The barrel was grooved unlike a common smoothbore musket, so that when he pulled the trigger the lead ball would spin before leaving the muzzle and would give his shot more accuracy. It wasn't that he wasn't confident of his marksmanship, but he needed that extra assurance of accuracy if he was going to successfully assassinate the Emperor, though he was prepared for the possibility that it would not even make a dent or leave a scar. Regardless, he was going to try to blow Hans' brains out before he could unleash the Eternal King on the world.

Half-cocking the rifle, he opened the pan and poured the coarse blackpowder into it from a powder horn. Then he snapped the frizzen shut over the pan to secure it, and began pouring the rest of the blackpowder down the barrel. He wrapped the lead ball with a wad of paper he'd taken from an Arendellian infantryman, and stuffed the whole mess down the barrel with a ram rod and returned the ram rod to its position below the barrel.

Fully cocking the weapon, he heard the mechanism click and set the rifle butt to his shoulder. Closing an eye, he took aim at the Emperor and waited for the doors of the audience chambers to swing open.