SI:7 Headquarters- March 7th, 2:25 PM
"This is the place. Samuelson's files should be on the third floor," Anduin said, gesturing towards a set of stairs to their right, "All the way up the spiral staircase."
Delfore nodded, slowing her pace slightly. She's never been in the SI:7 Headquarters before, nor on this side of Stormwind honestly. The inside of the place, as she had expected, was very neat and overall orderly. There were a few agents here and there, but they didn't pay her much mind. More importantly, this looked like the place to gather important information, at least on military terms. She may have to visit this place in the future. "Right… let's go," she replied after her pause, walking towards the staircase with her light gate.
"You've never been here before, have you Delfore?" Prince Anduin asked. She could almost feel the amusement. As they continued up the stairs she shrugged.
"Nope," she replied, deciding to be bluntly straightforward, "To be honest, I'm not in Stormwind long enough to explore the place your majesty." She glanced back, giving another slight shrug, "Serving the Alliance keeps me pretty busy nowadays. Especially with things like the Twilight's Hammer."
"Understandable," Prince Anduin said with a nod, "Don't you ever stop to rest, though? I mean it's not a bad thing you're so devoted to the Alliance, it's actually good to know that you are."
Delfore turned forward once again and gave a small chuckle, shaking her head a bit but not actually replying. By the Light, the Prince does not know how difficult it is. That fact she could be killed at any time by pretty much anything besides the Horde… she's still surprised she could sleep. They reached the top of the staircase and she stepped to the side to allow the Prince to pass. "Here we are. This won't attract much attention will it?"
Prince Anduin shook his head as he passed Delfore and headed towards a cabinet, "It shouldn't. Nobody here will question it if the Prince wants to glance through some files." After opening and looking through the cabinet, Prince Anduin took out a stack of files and began to shift through them. "Hmm…" He continues to shift through them, Delfore catching his expression turning into that of a bemused one. She was about to ask him if everything was alright, but before she could he spoke, "This is all wrong. There's nothing here about Twilight's Hammer. What is Samuelson playing at?" He half turned back towards Delfore, before looking up with a confused expression. However, Delfore did notice that he was also trying to think, to figure out the problem. "This is really suspicious, Delfore! Samuelson doesn't have a shred of info here about the Twilight's Hammer- it's almost like he's not investigating them," he glanced down at the files for a moment before looking back up at her, "Yet he's got a complete catalog of the missing explosives." He turned once more to the cabinet, setting the paper files back and reaching in to grab something else out, "And I found this funny badge with a symbol on it: A crossed axe and hammer. It all means something, but what?" He turned to go up to her and hand her the badge to look at.
Meanwhile Delfore kept silent as she listened to the Prince speak. She kept her face carefully composed, but she was just as, if not more, suspicious as the Prince. She found it very peculiar that Samuelson had nothing on the Twilight's Hammer, even though King Varian tasked him with the investigation. She turned the badge over in her hands, finding the back solid and blank. Flipping it back over, she traced her fingers over the symbol. It was expertly crafted, and seems very authentic. "To be frank, your majesty," she started, looking up at him as she handed the badge back over to him, "This discovery makes me very suspicious of treason." She spoke in a firm, low tone, with her expression holding seriousness in their features. Prince Anduin frowned slightly, before shaking his head in denial. She felt herself heave a heavy sigh inside, knowing what he's going to say before he even spoke. Before he could she held up a hand to stop him, "It's not an easy thing to grasp, no. He may not be a traitor. I may be wrong. But this is why there's investigating, to find out the truth. Obviously there isn't enough information to make an accusation… But it's certainly something that we can go off on."
There was a small pause, before Prince Anduin gave a small nod of understanding, "You make a good point. At least there's a lead." Another pause before he continued, "I'm not quite ready to go back to the keep yet. Would you like to help me with something?"After receiving a nod from Delfore he continued, "Recently some of the local farmers were petitioning to the King about some missing livestock. My father promised someone would investigate, but the city guard is stretched so thin it'll take weeks. I thought I would help! It'll encourage the farmers to see someone take action, especially from the royal family. Besides, it's just some missing cows. Nothing dangerous." He stopped talking to take a breather and see if Delfore would have any input.
Delfore crossed her arms over her chest, thinking a moment. She then shrugged, dropping her arms to her sides, "I suppose it won't be dangerous at all. Sounds fine to me."
The Prince gave Delfore a smile, "Take me to Farmer Wollerton here in the city."
It took them almost half an hour to walk from the SI:7 Headquarters to just outside of Farmer Wollerton's farm. Delfore was still very suspicious about Samuelson not having anything on Twilight's Hammer, but kept her thoughts away from the Prince. She didn't want to debate with Prince Anduin about whether or not what they found means what she suspects, or if Samuelson just started finding things for the investigation, or if the Major was just plain stupid. She did however, guided him through mostly back streets, avoiding main roads as much as possible. While she knew the chance of something happening would be next to none, her gut feeling guided her own instinct. She tended to trust her emotions, and so naturally followed them. They spoke somewhat on the trip, mainly the Prince asking her questions about her travels and experiences throughout the Eastern Kingdoms, Kalidmor, Outland, and Northrend. She answered to the best of her ability, most of which was hard to recall with how quickly she moved from place to place. She also kept some details vague from the Prince, not to apt in sharing those personal experiences or for the sake of the people she met. The subjects went all over the place, but, the last thing she expected him to ask about was her name.
"Delfore is actually your last name, not, perhaps, an alias?" He asked, Wollerton's Farm at the end of the small path they traveled on.
"…Yes, it is my last name. I don't have an alias, at least not one I gave myself."
"Then, if I may…" The Prince paused, unsure for a moment before continuing, "What is your first name?"
Delfore slowed her pace so she was walking beside the Prince, before giving him a look that was both amused but hesitant. She threw on a smile, "Why would you like to know it, your highness?"
That made the Prince pause again. She could tell that he was trying to think of a response to her statement. She wondered why the sudden interest, but made sure to keep it from showing on her face. "Well," he started, "I'd like to know so I may address you properly."
"With all due respect Prince Anduin," she replied in a smooth tone, "My last name Delfore is proper enough. I don't give out my first name to just anyone… not even royalty. Even your father, the King, doesn't know it."
"Alright… fair enough," he replied. She glanced at his face and noticed the slight frown… so she thinks it might come up later. It won't matter, she doubts she'll see him again, at least on a regular basis (which, to be honest, it every few months to her).
As they came up to the homestead, an older man was outside watching some livestock from his house. She assumed with was Farmer Wollerton. When the farmer noticed their approach, she could see his eyes widen in shock. That made a smile twitch on her lips, the poor man probably wasn't expecting a royal visit. She saw him hastily, and rather clumsily, get on one knee before speaking in a shocked stutter, "Y-your highness!"
"Hello Farmer Wollerton," The Prince greeted in a friendly manor, "We're here to investigate the missing livestock for you; from the petition that was given to my father."
Delfore watched as the farmer tries to pull himself together, clumsily getting up and brushing the dust off of his pants. "Cows? You're asking about the missing livestock?" The farmer asked, in which Prince Anduin patiently nodded. The farmer nodded to himself, reassured that's why they're here. Delfore noticed how tense the farmer was, and how he only slightly relaxed. "I normally just let the cows graze north of the house here. Occasionally one gets spirited away… leaves a trail of gore," The farmer grimaced in disgust and a bit of horror, "Who would do such a thing? I'm… I'm afraid to follow that trail myself… something sick is happening in Stormwind!"
"Don't worry, we'll go take a look for you," the Prince replied, which then the farmer thanked him ceaselessly. Delfore stayed quiet, having not said a word since they came up upon the farmer. She let Prince Anduin take the lead and didn't influence anything he did or said. From what she gathered from this experience, Anduin indeed has great potential for being a leader. He's a quick learner, patient, and he's able to piece things together. The Prince looked over at Delfore, gesturing to her to follow. She nodded and they soon began to head towards the direction north of the house. Delfore waited until she was sure they were out of earshot of the farmer before speaking in a low voice, "A trail of gore? Definitely seems like animal sacrifice."
"I agree, but who would do that and why?"
"Well, that's why we're here isn't it? To find out," Delfore replied, taking a look around. She smelled it first, making her grimace slightly in disgust, before she saw the bloody trail of animal bits. It led up northeast from the place the farmer said he let his cows graze. "Well, that trail was easy enough to find," she said, glancing at the Prince to catch him nodding in agreement. They both started going towards the trail, following the dead meat on the ground. Delfore noticed the mist as they continued to follow up, and it made her a little tense. The mist didn't feel natural.
"What is this place?" Prince Anduin asked, his face twisting in disgust, "Ugh… and that smell…" They continued on, before reaching what was a used altar. In the heart of the mist was where the altar was located. It was probably white, but now it was heavily stained with blood. The source of the rotting, smell of death came from the altar. "Some sorts of rituals were performed at this altar… It looks like a kind of pagan initiation ritual that Velen once told me about. Bloody, disgusting," Prince Anduin turned back towards Delfore, who had stayed behind him. "Who do you think-" He cut himself off, and was silent.
Delfore tensed and frowned at the Prince, "What's-"
"Delfore! Behind you!" Prince Anduin shouted, looking past Delfore into the mist. He raised his hand and quickly muttered a spell, a golden shield enveloping him.
Delfore reacted without a thought, grabbing her dagger out of its sheath and bringing it up in a guard stance. It was impeccable timing; she only barely managed to parry the blade of the attacker. Delfore quickly sidestepped, unsheathing her sword next before charging the attacker. She went and took a jab at them, only to have it blocked. She saw this chance and came up close, slashing the attacker across their left side. The attacker let out a cry of pain and anger and she knew she got passed the armor. She back stepped and whirled her sword in her hand deftly.
"Look out- there's more!"
"Damnit-" She cursed, seeing two more attackers joining, the first one charging her out of anger. The first attacker swung their sword at her, and she ducked to avoid the wide swing. She has to make this quick- especially now that there are three of them. She came once again up to the first attacker and slashed at his throat. She felt her blade dig into his skin and the blood well out. The attacker's eyes widened and he started to make gurgling sounds once he realized what she did. Delfore kicked the man away with her foot before turning to the last two attackers. "They're Twilight Hammer cultists!" Delfore said quickly towards Prince Anduin, "This ambush was planned!" She had noticed the Twilight's Hammer symbol on the armor of the first man she killed. The other two cultists, another man and woman, didn't attack right away. Delfore sized them up in this brief lapse, seeing the man carried an axe and the woman carried two daggers. Both wore light armor- which made things easier however it was still two to one… Anduin can't fight. The man was the first to go after Delfore, coming up with the quickness and skill as a trained axe man. Delfore parried his swing with her dagger and tried slashing his side. Her blade grazed against the man's armor. The woman soon joined and tried to get behind Delfore.
"I can't hold up this shield much longer!" Prince Anduin said in harder tone than usual, one formed from the strain he was putting on himself.
"I'm working on it!" Delfore shouted back at him. She gripped her dagger and sword tightly in her hands and spun. This made the cultists back up, the woman yelping in pain when Delfore grazed her arm. Delfore used that momentum from her spin to attack the woman. She deflected the woman's blades with her sword. She flipped her dagger in her hand and it found its way home to the woman's heart. She felt the woman stiffen then go limp. She yanked hard, pulling the dagger free.
"Delfore!"
Delfore turned just in time to see the man taking a swing at her. She parried it with her sword but hissed in pain at the uncomfortable angle she had strained on her wrist. She held her ground, turning to fully face the man. He backed up before taking a small charge, keeping his weapon at a defensive position. She stood her ground, waiting. Then in fluid grace, she dodged the man at the last possible moment. This caught him off guard, since he assumed she would continue to hold her ground. As he slowed himself he turned, only to be met with Delfore's sword and dagger. He crumpled into a heap, a slash across his gut and stab wound across his neck draining the dead man's blood out onto the grass. Delfore's breathing was a bit labored; taking three on at once from an ambush wasn't easy. She looked around, alert now. She didn't see, or hear, anymore cultists coming.
"Delfore, you did it- that was a close one!" She heard Prince Anduin say, making her turn half way to face him, "I can't believe you stood your ground against so many at once."
"I've… had a lot of practice," Delfore replied a bit lamely, shaking her head to try to rid herself of her adrenaline. Her racy thoughts soon slowed, and she took in deep breath and exhaled. She looked towards the altar, "Well, at least we know who this altar belongs to."
Prince Anduin nodded, before going up to the altar, "I agree, it's some kind of twisted initiation ritual for Twilight's Hammer. So that means they're definitely active in Stormwind… What's this?" He goes and picks up something from the altar, pausing to look at it. He then turns to Delfore, taking out the badge he had gotten from Samuelson's files. In his other hand was an identical badge. His expression was serious, "This can't be a coincidence… I think you were right, Samuelson is up to something… but we need a smoking gun before we can accuse one of my father's most trusted guards." He goes up to Delfore, handing her the badges, "There's only one person I trust to sort this all out: Mathias Shaw, the director of SI:7. Show him these badges and see what he thinks. Meanwhile, I'll go back to the keep and watch Samuelson like a hawk!"
Delfore took the badges and pocketed them into one of pouches, "I'll get these to Shaw ASAP, your majesty."
Prince Anduin nodded, ebfore starting to walk away and head back to the keep. She saw him paused of a moment, before turning his head back and saying, "Hey Delfore, we don't have to tell my father about that little ambush. If he finds out about an attempt on my life… he'd never let me out of that keep."
Delfore smirked and chuckled a little, before nodding, "He won't know your majesty."