Dantega:Volume 5 Chapter 1
Chapter 44: Movement on the Chessboard
(PART 1)
Ash Alworth is lying alone on the back of a horse drawn carriage, looking up at the afternoon sky and watching the clouds fly by has left her deep within her own thoughts.
She remains that way until the man driving the carriage says, “I hope you know how difficult it was for me to smuggle you across the border. Because I'm a traveling merchant it gives me a passport to move freely between Troy, Eiyalazo and La'Juune, but it doesn't mean that I wouldn't be put to death for human trafficking between enemy countries.”
Ash ignores his words and coldly replies, “As a traveling merchant you obviously like money, I gave you more than enough to last you a whole year so you could take me to the Capital. You shouldn't be complaining.”
The man takes a sigh of resignation and says, “Well, you’re not wrong about that.”
Ash has bought the service of this man to bring her from Troy to La'Juune, and she has paid him almost all of her and Zurvick's military money to do so.
“Do you mind me asking what you plan on doing here?”
Ash halfway snorts and replies, “That is irrelevant to you, unless you're a La'Juutian nationalist... If that's the case I recommend you drop me off right now.”
The man who looks to be in his mid 40's shrugs his shoulders. “I actually moved here from Eiyalazo when I was a teenager, La’Juune doesn't mean too much to me. If what you are after is the life of the King or some other high ranking official then I have no problem with that. Truth is, the death of a Royal family member could raise the prices of certain goods, so if you'd be kind enough to let me know who it is you're going to assassinate it'd be greatly appreciated. That way I can buy up those goods at a cheap price beforehand.”
He said that because the King gives members of the Royal and Noble families management of certain goods; Royals own resources and Nobles own materials. Some are in charge of coal, some of steel, and some are even in control of agriculture. The King decides this because it evenly distributes La'Juune's wealth so all members of the Noble and Royal families don't use class warfare to rise the ranks. Of course, some make more money than others but that is the privilege bestowed upon them by the favor of the King, they can hardly use that to say they are better than one another.
Naturally, if the King doesn't like the way one of these factions are being run he can legally repossess it. For instance, if he sees that the granite industry is not making it's deadlines for the new buildings being built, the King can either oust the Royal who's running it or seize control of it himself and decide what to do at a later time. For a Royal or a Noble to lose their position as leader of a resource or good, equals a punishment worse than death, the majority of them end up dying poor in disgrace.
With this rule adding such an importance to the role of those particular people, their untimely deaths can drastically lower prices or immediately boost the prices of certain goods. More often than not it is the merchant with the sharpest ear who gets to make a profit, the man holding the reins of this carriage would be really keen to know ahead of time if one were to be assassinated.
She is somewhat surprised by how nonchalantly he said that, it would seem as though this man is very business savvy and notices every little thing around him. People like him are on a far different level when it comes to economic knowledge than she would ever be as a career soldier. She finds him to be quite intriguing.
Nonetheless, she has no intention of trusting him at all, she is an enemy soldier invading the country of La'Juune for reasons unknown to him and she'd prefer it to remain that way.
With this in mind, she answers, “I have no plans for the future anymore, so I can’t promise you any information that might make you rich.”
“No future plans huh? Did something bad happen back at Troy?”
The merchant wasn't expecting to get much of an answer out of her because he understands that sometimes the tragedies that go along with war are better off being kept to oneself.
But much to his surprise, Ash quickly concedes, “Yes... I lost someone, the most important person in my life was killed.”
“Then that means you're here for revenge right? I can maybe get rich by just knowing that.”
Ash pauses for a little while, though she doesn't want to reveal any information, she desperately wants someone to talk to, she's been alone for over a month now.
During the silence as she contemplates her words, the man forms his own answer for her in his head. Just another sad war story that won't end well, the cycle of hate continues and the merchant who's seen it all knows the ending of these kinds of stories all too well.
Ash takes a deep breath, stands up on the back of the cart being pulled by the two horses and declares,
“I won't seek revenge.”
The merchant turns around and looks at her in surprise as she continues.
“The person who died is someone who'd never consider something as terrible as revenge. He'd be disappointed in me if I had that kind of goal, so I want to do something in his honor, something that even I don't know if I can do.”
“And that something can be accomplished here in La'Juune?”
“It can only be accomplished here. I know who killed the most important man in my life... and I'm here to meet him... I'm here to see if I can look him in the eye and forgive him.”
Seeing how her knees were shaking when she said that, the merchant can't help but understand how difficult doing such a thing will be for her. He's never seen anyone like her before, the world needs more people who are willing to forgive and he is proud to see that there still are youths who are willing to do so.
He smiles and looks back to the dirt road in which he is guiding his carriage and says, “Then allow me to help you as much as possible. I may not get rich off of your forgiveness, but believe it or not even I know there are things more valuable than money.”
Ash sits back down and again zones out on the scenery, watching the dust from the carriage flow into the blue sky.
“I’ll need all the help I can get...”
Back at the Capital, there are two people walking in a large and well designed hallway. Holding hands, one could easily mistake them as young lovers, but their disjunctured expressions reveal the opposite.
The girl with long black hair that parts at her shoulders named Rain Von Ronheim frowns and asks, “Doesn't holding my hand all of the time become tiring for you?”
Noah, the orange haired boy doesn't avert his gaze away from the innards of the hallway when he replies, “Not really, it needs to be done in order to keep myself and others safe from your wretched power. As of now I've made it so in certain rooms such as mine your power is automatically nullified, but in the majority of the castle and in public I must always hold your right hand.”
“People may get the wrong idea, you know?”
“What do you care about that? You don't strike me as the type of person who'd be embarrassed over appearances.”
“I'm just trying to tell you that people will think you have found a wife and expect a wedding.”
“I doubt that, chances are they'd just think of you as my mistress... Technically my actual wife is currently a missing person.”
Rain, still skeptical of him as it pertains to the disappearance of Princess Niera and Daey, noticed the sarcasm in tone when he said that, this prompts her into the assumption that he knows more than he's letting off.
“Where is the Princess?”
Noah finally looks at her and replies, “That's a good question.”
Rain clicks her tongue at that response, the way he double speaks to her makes her feel like the two are constantly in a cat and mouse situation. She hates that most about him.
“You're lying, whatever game you’re playing with me won’t work out in your favor, you might as well tell me the truth.”
“You’re in luck, I'm about to show you the truth.”
The two reach an entrance way that obviously leads to a room of importance. The Courlivet family crest adorns the large polished wooden double doors, the handles of which are tied with a red cloth, sealing it shut.
Noah lets go of Rain's hand and says, “It's the King's suite…” Noah then proceeds to untie the cloth and toss it to the side. “This is where it all started, and it’s where you’ll finally get your truth. Why don't you take a look for yourself?”
Rain sends him a suspicious glare, but she doesn't want to waste her chance of having her hand freed by refusing him.
She huffs air out of her nose and opens the door and walks through without much thought, only to feel herself falling uncontrollably.
“!?!?”
She suddenly feels a pressure on her hand and the falling stops, she looks up and she is being held by Noah.
With a straight face he says, “Look down.”
Rain hesitatingly does so and finds herself dangling over fifty stories in the air, at the bottom of such a height are the castle grounds that surround the big structure.
Rain isn't naturally afraid of heights, but dangling this high has gotten her petrified, she doesn't speak nor demand to be pulled up. Instead she is stuck in this state of shock and Noah can see it, he pulls her back up into the hallway and she quickly latches onto him.
Noah takes her body and turns it once again towards the door, looking closely over the edge she can see that this entire block of the castle is completely gone. It's as though it has been cut perfectly out of the structure like a piece of cake; she understands that there was no explosion that caused this and no human could possibly cut something so perfectly.
“On the day they disappeared, they were all in this room when we heard a loud blast, we immediately rushed to their aid and this is what we found. Nothing... Nothing at all.”
Rain remains silent but the sound of her teeth chattering can be heard, Noah continues to speak despite her state of petrification.
“At first, we naturally thought that either Troy or Eiyalazo were the ones behind this, so we began our investigation right away. However, we were left with more questions than answers. With both of the other countries blaming us, it would have been foolish not to mobilize our armies and declare war preemptively.”
Noah squeezes her hand and keeps talking.
“But deep down inside I knew that what happened in this room is part of something much deeper than the ties of our three countries... It wasn’t long after that, I began finding people like you lurking in the shadows of this world, and I now firmly believe that the one giving you all powers is also the one behind the disappearances.”
Rain glares at him with her eyes wide open, it would seem that she finally understands what Noah has been saying all along.
Confident that he’s reached her, he faintly smiles and says,
“Now do you see what I mea----”
“You idiot!!”
Noah is interrupted by the loud voice of Rain and the accompanied strikes on his chest with the sides of her fists.
“How could you let me walk into that room like that!?”
She keeps beating on him and Noah can’t help but be surprised, her face is flushed and her tone sounds like she is on the verge of tears.
“What were you trying to prove by doing that!? You piece of shit! I'll..! I'll!!”
Apparently this tactic of scaring her into submission to his opinion backfired, he did scare her alright, so much so that perhaps not even a word of his opinion was heard.
She never seemed like the kind of person who'd get rattled by anything, but when he thinks about it, he can see that other than her right hand, she is still just a normal teenage girl. Being one slip away from falling to your death is most people's worst nightmare, it must have been traumatic for her to be safe in one moment and thrown into a life threatening situation the next.
It’s only now that Noah can see that he’s been dehumanizing her this entire time. It’s easier to see foes in that light, as unreasonable as a projection he’s put onto her, he now understands the error in doing so.
She stops her assault and throws her head into his chest, with her fists still clinched she softly says, “I'll kill you... No matter what, I'll definitely kill you..”
Noah lets her stay like that, allowing her as much time as she needs to recuperate.
“At the end of all this, you probably will.”
Lelaine is holding the flask she once gave her husband as a parting gift when he left for the military; it has been passed down as a family heirloom in the Niveusvenia family for centuries. It's something that should be treasured, yet here it is, the item that once carried all the love between her and Zurvick is charred in her hands.
There is a gash from what seems to be a knife piercing the flask clean through, if not for the severe charring from the fire that distorted the metal, she may have noticed Zurvick’s dried blood. She shivers at the thought of what Zurvick's flesh and bone body went through alongside this ruined heirloom.
The disgruntled Queen has been locked in her room for two weeks, ever since she heard the news of her husband's death she has yet to talk to anyone. In a state of disbelief she has been consumed by grief and her distraught only grows with each day.
Glaring at the wall in front of her she hears a knock on her door.
The voice of Sturgess is heard from the other side saying, “We will commence the funeral in two day's time, it will be a grand funeral that all of Troy can see.”
Sturgess smiles and thinks to himself how much easier it will be to stage a coup during such a large event.
But those thoughts are destroyed when Lelaine says, “Throw that body in the damn trash for all I care, I will not allow any kind of funeral and I will not allow any information to leak about the supposed 'King's death.'”
“But my Queen...”
“But nothing!! If I find out that anyone speaks a word of it to the public I will have them executed! That charred mess of a man is not my husband!”
Sturgess truly thinks that she is going senile, he isn't angry about her sense of loss and the way she handles it, but, he doesn't want his future mistress to be crazy. The thought of the woman he has always dreamed of being a broken mental mess of a person by the time he finally gets her displeases him.
“Please Queen Lelaine, don't let King Zurvick be buried in an unmarked grave... That is the ultimate insult to a man.”
“Listen Sturgess... Don't you ever doubt my orders again, do your job or I'll find someone else to do it for you.”
Sturgess sighs and relinquishes his pursuit in burying Zurvick's body in such a grand way, it looks like things will go as originally planned and in two days time the country of Troy will be taken the hard way.
He walks away from Lelaine's room and informs a couple guards, “Tell the coroner's office to put King Zurvick's body in a coffin.” The two guards look at him quizzically and Sturgess explains, “By the order of the Queen, he is to be taken away and buried right away, the pauper’s graveyard at the outskirts of the city should be just fine.”
“Yes sir.”
The men salute him and run off to follow his orders.
Sturgess watches them off and leans against the wall. Looking out on the city from one of the hallway windows he says to himself, “As much as I was jealous of you Zurvick... even I wouldn't have wanted you to be buried as an unknown... your wife has truly gone mad, but don't worry.”
He walks his way back through the castle and licks his lips when he finishes,
“I'll take good care of her.”
Dice has finally reached the Capital city of Eiyalazo, this trek normally takes a couple weeks to a month but he has exhausted the powers given to him by the snake in order to get here as quickly as possible. His face is full of hate and distrust and each step he takes carries disdain for the ground he walks on.
This is a person who has lost control of his soul and let darkness take over his mind, this is a person whose thoughts are consumed with how he will kill the people who gave him birth.
His eyes are red with sleep deprivation as he mutters to himself, “I'll kill them I'll kill them I'll kill them.”
Walking in such a miserable state, he finally reaches the Castle; the guards look at him questioningly but let him in without making any fuss about it. Dice makes his way to his room and collapses onto his large bed. He feels as though he shouldn't be wasting any time, but knows that if he's not careful, he could end up losing everything after killing the King and Queen.
(There is definitely a way for me to kill them and be declared the new King in the process... Once that happens I'll be able to expend any resource to get Rain back.)
He turns over on his back and points his hand to the ceiling, as if talking to someone he asks, “What do you think?”
Out of the pentagram tattoo comes the head of the black snake, it slithers down his arm and replies, “I think that is something easily attained... would you feel more comfortable if it was I who came up with the plan?”
Dice rests his eyes and thinks before saying, “I would.”
“Then sleep my fair Prince, by the time you wake I'll have a foolproof plot ready for you.”
The tired Prince doesn't say thanks nor does he even bat his eye in gratitude, the only thing Dice cares about is getting Rain back. It's come to the point where he expects the snake's help with everything, and the snake wouldn't want it any other way.
To the snake, this is Dice's point of insanity, and just like always, the insane are easiest to manipulate.
Dice drops his hand and quickly falls asleep, the snake slithers its way back into the pentagram while laughing the entire way.
Ebihara Seiri is packing a large duffle bag full of silver canteens, it would seem she is off to another battle excluding the fact that she is half naked in her little white underwear.
On the other side of the room sits Allia with a sour look on her face, she also has some frilly expensive looking bags packed sitting next to her.
While tapping her foot impatiently she says, “You know, it's a bad habit for young girls to take so long to get ready. This kind of problem can really affect your married life in the future.”
Seiri doesn't turn her way but replies with venom, “Says the nineteen year old virgin who's never had a boyfriend. You are the last person I want to hear any criticism from.”
Allia's face instantly shines bright red, her shoulders rise as she tries to retort, “Y-You cheeky brat! W-What do you know about anything!??”
“To be perfectly honest I really don't. But I'm right, aren't I?”
Allia looks away in embarrassment. Her flustered face is so cute it should be a crime.
“I-I've never had the chance to find a boyfriend...”
She said that because as a member of the Royal family, she has always been caged from living a free life. Used more as a political tool, she was more likely to be married before ever having a boyfriend.
Seiri looks at her with her eyes watering, and sniffs her nose as she clenches her tiny little hands together.
Allia is surprised by this and asks, “Ehhh?? Why are you crying!?”
Seiri wipes her eyes and drops her head, Allia walks up to her to comfort the little girl.
“Just kidding.”
“..??”
“You didn't actually think I'd sympathize with your inability to find anyone to love you, right?”
This immediately angers Allia, she grits her teeth and a vein bulges on her forehead. “You little...”
“Wait, you did?”
Seiri puts her hand over her mouth and laughs cockily like some sort of ojou-sama would.
“I must say, my acting skills are increasing with every moment! You even thought that I was crying for real, I truly am an artistic genius!”
“I just might have to kill you Seiri.”
The little girl continues her obnoxious laugh and Allia feels the sting of it beating on her, she has been insulted and embarrassed at the same time and it's something she's not used to.
Allia is about to pounce on the half naked Seiri when the closet door violently swings open and out comes Elise Whittier.
She is breathing rather hard and pieces of clothing fly all about as she shouts, “I FOUND IT!!”
In Elise's hand is a beyond skimpy lingerie outfit, this black strip of clothing would make a stripper blush and the mere fact that Elise has one is very suspect. What is worse about it is that it is the perfect size for a girl much younger than an outfit like that should be made for.
Elise points it at Seiri and says, “Don't you think this is perfect!? You have got to try this on!”
Seiri's face turns blue in horror as she replies, “There's no way that thing is going anywhere near me.”
Allia can only stand by and blush at such a thing, she is quite innocent for someone who is considered an elite soldier. With her shoulders raised she attempts to show her displeasure at such a sight.
“S-S-So shameless!”
Elise pays no mind to their complaints and presses on, “Come on Seiri! This outfit will show off your silky smooth white thighs, ahhhhhnn~! Not to forget about your-----”
“Eeyyaaaahh!”
Seiri groans in fright and covers her ears as the perverted Elise continues her rambling.
Though Seiri is young and Elise's attraction to her is creepily unnatural, the young actress is quite the beauty. She's the type of girl that would make a grown man awkward if he found himself in an elevator with her.
Elise pounces on a struggling Seiri and attempts to put the lingerie on her, such a sight is so inappropriate it makes Allia shriek and rush to the door to flee.
As soon as she reaches the door, it flings open and in comes Celestia Letrova saying cheerfully, “Alrighty are y'all ready to go!?”
“Ehh, uh... I am.” Allia replies, surprised by Celestia’s sudden appearance.
Celestia looks to the left side of the room and sees the sight that the police should be called for.
She sighs and interrupts the commotion with a shout, “King Noah is waiting for us right now! We must leave immediately!!”
Seiri and Elise both stand astute and without question pack up the rest of their stuff and are ready to go shortly after. Of course, Seiri is no longer half naked, she threw a small navy blue one piece over her head and slipped boat shoes onto her feet.
This look of hers is causing Elise to find it extremely hard to hold her composure, the only thing going through her mind when she follows the three out of the room is,
(Moe moe moe moe moe moe!!!)
The four girls walk down the innards of the castle until they reach the large double doors that lead to the library room. This particular library room is small and filled with historical books. It is normally used for meetings involving economic problems or battle strategies, only the most important country matters are discussed in here.
Once the girls enter they find that the men are sitting around the large table as well, they take their seats and look towards the tip of the table. There sits Noah, and holding his hand is a girl that they are unfamiliar with.
The girl is Rain, and she sits next to him with a scowl on her face.
Noah snaps his finger on his extra hand and London Stott pulls out a wooden case, he opens it up and sets its innards on the table so everyone can see. It's a chessboard.
This makes the others who aren't in the loop a little confused so Noah begins to explain.
“As you all know, there have been people with powers popping up as of late, and the girl next to me is one of them... These people pose a grave threat to our country and we can't allow them to get any closer to the Capital.”
The Ten Knights who are usually loud and unsettled are listening intently as Noah continues.
“This doesn't exclude Troy and Eiyalazo, I am under the firm belief that the one giving these people their powers is the one responsible for the abductions that started this war. So we must absolutely destroy his pawns in order to ensure his plans are doomed to failure.”
For the most part, the Ten Knights know about the people with powers bestowed on them like Rain, four of them almost fought Prince Dice when he was in such a frightening state. They understand that this is something on a level in which they are not familiar, so they make sure they try to know every detail possible.
“So what's with the chessboard?” asked Lennox while fixing his hair.
“I was waiting for one of you to ask that. I have dozens of Dravic Branch spies throughout all three countries and they report to me every detail on the ones who are being controlled. If there is one thing I've noticed, it's that they are assassinating lower ranking officials and rising the ranks slowly. All of them have killed, and are after people who will have a direct impact on the war for all three sides. The number of these controlled people match the exact amount of squares on a chessboard, I figured it’d be fitting to present our new battle this way.”
The ten of them begin to get where he is coming from and let him finish to consolidate it.
“The side that represents Earth only has three chess pieces left, the pawns with the powers have killed everyone they needed to in order to get close to the leaders of our countries.”
“So what would happen if those last three pieces were to be taken out?”
“Checkmate. The world is over.”
They all collectively take a gasp in disbelief, it’s a struggle to imagine such dire consequences to this game they’ve been presented with.
London tilts his glasses up and asks, “So what do you want us to do?”
Noah faintly smiles and answers, “What do you say we add some chess pieces to our side of the board? There's a reason why I told you all to pack your things before coming here, I'm going to split you all into groups of two. Your jobs are to seek out these troublesome pawns and kill them. But I will warn you that some of these pawns are high ranking officials behind enemy lines, one of them is even the Prince of Eiyalazo. So this mission is going to be extremely dangerous.”
Some of the Knights smile in excitement at such an opportunity and some sigh as if this is just another hassle.
For some, the most worrisome thought that comes to mind is who their pair will be. In Seiri's case, if she gets paired with Elise it could result in a disaster.
Noah can read the vibe and is ready to announce the pairings but he is interrupted by the sharp voice of Rain saying,
“You... It was you who killed the King of Troy right?”
Her hate filled glare is directed at Jeffery Durbin, the Captain of the Knights.
He shrugs his shoulders and nonchalantly answers, “Yeah it was.”
Rain frowns and turns to Noah, she looks him square in the eye when she says, “I want him to be the one to assassinate Prince Dice.”
“Oh?”
“This man has taken something very dear to me, and in turn he also took it from Dice. But we'll be even if the Prince defeats this despicable man in the process.”
Jeffrey chuckles and says, “That sounds like a challenge.”
Noah turns to Jeffrey and asks him, “Is it a challenge that you're willing to accept?”
He again shrugs his shoulders and in his usual tone he replies, “Sure, I don't see why not.”
Rain's disdain towards him hit a high, she is bitter at the fact that all she can do is put her hopes onto Dice. This situation has long since spiraled out of her control and she is beginning to feel like she is being tied to a leash by Noah. At least she feels that this opportunity for Dice to help her exact revenge is still present, she’ll use it as her own way of taking back a semblance of autonomy.
“Now then, the pairings will go as follows: Jeffrey, you'll be with Elise. Allia and Celestia: Seiri and Haas: Lennox and London: Jessiah and Olin:”
“So when do we leave?”
“Immediately.”
The Ten Knights all stand up and salute, once done they walk to the door.
Before they can leave, Noah speaks again.
“However."
The ten stop and turn around.
"There's something I need you all to do before you go.”
“..?”
“There will be a parade celebrating your departure, it's already been set up so chances are there are thousands of people waiting for you in the streets outside the castle.”
Sending him quizzical glares, they wonder why he’s bothering to go through the trouble to do this, it's not like they have celebrity status like Napoleon did.
Perhaps this is a kind gesture from their King?
As nice as that sounded in their head, those thoughts are demolished when Noah explains plainly, “The people of La'Juune need to know that we are making drastic moves in order to win the war. Sending our best soldiers across the globe would boost public morale on a large scale. So be sure to smile and wave.”
They all collectively sigh and reply, “Yes sir.”
With that, they exit the room and head to a parade they would rather not attend.
Now alone, Noah and Rain sit in an awkward silence, the dreaded atmosphere of absolute hate pours from the air around Rain as she glares at him with killing intent.
Noah senses the sharp stare beating on the side of his face but chooses to ignore it, instead he looks at the chessboard and moves one of the ten white pieces that represent the Knights upwards.
Rain breaks the silence and asks, “Do you intend on killing me as well? I am one of those people with powers after all.”
Noah ignores her again and speaks to himself, “Who would've thought that I, now the King of La'Juune, would be sending my soldiers into battle to protect the rulers of Troy and Eiyalazo..?” He then turns to Rain and asks, “Tell me... what kind of person do you think I am?”
This question catches her off guard, she wonders if his words signify an answer to her question.
The frown doesn't leave her face when she replies, “A piece of shit.”
Noah faintly smiles, “You know, I’ve never met anyone who can hold a grudge quite like you.”
Rain tut tuts and looks away. “Then you should have known it was dumb of you to ask me what kind of person I think you are. You already knew damn well what my answer was.”
“I guess you're right.” He stands to his feet and lifts her up in the process, looking at her with a rare, genuine smile he says, “At least try to enjoy the festivities with me.”
Seeing such an unusual side to him, Rain is left speechless for a moment,
“I don't want to.”
Noah wasn't thinking that she'd actually want to go, so he has already prepared his room for her, this way she couldn't do any damage while left alone.
He chuckles while holding his hand out to her, “Well then, I'll have you wait for my return.”
Rain flares her nostrils and looks away while saying, “Fine.”
With no fight between either of them, she walks with him hand and hand out of the library room.
Ash has already gone through the amazement of her first sight of the City of Grandeur and is now weaving her way through a mass of people.
“There’s so many people, this is crazy!”
The sound of people cheering rings through the air as trumpets are heard playing a triumphant nationalistic tune, she notices that all of the people around her are staring towards the road leading from the castle.
With her curiosity piqued, Ash cuts through the crowd to get a good look. On her way there she gets jammed and a man tells her rudely to watch where she is going.
She pouts in frustration and asks herself, “Just what the hell is going on here??”
Out of nowhere she gets an unexpected answer from someone nearby who happened to hear her.
“It's a parade for the King and the Ten Knights of La'Juune. They should be coming by any moment.”
Ash's face drops and a frown forms above her eyes, she remembers clearly who it was that killed Zurvick and sacked Tronoble. Under the orders of the new King, the Knights are the source of her misery, without replying to the passerby she shoves the people in the way to clear a path to the road.
After struggling for a while she reaches the road, and just in time because the horse drawn float that's carrying Noah and the others just happened to be rolling by. She stares at the awkwardly smiling Knights with fists clenched, especially when she gets a good look at Jeffrey, the one who inflicted the fatal wound on Zurvick.
Without thinking she shouts, “King Noah!!!”
Just about every person attending this parade is shouting the name of Noah, so he doesn't pay any mind to one voice of many lost in the din of the crowd. The float passes her by and the sight of his back infuriates her.
However, Instead of giving up she chases the float down and continues her shouting, she is mere feet from the people who are the ultimate enemies of Troy, and this adds to her desperation to get their attention.
“King Noah! My name is Ash Alworth! I am the Captain of the 105th Specialist Division of the Trojan army! I am the Captain of the division that King Zurvick was serving under!!”
Something so different from the other chants of the crowd is enough to reach Noah's ears, he looks to his left and sees the girl weaving her way through the mass of people with a look of intensity. Not doubting her for a second, he asks her to announce her name once more to make sure.
“What was your name again?”
“Ash Alworth!!”
This is the name he knows as the source of Rain's hate, standing a few feet away from him is the person that's holding the veil of darkness over her head. He knows he can use this person for something, and in that instant a plan forms in his mind.
“Interesting.” he says under his breath.
This spot of luck that has shined on him will not be taken for granted, whenever things like this happen it is best to take advantage of it. Realizing how slim of a chance this is, he walks to the edge of the float and smiles confidently.
Not caring that she is an enemy soldier, he orders a guard standing by to let her under the ropes that lead to the road. While the carriage is still moving, he holds out his hand to her and says,
“Come with me.”
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