When we finally returned to The Wild Boar, my adrenaline rush had long faded. My limbs felt heavy and despite my visit to the bath house, I felt dirty again because I had sweat so much from chasing after Kalistra and the ninja. I looked at my master, and I saw that Kalistra was less energetic as well, despite the fact that she had taken a nap in the library.

To my surprise, the cat girl actually stifled a yawn. She raised a paw toward the stairs.

I quickly walked up the staircase and stood in front of Room 2-B. As I fished out my guest room key, Kalistra raised her paw again.

"Lawrence, please give me your room key after you open the door," she requested.

Huh? I blinked my eyes several times. "Why?" I asked hesitantly.

The cat girl's tail whiplashed behind her. "I'm not planning to visit you while you sleep," she hissed. "If an intruder picks the lock and enters your room, then I won't need to break the door to rescue you," she explained. "Your free room and board for the week don't include the cost of replacing the door," Kalistra pointed out.

Ah! I was reminded of the last time intruders broke into my room. It was back in Burnhamm village when two boys named Kitel and Copene broke into my guest room to steal from me at the behest of Sene, the tavern keeper. Kalistra had stayed in my room as well and she thwarted their burglary attempt. Since the cat girl will be staying in her own room tonight, it made sense for her to ask for my key. Just in case.

I inserted my key into the lock to open the door. Once that was accomplished, I handed her my key. "Have a good night, Kalistra."

"I'll try," she replied. Her pale-green eyes glowed. With members of The Double Cross Society still targeting me, Kalistra doubted that she will get much sleep tonight. The sooner we left Bristol the better off we'll be. However, she understood my need to stay in Bristol in order to learn more magic spells from my guild mates at the Mage Guild. When she saw that I had finally entered my room, the cat girl took out her own key to open the door to her own guest room. Eschewing the lure of the bed, she sat on the floor, cross-legged, unbuckled her scabbard, and placed it on her thighs. Closing her eyes, Kalistra fell into a light sleep.

Unlike my bodyguard, I was far too wired to sleep right away. Mindful of the fact that members of the local thieves' guild were still targeting me, I was thankful that my room had no window. Thus, the only exit was the door. I decided to adopt Kalistra's tactic of sleeping while sitting. I unbuckled my own scabbard and placed it on the ground. I sat down next to the sword, with my legs flat on the floor, and leaned my back against the wall. The room was dark, with a sliver of light entering from the slight gap under the door. I sat in silence. As seconds turned to minutes, my eyes started adjusting to the dim illumination in my room. I closed my eyes and started meditating. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

When I started snoring slightly, a figure cast a spell and then dropped down from the ceiling. The spell was a wall of silence around the room, preventing noise from escaping beyond the four walls. The casting of this spell negated the spell of invisibility, forcing the illusion to drop. The intruder sneaked silently across the floor, eyes kept on me the entire time. The figure reached into a pouch to pull out a piece of cloth doused with a special laxative. The person crouched before me and covered my nose with the cloth.

I breathed in the laxative and my back muscles started to relax. My body tilted over to the left and began to drop to the ground.

However, the intruder grabbed hold of my shoulder to prevent this from happening. A scroll was pulled out and the intruder quickly read it aloud. Mana was pulled from both the caster and the surroundings.

An outline of a door began to form in the middle of the room. A few seconds later, the portal shimmered into existence. The dazzling light from the portal shined through the gap under the door and illuminated the hallway.

The overwhelming light filtered into Kalistra's room. The disturbance woke her from her light sleep and she sprang into action.

At the same time, the spellcaster quickly dragged my body through the portal.

By the time Kalistra had opened the door to my room, she arrived just in time to see the portal disappearance. "Damn it!" she hissed.

#

I awoke to the sound of an insect buzzing near my left ear. I opened my eyes and saw complete darkness. I reached for the scabbard on the ground only to find it missing. Instead, I felt dust and dirt on the ground. I rose to my feet and held out my arms. After a few steps, I felt my hand hit a wall. I used the wall as a guide and followed it along clockwise in order to uncover my new surroundings. A part of me started to panic but my rational mind (fortified by my recent increase in my Wisdom attribute) kept a lid on it and prevented a panic attack from breaking out.

I soon discovered that I was in a room that was six feet by six feet. There was a door that was locked and I couldn't open it from the inside. The room was empty. There was no bed. It was obvious that I was no longer in my room. Somehow, I had been kidnapped from my guest room at The Wild Boar and transported elsewhere. Was Kalistra even aware of what happened? I amused myself with her possible reactions at having failed to keep me safe. I would laugh at her if I didn't consider the possibility that she might commit seppuku, or a ritual suicide, over it.

Despite my predicament, I was surprised by how calm I was. In order for me to be taken from my room without the cat girl's knowledge, I suspected that magic was involved. And unfortunately, I had made far too many powerful enemies in Bristol, starting with the drows and the Paget family followed by The Double Cross Society. Well, if my kidnappers were drows then I would be tied up at the altar to be sacrificed in a ritual right now. So I could safely cross the drows from the list.

I had humiliated the youngest son of the powerful Paget family during the melee tournament. And someone had told me that the current Regent was a Paget. Thus, either a Paget or someone looking to curry favors with the Regent could have arranged for my kidnapping.

Lastly, The Double Cross Society was equally suspect. For all I knew, a mage could have teleported into my room and hired muscles could have pulled me through a portal before Kalistra could save me. This kidnapping may have been performed as a contract with the thieves' guild.

Unfortunately, I had no spells to teleport out of this cell. Thus, I could only wait for my kidnappers to reveal themselves to me, eventually. I sat down in the middle of the room, with my head facing the door, and started meditating.

My faith paid off a few hours later when I heard footsteps echo and eventually stopped in front of my door. The hinges squealed and the door finally opened. I finally opened my eyes and I saw a few mean looking thugs at the door.

"Come out," one of them said.

I saw no chance to escape and I quickly decided to obey them until I saw an opportunity to escape later on.

The men stepped back, allowing me to pass through the door.

Suddenly, I was roughly shoved from behind.

"Start moving!" someone ordered.

I obeyed and walked at a slow but steady pace. I saw that I was in a narrow corridor some five feet wide. The ceiling was low, perhaps some six feet high. The walls were uneven as if we were in an underground tunnel. Periodically, we passed by burning torches held in torch holders on the walls. After a good twenty feet, I felt the tunnel started the ascend. After another twenty feet or so, I finally reached a thick, steel door.

"Wait here," one the guards ordered as he brushed past me. The man pounded his meaty fist on the door. "The squirrel is digging," he said.

Click! The door unlocked and then the hinges squealed loudly as the door slowly opened.

Again, I was roughly shoved in the back. I walked through the door and saw a sparsely furnished room. There was a table with a group of guards playing a game of cards in one corner. A cauldron was burning in another corner. In a different corner, there was a desk. And sitting behind it was an older looking man. Unlike the brutes on guard duty, this man was clean and dressed in a very fine blue silk shirt and red hoses. A thin scabbard was attached to the man's belt. His long hair was dark brown, almost black and tied back. His brown eyes stared at me like a hawk.

An empty wooden chair was in front of the desk and the guards standing on either side of me roughly pushed me into the seat.

I looked at the man's caption. Surprisingly, the name was blurred out!

The man offered a knowing smile but kept silent for a moment. Finally, he placed his elbows on the desk and folded his hands together. "I apologize for your rough treatment, Lord Mulligan," he began.

I looked at him directly, showing no trace of fear whatsoever. "You have me at a disadvantage, milord. You know my name. What should I call you?" I asked calmly.

The man's smile widened. "Let's use Lord X," he replied. "I run the local branch of the Thieves' Guild," he revealed.

"And what does The Double Cross Society want with me?" I asked.

"I have a bit of a dilemma and I want your opinion on the matter. After all, it's regarding your fate," he said.

"There are competing contracts for me. And you're trying to negotiate with me for a better deal," I speculated aloud.

Lord X laughed and started clapping his hands. "You impress me, Lord Mulligan. You have a quick wit about you. If you weren't a member of the Church, I would seriously consider asking you to join my guild," he admitted openly. He opened the drawer at his desk, took out a sack, and placed it on the table.

I looked at the bag and saw that the top had been roughly cut. I recognized the sack as belonging to me. I immediately felt for my money in my waist pouch. It was empty. The two platinum coins in my left boot were gone as well. My truth stone was taken, too.

Lord X opened the bag and took out my artifact. He gingerly held it by the strings and placed it on the table. "Apparently, your necklace is soul bound and therefore, of no use to me unless you're dead. So I'm returning it to you. I want you to swear to tell the truth," he ordered.

"And the rest of my possessions?" I asked. Anger seeped into my voice.

"It's all in here," Lord X replied while pointing at the sack on the table. "I may return it to you, depending on your answers to my questions."

I took back my Truth Stone of Order and Chaos and said, "I, Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, do swear, by the Law and Order, to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth upon the penalty of death." A beam of light struck my chest and I felt my heart begin to warm under the light.

The leader of the thieves' guild nodded. "There have been many rumors and tall tales about you. I want to learn the truth from you. First question: Are you a so-called 'Player Character?'"

"Yes," I answered succinctly.

Lord X waited for a moment but nothing more was forthcoming. Nor did the truth stone react. He continued his interrogation. "Are you pursuing the crown?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To return home."

"That's all?"

"Yes."

Lord X rubbed his chin at my curt answers. While I was answering his questions truthfully, I wasn't giving as many details as the man was hoping to hear. He continued. "Are you dual-classed?"

"Yes."

"What classes and why?"

"Fighter-mage. I want to become Merlin's Successor to enhance my candidacy for kingship." I decided to humor the man and throw him a bone.

Lord X smiled faintly at my unexpectedly long response. "I find you to be both intriguing and ambitious, Lord Mulligan. I would be open to an alliance with you and cancel all the open contracts against you."

"What do you want?" I asked directly.

"King Merlin had a secret alliance with The Double Cross Society," Lord X revealed. "He allowed us some latitude to operate in his kingdom. In return, we offered our services as spies." When he noticed the doubt in my eyes, the man held up his hand. "There were many plots and conspiracies to dethrone King Merlin. And he wisely concluded that a secret alliance with us was in his best interest," he explained. "I'm inclined to propose a similar deal with you."

"Why?" I asked.

Lord X laughed. "You are very wise not to trust me. The reason is simple: We want a relationship with the next King. And I'm willing to place my bet on you to take the crown."

"I admit that I'm intrigued by your proposal. I will seriously consider it if you answer two questions," I replied.

"Go ahead," Lord X leaned forward.

"Who was following us while we were outside and inside Bristol? And why?" I asked.

Lord X did something totally unexpected. He pointed a finger at himself. "I heard that Kalistra was the Champion of the Master Division of the Melee Tournament and I wanted to test my skills against her," he explained.

"You passed up many opportunities to assassinate us," I noted.

Lord X grinned.

I held out my right hand for a handshake. "We have a deal." If the man truly wanted to harm us, he could do so easily. I decided that I would rather have him as my ally instead of my enemy. My harsh lesson with Tewind and his men at the bridge persuaded me to accept this alliance even if Lord X was probably a ruthless, cold-blooded killer. Honestly, many people would accuse Kalistra of being the same.

"We have a deal," Lord X repeated and shook my hand. He pushed the sack toward my end of the desk. "As a gesture of good faith on behalf of my organization," he explained.

I opened the sack and searched through it. Finally, I pulled out the silver butterfly pin and attached it to my chest; I earned it when I mastered the Duel Winner technique and qualified to become an Adept in the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship. It was probably my most cherished possession in this world. "Did you take my sword?" I asked.

"It was left in your room." Suddenly, a person appeared behind Lord X.

I saw a pale looking, female high elf. She was dressed in a ninja outfit; it was all cloth. I quickly realized that she was a mage. I read her caption; her name was "Tescka." "You were the one who kidnapped me."

Tescka nodded.

"And she will return you to your room," Lord X said. The leader raised a hand.

The elf took out a scroll and began to read it softly. The outline of a portal began to form in the middle of the room. When Tescka finished reading the scroll, it burned to ashes.

A flash of light blinded us momentarily. When the light was gone, a fully formed shimmering portal appeared.

I bowed deeply to Lord X and then stepped through the portal.