“Saphielle, you stay in here, find anyone with the marks and arrest them. If Feno employed you, you should be fine to defend yourself too”, said Keela, fastening her dagger to her leg.

“I can handle myself sufficiently, yes. Should I start by the upper brass and move my way down?” replied Saphielle, grabbing a dagger from the rack and hiding it in her sleeve.

“Well yes. But we start with you actually.”

“What?”

“Trust no one. That’s how you live.”

With a sigh, Saphielle undressed to minimal attire, letting Keela check her. As the check ended, Keela agreed and got back to her preparations, letting her advisor get dressed again. As soon as she was done, Saphielle nodded, making her way out of the study promptly, starting her search.

“Velka, we’ll go out from the balcony, dress casual. We’re visiting the bar”, said Keela, putting in the third ring on her left ear.

“Do I bring the armor with me?” asked Velka, already ahead and buttoning her shirt.

“It’s likely that it’s going to go to shit fast so most definitely.”

Nodding, Velka put on her invisible armor, strapping herself in at the ready. Keela did the same but only putting on gloves of the armor; a hidden tool for her to parry with. As she saw the preparations end, she nodded and led Velka to the balcony.

“Not taking the door?” asked Velka, looking down nervously.

“No, that attracts unnecessary attention. Come here”, replied Keela, grabbing Velka in a princess carry.

Velka let out a yelp of surprise as she was swept off her feet.

“Did you gain some weight?” asked Keela, mockingly.

“I don’t think so. I’m wearing your armor, what are you insinuating?” replied Velka, her cheeks colored with a slight redness as she indignated herself.

Laughing, Keela jumped down, landing in the thicket below. Making their way out of it, the two of them reached the streets, illuminated by magical lights in the ground of the sidewalks and the fireflies roaming about the streets. Brushing themselves off, they made their way to the bar that matched the description they were given. Heading in, it wasn’t fancy but certainly had a better atmosphere than most bars Keela had frequented in her life. Heading directly to the bar, she sat down and asked for an ale, which Velka matched. They attracted a few curious gazes in the dark interior of the bar. The walls were of a dark type of wood and the floor made of rustic stone tiles. Style wise, it was a very nice place.

“So what brings you two in here?” asked the bartender, cleaning a glass.

Keela had taken the golden ring out of her chain earlier, putting it back on her thumb. Taking it off, she spun it around on the counter under her index.

“Oh, you know, business”, said Keela, smiling to herself.

She went to take a swig of her ale but as she smelled it, she put it back down, pinching Velka to avoid drinking as well.

“Where does that ring come from? It’s very pretty”, said the bartender, looking at the two of them.

“Should you really be playing dumb after trying to poison me?” asked Keela, putting on the ring back on her chain.

The bartender froze, his smile twitching at the edges.

“Whatever do you mean?” he asked, a slight shakiness at the back of his practiced tone.

“Well, here, have a swig of the beer”, said Keela, sliding the tankard his way.

“I’ll pass”, he replied, his face now stern.

Keela put her other hand over the counter, resting her face on it. The royal signet ring sat proud on her middle finger.

“But I insist”, she said, the smile completely wiped off the bartender’s face and now plastered on hers.

The rest happened in a flash. The bartender fetched a sword from under the counter and thrust it towards her chest. She parried it off to the side and grabbed the wrist holding the sword, pulling the bartender over the counter, spilling half the ales all over the ground. Holding the arm back, she pulled it upwards, putting the bartender in a lock, with a foot holding down the back. A patron grabbed a crossbow that was hidden behind them, shooting towards Velka who narrowly dodged, dashing towards them and unsheathing her sword. The other patrons went into a panic as the whole event broke down, flooding into the streets in a panicked herd, dispersing and looking for guards. Once the bystanders were out, only four enemies remained. One pulled out two daggers, running towards Keela, who dislocated the bartender’s shoulder, preventing the use of a sword. Parrying the first dagger, she herself went for a palm strike in the middle of the chest, sending her opponent flying through the front window of the establishment and onto the street. In the meantime, Velka had disposed of the crossbow wielder with a swift pommel strike to the side of the head and turned around just in time to deliver a blast of heat, singing the new attacker’s hairs and making them back off. While they were distracted, Keela came from the back and delivered an axe kick at such speed that the jaw of the attacker hit the floor and broke, shattering the tile it landed on. Flipping the bartender over, Keela grabbed the tankard and emptied it in their mouth, blocking both exits for the liquid, forcing them to swallow. With protest and tears welling up in their eyes, the ale went down the bartender’s throat. It took a mere few seconds before the veins in their eyes popped and their lungs paralyzed, leaving them to suffocate on the floor, writhing around as Keela sat back down on a stool. As the bartender let out the last noises the poison would let go, Velka strolled up to Keela, taking a dramatically large step over the corpse.

“Now that wasn’t necessary”, she said, giving the look of a disappointed mother.

“An eye for an eye”, replied Keela, mockingly dragging down the skin under her white eye with a smile.

“Did he say it was in the basement? Maybe we could’ve asked the bartender.”

“There’s other people in the room that we could ask.”

“Well I doubt the one with the shattered jaw can talk.”

“Any other quips at my method while you’re at it?”

“None your majesty.”

Velka punctuated the sarcastic remark with a deep curtsy before circling around the bar to look for any hints. From Keela’s point of view, only her ears peeked over the counter; a sight she couldn’t help but be amused by. Going around, Keela collected the gold rings from the assailants who wore them, adding three to her necklace. She grabbed one of the less damaged ones and tied them to a chair, finding some rope in the bar’s storeroom. After tightening the knots, making sure they wouldn’t be able to get out of the bindings, she fetched a bucket of water and drenched the assailant with it, splashing it so hard on their face that some of it probably had gone into their sinuses. Coughing and looking around surprised, the poor tied tired figure woke up, glancing feverishly at the room.

“Wakey, wakey!” said Keela, straddling a chair unapologetically.

“Who are you? What do you want? Let me go!” yelled the prisoner, attempting to free themselves so aggressively the chair fell over.

“Now, now. No need to fuss. You’re not going anywhere and I just want to ask you some questions”, calmly replied Keela, picking up the chair and setting it straight without showing any effort.

“I’m not telling you shit!”

“Oh?”

Throwing her chair to the side, Keela stood up setting her foot on the chair in between the prisoner’s legs. Leaning in close, holding their head firmly, she hovered her thumb nail over the poor sap’s eye, keeping decisive eye contact.

“I think talking is in your best interest”, she said, offering a warm smile that was everything but reassuring.

“Y-you wouldn’t”, replied the prisoner, doubting their own words as they escaped their mouth.

“She would, actually”, chimed in Velka, perking up from under the counter before diving back under.

“I’ll cut to the chase. How do we get in the basement?” asked Keela, reaffirming her grip by grabbing hair.

“T-there’s a switch behind the kegs, it unlocks a portion of floorboards.”

“There you go! See, you can do it when you try!”

Keela let go of her grip, standing back up and relaying the information precisely to Velka.

“You’ll let me go now?” asked the prisoner, fidgeting against the rope.

“Just sleep for a bit, will ya?” replied Keela, coming back over.

Before the question could escape their lips, Keela’s boot connected to the side of their head, launching them into the corner of the room, unconscious. Within a few minutes, the switch was activated, six floorboards clicking and detaching from the floor. Grinning, Keela opened it and the two of them went down the stairway that had been revealed and into the unknown. What followed had been strange. As soon as the two of them went down, a fight broke out. Unfortunately, it was a fight they lost. Mage hunters had been waiting for them, immediately restraining Velka and bringing Keela towards a leader figure; one who chanted a spell from a type of magic she had never heard of or conceived before. By the end of the spell, a circular opening had appeared into the wall and on the other side; nothing. The last thing Keela saw as she was thrown in, was Velka bawling while screaming: “I CAN’T LOSE YOU TOO!”