| Chapter Twenty | Plan of Death |

  "Must we speak of this now?" The prince asks, "there is no use in souring the mood over such a thing."  The prince ran a hand through his hair, "Can we not speak of this tomorrow?"

  Raiali ran his fingertips over the tip of his tusk, "If we continue to ignore it, it will never be done."  He says regretfully, "I have not ever heard you laugh before," his eyes meet Adara's, "and it pains me to strip it away like this."

  "Then let her laugh," The prince frowns, his hand curling into a fist.  "Let her smile, just forget about plans for right now," he says, remembering his kiss on her cheek, how it felt.

  Adara places a hand on his fist, giving it a gentle squeeze.  "He is right," she sighs, "we can not keep putting it off."  She unclips her mask and sets it on the table in front of her.  "We have to come up with a plan," she says.

  All three sat unhappily at the table, each with a drink in front of them.  They all knew that they were quickly running out of time.  They all knew that war was coming and more innocent lives would perish.  It was up to them now, to end the war, to put an end to the death and despair.

  "By now we can assume that the king knows that you are in Bal'Sol," Raiali says, a frown on his face, "he may even believe you to already be in Xarenth, which makes it impossible to surprise him."  He pulls his hand away from his face, having cut his finger on his tusk.  "He will be expecting you," he says quietly.

  "Good," Adara smiles, "I find it often enough that when a man knows I am coming for him, he loses sleep."  She grabs her mug with both hands, taking a sip.  "When that happens, they fall subject to their delusions and it makes them that much easier to kill," she smirks.

  "Except we are speaking of a king," the prince interjects, "if it were my father he would not hesitate to increase the number of guards if it meant he would be safe."  He ached for a sip of their drinks, but he knew once he started he would not be able to stop.  "It will be that much harder to get him alone," he explains.

  "Then we do not get him alone," Adara leans back in her chair.  She pulls a leg up on the chair, wrapping her arm around it.  "We get to him when he thinks that he is safe," Adara says, watching Raiali finish his drink, pulling out another bottle of rum, pulling the cork out and taking a swig. 

  "How do you suppose we do that?" Raiali asks.  He knew that one look at her hair and the guards would know who she was.  She would be taken and tortured and killed. He did not send her to Juula five years prior only for her to die where she fought so hard to get away from.  It was not right and he would not stand for it.  He would not let that happen.

  "If he were perhaps in a crowd," the prince raises a brow, "he gets separated from most of his guards and I could take him down?" He asks.
 
  "The King does not leave his castle," Adara shakes her head, frowning.  "He fears being murdered, so he stays within the confines of his lonely castle."  She set her jaw, tapping her foot on the floor.  "Getting him in an alley is highly unlikely," she sighs.

  "You used to live in the castle," the prince says, "you worked the inside and out I am sure."  He glances at her fingers that clutched onto her leg, digging in at the memories.  "Is there a way we could slip inside?" He asks.

  Adara did know every entrance and exit to the castle.  She was the Kings' personal protector, she had to memorize the nooks and crannies to ensure his complete and total safety.  Then, she would have laid down her life for him to live.  Now, she wished she had let petty criminals have their way with the King. 

  "There are quite a few ways to go in and out," Adara starts, "but each one has specially trained infantrymen at all hours of the day."  She bit her lip, "Raiali," she says quietly, "how many personal protectors does the King have at his disposal?"

  "The last time I checked in the King has no personal protectors," Raiali blinks lazily, "he ended the program after what happened with you," he explains.  "He has control of over twenty assassins, but none are with him all of the time," he smirks.

  "I suppose that makes it easier to get closer to him," Adara runs her fingers over her brow.  "Still, I am can not be certain that the castle layout is the same as it was when I left," she frowns.  It complicated things greatly.  To not know.

  "We do not have a choice," Raiali says with decision, "it has to be in his domain." 

  "So we have to kill him in his castle, and it is highly unlikely we can sneak inside," The prince sighs, "this sounds like a wonderful plan thus far," he rolls his eyes, "we will just have to sneak into wherever is closest to his chambers."

  "Or we walk through the front gates," Adara says quietly, eyes wide.

  "We walk through the front gates," the prince says, his face was a blank slate.  "And then we are captured and killed," he grimaces, "how would that even remotely be an idea we could consider?" He asks.
 
  "Hold on," Raiali stands from his seat, "what are you thinking?" He asks as he crosses his arms. 

  "We can walk through the front gates," she stands, holding her hands out in front of her as she spoke.  "We can walk right up to him and kill him," she smiles, moving her arms with each word, excitement dazzled across her cheeks.  "And no one would bat an eye at my being there," she smirks.

  "Eru vash di lumus," Raiali says with a smile.

  "What," the prince stammers, "what does that mean?" He frowns, leaning on the table. 

  "The celebration of light," Raiali grins, "the one day and night celebration of the killing of King Elodous."

  "The best part of the celebration is that not only is it a masked party," she smirks, "but it also takes place in the Kings' castle." 

  "If what I recall is correct," Raiali rubs his hands together, "it should be taking place in under a weeks time."  He grins, "it will be very soon."  His smiles were sickeningly sweet.

  The prince shakes his head, "the king who will not so much as leave his castle will allow strangers into his home?" He asks.  It made no sense to him, or really any of them.

  "It has been tradition for so long that he allows it," she frowns, "he only makes a few appearances to say a few words on the celebration and to speak to a few people."  She laughs, "it will be enough to get to him," she was sure of that.

  "You both have been before?" The prince asks, curious.  He needed to know what to expect.  He has proven that his knowledge on their people and kingdom was limited.

  "Yes," Adara says, remembering.

  "My King," she kneels before him, her head bowed, face shrouded by her mask.  He nodded to her, watching the assassin stand.  "You called for me?" She asks, staring him in the eyes; he hated it when his subjects would not meet his eyes.

  "I need you to come to the celebration with me," he says as he readjusts the black crown atop his bald head, studded with shards of glass.  "In the place of my wife," he says with distaste.

  "As you wish," she nods, "my king."

  "You know," he says as he takes her arm, "you are the only one of your kind that I trust."  He smiles, "I can count on you to do anything I wish," he laughed, "if I couldn't, you would be dead already."

  "Yes," Adara repeats, frowning.

  "What is the matter?" The prince asks.

  "A lot of shady business goes on during the ceremonies," she says with a sigh, her eyes downcast.  Her arms now hung limply by her sides, her teeth grit together.

  "Like what?" The prince asks quietly.

  "Our King and the Village Leaders he choses dabble in whores and drugs," Raiali laughs, "a man after my own heart."  He sighs though, "The celebration is used by them as a cover-up for the dealings they so behind the scenes."

  "Poisons," Adara hisses, "it is disgusting."

  Raiali grimaces, "I have heard that they have had a few Adwabi attendees over the last few years."  He spat on the floor, "the vile creatures they are," he growls, "they should be stomped out like the trash they are."

  The prince's hand settles delicately on the serpents head above his pants.  Adara moves quickly, walking down to her room, grabbing her bag and then walking back.  She ran her hand into it, reaching around until her hands circle around it.

  The small glass vial.

  "What is that?" The prince asks.

  "The black substance your sister was talking about in the letter," Adara whispers, her heart racing.  "They are using poison," she says, sounding as if she were in pain. 

  "So by taking down the King," Raiali says, "we can take down all of the Village leaders and the Adwabi," he smiles. 

  "But it also means that the Adwabi have a deal with our King," Adara whispers, "we do not know what he promised to them for his armies to have this poison."  She holds the vial up between her fingers for them to see.

  "So by taking down the King," The prince frowns, "we may release these unholy beasts on the people of the kingdoms."

  "And you owe them a debt," Adara whispers, "they might make you take them into your kingdoms," she frowns.  "Or make one of them the new King," she stares numbly at him.

  "He owes them a debt?" Raiali chokes on his rum, eyes wide.

  "It does not matter now," the prince says angrily, "We will go to your celebration, get me close, I will kill him, and my first act will be to put an end to the Adwabi and the crime between the glass leaders."

  "No," Adara shakes her head, "It will not be so simple."  She grips the vial tight in her fist. 

  "No," She says as she stared at a woman who wore nothing, her hands chained behind her.  She was beautiful, but blood poured from a gash on her stomach.  "It will not be so simple."

  "Please," the woman sobbed, "let me go."

  "Get in the back of the carriage," She repeats, pulling a dagger from her thigh harness.  "I will not repeat myself again," She says, pointing the metal tip against the woman's throat.

"Please," the woman cried.

  "Go," Jasper stood back, watching the woman's eyes light up, "get out of my sight."  The woman mumbled many thanks, crawling to her feet and shuffling down the alleyway as the celebration raged inside.

  She stares blankly as she grabs her throwing star, letting it fly into the back of the woman's head.  The blonde hair turned red as her body slumped to the ground with a thump.

  "The rest of you," Adara says, "get in the carriage."  She watches the rest of the women crawl to their feet, climbing into the cart.  Jasper blinks as a hand grabs her shoulder.

  "Another shipment finished," The king says with a smile, "just a few more and then we can go back to the celebration."  Just a few more.  She nods as more women are brought behind the building.

  "The way he operates," Adara says, "he does not care who he hurts so long as he gets what he wants."  She says with a frown in remembrance, "I saw what he did, what he had me do," she shivered.

  "So we will stop him before anyone gets hurt," the prince exclaims, "it will be fine."

  "You would not be the first man to go against my king," Adara says dully, "and I am certain that you will not be the one to win if you keep thinking you are a step above him."  She laughed sickeningly, "no one is ahead of him."

  "What do you propose we do?" Raiali asks.

  "We let him know that we are coming," Adara says with a stern face, "that is how we get ahead."  She bit her lip as she could feel tears brim her eyelids.  "A few days before the celebration, I am going to free the women he intends on selling," she whispers.

  "Will he not increase protection?" The prince asks, frowning.  If sounded like madness.

  "He will be focused on getting more women," Adara says, "he will be spread thinly across his kingdom."  She laughs, "he will know he is in trouble and he will feel trapped," she smiles, "that is how I want him to be when he dies."

  "This sounds more like revenge," The prince starts, but Adara cuts him off.

  "No," she snaps, "We are bringing peace, right?" She asks.

  "Of course we are," the prince says.

  "Then I am doing this, with or without you."

  The three stood in the room, none of them looked at one another.  None of them stood closely to one another.  None of them spoke, they all seethed with their own anger.  Each of their true motivations were coming to light.

  "Of course we will do it together," Raiali says, "freeing the girls will be good on my conscience," he shrugs.  "Scaring the King is the icing on the cake," he smirks, "so I say we do it."

  "I just do not think that letting him know we are coming is such a good idea," the prince sighs.  He glances over to Adara, seeing the pain across her face.  He did not know what she did before, but he knew she wanted to make things right. 

  "Do you trust me?" Adara asks, staring at him; her blood boiled beneath her skin.  "Honestly, do you trust me?" She asks.

  The prince gazed at her intently, "I trust you with my life."  He blinks slowly, "you have saved my life more times than once," he says, "I admit that it is difficult to believe in someone who lied for so long about who they truly are."

  "I had no choice," she says.

  "Except you did," he says, "you could have told me when we were in the woods, or when we were in Juula, or when we were before my father, or when we were captured."  He ran a hand through his hair, "but it still was not your fault because you were protecting the both of us."

  "Regardless of if your name is Adara or Jasper," he says, "and regardless of if I know your full past or not."  He sighs, "I still trust my life to be safe in your hands," he smiles, "I trust you, Adara."

  Adara stares at him, "then trust me when I tell you that this plan will work." 

  "Alright," he nods, "we trust you."  Nacajii stood beside the prince, her eyes wide and unblinking, but knowing, and trusting.

  The three seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief; they were finally on the same page. 

  "I know where all of the whore houses are," Raiali says, smirking, "from anywhere in the glass kingdom."  When he noticed their disgusted looks, he held up his hands, "I am a lonely troll, okay?"

  "You are foul," Adara says with a small smile.

  "You just gotta pick which one you wanna liberate first," Raiali says, "and do not judge me, you and the human, never could have seen that one coming." 

  "Excuse you?" The prince frowns.

  "So, which will it be?" Raiali ignores the prince's outburst.  "There are over a dozen just in Xarenth," he says, "there is only one in Bal'Sol."  He frowns — he had never been to that one, it had both young children and grown women working there.

  "I do believe that we have our answer," The prince says as he sets his hand on his sword by his side. 

  Adara sat down gently on her chair, leaning on the table with one arm.  They were really going to do it.  Free innocents.  Kill the king.  She knew that there was a chance they would not make it, but there was a chance they would make it.  It was enough for her.

  "What is the matter?" The prince asks.

  "Nothing is the matter," Adara smiles.

  "Are you certain?" He asks.

  "I just remember what I used to do," Adara says quietly, "one order from the King and I would do whatever he wanted."  She ran her fingers over her mask that lied on the table.  "I was ruthless and killed just because I could," she whispers.

  "It is not your fault," Raiali says as he sits on the table beside them, his feet rest on the chairs.  He frowns, "I killed many people as well, and I regret it as well," he says, "but you can not change the past."

  "I wish I could," Adara sighs, "but you're right."  She pulls off one of her throwing stars.  She runs her fingers across the moons and stars etched into the blades.  Just by looking at the shiny silver metal, one could not tell that it has been used against men and women — their sticky blood that was once painted across it.

  "Anyways," she whispers, holding the star in one hand and the vial of black poison in the other.  "What is the name of the house?" Adara asks, setting the poison back into her bag. 

  "Bal'Dulos," Raiali says, "to most it is just a meat shop, but behind that is the trickery."

  "Do we know what the security is like?" Adara asks, "I need to know everything."

  "Alright," Raiali smiles as he lays across the table, watching Adara spin on her chair to face him.  "The place have four levels, three above and one below, kids in the bottom and women on the top — kids down there are anywhere from five to about twenty," he says, noting Adara's age.  She was just a kid, same with the prince.

  He kept forgetting that.

  "There are guard at the front doors, the back doors, and two on each lever monitoring the transactions," Raiali says, licking his lips.  He sighs, "they are highly trained, not easy to take down." 

  "It has never stopped me before," she smirks.

  "Regardless of your skillset," Raiali rolls his eyes, "We are looking at over ten guards which the three of us could take out."  He laughs, "so long as our prince here can use that sword."

  "I know how to use it," the prince smiles, "I guess we will all get to see what each other can do."  He thought back to Raiali killing the innkeeper.  How brutal it was.  He never truly got to see the horrors that Adara could do.

  When he was trained with his sword, he was taught that it was an art.  It was a noble and respectable way to take a life, with a gentle sword.  It would be considered an honor to be slain by a sword.  What the troll did was unlike anything he had ever seen before. 

  He fears finding out why she is the deadliest. 

  "Then how about we start behind the building and take out the guards there," Adara says, "then the ones out front from behind."  She smiles, "we can then go downstairs and take out the guards there."

  "Then we work our way up to the top," Raiali says. 

  "We can then free the women and let them go," Adara smiles, "and then I will go downstairs and let the girls go free."  She blinks hesitantly, "they might fear you two."  It was true, all of them knew that. 

  "The women and children who have homes to go to can go," Raiali smiles, "but the ones who do not can stay at one of our houses."  Over the last fifteen years they had been buying homes across their kingdom for when they needed to relocate.  They could stay there and no one would question it.

  "This is going to work," the prince nods, "if it does not, then we do not deserve to be the ones who kill the king."

  "I think that is a little blunt," Raiali frowns, tilting the rum bottle to his lips and licking the residue on the neck of the bottle.  "Even the best plans fail," he smirks, "we just have to follow our instincts."

  "Right," Adara smiles, "if we get separated, just carry on with the plan."  She frowns, "if one of us goes down, we finish the job as planned." 
 
  "I do not think that will happen," The prince frowns, "We will be just fine."

  "But on the off-chance that something does," Adara grimaces, "we can not just pack-up and give-up."  She grabs her mug and brings it to her lips, "if something happens, we have to finish."

  The three reluctantly nod in agreement.

  "We will do it tomorrow night," Adara whispers, sipping the rum, embracing the heat.  "The sooner the better," she sighs.

  "Jasper and the Beast back to their work," Raiali smiles, rubbing his hands together roughly; the prince shudders.  "Except we are good now, so that's going to be fun," he shrugs, "quite shocking."

  The prince frowns, "why do they call you Jasper?" He asks.  He stares at Adara who's eyes grow cold, "I know why he is called Beast, but I can not figure out why you don the name, Jasper."

  "It isn't important," Adara hisses, drinking more of her drink.

  "It is a bit of a sore spot," Raiali whispers, but Adara could hear him.  He receives a sharp glare from her.  It was a sore spot.  It made her furious.  She clenches her fist so tight she felt as though the cuts were on fire, her knuckles white.

  Her other hand was finally healing from being broken, finally able to hold things without pain.  She would not be weak for much longer.  Once her hands were healed she would be back to normal.  Her training could commence and she would be the old Jasper again.  But not yet.  Once this was all over, she would.

  "Get lots of sleep tonight, boys," Adara says as she stands, turning on her heels.  She sighs, "we are going to have a big day tomorrow," she walks back to her room with Exriam on her heels.

  As she closes her door, she balls her fist and smacks it into her door, over and over.  She does it until the door is spotted with her blood.  Adara grabs a small vase from on top of her dresser and hurls it into the door, screaming.  A loud crash of shattering glass.  Still, none of them could hear her. 

  Exriam hisses at the outburst, climbing onto the dresser and curling into a ball.  Adara just stood, breathing hard.  She was the reason that children were being used.  She was the reason they were hurting, and now she knew how it felt.  When she looked at the door, she could see the innkeeper taunting her.  She screams as she takes a throwing star and flings it into the door, right at his head.

  But he was not there.

  She ran her hands across her face, tears run down her cheeks as she strips into her nightclothes.  It was her fault, and she could never make it right.  The old Jasper was evil and wicked.  She cried out as she sunk to the floor, sobbing. 

  Each cry felt like a piece of her soul was being torn apart in her chest.  Then her name.  Jasper.  What a disgusting name.  She slowly lies on the floor, arm tucked under her head.  Chest rising and falling as she struggled to breathe.  Glancing at her bag, she contemplated grabbing the poison and using it.  Right then and there.

  She would never be able to hurt anyone again, but once she was gone no one would protect Exriam or her prince.  Her prince.  She closes her eyes as tears leak between her eyelids.  No.  It was foolish to consider such a thing. 

  She would die soon enough.  That was a part of their plan that she had left out.  She would not let herself ruin more people's lives.  She was going to die with the King, and no one was going to stop her from doing so.  Even if it meant lying to the two men outside her door.