章 38: Plans

"Come, why don't we grab that table over their. Less chances of us being over heard." Jaden directed our attention towards a table in the corner of the tavern. It was far away from the rising conversation. With more people filtering in, it was becoming increasingly difficult to talk over one another, which provided us with a perfect cover for conversation. I nodded my head once before downing the rest of my beer and leaving it empty on the counter.

Despite being buzzed, I stood tall and walked over without the slightest difficulty. But with how warm my face felt on top of my fuzz filled brain, I knew that my sobriety would not last very long. So we needed to start this meeting and end it as fast as we could. Jaden, the gentleman that he tried to be sometimes, pulled out a chair for me and I accepted it graciously. Sebastion pulled out a chair next to me, and pulled Maya down on top of his lap. Shamelessly she giggled at him, pecking her lips against his forehead before pulling up her mask.

Jaden sat on the other side of me as the other two took the vacant seats across the table. They all seemed a bit grim and tired. I felt a small wave of guilt fill me, knowing they felt this way because I had asked them to leave the Guild, and make their way here. I couldn't imagine that their disappearance was at all left silent. Especially since they where my underlings. Jaden placed his arms on the table and rubbed his face with exasperation. I placed a concern hand on his arm, but he brushed me off with a gentle wave of his hand.

"I appreciate your efforts to get here. I am sure you faced a lot of heat upon your disappearance." I offered my regards. Jespah's head nodded slowly, recalling their journey here with a distant look in their eyes.

"Aye, we had to take many route's so that they wouldn't follow us. I do apologize about the delay. It's been many restless nights." Jaden offered in response. I waved his apology away. I was just glad that they where all safe and sound now. If I know anything about Jaden, he had a knack for getting away, even in the toughest of situations. Now that they where here, they could blend in with the other assassins that stayed here.

"Then let's make this quick so you can rest. I don't want to keep you any longer than we need." I watched as they all slowly nodded, fatigue really starting to kick in. I passed them a large bag of coins, a silent gesture of my appreciation so that they could get some rest. Jaden accepted it with out complaint. With that settled, I launched into the details about the Princess's hostage situation and how she was being used for the use of the mines. I explained that their main purpose was to gather intellect on why they needed to use so much iron and gold, what was the plan that Drakos had come up with, and what was his purpose for me.

"Jeez, you can't seem to stay out of trouble can you Aria." Devante chuckled as I wrapped up the briefing. I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes. It wasn't like I wanted all the attention. But he always joked to lighten the mood, something I came to really appreciate about him. Despite his brother going missing, he was as light as ever.

"We only have three weeks now to figure out what their plan is and to stop them. Do you have any information that could help us at all?" I asked Jaden. He gave a long and pitiful sigh. The air seemed tensed around him, his body was rigid and slumped over the table. I could tell that they hadn't found any information that would have been even slightly useful, but only given a few days to spy was hardly enough time to find anything out. So I wasn't even slightly distressed about it.

"Unfortunately not anything of value. We will just work twice as hard here to scrounge up anything we can find. So what do you want us to do?" I pursed my lips together. What would be the best course of action? Despite looking like Assassins, they where persons of interest as well as we are. So having them try and blend in was going to be difficult. The only advantage we had in this situation was that Assassin's always concealed their identity by keeping their faces covered. If they where to split up, then it wouldn't be so difficult to gather information, and to remain under the radar.

"I want to know why that mine is significant. It may even lead into their plans, so for now let's sneak into the mine. Split up into smaller groups so as to not look conspicuous. We can continue to meet up here at this time every day. Unfortunately this will have to be up to you guys because neither Sebastion and I are allowed to participate in case they catch on that we are here. It was a miracle that we where even able to sneak out as it is." I muttered under my breath. Aliah leaned against the table, arms folded in front of her.

"I am interested to know where your friend went. Why are we not meeting with the people you are working with?" She was stiff in her voice. I could sense her distrust with our group and I honestly couldn't blame her. I had that distrust once too. It took a long time for me to accept them, but in the end I have no doubt that they will accept them too.

"It is complicated. A few of the members do not agree with working with the traitors of a notorious man. Even working with them for a few years, there is still that small distrust that we may turn on them. I can't say that I blame them considering everything that was done in the past. I don't condone them for having their doubts about us. But one thing is for certain, you will not be spoken of too them. The only one that knows of your existence right now, is Drake and Argus who are the leaders of this association." Jespah scratched his the fabric that covered his chin thoughtfully. I could see the doubt in his eyes, but he wouldn't argue with me. After all they pledged their lives to me, and would follow me till my untimely demise.

"I suppose we can follow along for now, but you should know that our paths will cross eventually. What will you do if those who doubt you misinterpret our cause?" Jespah asked casually. Lucius's reaction from earlier crossed through my head and I sighed. He would be the hardest one to convince that we weren't doing anything to cause harm against our team. I also had Nicklos as well, who could vouche for me. Nicklos didn't seem to have any ill thoughts of feelings despite our years separated, so I knew that he still trusted me in some way.

"Nicklos is alive and well. If there is any problem with trust, then he can speak for us. He has already done it once." Sebastion turned his head towards me surprised. I hadn't told him about my encounter earlier, because at the time it wasn't important. I was still also embarrassed about what Drake and I did shortly after our encounter that I wasn't ready to bring it up.

"Since when? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He demanded angrily. I carefully studied him, gauging his level of sobriety before continuing to speak. He didn't seem like he was drunk enough to flip off the handle if I told him what happened, but he has surprised me before. His acting was phenomenal when he really wanted to, and that was a dangerous trait.

"I found out right before we left the Palace. I got lost earlier and stumbled upon their meeting. Naturally I eased dropped and over heard him talking to Lucius." The five eyed each other before returning their attention back towards me. Of course they where confused because they had never heard of these names before. So I went into detail about their system of power and left out that they where secretly shifters. I wasn't even ready to tell them about our heritage. I didn't have enough information gathered to tell them. I still had so many questions myself, but I couldn't find the right time to ask.

"Drake is the one that was with you the day we met in the tavern right?" Jaden asked. I nodded my head and he went silent. "Is there something going on between you two? He seemed very possessive upon our first meeting." Now he was just being nosy. It really wasn't any of his business one way or the other about my love life. But he had his ways of finding out too, and the last thing I wanted was him trying to pry and finding stuff he wasn't suppose too.

"I may or may not be courting him. But that's not really important right now. What's important is that we find out what Drakos's plan is so we can overthrow him before he sends his zombies into battle." I swiftly changed the subject so he couldn't ask any further questions. Even through the mask I could tell he was displeased by my dismissive manner, but left it alone.

"Very well Aria. We will start early in the morning and study the pattern of their patrols. Once we get familiar with them, then we can start ease dropping in and finding potential targets to investigate. We will see you tomorrow evening then." Jaden said pushing away from the table. Sebastion helped Maya off his lap before standing as well. I teetered a little as I rose, finally understanding out tipsy I really was. The room swayed and I braced my arm on the table. Damn it, I was hoping to make it back to the Palace before it hit. But as always luck was absolutely against me. Jaden placed a hand on my shoulder to steady me, concern written across the visible portion of his face.

"Jeez Aria how much did you drink?" I glared at his condescending tone before shoving his hand off and waving him away from me. I didn't need him to baby me, I was an adult and could do as I pleased. This wasn't the first time I had to get myself back to bed intoxicated so it wasn't very difficult. Sebastion was in no better shape than myself any way. In fact Maya was having a hard time supporting him as they made their way out of the tavern.

"I am fine, I only had three pints. Once I get moving I will be ok. Go and rest Jaden, you look like shit." I mumbled as I pushed past him. The fog that hung over my head only continued to get more dense with every step. Sebastion and I would be in a lot of trouble once we got back. I didn't think that after being sober for five years that it would effect me this much. Had I really become such a light weight? Jaden muttered quietly under his breath from behind me. It was so quiet, that I didn't hear him approach from behind. I felt his arms wrap around my waist as he supported my drunken weight and helped me through the now dense tavern. People where filling up empty spaces rather quickly. I felt claustrophobic as we shouldered our way through the loud crowd of people.

When we finally made it outside, I tried to push Jaden away by saying thank you. He made no move to let me go. I glared at him and tried shoving him away again, but he was as stubborn as I was. I watched as he let me go long enough to grab me up into his arms. I protested loudly against his treatment but he just ignored me as he made his way towards the looming Palace down the street. Maya walked carefully with Sebastion next to us, giggling and exchanging affectionate words as she led him towards the Palace.

"Please don't do this! The sun is well past setting now and we are already going to be in deep shit when we get back. If they see you it's only going to make things worse!" I tried to persuade Jaden. But again, he was silent as he strolled through the crowded street. He had no intentions of listening to my begging, so I just let him carry me. I wasn't going to be very stable on my feet anyway.

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