บท 117: Aqua-duct-tin'

Michael and Tiffania follow the cobbled road towards the massive city of Londinium that stood proud not far off in the distance. Michael hadn't actually seen much of this place, despite the weeks he spent here getting tortured... He'd only gotten a glimpse when he and Wardes left via Airship, and even then he was forced to stay inside his cabin most of the time.

Tiffania on the other hand had apparently lived in or next to the palace when she was still with her mother and father. Still, her situation wasn't much different from Michael's though as she was forced to hide due to her elven heritage.

The city itself was impressive, to Michael it was like a far larger, cleaner, more beautiful Windsor Castle, the huge white marble walls surrounded the many Tudor-style buildings within. Even from miles away, he could make out the large airship port, as well as the multitude of aqueducts providing clean water to the city.

"It's impressive, despite the people who live here." Michael mutters, getting a nod from Tiffania.

"My mother used to tell me that most of the city was built by Brimir's sons and their powerful magic." she says before looking upwards in thought, "I think you need to watch out for any magical defences."

Michael crooks a brow, "Just me? What, did you lose your nerve already, Tiffania?" he questions.

She shakes her head, "Ah, no. I just mean that any magic won't work on me... I'm technically royalty, so I think I'll be safe from most things." she sheepishly admits, feeling incredibly tense ever since she'd laid eyes on the city again.

Michael nods, that's helpful to know... They might be able to use this... Could he sneak Tiffania into the palace and simply have her wipe Cromwell's mind? Or maybe kill him in his sleep? The man probably wouldn't expect there to be any more royalty left after Prince Wales is executed. "Do you remember much of the city? The layout or anything?"

Again she shakes her head, not remembering anything concrete from her childhood aside from her mother's death. "I'm sorry..."

Michael's face twitches at the apology, wondering if she'd ever break that irritating habit of hers. Instead, he focus on the gate to the city that was coming up, obviously, the news of Prince Wales capture had been broadcasted all over Albion, so there was a mile-long line just to get into the city... Not only that, but at the gate, they were checking each and every person that enters.

This would be fine, if the guards weren't checking for wands, weapons, magical artifacts, identities, and probably much more. Michael was sure he and Tiffanai were known by now, especially him since he'd been rather publically enslaved by Cromwell and Sheffield.

No, this wouldn't be possible at all. Even if their identities were unknown, they'd be arrested as soon as they pulled Tiffania's hood down.

He grabs her hand and walks her out of the line, "Shit, I think I left my baby in the car!" he exclaims, making a show of leaving to not draw too much suspicion... Even if his acting was rather poor.

The duo get a good distance from the city and Michael begins pacing while deep in thought, "I highly doubt we'll be able to just climb the walls like we did in Cendri... Especially without being spotted.

"Ah..." Tiffania ers as she speaks up while pointing off in the distance, "Can't we try sneaking in through one of those?"

Michael turns and raises a brow as he spots the aqueducts... He wasn't actually sure if it was possible to sneak through one of those, but... It wouldn't hurt to check, right? "We can certainly try..."

Ten minutes later, the duo begins following the aqueduct to try and find an entrance inside of it... Michael was sure there'd be an entrance somewhere, as something like this would require occasional maintenance.

Unfortunately, while they do find a heavy metal gate leading inside, it seems to be occupied by a relatively large group of thuggish-looking men...

They each wore cloaks and looked somewhat unclean as if none of them had bathed in days. Each had a weapon of some sort attached to their hips or backs, and their stances made it obvious that they did not want to be spotted.

The largest man out of the group growls as he walks up to the heavy metal gate and tries to pull it open, only for a sudden spark to sprout from it and strike the man in the chest, knocking him to the floor as he shakes and shudders from the electricity.

"B-boss!" a couple of the men shout, attending to the downed man who was still trembling.

Michael glances at Tiffania, "Er, any thoughts on how to approach this? I'm leaning towards just scaring them away, or if that fails, getting rid of them."

Tiffania sends a meaningful pout his way, both knowing that they'd talked about his propensity towards needless death not a few days ago.

...

Michael lets out a sigh, "Fine, we'll talk to them. Then we'll fight." he says, getting up from his hidden position and slowly walking over, a hand raised in greeting, "Yo, you guys trying to get into the capital as well?"

The group all shift in surprise to his sudden appearance, hands-on weapons, but relax when they notice his relaxed and somewhat friendly stance.

The 'boss' gets up from the floor and rubs his face, "Maybe, it depends on who you represent." he states glances between a few of his men before locking eyes with Michael.

The man himself was older than Michael had first thought, with thin, balding blonde hair and light but messy stubble, and a firm jaw. The many scars decorating his face made it clear that he wasn't a stranger to conflict either, and Michael could sense he wasn't just a common bandit leader either judging by his mannerisms.