Valerian, The Legendary

166 Curtains Raised.

Valerian sat in the room with Ashlyn and they used sign language for communication. It was said that education in sign language was mandatory around the planet, as in the early ages, humans were forced to live in hiding because of the stronger beasts. The human leaders and gifted then decided to use this language.

There was another reason behind signs, Magicals were unable to understand them. For some odd reason even if a magical saw them communicating, they will not be able to understand this language. Things were simply too miraculous.

Valerian choose signs because he did not want the guards outside to catch a whiff of his existence. He could kill them with ease, but if the two guards went missing, things will be troublesome, he did not wish for that to happen.

Ashlyn asked, “What do you plan to do?”

Valerian replied, “Locate the soul seeker bow, hide it, and then teach your royal court a lesson.”

Ashlyn was surprised and said, “Do you know that we have two archmages and two grandmasters in the court? They will not let things happen so easily.”

Valerian shook his head and said, “You are such a dumb person, no wonder Thales and Stephanie took you as a pet.”

His speech was offending to the princess and she was about to throw a huge tantrum, when the boy pointed a finger at the door and said, “If they found me inside, you will be labeled a traitor, and they will kill you. Do you want that to happen?”

Ashlyn calmed her rage and demanded, “Explain your meaning to me then. How do you intend to take down the four people?”

.....

Valerian sighed and took out a flower from his magic bag. Ashlyn was about to mock him when the boy said, “It might look harmless, but when it is mixed with osmanthus tea, this orchid will become a potent tranquilizer. One petal is enough to take down a horse and that too when it is burned. I plan to have the four people ingest this so that they sleep in peace while I beat the shit out of your emperor uncle and aunt.”

His expression did not change when he explained the plan, while Ashlyn gulped and said, “You are cruel.”

Valerian shook his head, “Demand of situation. To deal with these sorts of low lives, one has to tread on muddy roads.”

The two people became silent.

...

Ignis was rushing through the territory of the Sapientia empire with his unit, when he suddenly stopped, he sensed danger approaching, and all the guards around him also took guard in an instant.

A gloomy voice sounded through the woods, “To think that the playful prince of Lumen will have such keen senses. Impressive!”

Ignis said calmly, “Show yourselves.”

Gloomy laughter resided and followed by a set of footsteps, the people walked into sight. Ignis looked at the man in front of him and said, “Oh, I was wondering who it was, turned out to be the infamous shadow killer.”

The man standing in front of him was a nefarious assassin called the shadow killer. This person was wanted in all the countries, for his shady deeds. In the Lumen empire, this man had a bounty of twenty thousand gold teals on his head. The man did not fluster at his identity being revealed, on the contrary, his eyes were filled with glee.

This man never showed his face to the world and covered his face with a black ceramic mask, only revealing his eyes. The mask was painted with blood red color saying, ‘Shadow.’

Hearing the Prince revealing his identity, the man said, “Unexpected, truly unexpected, your highness, you seem to be well aware of the powerful people in the world. Very well, since you know me, it will be easier to negotiate. I do not wish to spill the blood of you people, I am assigned with the task to apprehend you and take you for a small trip.”

The guard in front of Ignis was about to attack, when the prince said, “Calm down, Icarus. The gent in front mentioned the term negotiate. Let me deal try to talk it out before you all go and try your battle skills.”

The guard stopped but his hand was still resting on the hilt of his sword. He was ready to slay this murderer in front of him. How dare this guy ask for the prince to surrender? Was he saying that the guards were insignificant and that they will all die? He will not take such humiliation lying down, but since the prince had spoken, he stood his ground.

Ignis stepped out of the crowd and walked toward the assassin in front of him, he had yet to sense any mana fluctuation from this guy and decided to take a gamble. Warriors cannot kill Mages, however, the information about this guy was lacking too. Ignis was taking a gamble by getting closer to the man.

Even if the two factions cannot fight against each other, he could still try to injure this guy, right? The assassin seemed to be standing casually, but the people did not notice the cold gleam flashing deep within his eyes like a snake ready to strike its prey.

...

While the confrontation was inevitable, Sylvia was leading the silver cat around the palace, she came to the kitchen and found an old lady. This lady seemed to be very frail, but her eyes were clear and sharp.

Fortuna could tell that this old lady was wise and smart. Sylvia said, “Granny Cotton, please prepare some food for her highness.”

The old lady smiled faintly and with a nod, she prepared some light snacks for the princess with a kettle of tea. Just when she was about to pour the tea from the big pan into the kettle, she heard a cat hissing at the content. She furrowed her brows and said, “Sylvi, do you not know that animals are not allowed in the kitchen?”

Sylvia was about to explain when the cat on the counter hissed loudly and a few fireballs appeared around it. Sylvia was shocked and the old lady was frozen stiff. She did not expect this cat to be a magical beast and that too so wise to understand her speech.

The maid said, “Fortuna, calm down, granny cotton was not aware of your identity. Those who do not know, are not guilty. Also, we need her help in this matter.”

Fortuna glared back at the maid and the fireballs vanished. Granny cotton was shivering and the tea spilled all over the place. Sylvia stepped forward to help her. She whispered everything to her and also told the old lady about Fortuna’s identity as the magical beast companion of the fourth prince of the Lumen Empire, who was here to help them.

The old lady understood what was going on and gazing at the cat she said, “I apologize, however, we cannot allow you inside the kitchen. The royals are very serious about their hygiene, they will kill us if they found you in here.”

The cat nodded and then she left the place. Sylvia heaved a sigh of relief, but Fortuna was gazing at the two of them from a distance. She was going to kill them if they dared to do anything alarming. The old lady set up the food trolley and sent the maid away, the young lady said, “Granny we will be back soon.”

Cotton nodded as she allowed the two to walk away. Her fear had yet to subside and she sat on the chair.

...

Sylvia arrived at the door of the room and the guard opened the door without much question. The cat entered first and then the maid.

Inside the room, the lighting was dim, and Valerian was not visible from their angle of sight. Sylvia closed the door behind her before she walked over and said with a bow, “Head chef Granny Cotton has agreed to help us.”

Valerian nodded and Sylvia began to serve them food. The young man has yet to eat for the past two days, he began to gobble the food with quick mouthfuls. Ashlyn was looking at him with a rather amused expression. Fortuna was the same, she was eating from her magical plate at a speed faster than Valerian.

The young man sighed after he finished the food. He thanked Sylvia and Ashlyn for the meal and handed over the flower to the maid before he said, “Lady Sylvia, have the grandmasters, and the archmages of your royal court enjoy some sweet osmanthus tea. Also, add two or three petals of this flower inside the tea. One piece of advice, do not go sniffing it for fragrance, it is a potent poisoning agent.”

Sylvia shivered as she looked at Valerian, and then at the princess, who nodded and said, “Do not worry, just do as he says, and we will be fine.”