Foxtails and Fairytales: Facades and Fables of the Phantom Prince

[Arc 14] Ch. 1 Hydra Prince

[Elkwood]

With my righthand man Bart, and Lady Ulster, about two hours later we went over the layout of the location and compared their information in the corner of the sorcery room.

Lady had picked out a decent restaurant and we had already forwarded the details through our contact.

"Based on that information." Bart said looking over the hand sketched map Lady Ulster had provided. "We'll station our men, here, here, here and here." he explained. In the meantime I was astounded by the details on the map I can't believe she hand drew this with her delicate hands. Must be how she got all the tiny details right.

"Sounds prudent. Lady Ulster, any thoughts?" I asked. I watched as she bit her lips and used a finger to comb a stray hair behind her ear. "How many men do we have?"

"For today, about fifteen rangers and you two." Bart said.

"Do all of the rangers wear conspicuous hoods?" She asked.

"It's a uniform, and it has anti-perception enchantments, so they aren't easy to spot in a crowd." I explained. "They also obscure the face, but we do have agents with civilian disguises, what do you propose?"

"This whole city is the biggest hot bed for exceptions to the rules we know. And there are no less than three hidden escape routes built into this restaurant alone." Lady Ulster pointed at three points on the layout of the restaurant. "I suggest one to three in civilian disguises be in the restaurant with us. It may have an open-air section that is warded but-"

"But it would be too easy to be surrounded by that many access points." I nodded. "Alright, tell Schmidt and Darla they get to have a fancy date on the job, and pull Gartbough out of the pub for back up, tell him he gets to wine taste if he comes in today." I said. "Since today is their day off they will be in regular clothes. We'll put those three in the restaurant with us. With this contact I don't want to take any chances. If nothing happens, they get a free meal on my silver for the favor."

"Gartbough has always been better in a drunken brawl anyway." Bart chuckled.

"You got your men, Lady Ulster where do you want them?" I said and Lady Ulster looked a little shocked and then sputtered to look at the layout. "The bar here has one of the access points, it would be good for that Gartbough fellow, then here for the couple."

"Alright." I rolled up the papers and handed them to Bart. "You have your orders."

"Just like that?" Lady Ulster asked looking at me curiously.

"Just like what?" I asked.

"You listened to me. You even pulled extra guards on my account." she tilted her head quizzically.

"Of course. I can't fathom how you must perceive me, but you are a hero of the war. I would be a fool to discount your input off hand especially when it is well reasoned." I answered. I looked over at the prince who was fascinated by something the sorcery students were doing.

The Monster Doctor Jekyll and bespectacled beauty Nerys were talking extensively about what I can only assume was blood magic. Honestly, I can't imagine anything more dangerous than the prince getting his hands on Blood magic and my worst fears were taking place right in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Does it have anything to do with the person we are going to meet?" Lady Ulster asked dragging me away from the prince's frightful grin.

"How much do you know about New Providence?" I asked.

"They are the new kingdom on water started by the Pirate Queen Blackbeard, they control the water routes between the three continents." She answered.

"We are getting an escort home due to circumstances around the sorcery class. We are meeting with the captain in charge tonight. He simply told us to go out to dinner and that he would meet us there." I answered.

"That sounds fishy." she played with a strand of her hair.

"New Providence has never been very orthodox. But we shall have to come to terms with it since they will be our guides on the way back home." I sighed.

"Who will be their representative?" she asked.

*

The restaurant was very nice for the most part. I can't be the best judge of these things but it was considerably better than the taverns I'd been in and may even be better than the restaurants of the capital. There was a bar against one wall with many glass bottles of various alcohols. The round tables each had a red tablecloth with yellow embroidery and comfortably fit 4 to 8 people each.

There was a railing instead of a wall separating the eating area of the restaurant from the bustling street. There was a magic ward or barrier preventing the harshest of the noise from bothering the guests but allowing a comfortable breeze to fill the restaurant.

Upon the prince's insistence he wanted a table near this barrier, so he had a good view of the unique city streets and people.

Which was all well and good. But the person that was meeting us was probably one of the more unique residents. He showed up shortly after we did, before we were even able to order our food.

"Ahoy, Crown Prince of Pirates, Flint Teach, at your service." The suntanned man said as he sat down at our table.

We introduced ourselves to the young man dubbed the Demon of Blackbeard's fleet. His smile was unsettling in the way that it was far too confident even though he was here alone he didn't look worried in the slightest.

"As you may know, we are willing to help escort you for a discounted rate, so I have four ships ready to escort yours back home. One of the things that we do have to talk about is the special circumstances behind the Sorcery class and why the Grand Magus has employed me and my crew to run additional security for them to bring them back in a timely manner." Flint said.

"It will be most reassuring to have you along, I am all ears." Prince Vance said.

We ordered our food and Flint explained the court case and the deal that Vladimir Turner made with the Grand Magus and the origin of sorcery. If I had known all this plus the Sorcery student's poor reputation around campus, I may have advised Prince Vance to stay away from them... not that he would have listened. Most people would call my good friend a snake but that was because they only say part of the picture.

Prince Vance was more of a hydra. Always hiding his true body and intentions and every time he got one of his heads cut off, he only grew stronger much like the instance where we saved the elf princess and he lost use of his arm... but gained a reluctantly loyal friend, the gratitude of the elves, and now through extension: the Elwood rangers who rivaled the king's royal guard in many respects.

Who knows what else the Prince has his hands in? It's not like he ever had an interest in the throne before but now, I think his brothers are catching on to how much of a threat he can pose if he gets serious. And in trying to suppress him, instead of just letting him be, they have forced him into getting serious.

Now he was speaking in equal terms with the Crown Prince of New Providence. And as much as people want to ignore the Commoner-made nation they can't ignore the power they wield in military strength and economical potential. If Vance established a good relationship with the Sorcery Class which were reviled by the traditional mages with little to no support, save the Grand Magus, and New Providence through Flint... well then... the only person left was the Phantom Prince. Then he would be nearly the most powerful candidate for being crown prince. With a new class of mages supporting him, the trade potential of New Providence, and the potential of this new technology from Armory.

A snake would use tricks to get ahead but a hydra just grows stronger exponentially.

Flint was a different kind of monster. I've been trying to get a handle on what kind of man he is. He is an engaging storyteller, I'll give him that. But from what I can understand is that he is not threatened by us in the slightest. And I wonder if he was the kind of guy to be threatened by anyone. It wasn't a noble dignity of a king it was the frightful aura of a monstrous warlord. My instincts told me there was more than met the eyes to this man just laying beneath the water.