Little to no dialogue in this one!
Nora had made up her mind over what to do. She knew damn well that she wasn't going to let Lorien slip away, all she had to do now was set her plan into motion. Hopefully it goes as easily as it did in her head.
It didn't.
She had to first get the guards out of the room, so she caused a little chaos to distract them. By a little chaos I mean she set a building on fire. That did almost exactly what she needed. Only issue now was getting into the room without making too much noise.
She didn't want to have anybody hear her while she was collecting evidence. So she did the best she could, she threw her braided ropes onto the roof, they caught on the broken pieces. It wasn't the most stable, but it would have to do.
She needed to be fast with this, taking too long could result in the death of her love. She wasn't willing to risk that. She'd burn the world down before letting any harm come to Lorien. She would do everything in her power to save her.
She didn't have the time to focus on alternate endings to her plan, she had to simply hope it would work. She had to use all of her upper body strength to drag herself up the rope, there weren't any placeholders for her feet to catch on, so she had to struggle her way up.
The reward would come later when she would expose the King for the fake he is. She made her way up on the roof finally, all the guards who were in there previously were dealing with the fire that she may or may not have caused.
The window was still just as broken as yesterday, she slipped her way inside. The blood on the floor had been cleaned up, the bodies had been moved from the closet. She couldn't use any of that information to expose him, but the King forgot one thing.
There was still the photo of the prior King in the room. Some people should recognize him. She slipped it off of the wall and held it to her side, it was heavier than she expected. She couldn't let that bother her at the moment.
Especially not with so much at stake. Footsteps could be heard pounding down the hallway, metal boots and sharp heels. She had to hurry. She slipped out of the window and held onto the rope she had set up, she slowly rappelled herself down. It was much more difficult than she had thought.
Her hands burned after, but it would all be worth it soon enough. She couldn't her the rope down, so she just left it. Not her brightest moment, but she had more concerning matters at hand. There was one person who was sure to recognize the photo. The oldest person in town.
Ms. Ryna, town "crazy lady" so to speak. She wasn't crazy, she just liked it better when she was well known for something. She was a miracle worker, even in her old age she could do more things than most people in the town.
So Nora would take her chances. Ms. Ryna was nearing 93, a pretty big accomplishment for someone in their town, most didn't make it past 60. There was certainly something different about her, and hopefully it would be helpful for Nora.
"You need what from me dearie?" The woman asked Nora, for the fifth time since she tried to explain. Nora had been in her house for 20 minutes now trying to get the old lady to look at the painting, but each time she got interrupted and asked what she was there for or if she wanted tea.
"Please just look at this painting for me, tell me if you-" it was the same routine, each time she tried.
"Would you like some tea darlin?" She was a sweet old lady, but Nora didn't have the time for pleasantries.
"No! I- I'm sorry.. please, just look at this" Nora held up the painting for the woman to look at. She took a few moments of intently staring at it, then she got closer and tapped her nails against the crown.
"That's King Arlene, did you not known that darlin?" Something clicked in Nora's head, she recognized the name. Not from him being a King, from him having been lost. There were rumors about a man named Arlene that spread throughout the town before the big parties started.
Talk of him going missing, nobody had ever said a thing about him being King. Maybe nobody ever knew?
"Him? He's the King?" The old woman nodded, there was no way she'd be lying about this.
"That young man who keeps showing off at those parties is a big phony. Bah," the woman waved her hand in the air as if dismissing the thought of the man known as King. Nora had found her leverage, other people just know about this.
"Will you tell people that with me? Tell them the truth?" Nora was desperate, she was getting in deeper than she knew.
"What's in it for me dearie?" That sly old lady.
"Anything." It was a large offer, but she didn't have any other options.
"Anything? Deal. I want you to make one of those dresses for me" dresses? She knew about Nora's dresses?
"How-" Nora couldn't finish her question.
"I know everything about everyone in this town darlin. Nothing happens without me getting wind of it. I'll help you get your girl back" maybe she was a crazy lady. But Nora would risk it. Everyone trusted the old lady, she could change all of their minds.
