Hopeless Beginnings

Getting fully geared up in the early morning was surreal; I couldn’t imagine starting every day wearing plate and chainmail. Half of the time back in my own world, I was able to work remotely, wearing pajamas from the waist down where the meeting camera couldn’t see. Still, I managed to strap on most of the gear and sling my bag over my shoulder before venturing out of my room.

I took a deep breath as I stepped out into the common area. I realized I was gritting my teeth, already dreading encountering the prince. I fully expected him to be waiting for me, his smirk in place and his toe tapping with impatience.

Surprisingly, he was nowhere to be found, but I still managed to feel somewhat awkward as I was the last of my party to emerge. I had tried to get an early start to tackle the foreign armor, but the complicated fittings and confusing design had still given me enough trouble to set me back a bit.

Before I could muster a halfhearted apology about my late arrival, a voice spoke from right next to me, making me jump. It was the maid from before, still expressionless, standing next to the doorway as if to guard the room. Or keep watch over us.

“Now that you have all gathered, I will relay the information provided by Master Elias.” The nameless maid spoke without a hint of emotion, and her robotic nature unsettled me a bit.

As I went to take my seat, I felt the maid slip something into my bag. Somehow I knew that, if she hadn’t wanted me to have felt it, I would not have felt anything at all. I didn’t react, just made my way to an empty chair.

As I settled into my seat, I glanced down into the bag at my side, hoping that it seemed casual. It looked like an unmarked letter, and given the source, it was most likely my first private orders from Elias. I looked around at the group, but no one else seemed to have noticed that anything was amiss. They were focused on the maid expectantly.

With the thought of my real mission strong in the back of my mind, I tried to focus on what the maid was saying. In her monotone, she outlined for the party what the prince had in mind for us as we started the competition. Much of her briefing was what I had previously discussed with Elias, but some of the plans had been slightly modified. Rather than making our way south and going straight to work gaining points for the prince, our party was to head to the west and spend two days getting to know each other and practicing survival in a less dangerous area. The teambuilding time would give us a chance to learn each other’s strengths, form stronger bonds, and be more cohesive as a party. After the two days were up, we were to head to our original destination in the south as planned and get to work in earnest.

Although the plan raised a few eyebrows for being overly cautious, the explanation seemed simple enough and was readily accepted by the party. For me, however, the letter that continued to burn a hole through my bag told me there was more to this change of venue. The prince was far too much of a schemer to direct us to a two-day training and bonding exercise with no ulterior motives.

I was mostly silent at breakfast, but so was the rest of the party. Maybe they were as contemplative as I was or maybe they were just savoring the last good food we were likely to eat for the entire competition. As before, I couldn’t enjoy the exceptionally bland food; it tasted like dirt compared to my wife’s cooking. I had the idle thought that it would be nice if the whole party (not including the prince) could enjoy her cooking together in peace, under different circumstances.

Once breakfast was over, I didn’t have much time for further sentiment. We gathered up our belongings, double checked that nothing would be left behind, and then followed the silent maid out of the house.

As the rest of the party members milled about and got their bearings on the path, I made a point to hang back. With the pretense of having a quick question for her, I approached the maid who was already turning away from us. She met my eye blankly, then glanced at my bag. I reached in and felt the crisp paper edge of the letter, pulling it out cautiously. A quick look at the others assured me that they weren’t paying attention, so I unfolded the paper and skimmed it quickly. My fears and expectations were realized.

I was being instructed to conduct an assassination.

From the letter, I learned that Elias had gathered some intel on the other royals already. The third prince was allegedly planning to initiate a reckless strategy of hunting and killing all dangerous beasts deep in the forest territory to the west, which was where we had been told to go for our “team building” time. It looked like there was also a camp of sorts for vagabonds and noncitizens with nowhere else to go near the opposite edge of the territory, as well. I didn’t see much issue with that as the little I’d heard so far painted the wandering types as mostly harmless, but the idea of “those people” anywhere near the capital apparently left a foul taste in the mouths of the third prince and those who supported him.

Long live capitalism… I scowled but kept reading.

My mission was simple: assassinate the proxy while he was working his way through monster territory. Saving the vagabond camp was a secondary objective. I pondered briefly what Elias could possibly want with the homeless, as I couldn’t bring myself to assume any sort of altruism on his part; whether the prince had plans for the people there or only added that task to the list as a way to balance some perceived good against my first kill, I couldn’t begin to guess.

A tiny bulge in the envelope revealed a tissue-wrapped modus operandi. I carefully opened it to find a needle already coated in a sickly greenish poison resting beside the bottled chrysalis of a cryphen. The chrysalis pulsed slightly, which made me recoil. The instructions were short and direct: I needed to poke the proxy on the neck with the needle, then release the newly born insect inside his tent. The bug would do the rest, drawing little to no suspicion.

The cryphen release felt a bit complicated to me, with more steps and closeness to the target than I was comfortable with. Although to be fair, any distance from the target felt like too close when the point was murder. And this plot was also counterproductive if the plan was to frame another group, should the assassination be seen as any more than a sad accident. But the prince wasn’t around to answer my questions, and I had already resolved to stay in my own lane where his machinations were concerned. I was sure there was more going on than he was willing to share with me.

“Kai!” Pira shouted, jolting me. I looked up and saw the group waiting for me with varying degrees of impatience. Andra was pacing, and Estelar stood calmly but with a muted energy. Everyone was eager to go. I quickly refolded the letter and stashed it in my bag as I jogged over to them. The plan was burned into my brain: During our first nights in the country, I would be fetched by the maid and taken to the enemy camp to do what the prince expected of me. Until then, I would have to focus on surviving, learning, and getting to know my party before we decamped for the southern village that Elias had pointed us to.

I looked down at the letter once more before stashing it in my bag. The ink was gone, no trace of the orders. Whether through science or magic, the prince was sure to leave no trace. I folded it lightly and placed it along the edge of my satchel before speeding up to match pace with my party.

Pira cocked her head with a slight smile as I approached, waving an arm in a sweeping gesture. She was squinting in the bright sunlight, and I thought for a minute what a beautiful day it was outside. How incongruous.