The Reicalth Conspiracy

We wove through the city's tight, dingy alleyways, a maze of backstreets that let us slip past unnoticed until we reached the edge of town.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“I don’t know about now, but Mel is somewhere around town,” Viola commented. “She was the one who shot the rope.”

“I figured, I doubt anyone else would have a sharp aim. What about the others?”

“Túta was with Mel, and Melody is safe on the Ravager.”

“Glad to hear everyone’s alright.”

“Of course…” Viola stopped speaking at the sudden sound of clanging armour.

She quickly grabbed Elora and Pippa. I yanked Raizel by her collar, and we all hid behind some wooden barrels, careful not to make a sound.

Several guards paused at the intersection and began to scan the area. The guards looked like standard armoured goons. However, one wore a blue cape, and joining this search party was Sir Branwell.

“Sir, do you think we will find him?” The caped guard asked.

“It would be a disaster if we let him escape,” Sir Branwell replied.

“It’s bad enough Valgroth is still on the move.”

“Forget Valgroth, a team has already been dispatched to fend him off. The priority needs to be to capture the Accursed Captain Lark.”

The guards all responded with a salute.

“Is it true that a Holy Knight has been deployed?” the caped guard asked.

“Well, with his holiness in the city, it only makes sense for a Holy Knight to be active.”

“What about the Otherworlders? Can we trust them?”

“Even if Captain Lark is one of them, they seem to be on our side. Still, keep an eye on them.”

“Aye, sir,” the caped guard saluted. He turned and jogged off. The other guards followed his lead, leaving Sir Branwell.

He sighed heavily.

“We have to capture and kill that son of a bitch pirate who killed our beloved king.”

Hold on, why am I being accused of murder again? Am I being profiled or something? Oh, let’s all blame the skill-less pirate…

The words finally finished processing in my head.

The king was dead?!?!

Sir Branwell did one last scan of the area and then continued to walk off to the left, following the other guards.

“Did you kill the king, foolish captain?” Viola asked in a hushed whisper.

“That’s pretty badass,” Pippa added, her eyes sparkling.

“Dead kings don’t need their gemstones, do they?” Raizel asked, pulling at my arm.

“I can kill people too,” Elora mumbled, puffing up her cheeks in a jealous gesture.

“I didn’t kill anyone!” I snapped back at them, still careful not to raise my voice too loud.

“Then why did they say you killed the king?”

“I wish I knew that. Though I guess that means one less Administrator I have to kill.”

“Wait! The king was an administrator?”

“What’s an administrator? Do they have shiny objects?” Raizel asked.

I took one step forward, and the ground began to wave. Vertigo swelled in my stomach, a deafening woosh filling my ears. The sky quickly darkened, and a wave of shadow-like hands consumed everything in an instant.

I blinked, and by the time my eyes opened, everything was calm once more. The darkness, whooshing, and nausea only lasted a moment, then vanished as quickly as they had all begun.

I blinked a few times, though nothing changed.

I turned my head to see what the rest of my crew thought, but they were gone. I had been a little anxious leading up to the execution, but seeing my crew vanish suddenly sent my anxiety through the roof.

Unfortunately, I had no time to react.

“Holt, raise your hands where I can see them!” The familiar voice of Sir Branwell ordered.

His voice startled me as I had only just seen him run off to my left. How was he behind me? On our journey here, there were no passages that should have allowed him to get behind me so quickly. Did he have a speed skill or something?

“What is a pirate doing in this town?” I could hear him take a few more steps through the clanging of his armour. “What is your name, pirate?”

“I’m surprised you don’t recognise my beauty from behind, Sir Branwell. Well, you caught me, I guess.” I raised my hands and slowly turned around. “How does it feel to catch the accursed Captain Lark?”

“Accursed Captain Lark… If I’m not mistaken, you are the pirate who is the Captain of the Ravager.” He paused to scratch his chin. “I believe the Otherworlders were going to confront you. Not only have you avoided them, but you also managed to sneak into town.”

He took several steps closer, his blade still cautiously drawn.

“If I could, I would sneak out of town. I don’t particularly like being in a town that accuses me of killing the king.”

Sir Branwell gave me a stern look.

“Your joke is not funny, pirate. To jokingly accuse yourself of murdering the king is a heinous crime in and of itself.”

What? But he had only just said I was guilty of murder.

“Turn around and raise your hands in the air,” he ordered.

“Hands? That’s a bit rich.” I couldn't help but hold up my missing hand with a sly smirk. “Have you thought of being a comedian? You could let me go and begin your jester life right now.”

“Sorry.” He grabbed my wrists. “If I were to let you go, I would be a laughingstock amongst the other king's guards,” he replied, stoically.

“Comedians generally do that,” I snapped back as his foot swept mine and I went tumbling to the ground. He put his full weight on me as he bound my wrists with some rope that was fastened to his belt.

“It’s too bad for you, Accursed Captain Lark, that I am committed to the knight cause.”

I was getting fed up with always having my hands tied. But at least the rope was better than the heavy wooden cuffs, and even those were better than most of my other injuries.

A guard came running up to Sir Branwell.

“Captain!”

“What is it?”

“The king stated he wanted to meet with the pirate.”

“Isn’t the king dead?”

The guard looked furious.

“How dare you say such vile things about our great king?”

“You’re sure the king wants to meet this pirate?”

“Yes Captain.”

Sir Branwell sighed.

“Very well. Who am I to judge the decisions of the king? Pirate, it’s time to face the man you falsely claimed you killed.”

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 39