Royal Blood : Chapter 21 (Patreon)

Chapter 21: Point of Entry

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as looking at the plans and getting into my target’s basement via the sewers.

For one, the maps weren’t that good. I think I’d pieced together a route into Queens Row, and close to our target’s house—emphasis on think—but even then, it’s not like every house had a direct maintenance connection to the sewer system, like, holy shit. Who would want that?

So what was even the point then, if I was just in another house? The thing that went in my favor was that most of the houses in Queens Row were set close to each other, like townhouses or something. Which I guess is what they were. As long as I ended up in the same row (go figure) as Magistrate Scionus’s house, it would be relatively easy to sneak along the rooftops and to his house.

At least, that was the hope.

“You sure you got it figured out?” Nezza peeked over my shoulder as I traced the path I’d selected on a map of Port Royal. She pointed. “I don’t think it goes tha’ far.”

I grimaced. “That’s the problem with working with sketches.” I reached over, pulling up a pair of hand drawn maps next to one of the few actual blueprints Boss had. “See how in the actual diagram, the offshoot tunnels are usually this far apart? I’m trying to use that to space the rest of it.”

“But why would th’ other guy think it was shorter than that?”

I sighed, wriggling so that her elbows sat more comfortably on my shoulders. “Don’t you have studying to do?”

“I got bored.” Nezza shrugged, her arms lifting slightly. I grunted as I fell backwards onto her chest. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around my neck. Loosely. “So? Why was it?”

Well, it had been nearly a day. I was honestly a bit surprised that she’d lasted that long. “Whoever made the map might have been running.” I waved a hand. “Or else he drew a line and didn’t bother worrying about how long it was. Smugglers don’t really care how far something goes, they just need to get it to the right spot.

And unfortunately they really only cared about the bigger channels nearest to the coast. I was left piecing together more of my map than I’d like.

Nezza hummed. “You think this’ll get us there?”

“Hopefully.” I shrugged. “If not, we’ll just backtrack. Speaking of which, did you get the stuff I asked for?”

“Yep.” She popped to her feet, going over to her bag. After dinner last night, I’d sent her to ‘acquire’ some additional equipment I hadn’t thought about until I started planning.

“Got some glow in the dark paint. Says it should last for a day after we put it on.” She lifted a small ceramic pot, about the size of her palm. Hopefully, it plus the map would be enough. “And I got the masks too. Oh, nicked these nice looking goggles from one of the workers on ‘is lunch break!”

She held out a thick cloth mask that would cover me from my nose all the way down to my shoulders. The goggles on the other hand looked a bit too big, but I’d make them work.

Most important, however, was the small sack of oil cloth she’d found. Waterproof for my map.

“Nice.” I gave her a thumbs up. With a nod, I finished tracing over the rest of my map. There were a few question areas that I was worried about, but if we couldn’t get any further, then we could always just turn around and try again another day.

Well, that was the plan, anyway.

“Ready to go then?” I got up, bundling the maps back up more or less the way I found them. When Nezza nodded, I tossed the bundle on Boss’s bed. Sure, it had been kind of annoying to have to spend last night and most of this morning in his room, but I wasn’t about to take his shit somewhere else.

Of course, there was more to me wanting some documents then my sewer trip. For one, it was useful to see how much information the assassins had access to, which was more than I thought. For the other, Boss basically hadn’t told me anything since he kidnapped me, but when you have a bunch of hand written notes, some additional information would always slip in.

I knew more than I needed to about this and that smuggling ring, but more than that, I finally had a name for the Assassin’s Guild I was a part of: The Blackguards.

Something for me to look into more after our little excursion. Luckily, Port Royal had a library as well.

I held out a hand as I started gathering up our supplies. Nezza slipped on her own mask before jumping and flipping into dagger form in the palm of my hand. Really, it was her dagger form that I’d built my whole plan around.

Just had to hope that one cistern wasn’t too deep…

“You don’t have your own goggles?”

I felt the equivalent of a head shake. “Could only find one pair.”

I shrugged. “That’s life.”

“Yep!”

I slipped the map into the oil pouch. I was about to do the same with the paint pot before I paused.

Even if I bound it shut, it seemed like the type of thing that was guaranteed to bite me. Like, no matter what. Either the string would break, or I’d get thrown into a wall or something.

“Nezz. I’m gonna need you to carry the paint.”

“But then how will we mark the wall?”

I shrugged. “As long as we have the map, backtracking shouldn’t be too difficult. The paint is just insurance. We’ll use it when we can.”

She grumbled, but a quick form swap later, and I had everything stored away. Then I got my own mask on, settling it under my cloak, with the goggles around my neck.

“Right.” I nodded once. “Let’s get to it.”

I waved at the inn keeper once on my way out the door. He was a good guy, didn’t even seem too fussed when Nezza ate the Boss’s portion two nights in a row. I got the feeling he just thought it was good bargaining.

Still, if I made it out of this alive, I’d slip him a little something extra for being such a good host. You gotta look out for the people who cook your food, you know?

Port Royal was as busy as ever. It was a bit after midday, so we’d hopefully make it to my target’s residence right as the sun was setting. The light level would make me harder to pick out on the roofs.

One thing I noticed was the number of guards. There were more of them around the main roads, and they seemed to be keeping a close eye on the runners.

Magistrate was still looking for me, huh?

Well, let’s see if I could find him first.

With Sneak and Conceal, it was easy enough to slip past them. No one was turning the city upside down yet, mainly because I imagine that a simple magistrate didn’t have that much power. Scionus was taking action, but my money was on him sending word back to his benefactor. If a member of the Royal Family came to the city, they’d be able to take much more aggressive action.

It also proved that it was probably a member of the Royal Family that had it out for me. As a charter city, Port Royal wasn’t administered by the nobility, and if Scionus had been taking money from one of the Noble Families on the side, well, he could just mosey over to the Noble’s Quarter and get additional aid in finding me.

Things still didn’t quite fit though. If a member of the Royal Family was after me, why had the assassins only been there to kill Velari? Ugh. I hated court politics. Dodging that whole mess was the only good thing about my situation.

Eventually, I found my way down to the docks, only a few blocks over from where we’d seen the otters the other day, actually.

I sat down on the edge of yet another stone walkway. I’d ditched my cloak in a nearby alley.

This walk was set even closer to the water, the stone slope behind me wet from where the waves would splash at high tide.

The first part of the trip would be the scariest. I wasn’t going in through a downspout.

With a deep breath, I looked around, checking to make sure no one was inside. I’d picked this spot because it was mostly secluded, and it looked like my luck had held. With a grunt, I took off my boots, lacing them together and hanging them over my shoulders.

I realized then that this would be another thing that Nezza could carry, but I felt kinda embarrassed for not thinking about it before.

We really needed to test her carry limit. I hadn’t realized until just now how broken it could potentially be. Like, sure, I’d thought about her having her own knives or smoke bombs, but if she could carry a full backpack of stuff like rations, or addition weapons?

The possibilities were endless.

I wiggled my toes above the waterline. The waves were low today, and only one in three came up to tickle the bottoms of my feet. I shivered. The Sea was usually pretty cold, or so I’d been told.

I was hesitating. I’d done everything I could to prepare. I had my gear, I was wearing light clothes that wouldn’t hold too much water—the sewer worker’s mask was fortunately waterproof—and there was literally no other reason to wait.

I took a deep breath, pulled up the goggles, and threw myself feet first into the water.

I hit the sea with a rush of cold, letting myself sink as the currents started to pull at me. Out to sea, back to land. I braced a hand against the slimy surface of the wall to stop from getting bashed against it.

The water wasn’t clear, but the goggles let me easily see my target. There was a large hole in the wall, letting the water flow in and out freely. I didn’t know what it was for—hell, maybe it had been added for the smugglers in the first place—but it was my way in.

I didn’t waste any time, immediately kicking forward and swimming into the waterway. This was the most dangerous part of the plan. There wasn’t going to be any air until I was through.

The water grew dark more quickly than I’d expected, but I stayed calm. I hadn’t been on the swim team or anything, but I’d been able to swim, and I’d practiced in this life as well. I kept my strokes steady and strong, even as the cold started to seep into my limbs.

If it had been winter…Jesus, I didn’t want to think about it.

I started feeling a familiar tightness in my chest and ignored it. There wasn’t any time for crazy fantasies, just had to swim.

The water was completely black when my hand hit a slope.

My heart jolted in my chest, and I immediately started pushing upwards.

There! The water was getting brighter.

I kicked even harder, my heart hammering in my ears. It felt like my ears were trying to explode.

Then I broke the surface.

I gasped, sucking in a deep breath as my hands floundered for the edge of the cistern. I found it, hauling myself out of the water and onto the rough stone. Above, a faint blue magelight continued to glow softly, as it had since it was placed here god knew how many years before.

Nezza was at my side a second later. “Aly, Aly, you okay!” Her red eyes almost seemed to glow in the semi-darkness. I held up a finger, sucking in breath after breath.

“I’m…” I coughed once, twice. “I’m fine. Jee-sus.” I shook my head, coming up to a sitting position with Nezza’s help.

“We need ta get you warm.” She rubbed my arms, and I pushed her off a moment later, pulling down my mask so I could breathe more easily.

“I’m fine.” I swatted at her hands. “I’m fine.”

“You’re shivering, idiot.” Nezza glared at me. “Get that shirt off.”

I grumbled at the thought of slinking through the sewers naked, but let her strip my thin shirt off me all the same. I shivered at the feeling of the cool air brushing up against my skin, but I stood, jumping on my toes to start warming up.

A moment later, Nezza draped her own cloak, still mercifully dry, over my shoulders.

“G-good thinking,” I managed.

“Yeah well, can’t letcha die down here.” She pulled me close trying to warm me up. “I just realized I dun’ know how to swim…”

I laughed. “Shit.”

She nodded, looking at the circular hole of water I’d just popped out of with barely disguised worry.

And that was how we infiltrated the sewers of Port Royal.