He woke up in the arms of Asura, like a snake, entwining his body. For several minutes, he unsuccessfully tried to unclench her arms and legs, but it went out of hand badly. She mumbled something in her sleep, drooling over his shoulder. Changing his approach and shifting his joints a little, causing invigorating pain that relieves drowsiness, better than any coffee, Zee crawled out of her death grip.
Memories of last night swirled in his head, he tried to figure out what to do next. Going to church was the worst idea, running out of town? But where, Bor left no information as to where to look for renegade healers.
The elves were a shitty alternative given the conflict with their princess, who might still be looking for him, for completely incomprehensible purposes. Only the king remained... Wilhelm, the first of his name, is the legitimate ruler of the entire region. Judging by the rumors, he takes the throne by simply knocking out every last contender, along with their families, but it was not customary to talk about it.
The ruler of the richest part of the world, he went through several wars, gaining vast experience in battles. It was rumored that they tried to kill him ten times every year, but despite their advanced age, the assassins found their peace on the gallows. It wasn't that easy, because capturing the killer alive when you first got up from the chamber pot is a very difficult task, with their love of suicide in case of failure.
Zee saw his portraits, met in different institutions. Everywhere he looked like Santa, a kind old man, with a princess and a prince on his knee, ready to fulfill their every wish. But one day he came across an earlier portrait painted by a deceased artist. The same Santa was dressed in armor, holding a helmet in one hand, and a wide and thick blade in the other. The number of swollen veins on the face distorted by anger was difficult to count using all available fingers and a heavy bag with cut off from enemies. One could only guess how that artist died, and how his skull ended up in his own pelvic bones.
After a light breakfast and a reprimand from the innkeeper for the midnight chase, Zee decided to go on reconnaissance to the palace.
The square was filled with people of various ranks. The nobility stood next to the gallows, listening to the speech of the royal herald with a long list. Mostly they were people, although tails and animal ears occasionally flashed among them.
The common folk surrounded them in a semicircle divided by a line of guards holding their swords vertically.
Zee crept closer to hear what people were talking about. There were several dead on the gallows, and one guy was holding back tears, preparing to meet his fate. Next to him stood a chair, where a young girl sat, in a voluminous dress embroidered with precious stones. Zee used one of the distance vision options and began to look at the scene.
The herald finished reading the verdict and the girl took his place. She cheerfully walked to the edge of the pedestal, pointed her index finger, with a miniature magic circle, at her throat and her voice swept across the square.
- “Good afternoon, my people! Today we are gathered here to carry out the sentence on these traitors. The marquis disobeyed my father's orders, and was a very bad man! Dad said that I would do what I want. So, I decided to show pity and let him die by slow suffocation rather than play with me. I hope you remember my kindness!” - The princess didn't even try to hide the amusement in her voice, enjoying the process. But most of all, Zee was afraid of her eyes. There was not even a shadow of malice, irritation in them ... She’s killing a person enjoying the process, as if it were a game.
The princess walked over to the lever and kicked it with her tiny foot. The marquis's legs barely dangled, allowing the rope to tighten without breaking his neck. His body was pounding furiously, and tears, drool and snot flowed down his face. His eyes rolled wildly, bloodshot. Silence fell over the square.
A few minutes and he calmed down, slowly swaying in the wind.
Someone clapped their hands and shouted “Glory to the kindest princess! Glory to the king!"
The nobles quickly picked up this phrase and soon the whole square applauded.
“Damn, Bor didn't warn me about this! And there were no rumors either, what the hell? Why are they talking about the king, but not a word about the mad princess…”
Pulling the hood of his cloak deeper, he hurried to hide, deciding to take a closer look at the palace another day. Preferably never coming.
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Having bought a small barbecue from a merchant and paid five times more for it than in the quarter that sheltered him, Zee chewed and walked slowly along the clean streets. Today he had to change his outfit, and after the performance in the main square, put his cloak in a bag dangling from his belt. It wasn't a nobility quarter, but shady characters attracted unwanted glances in such a society. Occasionally on the streets one could see the high class, who wished to look at the life of the common people, to which they equated very rich merchants. They were noticeable from afar, by the brilliance of the armor and weapons of the guards.
These delegations noisily discussed what they saw, pretending to enjoy such a simple life. They looked into shops, restaurants, small galleries, not at all surprised at the desire of others to bow to the ground, and in case of conflict, kiss their shoes.
In the midst of a street, there was still one strange figure. A short man in a silk cloak stumbled over uneven pavement and caught the edge of the lady's dress as he fell. One moment, and his body was surrounded by guards, pointing spears at him.
- “He tried to kill me! Goddess, Charles, save me!” - She screamed, clinging to a man who was unhappily twisting his mustache with his free hand.
- “How dare you, you pathetic bastard! I won't let you lay a finger on my lady of the heart! You will answer for your crime, I am one of the judges of the kingdom and right here I sentence you to death, for attempted murder” - A man loomed over a guy in a cloak who had not yet risen, trying to hit him, or kick him a little, showing his power. But his leg was rather nervously twitching, not daring to touch the lower stratum of society, fearing to catch some kind of infection. His small eyes swept over the guards, who gave him peace of mind and a sense of security, and his mouth opened, ready to give an order.
"Damn, I think I'll regret this..." Zee pulled out his cloak and went to help the unfortunate man.
Under the acceleration he was getting better and better at, he crashed into the guard's back, sending him flying, quickly brought to a halt by a nearby wall. Before they could react, he hit the other right in the visor, causing needles of pain to pierce his arm. The rest recoiled, amazed at such audacity and assessing the danger. Zee grabbed the guy by the hand and pulled him along, but rested on the judge, dumbfounded looking at him. Their eyes met, the man let out a squeak and threw his sword hand forward. The exquisite blade pierced through Zee's shoulder, and his hand unclenched, releasing the cloaked boy's hand.
He made a sound of pain and struck without thinking. The nose of the nobleman took on some not the most natural forms, transforming into a kind of potato, left for a long time in the darkness of the cellar. His teeth scattered across the pavement, leaving only a pair of front ones, giving him the appearance of an ugly rabbit.
Then a guy grabbed Zee's hand and dragged him from the scene at great speed. Having run several streets, to the sounds of the raised alarm, they disappeared into an inconspicuous building. The owner looked up, bowed his head, and opened the door to the warehouse to let them through.
There was time here to catch his breath. Only a few minutes later, Zee realized that he was still using the acceleration, but the guy was running on par with him.
His hood was off, and a smile shone on his face. The young blond didn't look like a poor man. And his face looked like something ... More precisely, someone.
“Hah, thanks for sticking up for me, but that was stupid! You almost died, you attacked the judge, you can immediately see that you are not a local. We need to examine your shoulder; the wound may be serious” - He pushed the clothes off Zee's shoulder and froze – “Woah! The wound has healed, do you have holy magic?”
- “Yes, a little” - Zee still did not know the laws of this world well and decided not to argue with the person so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion –
‘No need for thanks, as you can see everything is fine with me, perhaps I'll go.”
- “Wait! I can't let you go. You showed yourself well, the kingdom would need such people. And how can I not thank the man who saved the Crown Prince!”
- “Crown Prince?”
- “I forgot to introduce myself, I am Crown Prince Alexander II, son of King Wilhelm!” - He stretched out and opened his cloak, revealing a necklace of gold studded with precious stones bearing the symbol of the royal house.
- “Your Majesty, I'm sorry” - In the movies, you always had to kneel before the king and apologize, even if you didn't do anything. No one mentioned people who didn't, and Zee was smart enough to imagine why. It's all for the sake of safety, kneeling down isn't that hard, he thought.
- “Get up! That's why I'm going for a walk-in disguise. If you only knew how these sycophants got me, with their honors, although they are only waiting for the death of my father to put a knife in my back” - The Crown Prince sat down on a dusty box, not at all caring about the cleanliness of his clothes – “Officially, I cannot reward you, if they find out that I was in the common people's quarter without protection, then I will get from my mother, and they can hang you. You have been to the main square, we have enough of that. But I invite you to the palace, let's celebrate this happy day. By the way, what is your name?”
- “I'm Zee, a simple traveler who visited this city”
- “Simple? I can’t believe it, moving at such a speed and wielding holy magic is not at all easy. I want to hear more about your adventures” - The sound of a bell rang out – “Great, the crew has arrived. Get up my new friend, it's time to go”
“I regretted it… As planned.” Zee sighed and followed Alexander. In the yard a small detachment of guards was waiting for them. Although by their appearance, it was very hard to tell that they were guards. A man with a gray beard sticking out in all directions opened the carriage door. Rich clothing looked like a scarecrow on him, and was also on the verge of tearing at the seams, because of his huge muscles. The two people were wrapped in dark cloth, leaving only their eyes exposed to the light, and looked like twins. The last member of the guard squad was a girl in a robe and a pointed hat, seated next to the driver. She yawned, covering her mouth with hand and glanced at Zee.
Her brow arched in surprise, and her gaze studied his body as he climbed into the darkness of the carriage.
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Two eyes burned in the alley. They watched the departing carriage.
An exquisite brooch flashed in a hand, the shadow moved and disappeared, going towards the palace.
