Maleki simply sighed as Tommen asked the question he was beginning to wonder would show up. With a flick of his thumb and plopping into a chair, Maleki pulled a deep swig from the bottle before even bothering to respond.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“To put simply, her family turned their backs on my family years ago,”</span>Maleki said. “And now she is coming to ask for my help by ruining my life.”<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><i>“That can’t be true,”</i></span>Tommen said, taking a seat across from Maleki and holding his hand out for the bottle. Maleki did not immediately give it up, taking another swig before handing it over.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“She’s probably going to blow her top if I tell you this, but it’ll be fun to watch,” </span>Maleki said.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“That woman is Princess Aleksandra Stålhammar. And if you want to get technical, I am… I was the heir to the Todori estate.”</span>Tommen nearly choked on the bottle at this, and Maleki swiped it back quickly.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff"> “Hey, don’t waste it.”</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080">“You two are royalty…?” </span>Tommen asked, surprised and a bit of wonder in his eyes.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“Well, may as well tell you the whole story now...” </span>Maleki said, taking one more swig and placing it on the ground in between them. He simply began to talk, from when he first met Aleksandra through the reward his father was given up to the betrayal, though he went into less and less detail as the story progressed. That is, until he recounted his life as a mercenary and finally meeting Aleksandra again.<br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr"/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“And I thought she was one of the whores the owner of the Mocking Bee had around, and told her-”</span>Maleki was saying when the tent flap exploded inward, the wind almost knocking over the nearly empty bottle sitting between the two of them. Out of instinct, Maleki’s hand slid behind his back to one of his blades and gripped the hilt tightly. Upon seeing it was Barnstorm, Maleki relaxed until the letter was thrust into his hands. The message was simple, and internally, Maleki drunkenly screamed, while an exasperated sigh escaped externally. He looked between the paper and Barnstorm a couple of times, as if trying to wait for him to say more.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff"> “Look, you just let us go, and Aleksandra didn’t tell us to leave, so that’s the only reason we’re, or at least I’m sti-” </span>Maleki began, before out of nowhere, Storka stepped from behind Barnstorm.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><i><b>“You know where she is, young lord. Leave their halls in the same state you last left your father’s halls,”</b></i></span>the old woman said cryptically.<br/><br/>While Tommen looked to Storka confused and a bit uneasy and Barnstorm jumped out of his skin having not known the old woman had followed him, Maleki’s blood ran cold. The booze that he had been drinking was immediately repressed by the adrenaline that flooded his veins. There were only six people who knew what happened that night, and three of them have passed away while one was sitting in the chair in a daze. Without a word, Maleki stood from his chair, a darkness washing over his formerly aghast face. “<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">Grandmother, speak another word of that, and I will make sure you don’t speak another word.”</span><br/><br/><b><i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080">“Handle the situation, and you have my word,” </span></i></b>Storka says, a mischievous grin playing across her face.<br/><br/>Maleki did not say a word, and simply turned in his spot and went for his armor, strapping in place as a dull ringing filled his head. He knew Barnstorm was attempting to lecture him on his manners towards Storka and the fact Barnstorm wouldn’t be hiring him again, and he knew that Tommen was picking up the note and reading it, the alcohol leaving him a bit easier than it did Maleki. The young Lord Todori pivoted on the spot and just shouldered past Barnstorm, stopping only long enough to grab Tommen by the scruff of his shirt.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“You are coming with me,”</span>Maleki said, voice flat and cold in his throat.<br/><br/>Maleki had dealt with the town of Antra before. And it was only once. While there was a form of government in place, just like everywhere else, it was more or less a puppet. A gang known as the Blind Eyes controlled the economy from the shadows. Mercenaries, merchants, healers, anything that made proper money had some sort of tie in with them. So when Maleki and his friends tried to set up shop in town, it did not take long for one night with a lot of booze and women to land them in the headquarters of the Blind Eyes. A discussion had been had, and Maleki chose to walk. Some of his crew stuck around, but Maleki was allowed to leave and not do business in town again. Unfortunately for them, Maleki was clear of mind when they tried to hide their location with a simple bag over his head. It wasn’t hard to backtrack back to the entrance.<br/><br/>Barnstorm must have made too much money after Maleki killed the welcoming committee, so they stole away with who they assumed was his daughter. Once again, Maleki’s life was being ruined by Aleksandra, though he was still of a mind to know this was not something she knew of or could control. Who was ruining things was the hag that travelled with her. Maleki had no idea how she knew what she did, but now he was beginning to think the old woman was how they had found him. All of it was being used as fuel to drive him in the direction of the hideout. In the middle of town was a fountain built into a wall. It was a lavish and wasteful display of clean water, but it was also the passage back into the headquarters. The scales simply had to be tipped.<br/><br/>As the two of them grew close, Maleki finally spoke up, the ringing dying down with the sound of his voice.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff"> “I want you to stay at least five paces behind me at all times. Shoot anyone who tries to get past me or tries to flank me,” </span>Maleki said.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“These are the same men as those bandits outside of town.”</span><br/><br/>Tommen nodded.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><i>“O-Okay… what are you going to do?”</i></span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“Leave no survivors,”</span>Maleki said as he stepped up onto the lip of the fountain and pulled on one of the scales being held by the statue. There was a click, and Maleki reached up to put a single coin into the scale he did not pull. There was a rumble, and the statue of the fountain began to slide to the side, creating a small platform a short hop from the lip of the fountain, leading to a doorway that headed down. Maleki hopped across, drawing both of his blades as he did so. One was tucked vertically along his back, while the other was held firmly in front of him as he descended into the dimly lit tunnel. Eventually, the two mercenaries managed to find a landing and singular, long hallway with many doors branching off of it.<br/><br/>There was a string hanging within the cracks of the brickwork, nearly unseen. Maleki was not one for subtlety, and pulled the string hard. A bell began to ring wildly, and movement could be heard coming from the rooms.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“Do not miss and recover what arrows you can, Tommen,” </span>Maleki said, making his way towards the commotion. Immediately, one man with a sword tried to get the jump on Maleki, his stab was deflected and Maleki’s second blade found itself in the man’s gut. As more began to storm down the hallway towards him, Maleki adjusted his grip and flung the stabbed man off of his blade and into the charging crowd, one of which already had an arrow through his throat. Suddenly, from the same doorway as the first, another tried to rush and tackle Maleki against the wall. Maleki simply crouched for a moment until the man was directly over him in his tackle, before pushing off the ground with enough force to jump… if it was not for the man’s chest preventing Maleki from leaving the ground. A push and shrug sent the man onto the wall and a blade was stuck into his chest as gravity pulled the man’s body down the blade, cutting him from nape to navel.<br/><br/>It was about this time that the two remaining men that had simply been knocked down by the body of their comrade managed to climb out from under their friend. Immediately, both of them swung for Maleki as he stepped close to them. The blade of the one on the right was pushed to the side, blocking the sword of the one on the left in the same movement. An arrow found its mark in the eye of the left grunt while Maleki shoved his blade in the gut of the one on the right, before twisting and removing. Maleki reset his stance and proceeded forward as the third door opened up and a brute lumbered into the hall. While he had no weapon, he still fought, taking a blade through his hand in order to grab hold of Maleki and slamming him against the wall. An arrow punctured into the side of the goliath of a man, but he did not stop. However, he was not expecting Maleki’s second blade to come from behind his back and slide into the side of the brute’s neck. There was a gurgle, and the brute partially collapsed onto Maleki just as what he could only assume was the rest of this side of the headquarters’ men came swarming into the hallway.<br/><br/>It was only because of Tommen’s arrows that Maleki had the time to slide out from under the brute and remove his blade from the man in time to face this group of at least ten. The arrows were flying more often and Maleki was doing his best to choke the hallway of men. His arms and hands were sliced frequently as he parried and punished every strike. There were many of them, but he was pushing them back instead of the other way around. Granted, there were times where he was slammed against the wall, or a cut went a little deeper than he needed it to for this parry or that, but by the time the clash of steel ended, Maleki was no worse for wear, simply down another shirt. Tommen had lost a few arrows due to the scuffle, but at a glance, Maleki assumed he was able to continue. The target door at the end of the hall swung open, and a proper swordsman stepped out into the hallway. Maleki remembered him from his temporary stay here. He was someone of influence in the organization, and actually skilled compared to the rest of the idiots laying dead or dying in the hall behind Maleki. Maleki quietly slid into his stance and took a single step forward.<br/><br/>With a burst of speed, the man closed the gap, coming with a half hidden swing from low to the ground towards Maleki’s head. Quickly, Maleki reversed the grip on the sword in his hand and barely managed to catch the swing, but before he could pull the secondary blade from behind his back, the man headbutted Maleki and sent him reeling. A knife flew past Maleki’s shoulder and hit Tommen in his bow arm, preventing a shot from finding its mark. With a grunt, Maleki lashed back, bringing the now upside down blade down from above while the secondary blade came piercing up, forming a pincer of steel. The man managed to half step back in time to catch both blades along the steel of his sword. But that was what Maleki was wanting. He released the hilt of the top blade so it could fall. With his off hand, he pushed the man’s blade up and out the way just in time for his primary hand to catch his main blade and sink it into the chest of the man.<br/><br/>The man paused and freed his blade, stumbling slightly. Maleki let out an annoyed grunt as another swing came to him… but it was too weak as he parried it away, unintentionally parrying the falling corpse away in the motion. Maleki bent down and retrieved his blade, using the moment to check on Tommen, who already had another arrow ready, knife still in his shoulder. With that, Maleki marched ahead into the… vaguely foyer-esque room that the lieutenant had came from. Immediately, he kicked open the door to his right, where he remembered being led from. If Aleksandra was not in this room, they would have to do a whole lot more than what he was planning for.