As they moved through the sleeping city Fenrir became aware that they were not returning to the Cathedral. Instead, the priest he followed seemed to be angling towards the south. The reason why became quickly apparent when he stopped in front of a seedy-looking tavern, and after a quick gnce around, entered. This left Fenrir with a slight dilemma. While Shroud might be able to keep him hidden, it did not make him immaterial, and quarters were likely to be cramped even for a normal human. Attempting to follow the man inside with his much greater bulk was just asking for trouble. Even invisible people could still be bumped into, and Shroud's effects could be broken, as he had discovered when he had fought the yeti. 'Though admittedly that was an extreme example, but even so, it's not a risk I want to take. Let's see what can be seen from the windows.'

  Keeping his ears cocked to warn him of any approaching footsteps upon the street, he crouched next to one of the grimy windows and peered through. As he probably should have expected from the teness of the hour, there were few inhabitants, only the odd drunk nursing a beer in a dimly lit corner. He located the priest just in time to see the man finish his conversation with the bartender and after slipping some coins to him, disappear through a door on the other side of the room.

  Fenrir straightened and quickly made his way around the building. He peered through each window he came across, but only once he was directly behind the tavern did he find anything of interest. Beyond a half-open window in an ill-lit room several tables were set up, and men sat around them, pying a sort of game that involved finger-length sticks as well as surprisingly familiar pying cards. 'Another parallel...' Fenrir noted as he watched.

  It quickly became apparent that the men were gambling on this game, and roughly half of them pyed without removing their hoods or masks. With the assistance of his nose he soon picked out the priest he had been following at one of the tables, and listening to the several words exchanged between them convinced him that the man intended to remain here for some time.

  'Well, now what? I could go back to the Cathedral, but I don't really see much point to that without the pass emblem. I could go find this one's smuggling partner, but I doubt that will be worth the time it will take to track him down. Waiting around here sounds dull as dishwater; shame no one in here's in a talkative mood or I might be able to pick up some useful information, but they're all just focused on their game. Let's see, I think I have at least an hour before I need to worry about the priest leaving, so I guess I'll take a peek at the citadel. Safara and Kira didn't have a chance to get to it this afternoon, and knowing the social climate in the king's pace will be essential to making long term pns.' And with a parting gnce into the dingy gambling room, he left, threading his way through the city towards the southwest where the citadel towered proudly atop a promontory.

  As Fenrir approached the massive structure, he noted that it seemed to be constructed of the same white stone as the city walls, but thankfully the curtain wall which bounded the keep was much lower, perhaps fifteen or twenty feet to the tops of the merlons. Perhaps the builders had thought the castle which formed the keep should be the real defense, or perhaps the low cliffs upon which the keep was constructed had been a sufficient barrier in their eyes to make a rger curtain wall unnecessary. The thirty foot cliffs necessitated his following their base almost halfway around to a point directly to the west, where he found a road leading up to the main gates. Steering well clear of the guards who kept their vigil at the gate, the great wolf slipped around the base of the wall to a point at which he felt he could scale the obstacle without risk of detection. He kept a close eye out for any signs of magical protection, but found none, leaving him fairly certain that any such protection was further in, if it existed around the keep at all.

  Running nimbly up the wall to a point at which he could grasp the top edge of a merlon, he was about to pull himself over onto the walkway when he heard the rustle of fabric and a light footstep on the walkway almost directly opposite where he clung. Instantly he shrank as close to the wall as possible, waiting with up-pricked ears and questing nose for the mystery person to move on.

  But they did not. Instead, the person atop the wall paused not two feet from him, and he heard a decidedly feminine sigh as the woman, for woman she was, leaned against the merlon next to the one to which he clung. From his position he could just see the silhouette of her face, looking out over the city with troubled eyes. The use of God's Eye, by now as intuitive as breathing, told him the identity of this strange woman.

  Spoiler(Image by Ullr)

  [colpse]America TherinsfordFemale HumanKnight Lvl 18Status: FrustratedAbilities: Bulwark, Inspire, Weapon Discipline: Driving LanceKinks/Fetishes:responds to/is aroused by authority, specifically authority exerted over her – monsters hold a certain fascination for herDisposition Towards User:N/A

  Fenrir blinked at the familiarity of her name. 'That can't be a coincidence. I know America can be used as a person's name, even if it is rare, but I'm really starting to wonder...' He was pulled from his thoughts by heavier footsteps which approached rapidly from the direction of the keep. He caught the telltale clink of metal on metal, indicating that the newcomer was wearing armor, and a moment ter as the armored one finished climbing to the level of the walkway, he spoke in a deep, measured voice which reminded Fenrir somehow of the long turnings of the ages.

  "Princess, what are you doing out of bed? Do you know what time it is?"

  "Well after midnight?" the woman answered, not turning.

  "To say the least."

  "I couldn't sleep. And I could turn that question on you as well. You're not even out of your armor."

  "Ah, well, I was doing some research on the construction of the city in hopes of finding a clue that could help us and I'm afraid I lost track of time. But you know your father does not approve of you wandering without an escort."

  "Oh, don't start that again. Besides, I'm still on citadel grounds. What could happen?"

  "An assassin only needs one opportunity, princess." The man's voice was soft, gentle.

  The princess' silhouette drooped slightly. "I know. Sorry." She finally turned to face her companion. "I'll let you know next time. I don't mean to make your job harder, I just didn't think it was worth waking you up just for a walk around the grounds."

  There was a slight squeak of leather as the man bowed. "That is what I'm here for, princess."

  There followed several moments of silence during which America turned to look out over the city and her apparent bodyguard stepped up to join her, but before long the princess spoke again. "So did you find any clues?"

  "Not much, I'm afraid. One document did make reference to building secret passages which accessed several of the more important structures, but I'm not sure they were ever actually constructed. The document in question was pns for a significantly different design than the builders eventually went with, and the actual blueprints contain no hint of any secret passages. I did check the sewer blueprints carefully, but I don't really see how they could move through there without leaving any evidence, which we would have noticed on at least one of the sweeps we've done."

  "Hmm."

  Fenrir shifted, trying to get a glimpse of the man, who was occluded by the merlon to which the direwolf clung. The next second he nearly lost his grip in surprise as the princess suddenly smmed a fist down on the merlon before her. "Damn it! There's got to be some way to corner them! Two months we've been running around in circles, and we have absolutely nothing to show for it!"

  "Patience, princess, patience. They'll slip up sooner or ter. So long as we don't give up, we'll catch them eventually," the bodyguard said calmly, seemingly entirely unbothered by his charge's outburst.

  The princess sighed. "I know, I know. It's just so frustrating. Father doesn't even seem to care. There's an entire underground network smuggling who knows what right under his nose, and all he can think about is what Tethoros is doing, on the far side of their empire no less."

  "Your father is a very busy man, and the new emperor's behavior has been concerning. To act in the manner he has so soon after the Demon War... I do not bme his majesty for keeping a close eye on him."

  "I understand that. But you would think that he could at least spare some concern for what's happening in his own city." The blonde-haired woman shifted impatiently. "I'm going to bed. Good night, Ser Brandis."

  "Good night, princess." The knight turned and watched her retreating form until the faint sound of a closing door signaled her entry into the keep, then he turned back towards the city with a sigh. "Oh, princess, whatever will we do with you? There's no denying that your heart is in the right pce, but you must learn to temper your passion with patience," he murmured.

  After several minutes Ser Brandis also turned to leave, and carefully drawing himself over the ramparts, Fenrir examined the man's retreating back with God's Eye.

  Spoiler

  (Image by Maike (cygk5527))

  [colpse]Flint BrandisMale HumanKnight Lvl 63Status: Concerned, FatiguedAbilities: Bulwark, Inspire, Steadfast, Weapon Disciplines: Unbroken Aegis, Driving Lance, Adamant's AdvanceKinks/Fetishes:yearns for the love of his life - is not otherwise interested in seeking sex or romance of any kindDisposition Towards User:N/A

  Even from behind, Fenrir could feel the power of the man. 'He strikes me as the rock that oceans break upon. Not one to be trifled with.' Once the knight had vanished around a corner of the building, he turned his attention to his surroundings.

  From his position atop the curtain wall, he could see that although the citadel had been built with defense in mind, the years since had seen it altered quite a bit with a goal of comfort. While it could still serve very effectively as a defensive fortification, the enrged windows, carefully manicured gardens, and extra balconies softened the severity of the castle and made it seem rather like a fusion between pace and fortress. 'Pretty, though,' Fenrir thought. 'Whoever renovated it knew what they were doing. They didn't even seriously compromise the integrity of the defenses, though some of the credit for that would have to go to the original builders.'

  Turning his attention to ground level, he could see a guard standing before each of the doors on this side of the castle, and he didn't doubt that the pattern would continue on the other sides as well. This left him with the options of either finally using Shroud or checking the windows and balconies for entry, several of which were to be found at varying heights on the wall facing him. 'That windowsill also looks rge enough to use as a foothold,' he noticed. 'I'll start with that, then. I can always try to sneak through a door ter if the balconies don't pan out.'

  On quick but silent feet he made his way through the gardens towards the castle, threading his way through the shrubbery. Upon reaching the building, he lightly ran up its side until he could grasp the edge of a balcony. Pulling himself to its level, he tried the door, but finding it locked, he continued his climb. The enrged windows aided him greatly, but he found them all to be locked as well, and even with the windowsills to aid in his ascent there were still several points at which only momentum carried him between protrusions in the wall.

  Pausing on his fifth balcony, Fenrir briefly debated simply forcing the door, but decided against it. 'The noise might attract attention, and even if it doesn't, I'd rather not leave any evidence of my presence just yet. Unless I get colossally lucky, I'm almost certainly going to have to return at some point.' At this point he was some four stories above the ground, but there were still several balconies further above which he had not tried.

  Launching off the stone railing before him, he easily cleared the intervening space to grab, with a slight shock, the edge of another balcony, this one even higher than the previous. Quietly and unhurriedly he raised himself above the level of the balustrade to see, in the room beyond the open door, dressed in naught but a translucent, thoroughly becoming nightgown and with wide eyes fixed on his own, the Princess America Therinsford.

  TheBestofSome