“How very predictable,” Alcede said in a low voice.
“That’s where Lyse’s monsters sensed them too. No doubt they’re lurking around there,” Sidis added.
“What shall we do then, Lord Sidis? The enemy is already wary of me, so perhaps should I hide some monsters around the area?” Lyse had no intention of walking to the enemy’s trap unprepared. She wanted to plant three monsters right before going to the location in question. It wasn’t as though the Donans could tell whether she was concealing monsters.
“I expect that you’ll be attacked as soon as you show up,” Alcede said.
He had a point. Lyse could handle her own against opponents armed with swords and daggers, but fighting magic and Donan stones was a different story. There was no telling what surprises they might have hidden up their sleeves either, and that made for a risky solo adventure. But most importantly, Lyse didn’t want Sidis to be racked with guilt if anything should happen to her.
Regret has already haunted him once because of me. I can’t put him through that again.
At the very least, Lyse didn’t want Sidis to worry. So she needed to think of a way to rescue Egbert, skirt his captors’ demands, and ensure her own safety too.
“The problem is we don’t know where they’re hiding. Our knights should still be searching the area Miss Lyse pointed out, so hopefully they’ll uncover something,” Alcede concluded.
While the three of them anxiously awaited an update, Alcede absorbed himself in paperwork and Sidis left to attend to his own business. After a while, their patience was rewarded when one of the knights that had accompanied Lyse to the city earlier reported to Alcede’s office.
“I bring news,” she announced after bowing. “We’ve searched the area Miss Lyse designated, including the buildings in the district. However...” She hesitated there, averting her eyes. “However, we’ve yet to recover the dog. There are households in the area with pet dogs, some of which were small or white, but none of them fit the exact description of the one we are seeking. There was no evidence any dogs in the area had had their fur dyed either. Subsequently, we have expanded our search to the adjacent 9th and 11th districts. You have my sincerest apologies for not finding anything.”
Rather than being upset, Lyse felt sorry for the knight. If only she’d been able to search the area for herself, the responsibility wouldn’t have fallen on the knight.
“Fret not. It is what it is. They managed to kidnap the dog even under our heavy security; it’s no surprise that they’re successfully eluding our search. Their base must be well hidden, so we’ll think of another way to uncover their whereabouts. Take it easy for now,” Alcede said, dismissing the knight.
When she departed, that left Lyse, Sidis, and Alcede alone again.
“I mean, I didn’t expect to find them easily...” grumbled Sidis.
“Not even Miss Lyse’s monsters could sniff them out. Still, we’ve got their general location, so it won’t be long. I just hope we’re able to find them before time is up.” Alcede placed his hand by his chin before continuing. “I’m actually somewhat concerned that if we expand our search too much, we might spook them. We should make sure that we don’t force them to make a move or cancel the deal.”
“Then should we restrict our search?” Sidis asked.
“That’s not wise either. Maybe if we’re lucky, His Majesty will come running home all by himself.”
“Maybe there’s something preventing him from doing so. For example, our magic doesn’t protect us from poison, and building up a resistance to the stuff takes years off your life.”
“Put it like that and our chances do seem awfully slim. Drugging His Majesty to make him black out would end no differently than putting him to sleep with magic.”
“Time is not on our side.”
As the two men lamented over the situation, Lyse was still trying to come up with ideas. “The West 10th district...” she murmured.
Qatora had been tomboyish and mischievous, but Lyse could recall that she had never played in that part of town. That left her without any sense of the neighborhood, and without that vital information, she couldn’t simply charge out there on a rescue mission. It also struck her that the rambunctious Qatora—whose own brother had been appalled by her lack of care—had avoided the area for some reason. It was at the tip of Lyse’s tongue, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
About then, Alcede looked out the window. “It’s getting dark already,” he said as he pulled the curtains to.
This caught Sidis’s attention, but when he glanced up, he was visibly shaken for a moment.
“What’s the matter?” Alcede asked.
“Oh, nothing. My eyes were just playing tricks on me,” Sidis said.
But Lyse could tell otherwise. She’d seen Sidis flinch like that before.
He must’ve seen that flower petal float by and thought it was a ghost.
Lyse had caught a glimpse of the white petal herself. There was an adrenna vine coiled around a tree right outside the window. Sidis had been just as scared of the supernatural a hundred years ago, likely traumatized by the ghost stories the previous emperor had loved to tell. The rascally young Egbert had also been a victim of his father’s storytelling, so the two boys had been very much adverse to anything occult. Recalling all this jogged Lyse’s memory.
“Ghosts...” she muttered.
Qatora, too, had been afraid of ghosts as a child. Lyse now remembered the reason she’d avoided the West 10th district—otherworldly noises could be heard there. Later in her life, Qatora had learned that there was a cistern beneath the area. The supposed “otherworldly noises” were just reverberations underground.
“In that case, maybe they’ve dug around there... But wasn’t that all shut down?” Lyse wondered to herself aloud.
“What’s the matter, Miss Lyse?” Alcede probed, puzzled by her mutterings.
“Um, there might be something right beneath where we’re searching.”
“What do you mean?”
“There should be an old water storage facility that draws from a subterranean river. It was there a century ago, so maybe it’s still there now. I was wondering about it since the knight didn’t say anything about searching underground.”
“I wonder if people think it’s been filled since it hasn’t caused any problems, then.”
Lyse nodded, wondering the same thing. Perhaps rumor had it that the cistern was no more, but it might still exist. And because the Donans were active a hundred years ago as well, they could have used the power of suggestion to beguile its workers. That might mean the cistern was officially defunct on paper, so of course the knights wouldn’t have checked it.
“We should investigate,” Alcede suggested.
“Actually, Your Grace, I was thinking we should pull our soldiers back and use this to throw the terrorists off guard,” Lyse offered.
“Throw them off guard, you say? Let’s hear your plan.”
Lyse agreed and told them what she was thinking.
“In that case, then let me...” Sidis collaborated, finding a role for himself.
“I’ll provide all the support I can. Do whatever it takes to recover His Majesty,” Alcede said before mumbling, “before his magic wears off.”
The other two agreed. “I pray that he hasn’t been given any sleeping drugs and that his true form hasn’t been revealed yet,” Lyse added.