Assassin's Chronicle

Anfey stopped and turned around, frowning. "My lord," Ozzic said hurriedly. "They didn’t do it on purpose. No one wanted to disobey Lord Manlyn."

"Yes, yes," the other mercenary nodded in agreement. He glanced at Ozzic and mouthed a thank you.

A dozen other mercenaries appeared at the door. There were four mages and a magister among them. They were hiding in the dark, but the mercenary had been very loud when he was talking to Anfey, and they heard the entire conversation. They didn’t want to interfere. Even if Manlyn and Anfey got into a fight, it was still their personal problem. The mercenaries didn’t want to offend either side in this conflict.

"My lord, Shinbella’s cell is on the first floor. I’ll take you there," the magister said with a pleasant smile.

"Good," Anfey said with a relaxed voice.

Anfey followed the mercenaries out of the prison. The heavy gate shut behind them. The mercenaries gathering around were still curious about what was going on and began discussing these strangers. They were too far away and couldn’t hear the conversation. Some thought Anfey was another mercenary, and others thought he was an associate of the Church. The mercenaries didn’t know why Priests would be interested in the prison, but they didn’t care.

Shinbella had fallen from grace, but she was still the former deputy leader of a mercenary group and had not been tortured. Her cell was much cleaner than the others. She was tied to a pillar and was chained. Shinbella did not lift her head to look at Anfey.

Anfey looked at the chains. The chains didn’t look like anything special, but the inside was lined with sharp spikes. The spikes were buried in Shinbella’s ankles.

"What are these?"

"Those are biting cuffs, my lord," the magister said. "She is a senior swordsmaster, my lord. We can’t let her escape. These cuffs can control her. If she wants to use combat power, the cuffs will contract. Even a senior swordsmaster can’t do anything if she loses her limbs."

"She has it on her hands as well?" Anfey asked. The magister nodded.

"It’s our responsibility to take care of her," the magister said. "It’s better to be safe than sorry."

"Interesting," Anfey said. He reached towards the cuffs.

"Don’t touch it!" the magister hurried to stop him.

"Why?"

The magister sighed at his own imprudence. They were about to execute Shinbella anyway, and it did not matter if she died in that cell. "The cuffs are very sensitive, my lord," he said. "They may activate."

"I didn’t know Manlyn could make stuff like this. Tell me make a few for me too."

"This is made by the goblins and the dwarves," the magister said hesitantly, "by the order of Lady Alice. Lord Manlyn was surprised as well when he first saw it."

"Alice? Where did she learn this?" Anfey asked, frowning.

The magister licked his lips. The first time he saw this device, he was terrified by it. He heard that Alice was unsatisfied with it and wanted to improve it. She wanted the goblins and dwarves to remake it so it could be activated by magic surges as well. He had never imagined a woman as beautiful as Alice could be that cruel.

"I know you’re awake," Anfey said.

Shinbella looked up and stared at Anfey with her brown eyes.

Anfey frowned when he saw dozens of small holes on her neck, pierced by the spikes on the inside of the cuffs. She had to lift her head slowly so she wouldn’t activate the cuffs and open the wounds.

"Is there anything you want to say?"

"What are you?" Shinbella asked.

"This is Lady Alice’s brother," the magister said. "Lady Alice had agreed to marry Manlyn." The magister clearly felt bad for Shinbella and wanted her to die knowing what had happened.

"I see," Shinbella said. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"You don’t have anything to say?" Anfey asked gently.

"I want to live," Shinbella whispered.

"That’s too much to ask," Anfey said. He touched the cuff softly. He wanted to test how sensitive the cuffs could be.

"Is it now?" Shinbella asked, smiling. She opened her eyes and stared at Anfey. "Take my hands and my feet, I don’t care. Let me go and I owe you. What can I do without my hands and feet? I pose no threat to you."

"That’s quite a price to pay," Anfey said. "You’re strong."

"I want to see Manlyn die," Shinbella said. She spat on the ground. Betrayal leaves deep wounds, especially when the one who betrayed her was the man she thought she could trust with her life.

"Manlyn won’t die," Anfey said. "I will protect him if he marries my sister." The mercenaries in the room all relaxed when he said that. Anfey agreed to protect Manlyn, which meant that he would protect the mercenaries working for Manlyn. Jagged Rose mercenary group may be one of the best, but they had lost a lot of men in the recent battle.

"Really?" Shinbella asked, unconvinced. "Alice will marry Manlyn?"

"Of course," Anfey said.

"Alice may be charming and gentle, but we are both women, and I can tell what she thinks of him. No woman would marry a man they regard with disdain."

"I don’t like Manlyn either and I don’t approve of her choice," Anfey said. "But I can’t tell her how to feel. Maybe something about Manlyn convinced Alice that he’s a good man. Like sincerity."

The mercenaries in the room murmured to each other. After Manlyn arrived at Moramatch, he instantly fell in love with Alice and began to pursue her. He would take care of things Alice didn’t like and arrest anyone Alice didn’t like. He attacked the creatures of death because of Alice said she wanted the necromancers to see how powerful their opponent was on a whim, causing death of another two hundred mercenaries. He was clearly very sincere.

"Sincerity?" Shinbella repeated. "Fine, sincere. I’m willing to trade my hands and my feet for a chance to live. Is that not sincerity? If you let me live, I will do anything to repay you."

"Anything?" Anfey frowned and drew his hand back. He pulled Shinbella’s hair back and stared into her eyes. "Anything?"

"Yes, anything."

Anfey took a few steps back and took a deep breath.

"I’ll talk to Alice about it," Anfey said. He turned to the magister and said, "Stay here and keep an eye on her. Make sure no harm comes to her. Wait for me to come back."

"Yes, my lord."

"You don’t have a lot of guards here," Anfey said as he left the room. "Are you not worried about break-ins?"

"No, my lord. No one is allowed here except for you and Lord Manlyn. This place is under constant surveillance."

"Eye of the Sky?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Good," Anfey said. He turned to Suzanna and waved his hand. "Come, let’s go find Alice."