May sat there stuffed into the cupboard of the with a doppelganger posing as a guard just outside it. She sat there waiting, she hadn't struggled to much as two of them ambushed and trapped her in the kitchen supply area before the ball began.
The doppelganger posing as a guard must have gotten bored shooing away the servants since he tapped on the cupboard behind him and spoke, "Hey, you awake in there?"
May chimed in, "Do kidnappers normally chat up the beautiful damsels?"
"Beautiful?" Remarked the guard as he turned to the cupboard which suddenly banged as May thumped the wooden door.
"Jeez, you got some attitude."
"I hear that a lot, what do you want?"
"All the other folks we took out fought back, you just agreed to be captured. Why?"
"Well that's not an easy answer, but... I guess I don't like the good prince and I don't even know his bride to be. People die all the time, why should I risk getting hurt to save a stuck up jerk like him and his woman." May squirmed a bit in the cupboard before she continued.
"Sure the Black Daymio were one thing, but we had the advantage there. We ambushed them and we held all the cards. How by Dema were we to counter doppelgangers, you guys really are a huge X factor."
"You thought a lot about this huh?" Said the guard.
"I'm an assassin, I think a lot about how to kill people, in fact I can even point out the things you could have done to make this work better." At that the guard turned fully to the cupboard and laughed a bit. He spoke, "Really? You think you could have done this better than us?"
"You ever hear about the massacre in the Stormstate, I was the one who beheaded the king and queen, and trust me, there are some messy things you forgot to take care of. For example, is that maid still dead behind the potatoes?"
The guard glances over to the pool of blood spilling from the potatoes and he says, "Maybe."
"Well I'm guessing she's there because you all didn't know about the sewer system in the castle, the royals keep it secret only known to the royal guard. Perfect place to dump a body, I kept a map on hand in case I wanted to do a side hustle while protecting the nobles round here, gimme some light and I'll show you."
The guard looked over to May's knives and poisons across the room and shrugged as he unlatched the cupboard and began to open it. As the container opened May spoke, "Being an assassin has taught me..."
May leapt out of the cupboard and snatched around the doppelganger's neck with the rope that was tied up around her hands. The ends frayed from the magic of a Spark spell. May did a flip over the guard and yanked down as hard as she could, beginning to choke him as she finished, "Always get the target when they are alone!"
The guard began to struggle and morph his form, but as his neck got skinnier May flicked the rope around her knuckles and put even more pressure on as she says, "Better chance staying a guard, a malleable neck is just easier to strangle."
The guard began to force her back, but May snapped up her leg and dug her heel into the back of the guard's calf. Forcing him to the ground on his knees. She leaned down and spoke, "As much as I hate the brat prince, what I hate more is being showed up. So I refuse to lose to some rank amateurs who get by on shapeshifting instead of actual skill!"
With a sickening snap the doppelganger falls to the ground as May lets the rope hang from her hands and dusts off some of the pantry dust from her dress. As she began to lift the body the door opened to the kitchen.
There stood Maldrek staring at the dead guard as May dropped his shoulders and she speaks, "Oh good, don't worry its an assassin, can you hide the body for me?" May strolled over to her equipment as Maldrek rolled his eyes and dismissed his Locate Object spell.
May spoke, "So what's the situation?"
"Doppelgangers, 2 dead including this one, and one being interrogated by Zilo. Cruxis is sticking to Umie like glue, she seems to be the target. There are 3 more we need to..."
Maldrek had put away the body and was stunned as May had taken off her dress to conceal her knives . She turned to see Maldrek starring and she produced a knife in a threatening manner. Maldrek turned away as his shade of red went deeper and he continued, "3 more to track down, best method is to check their blood, Doppelganger blood turns black after bleeding. Which by the way..."
Maldrek began to turn toward May but a knife flew past his nose and planted itself in the wall. The blade had a bit of normal red blood on it as May spoke, "You can look now." Maldrek retrieved the knife and turned back to May who was now redressed with her concealed weapons. As Maldrek went to hand back the knife she stared at him and said,
"Nuh uh, you make a mark too. This is the sort of long play I would pull to get close to Umie. Show me your blood."
"I told you about the blood, why would I-?" Before Maldrek could finish May drew and threw a dagger into his bicep and a plume of blood squirted out. As the blood dripped and remained red Maldrek gripped his arm and winced.
May gave him a smile and cast Cure Light Wounds followed by Mend to get him ready to mingle again. Maldrek rubbed his arm and she said, "So any plans to get the last three?"
"Not yet. I'm going to find Zilo, if he's learned anything then maybe we can get more information, you stick with Cruxis and watch for anyone who... well"
"Anyone doing what I would do."
"Exactly."
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