White Ravens: Advent of War

Dreyfus' True Colors

Rune had been pondering over Valdano's words the other night. Valdano said that he used to be a friend of Bellamy Thorn and Dreyfus. Rune couldn't remember ever meeting Valdano in the past, but his father did mention of a friend within the empire of Regalia.

For the time being, he decided to cast his inhibitions aside, and continue to work for Valdano. Corselia told Rune that they would need a few more golden ducats for horses, supplies, and bribes to cross to Merseto. Furthermore, Rune thought that by the time they get there, Sigil and the others may no longer be within the city. Thus, it was best to stay in the employ of Valdano.

Days passed by like a blur. Rune, Corselia, Leif, and Torevir, were assigned to all sorts of missions. On some days, Valdano would tell them to gather intel regarding criminals with bounties on their heads. On other days, they were tasked to exterminate beasts outside Hadar.

One quiet night, Rune heard someone knocking on his bedroom door. He was standing beside the window and contemplating when the knock interrupted his thoughts. "Come in," he said.

Valdano entered the room, his hair was let down, and his nightly garbs made him look princely. He sat in front of the table, and invited Rune to come sit with him. It would seem that Valdano had something important to tell him. Rune stared into the hale middle-aged man's eyes and noticed his stern gaze. In Valdano's hand was an opened letter. Rune recognized the seal to be Dreyfus' official seal.

"What does it say?" asked Rune.

"It says here that you, Rune of House Thorn, has been named as an official fugitive of Wisteria. A bounty of fifty thousand golden ducats has been placed on your head, and a lesser bounty has been put on your friends," Valdano said while handing Rune the letter.

As Rune continued to read through the letter, Valdano continued, "Dreyfus is asking me for any information I have of you, and it says in that letter that he already has your adoptive brother, Sigil Thorn, Tatiana Valencia, and Zeke of House Lionheart."

"What?" Rune exclaimed as he stood up and slammed his hands onto the table. "Why would Lord Dreyfus...?"

"You may have been to naïve to understand this as a child, Rune, but Dreyfus' assistance comes at a price. I believe your friends have asked for his help, but seeing as a bounty has been put on all of your heads, I don't think Dreyfus will let an opportunity to earn riches of this amount pass by." Valdano got up as well and walked towards the window.

"Dreyfus may already know that you're here, Rune. He just sent me that letter to see if he can still trust me. You and Corselia need to leave my estate for your own safety. Come tomorrow morning, Leif will accompany you outside of Hadar, and escort you to a town called "Ritz"," Valdano added.

"Why are you helping me?" Rune asked tentatively.

"Your father was a great man, Rune. Bellamy saved my life, and since he's no longer around, helping you is the best way I can repay him." Valdano took out a well-crafted dagger and another letter, and gave them to Rune. "Take this. It's my treasured sword. Show it to the guards Ritz, and they'll let you in and escort you somewhere safe. I promise you, Rune, I, Valdano Valderbilt, am your ally."

Just as Valdano had instructed, Rune and Corselia departed at the break of dawn. Leif safely took them outside the city along with two of Valdano's fastest steeds. It took them an entire day of traveling nonstop before they finally reached the gates of Ritz.

It was a city located within a large body of water, which was connected to the ocean. Rune showed the treasured sword to the guards, and then they led him and the rest of the party to a gated house away from the rest of the houses in the city. There were maids and a housekeeper inside, and they were welcomed as guests.

It seemed that Valdano had lived up to his word. Once they were seated inside, Rune read through the letter that Valdano gave him. According to it, his friends were being held captive in Merseto, but two of them escaped. Gust and Yelena were nowhere to be found.

"Corselia, now is the time to uphold your end of our bargain," Rune said to her. "I need your help to get to Merseto. I already know that this could be a trap, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Somewhere out there, Gust and Yelena are also trying to rescue the rest of our friends, and if I just stand around here and do nothing, they'll all be executed by the Queendom!"

"I made a promise, and I intend to keep it," Corselia said. "But we can't just go there without a plan."

Leif cleared her throat and intervened. "Sir Vanderbilt has instructed me to assist you in any way I can. In all honesty, I'd rather not stray from his side for long, but he has commanded me to help you save your friends."

That night, the three of them formulated a plan to save Sigil, Zeke, and Tatiana. Rune figured that if they were to appear in Merseto, Gust and Yelena were bound to show up as well. However, since he was a wanted man of Wisteria, he couldn't just stroll in there without a proper disguise. His only option was to trust Corselia and Leif to help Sigil and the others escape, while he would wait on a ship that they would use to escape Merseto.

Dreyfus was a very influential man, and they knew that there was nobody in that city they could trust. Leif suggested that she and Corselia should enter the city as traveling dancers, so that the guards would allow them inside, and none of them would suspect anything.

The following morning, they set out for Merseto by ship. Rune was standing near the bow of the ship, and staring into the horizon. The chilling breeze of the lake seeped into his skin, as guilt swept all over his face.

"None of this would've happened had I restrained myself in Mirea. Father, tell me, what am I to do?" he asked himself.

Hours passed by, and the sun was about to set The persimmon skyline of Wisteria's skies could be seen in the distance. The captain told everyone on board that they were to land, and that everyone must get into position.

Rune changed into a ragged garbs and wore a bandana to disguise himself, while Corselia and Leif changed into exotic outfits made of silk. Leif made sure that her ears were properly ornamented, as she knew that men enjoyed the sight of elvish ears.

Once they had made landfall, several guardsmen approached the boat. The captain explained to them that this shipment was for Dreyfus, and paid the guardsmen a few ducats for their trouble. Afterwards, the rest of the crew unloaded the crates, and soon delivered them to Dreyfus' house.

Meanwhile, Corselia and Leif were guided down by some of the guardsmen who were clearly enamored by their beauties. The women told them that they would see them at the town plaza this evening, which these men clearly looked forward to. Some of them even whistled after watching Corselia and Leif walk away.

It could be clearly seen on Corselia's face how disgusted she was of their behavior, but Leif was surprisingly calm.

"Why aren't you upset about being objectified like that?" Corselia asked her.

"Oh, I'm livid. But we're on a mission, remember? I do understand that it upsets you, and frankly, it does make my skin crawl being ogled at like this, however, we cannot draw suspicion towards us. It'll only be a few hours, Corselia," Leif said in a comforting voice. "Look on the bright side. If things go south later on, we can bash their heads in and make them pay for being so disgusting!"

Corselia chuckled at Leif's last remark. "Well, if you put it that way, count me in. Let's go save Rune's friends, shall we?"