I am Reborn through Revenge

Crescent moon

***Anon's POV***

I had been outside my room since evening; patiently waiting for nightfall. The sun had faced the other part of the world while the dull crescent moon had surfaced just above my head. I decided to feed my eyes up there for a while. But I noticed something. There were no shiny stars prowling around in the sky like they usually do. For a moment, I wondered why there were no stars above. Then in the next moment, I wondered why I had to bother about the absence of stars in the first place.

Stupid, Anon.

In order to blend with the night, I wore a black long sleeves and a black trouser. I tied a red headband round my head which made my hair relaxed. It gave my hair no room for unnecessary movement. I kept a sword beside me but I wasn’t sure what purpose the sword would swerve. I had been contemplating on what to do with it— I didn't know if I should go with it or not. I knew I couldn’t go around fighting someone I needed to make my friend or possibly my ally. I made up my mind that I was going to drop the sword aside and walk up to him in the market square. . . Wait! He gave out two more locations; the butcher's street and the Goldsmith street? That was a whole lot of work for me.

Wait!

What’s that sound? Where was it coming from? I thought I heard something or did I not? Or was it because I was engrossed in my thought about where'd meet this guy that I didn’t notice where the sound had come from?. I decided listen, to pay attention. Maybe that would tell me where the sound was coming from, I thought. The sound came again; it was a mixture of rumbling thunderstorms plus weak lighting.

Hell!

Was it going to rain or what? No wonder why I hadn't seen a single star in the sky. I couldn’t wait around much longer, I thought. I needed to go before the rain starts, I concluded. I tried to avoid as many eyes as I could but the few people I saw were already running helter-skelter (possibly because of the weather). When I got to the market square, I was totally confused on where I should begin the search from. There were so many houses that I saw. And the letter didn’t exactly say where I would go specifically. I looked up at the sky again, the lightening was becoming a little more intense and the cloud was starting to build up into what I would describe as a torrent of rain. The reason I saw no star before was definitely no longer a mystery to me. I should have known that it would rain earlier if I had judged the weather well. I thought of going back to my room but something right inside me, maybe my instincts told me to stay behind. Like I said before, my instincts rarely lied to me so I had learned a habit of always paying attention to it. I saw a man, whose face I couldn’t exactly describe, ( owning to the darkness) he was walking towards me in a fast but unsteady motion. He was of an incredible slim built; kind of gangly appearance. I assumed that he must be a farmer or possibly a trader who sold things around. I became weary when he was starting to approach me. Then almost two steps away, he slid his hand into his breast pocket and brought out a piece of paper and threw it at the floor; just in-between my legs.

I wanted to call him back to pick up the paper he left on the floor but I didn’t. He dropped it on purpose. His body movement, his paces and his hidden face gave him away. He wanted me to read whatever was in that small pieces of paper.

I picked it up and glanced down through it. It was a short read. “Second location, meet me there. Now!” was written in red on the price of paper. I tore it and I ran as quickly as I could to the second location. When I got there, I saw fewer people around. I traced the third house which was at the left hand side of the street. It was built with logs from the top to the bottom. From the corridor, I saw a door opened halfway. I approached it and I glanced through it, and I noticed that the room wasn’t completely dark. I gently opened it with my foot, tilting my head as the door was opening. It wasn’t my fault, I was just being cautious. When the door jammed the wall, it afforded me with a better chance to look around the whole room without setting my foot inside it. There was a table in the middle of the room but there was no chair or stool or even any other thing else in the room apart from the candle on top of the table burning and a white piece of paper. I wearily approached the table and flipped open the letter.

“Third location, now.” I read it out to myself. I became angry but it didn’t last. You can only hope on someone like him to help you take revenge on the Queen and her allies because he won’t be easily compromised, I consoled myself. I just decided to wear patience over my body and give him a benefit of the doubt. I concluded that if I didn’t get to see him at this third location then off I go.

I left the room under the roaring cloud. I was halfway to Goldsmith street when it started drizzling. So instead of running inside a place where I would take shelter, I decided to start running with the letter in my hand so I could find the location before the real downpour starts. I was already running out of patience. Or was it that the patience I wore over my body was already wearing off. I traced the house and quickly rushed into the corridor first. The house had a similar structure to the one at butcher's street. The door was also half-opened so I gently opened it. In the middle of the room was a table and a chair. And then there was one candle on top of the table and a smaller candle somewhere on top of a cupboard at the right-hand side of the room. The room was far larger and longer than the other room I saw so I couldn’t see every corner especially the one straight opposite. But then I was sick to my stomach that there was no one in the room, after all, I had done to be there.

I lifted the piece of paper with my left hand. “If you think this is a joke, then you aren’t so brilliant like I thought you were. Maybe I did gave you some undeserved credit” I said, angry. I tore the paper and poured them on the floor. I turned, I wanted to leave. I heard a whirling sound, traveling at a very fast speed coming towards me.

What could that be?

I concentrated all the energies in my ear to my back without even turning around. It was one of the most difficult tricks I learnt from General Uzbek. It was like silencing all the background noises and focusing all your sense of hearing on one singular thing even without looking at it. Then this sound was already close to my ear. It sounded like an incoming arrow. . . No, can’t be an arrow. Arrow wouldn’t make that type of sound. It would have been quieter if it was an arrow because arrows have streamlined shapes that have very low air resistance. But this thing was different. Instead of looking back, I quickly did a side-front flip without touching my hands on the ground. Then there was a smash at the door.

I looked at the door instantly and there was a disk-like object, like a dart hanging on the door. It was supposed to be hanging somewhere around my neck if I hadn’t done what I did to evade it, I thought. I quickly turned around to the other side.

“Who is there?” I asked, holding my breath. I regretted instantly why I didn’t come with my sword.

“That was a very good move.” A voice in the dark echoed.

“Good move,” I asked, but there was no response. “I must confess, your way of being a gentleman is far beyond ordinary.”

“I am sorry about that and I sincerely apologize. I just wanted to know if who I was going to meet truly deserves it.” The voice echoed again. Though he apologized but there was no presence of compassion in the voice.

“You,” I said. “Why don’t you come out to the open so we could sit down and talk to each other?” I asked.

Then there was a quiet, short laugh. “Not yet. Why have you come here?”

“I came so I could see you and meet you in person ” I answered. “But I’m surprised you are hiding.”

“Hiding?”

“Of course.”

He laughed again. “Call it whatever you wish to call it, you are entitled to your opinion. I’m surprised a Prince would take an incalculable risk just to meet someone he doesn’t know. I’m curious. What kind of Prince are you?”

“I am curious too. For me to take all these steps just to get to speak with you wows me and I hope you wouldn’t disappoint my expectation. Because this is not something I do every day. This is not me.”

“Expectations are for weak-minded people, Prince Anon” he echoed again. “Don’t ever expect things, make them happen.”

Now I understood the type of human I was speaking to. He is no weak man and he would surely go for whatever he wants when he wants it.

“Hmm” I mumbled quietly. “We are on the same team here and I know we both want the same thing; revenge. You asked me why I am here. Well, I am here because I want you to drop your quest for revenge for now.”

Then there was a short silence. I assumed that maybe he didn’t hear what I said to him. “Are you there?”

“Of course.”

“Then why are you quiet?”

“Because I won’t be able to do that.” The sound of that reply, I didn’t just like it. It was almost as if he will never accept my proposal. “What made you think that I was going to work with you with that type of suggestion?” he asked.

“Please, listen. I am not saying that you should drop your quest for revenge permanently but I am just offering you a better way and more direct ways to achieve this without much aggravation on your end.”

“What do you mean?”

I sighed, looking around thoughtlessly in the dark place the voice was coming from. “I am more related to the royal family than you are. Now if we would work together instead of working independently to achieve the same purpose, then we might end up doing this faster and easier. But if you choose to do this on your own, then I am not sure you are ever going to go anywhere with this, believe me.”

Then there was silence on his part again. “ What makes you think I can trust you?” He asked. The rumbling from outside almost blocked me from hearing what he said.

“What makes you think I can trust you either?” I asked him. Of course, if he was thinking with his right senses, he should know I should be more worried about the word TRUST than him.

“You came to me Prince Anon and not the other way round. Do you think I would sheepishly agree to your terms without first confirming if things would work out for me? Huh?”

I chewed on my lips, thinking. I really didn’t want to lose him and I wanted to make sure both of us end up working for each other. “You are right,” I said. “You can trust me.”

He laughed. “So you tactically want me to start working for you?” He demanded.

“No. No. Don’t take it in that direction. We will be working for each other here. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

“Hmm. Wise words!” he said then remained quiet for few seconds. “What are your plans?”

Plans? I remembered Norman telling me that to defeat the Queen, I heed to have a solid plan. But do I even have one at the moment? I wasn’t so sure. So what do I tell him?

“Eh—m, why don’t we sit down and talk this out? The walls have ears. Revealing things like this when we are not even sure if someone is listening is foolishness. This is not a child’s play. This is a serious game that could bring freedom or death.” I couldn’t believe I came up with this. I was just trying to buy time. If you are going to talk somebody out of a plan, then you need to have a better one. If not, you will be wasting your time.

“I would love to” the voice echoed again. “But I won’t for now. I will need to think carefully about it.”

“About this?”

“Yes. After thinking it through, I will give you my answers.”

Seriously, I didn’t know if I should start smiling or if I should start crying. I needed time to think about my plans too and he had given me the time I wanted but what if he doesn’t return?

“Alright. Carefully take your time and get back to me when you can. I will be waiting.”

“I have to go now, Prince.”

Just after his echoed from the dark, there was a sharp lightening with a heavy thunder that roared that moment, throwing a bright light into the room including the dark side of the room. I looked at the directions the voice came from and I saw seemingly three men, all in black, leaving the room in a fast, tip-toed movement through a back door which I couldn’t see when I entered t room he or from where I stood the whole time talking. Two men I saw were holding a longbow and the other one was wearing a hoodie, no weapon. They had already turned their back against me, so I couldn’t see their faces but I only noticed that there had been two more men in the room when I was talking to Brady’s brother. And I was sure that they were pointing those arrows at me. I considered myself lucky because I hadn’t done anything stupid. Maybe if I had tried it, then I would have been dead long ago. There was a sigh of relief I had to have met this guy and I would be happier if I would finally get to convince him to work with me. I waited patiently in the room for the violent rain to calm its nerves before I could jump back to my quarters.