Diamant

Chapter 25 - Too Late

"What are you doing here?" Diamant exclaimed. It wasn't even time to leave yet, was it?

"Our carriage will be waiting at the Moon's Bench. Your name will go by Ania and I will go by Giston. Aliyah has written a letter, they will be waiting for us and they presume that we are married. That way we are going to share a room and able to watch each other's backs. The letter says we are from the Stone clan, Aliyah has written the letter so well, important people from a lot of places are going to Canilus for the yearly festival so we won't be suspected. Also, a lot of preparations have been made to secure our fake identity." Roc said all of these only after ensuring that no one was in the room and the door was firmly locked, still he said it all in a whisper. "We are been sent to Dimitri, Canilus' minister of external affairs. I was sent to tell you all these before our departure."

Diamant nodded as she walked a little distance away.

"So how is Rina?"

"How about her?" Roc asked blankly as he brought a bottle out of his bag. "I brought wine so that in case we don't survive this at least we will die with the knowledge of the taste of a good wine." He chuckled handing her a cup of wine.

"Does Rina know that we are going to Canilus as a couple?" Diamant pressed, refusing to drink.

"Everyone knows we are going to Canilus as a couple." Roc answered gulping down his first cup. Diamant watched him and looked down at her cup to see the wine sizzling. She didn't want to get drunk but perhaps Roc could handle it and it wouldn't affect him much but she doubted she had that much control.

"Not drinking?"Roc asked.

"It is not advisable to get drunk before a mission, Roc. Why are you drinking?" Diamant asked her eyes filled with suspicion.

He kept quiet and breathed heavily. He leaned on the wall suddenly feeling too exhausted to answer.

"It is her, isn't it?" Diamant asked with an assured smile.

He looked at her and his eyes turned glassy.

"She is in love with me. Rina loves me and I don't even deserve it, she is too good for me. I am a terrible person, I enjoy killing." He started walking around mindlessly. "Rina is pure and, oh God, I am not!"

"A member of the Black Mask isn't innocent, Roc. She is an adult and can make her own decisions." Diamant went to him and collected the cup which he didn't resist. "You must tell her. Your tactics were never to make her go away, it was to make you stop falling in love with her. Hate to break it to you but it didn't work because here you are drinking!" She exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air and she turned back to him again.

"Accept it, Roc, you love her just as much. You know how dangerous going to Canilus can be and that is why you don't want her to come along, you want her to be safe." Diamant said as she walked back to the table, her voice tender.

Roc looked at her in amusement, the accuracy of her judgement amused him.

"Go and tell her, you don't have much time. Go now." Diamant said silently. It felt like an order, commanding yet tender.

Roc wanted to say something, something that would give him an excuse not to but he couldn't find anything to say.

He realized that deeply in his heart, he wanted Rina to know.

He breathed heavily and he nodded, gave her a smile then he left.

Diamant took a gulp from her cup. Her mind went fuzzy with frustration, the stress eating into her.

She felt guilty.

If she hadn't picked him then he would have no reason to worry. It would be selfish for her to still take him with her when the safety of his life was not certain. She decided that Roc would not suffer because of her own decisions. If he wanted Rina then her decision should not be the only one standing in their way, she would have to go to Canilus alone.

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Roc sat down looking at his packed bag. He could just walk right now to Rina and tell her. He could tell Rina then leave, at least that way he would be able to die in peace, that is if he dies. He thought about it again for the umpteenth time, he was tired of turning the thought over and over in his head.

He stood up confident, he must tell her. He walked towards the door when he sensed someone in the room but it was too late before he could react. He saw a quick flash of the person and he could have sworn that it was a woman. She was too fast. 

Out of nowhere, something was blown into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. This threw him off balance and messed up his calculations but still reached for his sword anyway.

Unfortunately, the person was too fast and he felt the blade slashing his leg. He groaned in pain as he fell to the ground. His senses to survive kicked in and he started desperately tracing his way to the bathroom to wash his face. It wasn't after he washed his face did he realize the silence and the fact that no one had stopped him.

His attacker had left, it was most likely the minute his attacker had him bleeding that the attacker fled.

He threw the thought off his mind, that wasn't important right now. He looked down at his leg quickly to find blood oozing from the large cut.

He examined the cut quickly, he had to know how far it got. Whosever did this didn't aim to kill him, it wasn't deep enough. If the aim was murder, considering what an expert the person was, he wouldn't even be alive.

His eyelids started drooping and he fought hard to keep them open.

He feared if the person knew about the mission, his heart raced with alarm, he must tell Diamant! He had to also get to the DL quickly.

He stood up but fell to the ground almost immediately.

He blinked his eyes in confusion. He didn't fall because of the pain, he couldn't even feel the pain anymore.

He looked down at his leg again as the bitter realization sipped venomously into his mind.

He had been poisoned.

His heart raced with fear. He tried to stand again but he couldn't. His repeated attempts remained futile. He felt weak and suddenly he couldn't even lift any part of him off the floor. Slowly he fell unconscious and the darkness was all he could see.

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She felt tense suddenly, the cup still in her hand. It was her first mission, her first mission that was outside Alusa, maybe that was why she was really tensed.

She sensed that someone was in her room. It couldn't be Sunain, it was unlike Sunain to come in quietly. She turned around quickly to see someone standing and staring right back at her. Her face went rigid, this didn't look good. Her hand went round her sword firmly while she took her stance to defend herself.

"Told you this wasn't a good idea." The man spat in irritation. The light in the room wasn't powerful enough for Diamant to see his face. He stepped closer so his face could be seen.

Diamant gasped, "Minister Nein?" What was he doing here?

Then a lady stepped out of the darkness as she gave a small laugh. "Sunain is a little occupied with that Dragon Lord assistant, we won't need to be worrying about that, my dear." Diamant could hear her smile and when she saw the hat, she immediately put one to one together.

That voice...that hat...the carriage.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Diamant questioned her voice harsh and cold while she gripped her sword tighter. Anger was dancing around the corners of her eyes. She felt more rage than fear.

Where they here to finally put her to silence? Do what they didn't on that day?

"I knew this wasn't a good idea." Nein repeated again with a flash of anger.

"Calm down, Nein, it is normal for the lady to be suspicious. Also, I do not think the Master would ever fancy one that comes off too easy." The woman replied sounding too relaxed, it perplexed Diamant.

"Hello, Diamant." She said coming closer and took a seat on Diamant's bed. "If you would sit and talk, you might be able to know why I am here." She said waiting for Diamant to sit but she still kept her firm grip on her sword, her face hard.

"Apart from Nein here, I am not alone." She whispered with a dark and mysterious tone.

Realization drew on Diamant, they were heavily guarded and she didn't stand a chance, at least she didn't want to try her luck if there was an easier way she could slip away, then by all means she would take it! A warrior isn't a warrior if he or she isn't wise.

She drew a chair closer and sat opposite the lady, the lady's hat still making it hard for her to see the lady's face.

"Canilus informed me that he didn't get my bird. I am sure your carriage at the Moon's Bench is still waiting." The lady said with a lazy voice.

Diamant's heart twisted in rage. Was this a joke?! What was the meaning of this?!

Diamant stood up in rage, she drew her sword towards the lady and immediately she could hear a lot of swords been drawn all over the room. She was indeed greatly outnumbered. Her face hardened at her helplessness.

The lady laughed and pushed the sword away with a finger. "Don't be ridiculous, you won't even be able to get a scratch at me, you will be killed before that."

"You have a snitch in the Black Mask!" Diamant said breathing heavily with rage. She was trying hard to control herself and it felt like her control plugs were slipping from her.

"Just like him!" Nein sneered commenting on Diamant's behavior.

"You will soon be one of them." She said and Diamant sat back down calmly. Her rage would bring her no where. If there was a way she could get out of this, it would be to listen.

"What do you want, Lady?" Diamant said trying to calm down. Fighting now will be useless.

"You can call me Liliana Giffred. Now let us talk about the loyalty you now have to the man that is the cause of your Grandfather's death." Her voice sounded sinister and Diamant's heart dropped.

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DL sat on his bed, happy with the decision he had made. He felt free and dangled the formal announcement between his hands. He admired his stamp then walked to the bed. A lot of things would start changing. After his conversation with Goben he had decided to be a better King, why allow himself to be tied down by the occurrence of the past? It was illogical!

Goben had spoken to him at length. What was a King that couldn't even free himself?

Things would change but Diamant's mission wasn't one of them. She owed him her pain.

He fell asleep but soon his face twisted in agony.

Another night of nightmares had begun for him.

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Diamant ran to Roc's place, she didn't think it was safe to meet at the Moon's Bench anymore. Her heart raced as she ran as fast as she could. Sweat dripping from her body, still she didn't stop for once to catch her breath.

"It is too late to safe him. Too late to safe anyone from us but we can safe you." Liliana's voice said in her head.

She hoped that it wouldn't be true but the disorganized state of the room told her otherwise.

"It has already begun. It is not too late for you to join us. We are the savior." Her voice rang in Diamant's head again.

She tried to ignore the words in her head. The words she heard but didn't accept.

"Roc!" She called out in desperation but heard no response. After searching for a while she saw him laying helplessly on the bathroom floor, bleeding. She ran quickly to him and his body was cold.

"It is too late to safe him." She remembered the voice again.

She dashed out to call in Rina. Diamant meet Rina's puffy eyes from having cried too much. She gave no room for explanation as she dragged her to Roc's helpless state. Luckily, Rina knew what he was poisoned with. She took him to her abode and when she was done, he was already warm again, looking alive.

Rina thanked Diamant severally.

"It wasn't aim to kill. The sword was laced with a d**g. He will be unconscious for some time but he will be okay soon but Diamant.." she said, her voice suddenly filled with worry " He won't be awake by dawn. It will take half the whole day! What are you going to do?!

"I will tell Dragon Lord. You stay with him. Others will be really busy, they have all been appointed to places. Tell him everything when he wakes up." She said in a hurry, refusing to tell Rina that Roc had something to tell her. She shouldn't get involved in their matters.

"Thank you, Diamant. If you weren't here quickly, I don't even want to imagine what would have happened." Rina wept.

"It is okay, Rina. He will be fine, you said it yourself." Diamant comforted.

Rina was happy, she knew it was selfish but she was happy this happened and now he had to stay back with her.

Stay back with her...

Diamant left her in a hurry. Rina had been too happy to even think about who had done it but Diamant knew.

"It is too late to safe him." She remembered the voice again.

Her face twisted in rage.

It was Liliana Giffred.

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Diamant can't be seen going to the DL's room yet she had to talk to him, so she decided to go through the window. Thanks to the harsh training of Black Mask and the fact that the windows were left opened, she was able to come in without announcing her presence but the minute she stepped in, she found DL's sword placed on her throat as he stared at her.

He didn't look like he was in the mood to accept visitors, especially Intruders who came in through the window.

"Bad time? Well, it is a bad time for all of us. I will like to do my bow now." Diamant said but then DL's eyes were glassy and she didn't know what it meant. He dropped his sword and engulfed her in a hug. Diamant stood there shocked, her emotions conflicted. Her mind swarm in the temporary warmth as he whispered against her hair.

"You made them go away, you made them go away." He sounded grateful but she didn't know what he meant. He suddenly stepped away from her, his face hardened.

He had dropped his sword again! He was angry with himself. What was it with him and dropping his sword when it came to her, what was it with him and dropping his defenses when it came to her?

Diamant stared on, she mustn't forget. She would be a failure if she allowed this to sway her decisions.

"I apologise for that." He said regretting what he did but a part of him told him he regretted it more because it wasn't reciprocated. "You should be at the Moon's Bench. What are you doing here?" He asked Diamant who was still stunned at his apology. She hated it! Why was he doing this?! Why was he making it so hard?!

She explained to him everything that happened and DL nodded with a straight face. He went around his room and came back with a bird as he tied a message to one of its legs. He set it off through the window.

"A special breed, made from magic." DL said to Diamant when he saw her surprised look. "It would find Goben."

"Magic is still in Alusa?" Diamant asked surprised.

"It never left." DL chuckled.

Diamant's heart clenched. The sound of his chuckling echoing in her ears. His eyes looked at her tenderly and his smile reached Something wasn't right, he wasn't making it easy.

"I must inform him of my absence." DL said again.

"Your absence?!" Diamant questioned.

"Are you planning to go to Canilus without a Giston, Ania?" He asked playfully.

Diamant was thrown into confusion. Why was he being like this?

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"A splendid surprise! My Star! My love!" Lewis said as he ran and hugged Clara tightly. He drew away from her and looked her over.

"We will be suspected. You have come to my abode by this time. It isn't safe! I was on my way to your chamber, I have great news." He said looking out to make sure she wasn't followed. Coming to him like this made him happy but made him worry too.

"I am certain that my news is greater." Clara said, too happy that tears fell from her eyes. She didn't have to try to accept her place as the Queen anymore. She could now be with Lewis.

"You weep! It saddens you and it makes you happy?!" Lewis replied concerned.

"No! No!" She said holding him close to her and looking right in his eyes. "It makes me happy, so happy."

"What is it?! Please, tell me." He was confused, worried. He looked at her searching for answers but he couldn't find any.

"He knows. DL knows about us." Clara started.

"That is no great news, Clara!" Lewis stepped back in fear.

"No! Just listen to me." She went to him and held him again. "He has known for a while now but he didn't do anything. Tonight he was my room and he told me that an official announcement will be sent out tomorrow. He will set me free, Lewis. He said he will set me free to be with you forever." She said the last sentence looking deep in his eyes, showing how important it was to them.

Lewis face went hard in shock and was soon overcomed with sadness. He held in his head in sadness and he started muttering inaudible words to himself.

"I don't understand. It saddens you? Lewis, I will be with you! Finally. This is what we have been waiting for! What is going on?!" Clara asked in confusion as she held his face in her hands so they could look at each other.

"Too late, Clara. It is all a mess, it had already begun." Lewis said with tears in his eyes as he walked away to the window, his heart grieving.

"It is all too late now." He said his voice cold.