Episode-758
Chapter : 1515
She touched the communication stone in her pocket. She squeezed it three times. The signal.
The trap is set.
Across the city, in the back room of the teahouse, Lloyd felt the vibration in his pocket. He pulled out the stone. It pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light.
He looked at Ken. He looked at the mask on the table.
"She did it," Lloyd said. "The heavy guard is moving to the palace."
Ken stood up. "Then we move to the quarry."
Lloyd picked up the fox mask. He ran his thumb over the painted grin.
"Tonight," Lloyd said, "we dance."
The safe house was no longer a place of rest. It had become an armory. The table was cleared of food and covered in a black cloth, upon which lay the tools of their trade.
Lloyd stood over the gear, his hands moving with the precision of a surgeon as he performed the final checks.
"Flash-bangs," he muttered, checking the pins on the silver spheres. "Three for each of you. Smoke grenades. Two. Grappling lines. Checked."
He picked up a strange device. It looked like a jagged rock wrapped in copper wire, with a small, glowing Lilith Stone embedded in the center. It hummed with a low, dissonant frequency that made Jasmin’s teeth ache just looking at it.
"This," Lloyd said, holding it up for Ken, "is the key. It is a prototype Mana-Jammer. I built it based on the principles I deciphered from the Golem Heart research."
Ken took the device. It was heavy. "How does it work?"
"It emits a chaotic spiritual frequency," Lloyd explained. "Think of it as... screaming very loudly in the language of magic. When you activate it near the perimeter wards of the Orchid House, it won't break them. Breaking them triggers alarms. Instead, it confuses them. It creates a blind spot. A static interference. For about three minutes, the sensors won't be able to tell the difference between a person and a gust of wind."
"Three minutes," Ken repeated. "To breach the fence, cross the yard, and enter the drainage tunnel."
"It is enough," Lloyd said. "For you."
He turned to Jasmin. She was dressed in a tight-fitting black tunic and trousers, her hair braided back. She looked pale, but her eyes were steady. She looked less like a maid and more like the weapon he was forging her into.
"Jia," Lloyd said, using her cover name even now. "You have the hardest job. You are the guide. You have to identify Risa. There will be many children. You cannot save them all. Not tonight. If we try to lead a parade of fifty kids through the forest, we all die. We grab Risa. We grab any intel we can carry. And we leave. We come back for the rest with the army Seraphina is going to raise."
Jasmin swallowed hard. "Just Risa. I understand."
"It is a cruel calculus," Lloyd said gently. "But it is the only way."
He picked up a second Mana-Jammer, smaller, more compact. He handed it to her.
"This is for the collars," he said. "If Risa is wearing a suppression collar, this will short-circuit the locking mechanism. Touch it to the latch, press the button, and pull."
She took it. Her hand closed around the cold stone.
"I won't fail," she whispered.
"I know," Lloyd said.
He stepped back. He looked at them. His bodyguard. His handmaiden. His friends.
"I am splitting the party," Lloyd said, his voice tight. "Rule number one of tactics: never split the party. But tonight, we have no choice. I have to be at the Ball. I have to be the alibi. I have to keep Cassius looking at me, so he doesn't look at you."
"We will be fine," Ken said. His voice was a solid wall of reassurance. "I will keep her safe."
"I know you will," Lloyd said. "But Ken... if it goes wrong. If the trap snaps shut. You get her out. You leave the mission. You leave Risa if you have to. You save Jasmin."
Jasmin opened her mouth to protest, but Lloyd silenced her with a look.
"That is an order, Kasim," Lloyd said.
Ken hesitated. He looked at Lloyd, then at Jasmin.
"Understood," Ken said finally.
Lloyd let out a breath. He hated this. He hated sending them into the dark while he went to drink wine. It felt like cowardice, even if it was strategy.
Chapter : 1516
"The signal," Lloyd said. "When you are clear... when you hit the fuel depot... I will see the fire from the palace balcony. That is my cue to start the chaos in the ballroom. To make sure no one can leave to chase you."
He reached out and gripped Ken’s shoulder. He squeezed Jasmin’s hand.
"Don't die," Lloyd said. "That is a standing order. Do not die."
"You neither, Doctor," Jasmin said, a small, brave smile touching her lips. "Try not to step on the Princess's toes."
Lloyd laughed. It was a short, sharp sound.
"I'll try," he said. "Now go. The night is young, and we have a lot of trouble to cause."
Ken and Jasmin pulled up their masks. They melted into the shadows of the hallway and were gone.
Lloyd stood alone in the safe house. He felt a sudden, crushing weight of loneliness.
"Right," he whispered to the empty room. "Time to put on the monkey suit."
----
Lloyd Ferrum stood before the mirror. The transformation was complete. The humble, dusty robes of Doctor Zayn were gone. In their place was a formal outfit of midnight blue velvet, tailored to perfection in the Zakarian style. Silver embroidery traced intricate patterns along the cuffs and collar. He wore a silk sash of emerald green and a turban pinned with a sapphire that cost more than the inn he was staying in.
He adjusted his spectacles. They were new, gold-rimmed, and stylish.
"Doctor Zayn, Royal Physician," he murmured to his reflection. "Arrogant. Successful. Completely harmless."
He checked his pockets. No weapons. Not a single knife. If he was searched at the palace, he had to be clean. His only weapons tonight were his tongue, his mind, and the signet ring on his finger that contained a single, high-yield flash charge. Just in case.
He walked out of the inn. A hired carriage, far more expensive than his usual transport, was waiting.
As he climbed in, he looked up at the sky. Clouds were gathering, obscuring the moons. It was a dark night. Good for thieves. Good for Wraiths.
"To the Royal Palace," he ordered the driver.
The carriage rattled through the streets. The city was alive with the festival. People danced in the streets wearing grotesque masks of demons and animals. Fireworks popped in the distance, sounding uncomfortably like gunfire.
As he neared the palace, the atmosphere changed. The revelry gave way to security. The gates were heavily manned, but they were manned by regular troops. The elite black armor of the Obsidian Eye was missing.
"It worked," Lloyd whispered. "Cassius moved them."
He presented his invitation and his Royal Warrant. The guards waved him through with respectful nods.
He entered the Grand Hall.
It was spectacular. Thousands of candles floated in the air, suspended by magic. The floor was a sea of polished marble. The elite of Altamira were there, a swirling mass of silk, jewels, and masks.
But Lloyd didn't look at the beauty. He looked at the perimeter.
Standing along the walls, spaced every ten feet, were the soldiers of the Second and Third Phalanxes. They were huge men in black plate armor, standing like statues. They were the wall that was supposed to be guarding the Orchid House. Now, they were guarding a buffet table.
"Perfect," Lloyd thought. "They are all here."
He scanned the crowd for Seraphina. He spotted her near the throne. She was wearing a gown of pale gold and a mask that covered the upper half of her face. She looked regal. Terrified, but regal.
Beside her stood Cassius. The Prince wasn't wearing a mask. His arrogance was his mask. He looked bored, swirling a glass of wine, his eyes scanning the crowd with predatory disinterest.
Lloyd took a deep breath. He plastered a smile on his face. He walked into the lion's den.
Meanwhile, five miles to the north, the world was very different.
Ken and Jasmin lay in the mud at the edge of the quarry. The rain had started to fall, a cold, miserable drizzle that soaked them to the bone.
Below them lay the Orchid House. It was a sprawling complex of low, concrete bunkers built into the side of the cliff. It looked like a tomb.
Searchlights swept the perimeter, cutting through the rain. But there were gaps. The patrols were thin. The guard towers were undermanned.
"He did it," Ken whispered, his voice barely audible over the wind. "The heavy guard is gone. It's a skeleton crew."