Bad Blood

Chapter 34: The trap

"So you know what you have to do?" Felicity asked Chandler, who was dressed like a rich man.

"Yes, I do," He then looked at his outfit. "I look good!" He smiled.

Amelia chuckled before putting on a serious expression. "Be careful with these soldiers, they're my uncle's, so I don't know much about them."

Chandler nodded. "Anything else I need to be aware of?"

"Just be careful." Amelia then hugged him.

He smiled as he hugged her back. "I will," He then looked at Felicity, her parents and his father. "I'll get us the information we need."

"But how do we use that to testify against Piers?" Alden suddenly asked.

"We have to get them here," Louisa started. "When they're here, we'll torture them until we have a confession."

Everyone was surprised to hear Louisa speak these words, but no one dared to say it out loud.

"I'll get them here," Chandler put on his hat before waving at everyone. "I'll be back."

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Chandler walked to the exact middle of the main road in the Middledes Woods. It's on this spot he had agreed to meet those two soldiers. It's amazing what money can get you, he thought, These soldiers would meet with a stranger for money.

He looked around him: at the main road and the forest. The main road that connected both kingdoms. The road seemed to go on forever, though you could see a faint image of the castles behind the fog.

The forest was a different view. It was pretty dense which prevented you from seeing through the mass of trees. To foreigners, this might look like a frightening forest. But he felt very at ease here.

"Are you Charles?"

Chandler turned around and was met by two big soldiers: a woman and a man. They had an armored suit on, which held the symbol of the Southern Kingdom.

"I am," He extended his hand to shake theirs. "Thank you for meeting with me."

They nodded. "What can we do for you?" The man asked.

Chandler gulped, trying to hold in his disgust to these people, the people that tried killing his niece and possibly killed his brother. "I have a task for you two, I need to get rid of someone in my town."

"Who?"

"Come on, I'll show you."

"We'd rather hear you say it so we can start working." The woman said.

Chandler gulped once more. Stay calm, he thought. "Let me show you the secret passways, so you can get by faster and more sneaky."

The man and woman looked at each other before agreeing.

Chandler walked up front, leading the way to those two soldiers. During his walk to the Northern Castle, he kept hoping that they wouldn't just knife him down. He wouldn't be surprised if they attempted to kill him for his 'money'.

But as he got closer to the gate to the Northern Kingdom, his confidence grew as he felt safer here.

"Ok, we have to go this way." He said as he indirectly led them to a location near the castle where he'd meet up with 8 soldiers of the Northern Kingdom.

"This is a long way to go," The man said. "Are you sure you know the way?"

"I do," Chandler faced him briefly, showing a smile. "I live here," He then entered the enclosed area, which there was no return from. "Here we are."

The two soldiers looked around, noticing several people close up on them. "What is this?" The man asked Chandler but, when he saw Chandler hide behind the people, the soldier knew he was trapped.

"What do you want from us?" The woman asked. "We're here because of a task."

"We know," Chandler smirked. "Get them, boys."

_______________________

Louisa and Alden walked down the stairs to their dungeon underneath their castle. They were accompanied by 2 soldiers, and many others who were keeping watch in the dungeon (see picture above).

They arrived at the cell which held the two soldiers from Prince Piers, the soldiers who had knifed Amelia down and possibly murdered James.

Louisa signalized the guards to give them some privacy but, of course, the guards would remain in sight.

She then looked at them. "We'll let you two go, without any harm, if you tell us everything you know."

The two soldiers looked at each other before looking at Louisa. "Like what?"

Louisa leaned in closer. "We know you two killed Princess Amelia," Louisa said, keeping up the illusion that Amelia was indeed dead. "We know Prince Piers paid you for it."

"So what?"

Louisa raised her eyebrows. "So this is true information?"

The man and woman simply nodded.

Louisa looked at Alden, who in return continued. "Had Prince Piers ever given you the task to kill other people besides Amelia?"

The man and woman looked at each other and then shook their heads.

"Are you sure?" He asked as he motioned two guards to show up, both holding knives.

The soldiers, scared for their lives, gulped. "Fine, fine..." The man sighed. "We were instructed to kill a few people he didn't like."

"Such as?"

He shrugged. "I don't know all their names."

"We got a portrait or a description," The woman continued. "Then we looked for that person and killed them in a remote area."

Louisa let out a deep sigh, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Prince Piers just got rid of the people he didn't like, like it was a game...

"Has he ever asked you to kill this person?" Alden asked as he handed them a portrait of James.

The two soldiers looked at the portrait for a while, they seemed unsure about it.

"Here," He handed them another portrait, hoping that one might help them remember. "This is the same person."

They looked at it for a while. "It's possible," The man said to which the woman nodded. "He looks like one we killed."

"His name was James," Louisa said. "Does that ring any bells?" She waited for them to respond but, when she didn't get an answer straight away, she added: "He was murdered in the Middledes Woods."

The man and woman looked at each other than the portrait. The man looked up at them. "This isn't by any chance the James? The James that got Queen Cassandra pregnant?"

Louisa and Alden's eyes widened. "Yes, it is. Why?"

They both nodded. "We killed him in the Middledes Woods, at the same spot we killed his daughter."