Secrets of the Crown Assassins

06

XAVIER

The aroma of cooked meat and freshly baked breakfast wafted through the palace like a beacon guiding me forward. Still, I headed in the opposite direction, towards the tower my brother chose as his room. Servants in white whisked by, their cuffs labeled with gold and blue. They hung their heads down, though two of opposite classes had the audacity to risk giving each other the eye. As if I wouldn't realize they were having an affair. Such fools.

Entering the circular base of Damien's tower, I climbed the marble spiral steps to find Damien. Long windows carried an immaculate view of one of the many gardens tucked between golden walls of the palace.

When I reached the first landing, I didn't bother knocking and simply opened the door. I knew he wasn't going to be here, but it didn't hurt to check and see what he's been up to.

The inside was a typical office, one of my father's design, with a desk in the middle and a few chairs surrounding it. Bookshelves lined the walls, covering every inch save for an old fashioned board on one side of the room. Damien had a few blueprints for a new electric bomb pinned. The opposite wall consisted of floor to ceiling windows, though the blinds were pulled down during the day against the light and opened at night.

As expected, Damien wasn't here. Stepping out and shutting the door, I climbed up to the next landing. He was never an early bird and was usually in his bedroom on the third landing at this time of the morning, but I had a feeling he would be on the second floor to blow off some steam after the previous night's discussion.

Again, I didn't knock and pushed the door. It swung open to reveal the messy interior of Damien's design room.

The scent of oil hung in the air as a machine whirled in the corner. Metal objects were scattered across tables and different papers dotted the floor. A speaker hidden in his walls was blasting music, fighting to be heard over the sound of his work. The light strips Damien inserted into the crevices of his room changed colors along with the beat of the song. Damien was hunched over a laser cutting machine, watching as it played out the orders Damien gave through his Tab.

Shutting the door behind me, I approached him, looking inside the machine. Flat sheets of metal were being cut into their instructed shapes so they could be used in another one of Damien's weapons.

"I know, I know," Damien shouted over the sound of the cutter. "Time for breakfast."

I nodded towards the machine, not wanting to try forming the words required to ask a question. Damien caught my drift.

"I'm trying to make an electric grenade with a detonation level between the disks and the full-blown bombs."

I nodded and turned to the nearest table, looking over his blueprints. They were fine, though there were ways to make power usage more efficient.

"I know it's not perfect," Damien called. "I just wanted to try something first before fixing it up."

I nodded again just as my Tab pinged. Turning on the holographic device, Arielle's name appeared under the notifications bar. Immediately, I opened the message only to realize it was in the group chat with the three of us, not the individual conversation. My lips, which had quirked up without me knowing, were pressed back down into a firm line. 

Arielle: Talk. Meet before bf.

I ignored her inability to form complete sentences and waved my Tab at Damien. My mind was too focused on predicting what idiotic idea Arielle had come up with to bother trying to explain the message.

Damien checked his Tab and turned off the laser cutter. "Let's go."

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