The Long Road to Ruin Ch. 49

Simon ventured a sidelong look at her, "I see you are ready, my lady." He winked surreptitiously, giving his approval on her fine attire.

She pointed to the tunnels on the map, "I don't remember these ever being there. Did you have it added?"

Simon nodded, "Yes, at great expense. It should prove fruitful, though."

"And what are you after?"

"All in good time, my lady," he swerved her question again. "Let us commence."

Shiloh glowered at him while he rolled the map up, stowing it inside his pack. He led their small group to the cellars where they were met by Roman and two of his bodyguards. He clapped his hands together. "Listen up, this is it. The fruit of months of our labors begins here. If all goes well, we'll all walk away very wealthy men. Each of us has our parts to play. Roman, you know what you have to do. This will be all."

The bearded manservant bowed, "Of course, my Lord."

Simon rubbed his stubbled chin thoughtfully. "I imagine all hell's going to break loose in a few hours, so you'd best start evacuating the house right away. The ship at the harbor will be ready for you. I need you to get everyone safely out of the city. Only take with you what I've directed to be taken."

Roman inclined his head, "It shall be done, my Lord. You can count on me."

Simon offered a smile, "I know, Roman, and I thank you for all your hard work. You have been a very loyal servant, and you will be rewarded as such."

A flush darkened the man's ruddy cheeks, "It has been my pleasure to serve the noble house Lyonson, my Lord."

"The code word for getting us back up is Swan. If I say anything else, or if it's not me coming back up the hole, something went wrong. In that case, lock this grate and leave the city. Immediately. That goes for all of you."

Both Roman and Simon's bodyguards replied at the same time, "Yes, Sir!"

As Simon opened the grate in the floor, Alen chuckled behind him, "Awww Simon, you old croaker. Nothing is going to go wrong. You worry far too much."

"I believe it's better to be a touch paranoid than to end up dead in a ditch somewhere," Simon scoffed.

"Yeah, we've got a little lucky charm with us," Jero grinned as he attempted to fondle Shiloh's bottom. She reacted like a scalded cat, swatting at him viciously with claws and teeth bared, "Touch me again and I swear I will gut you."

"Enough, Jero," Simon sighed, shaking his head. "So lady and gentlemen, let's do this."

One of Simon's guards wrapped the end of a cord around Shiloh's waist and slowly lowered her into the shaft. She guessed by the rate of descent and the time it took it was about forty feet deep before she felt the ground under her feet again. Alen came next, then Jero, and finally Simon. Curiously, she studied the walls in the meantime. The masonry was rough, the stones set in irregular rows, with no attempt at finish. It was definitely newer construction. Once Simon had joined everyone, he motioned to Alen, who in turn handed Shiloh her dual short swords, before the guards pulled the rope back up and closed the grate above. Just when it looked like it would only be Simon, Jero and Alen with her, Shiloh caught a glimpse of Ni'as leaning against the tunnel wall. He soon flickered out of sight. It set her mind at ease. It wasn't that being alone with three men worried her, she was confident she could best each and every one of them in a fight; it was that she had nowhere else to go. True, she could easily disappear into the shadows. She could easily make her way along this dark tunnel and hoped it connected to one she knew. A rogue always had a decent escape plan.

Shiloh equipped her sword sheathes to her leather armor, readying herself for whatever may come. She glanced around a bit, taking in the dark tunnel before her.

Jero grinned at her lasciviously while he readied his weapons, "Nervous, little coo?"

"No, I'm not nervous. There's no cause to be, and don't call me 'little coo.' It's Princess Shiloh to you, peasant," she curled her lips into a sneer as she spat her venomous words at him. "I swear if you even so much think of touching me again, I will hack off your hands."

Simon cleared his throat, "Enough already."

She turned to him, anger blazing in her eyes, "Don't you think it's about time you tell me what we're doing, Simon?"

Jero chuckled as he interceded, "Hehehe. We're going to rob the bank, little coo!"

She shot him another glare, "What bank are you fucking talking about, peasant?"

Jero snickered, "Metaphorically speaking, of course, Princess."

Her eyes narrowed as they shifted from Jero to Simon. "You're going to raid a vault, I take it. Then let me save you the time this folly will take up. The vaults are all empty. What wasn't taken by the Emperor was raided by me. Come to think of it, a good deal of the treasure that was shipped to the Emperor was waylaid by certain thieves' and smugglers."

"Goes to show how much you know, slut." Alen spoke up, sneering right back at her. "It's like this. After our army had stormed Castle Betancuria, the soldiers found a huge treasure locked up within the castle's basement. However, it was unclear whose property that treasure was going to be. The Emperor claimed it, of course, but he had also declared everything our troops found within the city's limits would be open for plunder. That little technical problem was solved by stating that the treasure had not been found within the city proper but below the castle, which was not a part of the city. Nevertheless, a lot of discussion amongst the nobility and the leading generals followed, with the result that the treasure is still here, in Betancuria."

Shiloh pursed her lips, trying to place exactly where and what they were talking about. She couldn't remember any treasure stash in the castle's dungeon. What had her father been hiding and why? "And you know it's there how?"

"I've seen it with my own eyes, my lady." Simon spoke up.

"And we're going to steal that treasure tonight, little coo!" Jero grinned widely.

She ticked over the information in her head, formulating a plan of her own. "How much treasure are we talking about?" Once they had the treasure, it would be easy enough to take-out the dead weight of Jero and Alen. Simon, however, she'd need alive. She had other plans for him.

"You see, your father was a very rich, very greedy old man." Jero wiggled his eyebrows, "He had horded a whopping sum of twenty-five million gold coins, little coo, and all of it is ours for the taking."

Shiloh's eyes narrowed even further as rage ripped through her, "You son of a bitch, that's my fuckin' money you are stealing! You have no claim to it. None of you have any claim to it. I could drop each one of you where you stand very easily and you'll never get that money. And I won't need any of you to help me get it once you're dead and your corpses are rotting in this tunnel."

"And just who are you to threaten us, my lady?" Simon spoke calmly, though the anger flickering in his eyes belied the calm he outwardly exuded.

"The rightful Princess of Betancuria is who I am. That money is rightfully mine. You have no business stealing it. Not when I could put it to good use. It could go a long way to help me regain control of my kingdom," she retorted as she fixed her eyes on Simon. "I can't believe you. All along you've been plotting to take what's mine and you expect me to help you. No wonder you were so eager to give me what I asked for. I don't fucking think so, Simon."

"We have a deal, Princess. You will honor it. You help us and I tell you what you want to know."

She shook her head, "Oh no, it's time to renegotiate then. You want my help then you will tell me where they are right this instant and when we have the coin in our possession, you will give me half of it or else. Dead men have no need for coin."

"Half? Are you out of your mind, cunt? You have no idea the cost of having this tunnel built and making bribes to silence the right people. All you are getting is what we've already agreed on." Alen shouted back at her.

"I missed the part where that's my problem, peasant, and you had never ever call me a cunt again. It'll be the last thing that comes out of your mouth." Shiloh growled before she tumbled into the shadows, using them to her best advantage. The black leather she wore aided her ability to hide in the dark recesses of the tunnel.

"Fucking whore-ass cunt," Alen sneered as he drew his sword.

"Shiloh, this is ridiculous. Be reasonable. There isn't anywhere you can run that you won't be found. I understand your anger, but this does us no good. I'll reward you with a fair amount once the mission is complete, that is in addition to the information you seek. Come out. This gets us nowhere." Simon spoke up, scanning the darkness with the lit torch he held in his off-hand.

Shiloh materialized behind Alen with Bloodlust held at his throat. She raked it across, drawing a deep line which severed both his arteries. He gasped, drowning on the spurting blood as his throat collapsed, before she dropped his corpse to the floor. "Don't ever fuck with me again," she stated coldly as she stepped over his body. "And don't ever call me a whore!"

Simon took a few steps away from her, his eyes as wide as pie plates as he stared at the blood oozing corpse at his feet. He sputtered for a few long seconds before gathering his wits about him. "There was no call for that, Shiloh. I don't care what you like and don't like. We will call you anything we damn well please, after all need I remind you that you are in my employ now. Your fate rests in my hands."

"Does it really, Simon?" She all but purred, licking the blood off her sword, "Because I'm not so sure of that. You cannot control what is not yours, and my fate was decided for me a long time ago." She prowled about the diameter of the small circular room, slipping in and out of the shadows as she went. She hoped to keep them off-kilter for the moment until she chose to pounce again. Jero's neck was looking very enticing right about now... or maybe not. Maybe she'd ram Bloodlust straight into his groin. That should serve to deflate his ego as well as removing his cock.

"Shiloh, we don't really have time for these games. You've made your point." Simon poked the torch in the spot he thought she'd be in. "The old tavern-keeper and workers are being shipped to Westwood as we speak, from there they will be transported to the Isle of Prisoners, which is deep with Dhorn territory."

Shiloh avoided the torch, flitting to her left. She moved in behind Jero, sliding one hand up onto his shoulder while pressing her blade to his crotch. "Keep talking, Simon, or Jero may end up as a woman."

"The Isle of Prisoners is at the center of the Lake of Sorrows, virtually unreachable and impregnable. It's a fool's errand. You'd have better luck storming the Emperor's palace."

"That just goes to show you know nothing about me. I've spent the last year doing things that were considered fool's errands and I always succeeded. Now are you going to acquiesce to my terms before Jero learns what it feels like to have a cunt or not?"

"I will give one million and that's it," Simon replied. "Release Jero before I lose what's left of my patience, my lady."

"Then I guess we have what I'd call a Sargovian stand-off," she exploited a weak point of the armor's groin plate, pressing the blade in tighter. She could feel Jero quiver under her grasp. She leaned in, purring sultrily into his ear while snaking Darkstar across his throat, "Ready to be the bitch you are, Jero darling. I can smell his fear, Simon dear. And by the sudden whiff of foulness I just caught, I'd say he's lost all control over his bowels. He may have even pissed himself, too. Look Simon in the eyes, Jero, and tell him how serious I am. You can feel my blade against your dick, can't you?" She flexed her wrist, jabbing it further in. Jero let out an unmanly cry as it pierced his flesh.

"Get this crazy bitch the fuck off me, Simon. I didn't sign up for this to get my dick mutilated."

Simon's gaze moved from Shiloh to Jero and then back to Shiloh, "Let him go. This gets us nowhere, surely you can see that. I'll give you 5 million and that's my final offer, sweetling."

She glared at him, "Five million, huh? That's only a fifth of the money... of MY FUCKING MONEY, SIMON!!!"

"Shiloh, this demeans us. Alen is dead and will never call you a whore or a cunt again. You extracted your retribution and I am fast losing what patience I had left. I won't give you half the money. There's too much at stake here for me to agree to that. But if you let him go, I promise you I'll personally see to the release of everyone taken in that raid. And I shall personally present you Arto Benthur's head on a silver platter." Simon took a few tentative steps closer to her and Jero. "Now, let him go and let's be on with this mission. We only have a limited amount of time to get where we need to be."

Shiloh withdrew her blades, sheathing them. Then she tumbled away, melding back into the shadows, "Arto's head on a silver platter just might make up for the loss of the other seven and a half million. You owe me."

Jero fell to his hands and knees, praising the gods that he was still alive. He took a few deep breaths and cleared away the vestiges of his life flashing before his eyes. Once he'd gathered himself, he took time to open up his pack, pulling a secondary suit of armor from it. Wordlessly, he removed his now soiled suit, cleaned himself to the best of his ability and suited back up in the lightweight leather armor.

Meanwhile, Shiloh rematerialized beside Simon, gazing up in his eyes, "Don't expect me to apologize. I will not EVER abide by being called a whore."

"I'll remember that," he solemnly replied as he glanced over Alen's body. He moved closer, knelt down and said a few words over it, "Rest in peace, old friend. May you forever frolic amongst the heavens."

He righted himself, heading for the tunnel. "Let's go," he curtly ordered, "Shiloh, take point."

...

Shiloh set out through the long winding tunnel. She moved at a good speed, tending to err on the side of caution over all. Who knew what she'd encounter down here? Maybe there'd end up being nothing since this was obviously new construction, but it never hurt not to rush off headlong.

Behind her she could hear the muffled conversation of Simon and Jero. They didn't seem to be paying any mind to her for once, but she could tell from Jero's whispered tone and body language that he was still distressed. Perhaps it had been wrong to end Alen's life. It was true that she had held an immediate dislike for the man from the very first. She shook her head. It did her no good to linger on the past. It was done and over with. Perhaps she could lend Simon her rod to bring him back after all this was over. Lend him a rod, she smirked inwardly. It'd be better if he gave her one, his to be precise. She wanted it badly enough.

From the length of the tunnel, she was sure that they'd crossed the breadth of the city. They should be close to their destination. Perhaps she should wait for her companions to catch up. Turning, she glanced back at them. Simon quickened his pace, crossing the distance between them.

"We have a little further to go," he spoke up as he grasped her arm, pulling her along with him. Soon they came to the end of the tunnel. He cocked his head at a small square opening in the masonry wall. "We have to head through there."

Shiloh frowned at him, "Why didn't you have this tunnel dug straight to the castle? Why must we crawl through a connecting shaft?"

"I thought you liked tight tunnels, my lady," he smirked. "Besides, my stonemasons reassured me this was the shortest route possible and I trust them. It is a tight enclosed space with a low ceiling. We will be crawling. Just don't hit your head."

She glowered at him, "I'm more apt to hit yours."

"Ooooooo feisty, I like it," he winked. "Go on ahead. I promise there won't be any nasty surprises."

As Shiloh crouched at the entrance, Jero closed in behind her, leering at her. "I'll follow behind you, little coo."

She shot him a withering glance, determined to wipe the smirk off his face, "Oh hells no, you won't. My ass is off limits for you to stare at."

"Go on, Shiloh, I'll be behind you." Simon shot a glare at Jero before mouthing the words 'give it a rest' to his lifelong friend.

...

As luck would have it the cramped passageway wasn't very long. Shiloh crossed the distance quickly, heading down the next section of Simon's tunnel until she reached yet another dead end, but this time, there was no small open connecting shaft. Simon stepped over to a section of wall, "For the next part, we'll have to break through this section here. It's not very substantial, but we should try not to make too much noise."

"Hehehe, got that, little coo," Jero quipped, with a wink. "No gasping or panting."

Aside from rolling her sapphire eyes, she refrained from acknowledging his comment. His digs at her were growing tiresome with all the innuendos and mentions of their past dalliances. Why couldn't he get a clue that she wasn't interested in him at all?

Simon flashed Jero a look before speaking again, "Now if any guards on the other side spot us, we'll have to silence them as quickly as possible. Our first target is the stairs leading to the ground floor. We'll need to block that door so no one will be able to come down while we're here."

"That shouldn't be too difficult. I've taken out more than my fair share of soldiers while striking from stealth. Hopefully if we are quiet enough, the sounds of battle won't alert any patrolling upstairs."

"This is why I'll trust you possess the ability to disable the lock on the door to prevent them from coming down. I don't want any surprises coming from behind."

"Never fear," she scoffed at him. "That's child's play, Simon dear. They will never get that door open after I'm through jamming it."

He grinned marvelously, "See, this is why I hired you. I wanted the best. We don't necessarily have to rush this part of the plan. I'll make sure you have plenty of time to do it right."

"So is there no way to sneak past the guards on patrol once we're inside? Not that I'm opposed to killing stupid Dhorn soldiers, especially if they're Benthur's men. Quite the contrary, actually. I'll gladly send them screaming to their maker for their part in killing my family."

"If we don't take them out, they're bound to notice this tunnel once we've broken through. That could lead to someone getting away and following it all the way back to my mansion. I'd rather not be implicated in this. It's for the best, really. Besides if the way up is blocked, they won't be able to call for reinforcements. Benthur recently added more men. Those men are nothing but petty thugs. No one will lament their loss," Simon sneered coldly.

Shiloh shivered before leveling a hard look upon him, "You do realize that is exactly the attitude Benthur exhibited towards my adopted family."

Simon sighed softly, "Shiloh, I know what they mean to you. Never doubt that I won't make good on my promise to you. Let's do this. The sooner we succeed, the closer we are to our goals."

She nodded at him, hoping she could trust his sincere tone. If he didn't hold his end of the bargain, she'd hunt him mercilessly. She'd extract every inch of revenge out of his hide. Then she'd take care of Arto Benthur. As far as she was concerned, his fate was sealed. If it took to her last breath, she'd see him pay for all he'd done.

Shaking off the lingering thoughts of revenge, she approached the wall in question, noticing the spiderweb of cracks already running through it. A plan formed in her head. She opened her portable hole, fishing through the piles of treasure until she found cylindrical leather bound case. From within it, she pulled a few scrolls, which she perused for a few minutes, mentally deciphering the arcane language. Her eyes lit up as she scanned one particular length of vellum.