Chapter 123 - A Familiar Face

Chapter 123: 123 - A Familiar Face

The road had gone quiet by the time Adrien and Kael returned. The twenty mercenaries who had followed Marcus were still bound near the verge, wrists secured behind their backs and rope running between several of them so nobody could move far without dragging the rest along. Clairmont soldiers watched from different angles while the remaining Bloodfang Wolves kept the area clear.

Kael stopped beside Adrien and looked over the prisoners. Most had lost the hard faces they wore during the ambush. Without Marcus standing in front of them they seemed uncertain rather than defiant, some staring at the dirt while others tracked every movement along the road.

Adrien caught the difference at once. None of them had tried to run while he was gone.

"Still quiet?"

One of the Bloodfang mercenaries on guard nodded. "Not a problem since you left, my lord."

Adrien glanced toward Kael. "Good. Keep them that way until the Crown arrives."

Kael gave the order and the guards shifted position without needing further explanation. The change in command had come only hours earlier, yet the company already moved around Kael by instinct. Adrien watched that for a moment before turning toward the three mana-powered cargo vehicles still blocking part of the road.

Vikir had taken one of the smaller vehicles earlier to reach the nearest Crown office and report what had happened. Adrien expected him back before nightfall, though the timing depended on how fast the local officials reacted once they heard House Clairmont was holding twenty prisoners tied to organized attacks on merchant caravans.

The wait gave everyone time to breathe. Several Clairmont soldiers checked the road and hauled the fallen barriers aside while others inspected the vehicles for damage. The Bloodfang Wolves helped without being asked twice, dragging the cut trunk off the road and clearing loose branches from the verge.

Kael stayed close to Adrien. "Do you think the Crown will take all twenty?"

"They should."

Adrien looked toward the prisoners again. "They were involved directly. Marcus made the decisions, but they still followed him here knowing what the job was."

Kael did not argue. "What happens after that?"

"That depends on the Crown. They’ll investigate the attacks and decide what charges apply."

Kael nodded slowly. He understood the answer well enough, even if he plainly hated looking at men he had known for years sitting roped together in the dirt, and Adrien did not blame him for it.

The afternoon passed with little trouble. A few merchants came along the road once the barriers were removed, slowing when they saw the number of armed men gathered there before carrying on as Clairmont soldiers waved them through.

Near sunset the hum of mana engines reached them from farther north. Adrien turned before anyone announced the arrival, since Absolute Mana Sense had already found the approaching group: several awakened signatures moving together, most of them stronger than ordinary guards, with Vikir among them.

"They’re here."

Kael followed his gaze. Two dark Crown vehicles appeared between the trees a minute later, larger and more heavily reinforced than the merchant transports Adrien had used as bait. The royal crest had been fixed to both doors, and a third, smaller vehicle rolled along behind them with Vikir riding in the front of the first.

The convoy slowed as it reached the gathered forces. Before the engines had fully died, Vikir stepped down and began directing the arriving soldiers.

"Prisoners are on the right side of the road. Twenty in total. All connected to the attempted robbery this morning. Marcus, their former leader, is dead after a recognized mercenary duel."

A Crown officer crossed toward him while several soldiers climbed out behind. "Any injuries among the prisoners?"

"Nothing serious. They surrendered without resistance after the duel."

Vikir pointed toward the Bloodfang group farther back. "The rest of the company is under Kael now. They’re cooperating with House Clairmont and have already begun returning stolen goods and compensating victims."

The officer took the information in quickly and started giving orders of his own. Crown soldiers approached the prisoners in pairs, checking restraints before splitting them into smaller groups for transport.

Adrien stayed out of it. Vikir had the whole thing in hand, and there was no reason to meddle with every detail now that Crown authority had arrived. That was one of the things Adrien valued in him, since Vikir never needed watching to stay useful. Give him a task and enough information and he moved.

Within minutes the prisoners were being documented one by one. Names, Paths, Core ranks and known involvement went down on paper while the Crown soldiers compared each man against the notes Vikir had brought.

Kael watched from beside Adrien. "They’re thorough."

Adrien’s attention drifted toward the second Crown vehicle, which nobody had stepped out of yet. That struck him as odd. The first had carried the officer and most of the escort, the third held additional personnel and restraints, and the second stayed shut even after everything else had begun moving.

Vikir noticed where Adrien was looking. He finished speaking with one of the officers, then came over. "My lord."

"Everything went smoothly?"

"Mostly. The nearest office didn’t have authority to handle this many awakened prisoners alone, so they contacted someone higher up."

Adrien looked toward the closed vehicle again. "Someone higher up came personally?"

Vikir gave a small nod. "Yes."

Before Adrien could ask who, the rear door of the second vehicle opened. A Crown guard stepped down first and moved aside, and a woman came down after him, one hand braced against the frame as she found the road.

Even from that distance she was easy to pick out.

Her hair was aureate, bright enough to hold the last of the evening light, and this time she wore it loose rather than tied back, layered into a wolf-cut that framed her face.

Her clothes were elegant and practical at once, noble leather trousers that traced the curves of her figure and a fitted coat above them, and her milky white skin stood out against the dark fabric.

Adrien crossed toward the convoy with Kael beside him. She caught the movement and turned to face him, and their eyes met across the road, gold against grey.

He had not expected her. Only hours had passed since he sent Vikir, and everything since the camp had moved too fast to leave room for guesses about who the Crown would send. The last time they had spoken was the day he was called in over the Sylvamir matter, and although little time had gone by, they crossed paths often enough that the gap felt longer than it was.

He stopped a few steps short of her and inclined his head. "Your Highness. It’s a surprise to see you here today. You’re quite far from the capital."

"It’s a surprise for me as well, hearing that twenty criminals were caught in Clairmont territory," Margaret said. "And somehow, I happened to be nearby again."

"I promise I didn’t arrange that." Adrien tipped his thumb back over his shoulder toward the bound men. "Those ones over there were part of a mercenary company. In practice they’d been living as criminals, robbing the roads."

"Is that something we need to investigate on our side as well?"

"Not at all. The situation with the company has already been resolved. All that’s left is dealing with the prisoners."

"Glad to hear that."

A small motion of her hand sent the royal guards forward, and the arrests became official in front of everyone on the road.

Kael left Adrien’s side to join Vikir, who was already directing the rest of the company. The prisoners could not stay where they were, so Vikir had begun moving them and working out where each group would go. Evelyne would have her own share of the work waiting at Greymoor, contracts and paperwork for the Bloodfang Wolves that would take days to draft properly.

That left Adrien alone with Margaret in the middle of the road. "So what brings the third princess this far out?"

"When we’re alone, Lord Clairmont, call me Margaret and I’ll call you Adrien," she said. "Using titles the whole time is exhausting."

"If that’s what you prefer." Adrien held her gaze. "Then what is Margaret doing so close to Clairmont territory?"