He’d scout the target first, and only then decide whether or not to meet this person.
Dawn took its time coming. When it finally did, Vir left the room bleary eyed and tired. With Neel by his side, he headed downstairs to the armorer’s shop to pick up his tailored bracer and greaves.
“Mmm, yes, the fit is good,” the bald hooded man said, feeling Vir’s arms and shins once he’d donned the armor. Vir agreed, the fit was near-perfect. He still felt the armor’s weight, but it hindered him far less than it had yesterday before the alterations.
“Your sharpened chakrams and chakris will be ready for pickup in a few hours. And visit me when you want that armor painted black. Can’t guarantee paint will last very long if you take many hits, but it’s easy enough to touch back up after a scrape.”
“Will do,” Vir said with a nod, leaving the shop. “C’mon, boy. Let’s go get some fresh air.”
Neel replied with an excited Arooo, shaking his tail with vigor.
A potted planter with fresh soil caught Vir’s eye as he walked through the Brotherhood courtyard. While he was thankful the armor was slim enough to be concealed under his robes, as an added precaution, he stopped to smear mud on it. Now, it looked like an ordinary piece of clothing. He’d of course have to keep reapplying it, but it would do for now.
“Well, I’m pretty tired, but how about we go explore the Upper West Side area next?” Vir said as they exited the Brotherhood Sanctum. “We can take some rooftops to get there. That oughta give you some exercise.”
Woof, woof!
“Oh?” a voice said, stopping Vir in his tracks. “Why the Upper West Side? Anything interesting there?”
That voice…
Vir slowly turned. Amin was leaning against the Sanctum building, his arms crossed.
Chills went down Vir’s back. A thousand thoughts broke out in his head. Mina Hiranya!
“What’s wrong with you?” Amin said. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
“I, uh, had a rough night. Brotherhood business,” Vir said, remembering his acting training. “Didn’t get much sleep.”
“Yeah! I can tell. You look like a ghost. C’mon! Walk with me,” Amin said, sticking his hands in his pockets as he turned into an alley.
Vir followed with Neel. He’d given much thought to how he’d interact with Amin and ultimately decided it was best to stay away from the boy—from the princess. Knowing what he knew, he’d be hard-pressed to keep up his act for long. Against someone like Princess Mina, who was quite obviously a master of subterfuge herself, Vir had little confidence.
“So anyway, why the Upper West Side district? Something to do with Riyan’s mission? You never told me what he wants you to do, by the way.”
Vir pondered his words carefully. Mina—Amin—knew Vir was Riyan’s agent, so outright denying that his mission had anything to do with Princess Mina would be a bad idea. The princess’s feud with Riyan ran deep. Very deep. If he’d sent an agent, it could only be for her. Then again, admitting he was here to kill the princess also felt like a horrible plan.
In fact, he couldn’t understand why Mina hadn’t taken action against him yet. She must know that he was a danger to her. Why take the risk? Why not send her royal guard to kill him in his sleep?
Does she want something from me? Or maybe she’s not as evil as I’m making her out to be…
The easy topic was to ask her what she knew about Princess Mina, but he’d already brought up that topic the last time they spoke.
“What, erm, what do you know of Head Priest Harak?” Vir said, carefully eyeing her reaction. Though the topic was related to Mina, it wasn’t about her. It was good to sow doubt in her mind. Plus, he could hint that he was uncertain about going through with Riyan’s plan. Perhaps then, she might open up to him.
Amin came to a stop in a deserted alley and crouched to pet Neel, who thoroughly enjoyed her ministrations.
“That chal. Hate him. Can’t stand the man.”
Vir was taken aback. “Why? What’s he done?”
“Nothing! He’s perfect. Too perfect. Anyone that saintly and generous has a side they’re trying to hide, lemme tell you.”
Why’s she saying these things? Vir simply couldn’t decipher Mina’s plan. Vir doubted she knew that he’d caught on to her true identity. Shouldn’t she sing praises about Harak—the man she herself put into power?
“Y-you think so?” Vir replied. “To be honest, I’m not fully onboard with Riyan’s plan. I was hoping for a chance to talk to Harak. I think we might be able to help each other out,” he said.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Amin said with a snort.
“You can’t help arrange a meeting?” Vir asked. If he could meet the head priest, it’d be trivial to take him out.
“No way, no how. Forget it. My connections don’t run that deep. Maybe I could arrange something if it was a low ranking ’risto, but the royal priest? You gotta be crazy.”
“Right, figures,” Vir replied. It’d have been too easy getting my potential target to set me up like that.
He looked over at the frail boy beside him. No matter how much he tried, he simply couldn’t see her as the princess. Her disguise was absolutely perfect. Vir doubted her own mother would recognize her.
“Say, Amin?”
“What’s up?”
“What if… What if you had to make life hard for someone, but weren’t sure whether that person deserved it? What if you were forced into an unreasonable situation? Blackmailed to do it. But you want to find out whether they’re a good person or not. And if they were, maybe you joined forces with them instead? What would you do?”
By mentioning Harak earlier, she’d naturally suspect he was talking about the priest, and not her.
“Hmm. I guess I’d just find out whether they were evil or not? What’s so hard about that?”
“What if it was really difficult to find the answer?”
“Meh. I’d just kill them.”
Vir blinked. “Sorry, what?” He hadn’t uttered a word about assassination, or even hinted at it.
“If you make life hard for them, they’re just gonna come after you. And if you don’t, you get blackmailed. Just kill them and be done with it.”
“You would take a life so easily?”
Amin picked up some dirt from the alley’s floor, then stared Vir in the eyes.
“You see this?” she said, opening her hand. “This is what life is worth in this city. People think it’s so precious. Sacred. Something that oughta be fought for. Then you see a guy kick a starving beggar, ending his life, just like that. You see kids die of diseases that could’ve easily been cured, if only they had enough money. Life isn’t worth anything, Neel.”
“That’s… rather harsh, don’t you think? There are good people in this world, striving to make it a better place. Don’t you think those people are valuable?”
“Valuable to whom? To those beggars they might one day save? Sure, but they’ll get no thanks from them. Only scorn. To the kingdom? Sure, but Hiranya is dead. No point dying for something already in the grave, yeah?”
“That’s a sad way to live,” Vir said softly.
“Maybe. I… gave up on being noble long ago. What’s even the point? What’s the point of anything anymore? Y’know? Sometimes, to fix something, you just gotta destroy it first…”
She wants to save this nation… By ending it.
Vir stared at the princess. “Even if it means killing innocents?”