Chapter 21

Another name in his phone thought Ven as he looked at his phone screen with a smile, it felt like he was adding a name almost every day. Going through the names, his eyes landed on Aaron’s name, he hadn’t heard back from the man yet, maybe he should call him but first he needed to finalize some things.

“Frank, how many people usually work under Knights?” asked Ven.

“I am not quite sure, sir. Maybe it would be better to ask a fellow Knight or Knight Captain Rendall about such matters,” answered Frank as he kept his eyes on the road.

“That seems like a wise course of action, but first let’s see if we can find anyone else to join our ranks,” said Ven.

“Ven, I know this isn’t the best time, but you need to hear this!” said Vikram loudly in Ven’s ear, “You don’t have to reply, just listen. Natalie’s been arrested and sentenced to be executed! Zacharias didn’t want you to hear about this, but I remember seeing how close you two had gotten during your time here. I am not sure if there is anything you can do to help her, but if I was in your shoes, I would’ve wanted to know.”

Ven sat upright as he heard the name. Why did Zacharias decide to not tell him about Natalie? Were they planning on rescuing her or were they leaving her to die? Could he as a Knight use his authority to cancel her execution?

“When is the execution?” asked Ven as he signaled to Frank that he was speaking to his Assistant.

“It should be carried out before this week ends,” answered Vikram.

“Send me the address of where she’s being held,” said Ven as he pulled out the Assistant from his coat pocket.

“Frank, can Knights recruit criminals to work for them?” asked Ven.

“It isn’t unheard of, but it isn’t normal. And I wouldn’t say I would recommend recruiting a criminal, someone with better morals would be a preferable choice,” said Frank.

“What would I need to do to get a prisoner’s execution cancelled?” asked Ven.

“A letter from Knight Captain Rendall’s stating the guilty has been a given a chance to have their crimes forgiven by contributing to the Kingdom. If they fail to do so or are found attempting to flee from their duty, they are to be apprehended and executed on the spot,” said Frank with a sigh.

“Frank, we’re going to be taking a detour, I need to get to the UTF headquarters,” said Ven as he looked at the address Vikram had sent.

“HQ? Very well, sir. But I must repeat, hiring a criminal isn’t something I would recommend,” said Frank.

“I haven’t decided what I am doing yet,” said Ven as he sat back.

It didn’t take much to get access to Natalie, Ven had merely walked up to the reception and told them who he was, a short check on their computers to confirm his identity was all it took. He walked slowly behind a nervous young man who was leading him to where Natalie was locked up.

Ven looked left and right at the inhabitants of the cells as he followed, they were clean, and the prisoners seemed like they weren’t being abused or mistreated while they were here. That made Ven took a sigh of relief, at least Natalie would be unhurt.

“This here is the person you would like to meet; I’ll be back to pick you up in fifteen minutes, sir,” said the young man as he saluted and left.

Natalie looked up to see who had come to badger her for a testimony now, it had been days of people asking her the same questions repeatedly.

Ven? What was he doing here? The last she had heard about him was he had been sent to work for the Police, maybe he had used his contacts to arrange a meeting with her. She just hoped the idiot wasn’t doing something that would get unnecessary suspicion on him.

“Who are you and what do you want?” asked Natalie acting like she didn’t know Ven.

“I am here to ask about what you did to end up here,” asked Ven as he stood on the other side of the bars.

“Your people have already filed the papers and my sentence has been decided, why don’t you just read their files,” said Natalie.

“I am here to help you, but I only have fifteen minutes before that young man comes back. So, if you want to live, tell me what happened,” said Ven urgently.

“I joined UTF around six months ago, after the basic training, I was placed in a squad under a man named Quinten. My first impression of him was that he was a talented man and a good leader. When I first joined his team, I was surprised to see everyone else was a woman too. When I asked him about it, he said that’s just how things were, he had somehow ended up being the only guy on this team and he hoped it wasn’t a problem for me.”

“I laughed it off at the time, but I should have trusted my instincts and known this situation wasn’t normal. Over time I got closer with the team, and we started to trust each other. It was then I let my guard down and Quentin made his move. We were out having drinks after a long day at work. He drugged me,” said Natalie as she looked away.

“I am going to kill him,” said Ven as he narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t, it’s how I ended up here,” said Natalie dismissively.

“Maybe you’re right, I’ll let him be for now, but I am getting you out of here,” said Ven.

“I appreciate the thought, but it’s over, there is nothing you can do,” said Natalie.

“Trust me and just be a little patient,” said Ven.

Back at the palace, William and his assistants were having a hard time concentrating on their tasks as Ven and Rendall were having a heated argument about Ven’s request for Rendall to let Natalie join his team.

“No, get someone else!” said Rendall.

“There isn’t anyone else, you know that. I am lucky to have found the people I have,” protested Ven.

“She tried to kill her commanding officer!” shouted Rendall.

“It wasn’t her fault! I’ve spoken to her personally, she told me what happened,” said Ven.

“Of course, she gave you a sob story! She’s going to be hanged, she’s going to say whatever she can to save herself,” said Rendall.

“Quentin drugged her and then had his way with her, do you think anyone would tell a lie like that? Even if they would, would a person who has joined the UTF and has a promising career laid out ahead of them, would they just throw all of that away?” asked Ven.

“If she was wronged, she should have filed a complained and had the matter handled, she took the law into her own hands. Can you imagine what kind of message it sends to the people if she doesn’t get hanged?” asked Rendall.

“The way she did things was wrong, but letting her be executed is the same as condoning what Quentin did,” said Ven.

“Supposedly did, there isn’t any proof,” said Rendall.

“Start an investigation, let her work for me until then. That way if she is guilty carry out the punishment, but if she isn’t, Quentin deserves what is coming to him,” said Ven grimly.

“If he did what this woman claims he did, we will take care of punishing him, don’t you dare take things into your own hands,” said Rendall as he glared at Ven.

“When can I get her out?” asked Ven, as he avoided replying to what Rendall had said.

“I’ll tell William to arrange for her release. But make sure she understands this, if she gives me any excuse, and I mean any excuse, she will be behind bars,” said Rendall.

“I’ll make sure she gets the message. But I know she won’t. Quentin on the other hand, I am quite sure he will run as soon as hears she’s been released,” said Ven with a meaningful look at Rendall, “I have to meet Master Aaron about my sword and armor, so if it’s alright, I would like to take my leave.”

“Tell him to hurry up, I want you to start your bodyguard assignment this week! No more excuses and delays!” said Rendall angrily.

“Yes, sir,” said Ven with a salute.

When he felt he was far enough from Rendall’s office, he pulled out his phone and started looking for Aaron’s phone number.

“Aaron?” asked Ven.

“Yes, speaking, are you calling about your equipment?” asked Aaron with an irritated tone.

“Things not going according to plan?” asked Ven.

“There have been unexpected challenges, I didn’t expect it to be so difficult to make armor without using a 3D printer. I had to call in an expert for help, something I am not thrilled about, but a necessity,” said Aaron.

“While you’re working on that can you make me some normal armor. Walking around in just a suit, I don’t feel safe,” said Ven.

“I expected you might say that. I prepared one once I started having trouble with making your armor. If you come to my lab, you can pick up everything you need. Useless standard issue garbage everyone uses,” said Aaron as he hung up.

“He’s not going to be happy when I ask him to make more armor. I think I’ll tell him that bit of news in person,” thought Ven as he put his phone away.

Slightly embarrassed he still didn’t know his way around the Palace, Ven had to make his way back to Rendall’s office and ask William for one of his assistants as a guide.

“Hi, I am here to pick up my things,” said Ven as he announced himself.

“Yes, here you go,” said Aaron as he handed Ven a large suitcase.

“The sword and gun?” asked Ven.

“Both sword and gun are in there, now I know I said I will let you pick which gun you wanted, but yeah, I didn’t get time to order more, so just make do with this,” said Aaron as he picked up a large rectangular case and handed it to Ven.

“Thanks,” said Ven, “Say, I’ll need four or five sets of body armor for a team I am assembling, how long would it take to 3D print them?”

“I’ll need their measurements first, once I have those, one set takes around half a day, so three to four days for everything. I am guessing they need guns as well,” said Aaron with an irritated tone.

“It would be great if you could help,” said Ven.

“I really want to concentrate on making your armor, so every minute I am not doing that feels like a waste. But if you die out there because your colleagues weren’t equipped, I lose my field tester, so send me their measurements and a list of whatever else they want, I’ll figure something out,” said Aaron with a sigh, “Now if there is nothing else, I would like to get back to work.”

“Yes, of course, I don’t want to get in your way,” said Ven.

After leaving Aaron’s lab, Ven set down everything he was carrying to make a phone call, it was best if he got this out of the way.

“Hi, this is Ven, so I am not sure if you’ve been told, but from now on, my team and I will be accompanying you as your bodyguards,” said Ven.

“I got a message about it, yes. Why aren’t you here doing your job?” asked Audrey.

“Yes, about that, I was a little busy getting a team together as I thought it was the most effective method to protect you in the eventuality of something happening. At least two of us can accompany you from tomorrow and from next week, at least four or five if we are lucky,” said Ven, “But before we start tomorrow, I need to know some things from you.”

“Like?” asked Audrey.

“Where to meet you, where do you live, does your routine change from day to day, things like that,” said Ven as he scratched his head thinking of what else he should ask her.

“I live at the Palace with Lady Lilliana; the woman has a whole wing of the Palace to herself. My routine for day to day is dependent on Lady Lilliana’s schedule, I am sure that Knight Captain Rendall or Lady Lilliana would be more than willing to let you know what her schedule entails. Mind you it is information kept on a need-to-know basis,” said Audrey.

Hearing Lilliana’s manner of speaking changing, Ven guessed someone she couldn’t speak openly in front of us was perhaps nearby, he thought for a second before saying what he wanted to say next.

“I and one of my assistants will meet you tomorrow morning at Knight Captain Rendall’s office, is that acceptable?” asked Ven.

“Can’t you two just come to the wing where Lady Lilliana resides?” asked Audrey.

“I don’t really know my way around the Palace yet, and if possible, I don’t want to ask William to lend me one of his assistants again. So, it would be a huge help if you could meet us there,” said Ven.

“I don’t want to, what if something happens on my way over there. You two come to me, I don’t care if you have to ask for help,” said Audrey stubbornly.

“Fine, I’ll figure something out, but don’t be surprised if we’re a little late,” said Ven irritably.

“Learn to get around the Palace already,” said Audrey as she hung up.

I hope she was just pretending to be annoying because someone was there. On the other hand, if she was a horrible person, if he decided to help the rebels, it would be easier to kill her without any hesitation.

“Ven, I have been monitoring your conversations with other people and it seems that you are struggling to find your way around the building you are currently in,” said Vikram in Ven’s earpiece.

“Monitoring?” asked Ven.

“Pinging your location on a map I can see exactly where you are. From there I just make a note of the route you took to get from one place to another, so if I help you retrace your steps, I can take you back to where you came from. Plus, the more you walk around the Palace, the more data I will have about where places lie, and I can use that to make a map of the Palace,” said Vikram as he ignored Ven’s comment.

“Is that so? Well, then lead the way back to the main entrance,” said Ven as he reached for the things he had put on the ground.

We also finally got to see some of the corruption in the UTF, not all of its members are upstanding citizens. Will there be more? Tune in next week to find out more ;)

As always, stay safe out there.