"...So, I plan to et with her and convince her to help in the investigations."
As Riku took flight again, he explained his plan to Clara.
"It is a risky gamble, Riku." Clara’s voice echoed in his mind. "She tried to kill you before."
"And I escaped," Riku countered. "Don’t worry, even a 100 of her won’t be able to force to move a single finger."
Disguise [-15 Goodwill Points]
He reactivated his Capital Warden disguise and approached a pair of guards patrolling a quiet, moonlit plaza. "Guards," he grunted, his voice gruff. "I have an urgent ssage for the High Archon. Where is she quartered?"
The guards, hearing his question, looked at each other in confusion. Why was a warden asking them the directions to the High Archon’s house? Did he not know that himself?
Riku, noticing the suspicion, spoke with a much harsher tone.
"I do not have all day. Speak right now,"
Seeing his aura flare up, the guards cowered, and then one of them spoke fearfully. "The High Archon, sir? She’s been at the Ivory Spire, the old Vestal’s retreat at the edge of the Noble’s Quarter."
"My thanks," Riku said, turning and heading in that direction.
The Ivory Spire was a well-appointed but modest manor, surrounded by a serene garden and a high stone wall. It was opulent, but not as much as the Vayne manor.
"There are no wards here, Riku," Clara observed ntally. "We should be safe."
"Good," Riku thought. "That makes this easier."
He found a secluded spot shadowed by a towering cypress tree and dropped his disguise. With a soft push of levitation magic, he floated silently over the wall, landing in the garden. He was aiming for a study or a parlor, but in the dark, one balcony looked much like another. He picked one on the second floor that seed quiet, its doors slightly ajar to let in the night air.
Listening for a mont and hearing nothing, he slipped inside.
The air was warm, humid, and slled sweetly of lavender and rosewater. He had entered a lavish bathing chamber, connected to the main bedroom. Through the thick steam rising from a large, marble tub, he saw her.
The High Archon was subrged to her shoulders in the steaming water, her back to him, her dark hair pinned up ssily.
Riku froze.
"Wrong room," he thought, his mind going completely blank. "Definitely the wrong room."
"Her defenses are surprisingly lax for a High Archon," Clara comnted dryly from the safety of the charm.
He tried to back out, to retreat as silently as he had arrived. But in his haste, his boot caught the leg of a small, ornate table laden with glass bottles of oils and perfus.
CRASH!
A bottle clattered to the marble floor, the sound echoing like a thunderclap in the quiet room.
"Who’s there?!" a sharp voice demanded.
Through the steam, the High Archon whirled around, her eyes blazing with fury and humiliation. In one fluid motion, she grabbed a large, fluffy towel and her silver-hilted sword, which had been resting on a stand next to the tub.
"YOU!" she shrieked, recognizing his disguised face as she hastily wrapped the towel around herself. "The spy from before! How dare you show yourself here!"
She didn’t wait for an answer. With a roar, she lunged, her sword a blur of light aid straight at his neck.
Riku, snapping out of his shock, dodged backward, parrying the furious strike with his armored gauntlet. Sparks flew. "Wait! High Archon, please! This is a misunderstanding!"
"I’ll give you a misunderstanding!" she snarled, pressing her attack with a flurry of swift, powerful thrusts and slashes. She was skilled, her movents precise and deadly. Riku was forced purely on the defensive, his main goal now to keep her from screaming and alerting the entire manor guard.
Seeing she wouldn’t listen, he knew he had to end the fight. He saw an opening as she lunged again, sidestepped, and moved in close, trapping her sword arm against the wall and pinning her body with his own. "Just... calm... down!" he grunted, holding her firmly.
The sudden, intimate proximity, the shock of being overpowered and trapped against the wall, made them both freeze for a split second. But it was that sa motion that caused the loosely wrapped towel, now slick with steam, to lose its purchase.
It slipped, pooling silently at her feet on the marble floor.
An electric silence filled the room. The High Archon’s eyes widened in horror, her face flushing a deep, furious crimson.
Riku stared, completely mortified. He felt a sudden, inexplicable warmth rush to his face. A single, dark red drop dripped from his nose, landing with an audible plip on her bare shoulder.
A nosebleed, his second ti within a few weeks.
He instantly let go as if he’d been burned, stumbling back, his hands raised in a gesture of utter surrender. "I... I am so, so sorry! I didn’t an to! I swear!"
The High Archon stood frozen for another heartbeat, then snatched up the fallen towel, wrapping it around herself with a furious, trembling motion. The earlier righteous fury in her eyes was now mixed with a tinge of redness. The fight was completely gone from her.
"GET. OUT," she hissed, her voice low and trembling with rage, pointing a shaking finger towards the adjoining bedroom.
"Yes! Of course! Imdiately!" Riku practically scrambled out of the bathing chamber, his own face burning with sha.
He waited in the adjoining bedroom, his heart still pounding. A few tense minutes later, she erged, now dressed in a simple but serene grey robe, her dark hair still damp and hastily tied back. She sat in a chair across the room, placing her gleaming sword across her lap.
Her face was still flushed, but her eyes were cold as ice.
"You," she said, her voice dangerously low. "You have ten seconds to explain why I shouldn’t scream for the Wardens and have you publicly executed for being a spy and a degenerate pervert."
"Start talking."
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