Chapter XVII: Capturing The Princess...

The journey back to the palace was done mostly in silence.

A few words had been exchanged between Donovan and Camillia, but even then, the words that they said to one another were nothing major or of super importance.

The dwarf in charge of the hideout they had raided didn't tell them much, but he did say something was coming, and that the world they know will soon change, for it was inevitable.

Neither of the two knew what he meant, and after a small discussion with one another, Camillia changed the topic and asked what they should do with Lohar. She had suggested they take him to the authorities and have them question him since he was telling them nothing, but, in the end, Donovan took the man's life away from him by cutting his head off.

This had came as a surprise to Camillia, for she didn't expect him to do this, so she asked him why, in which he told her that it was for the best, and that they'd get nothing more out of him.

Of course, there was no way Donovan could have been sure of this, but Camillia didn't bother arguing with him about this, for it would have been pointless. The dwarf who was known as Lohar was dead on the floor, and neither of them could bring him back from the dead, for that was impossible.

After they had arrived at the Emperor's palace, and entered the secret passageway, Camillia asked Donovan if he was doing alright, but the reply she got from him was short, and lacked conviction. He had also told her not worry about him, but this only troubled her more.

Feeling like they needed to discuss what happened back at the House of Shadow's hideout, Camillia waited until they arrived at his room before saying to him. "Fane, we need to talk about what happened back there."

"What is there to discuss?" He questioned with a small frown as he entered his room, his voice lacking emotions.

"Fane." She said in a low tone as she followed him into his room, a look of concern decorating her face. "Don't treat me like this, we're friends, remember?"

Donovan said nothing at this, and remained silent.

"Since when did we become friends?" He asked himself with only a tiny bit of curiosity. "Friends are people you're supposed to share your secrets with, and someone you turn to talk to when you're having problems, so what made us friends?"

He didn't voice these thoughts of his, but he couldn't help from asking himself this either.

Seeing that he was quiet, Camillia believed what had been said to him affected him deeply.

"Fane, please talk to me." She requested after moving closer to him and carefully grabbing ahold of his left hand with her right hand.

Looking at the hand that was being held by her, Donovan said, "I'm fine, really I am."

"Fane," She said in a more serious voice as her grip on his hand became a little tighter. "look at me."

Turning to face her, Donovan watched as she let go of his hand and extended her arms upwards to grab ahold of his helmet that was hiding his expression.

The sight would have been what some would have considered to be romantic, but Camillia had to stand on her tippy toes, and struggled somewhat on removing his helmet due to him being a little too tall.

Nonetheless, she had managed to take off his helmet, and upon removing it, she could see a few tears trailing down the side of his cheeks.

Upon her seeing his face, Donovan instantly looked away, and said, "Like I said, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You're crying, which means you're not fine." Camillia declared in a manner of sternness.

"You're mistaken; I just have something in my eyes." He lied as he attempted to wipe away his tears with his right hand.

Camillia became a little irritated at this, but she didn't let her irritation slip out. No, instead, she took a deep breath before saying, "Fane, I want you to know that you're not a monster. What that man said to you isn't true, and that you're a good person."

"Am I?" He asked, a tiny bit of anger in his voice. "Can you really tell me that I'm a good person after I took thirty-three lives today?"

As he asked this, his voice flared up some more.

"Yes, because you're crying over what you had to do and not you being a monster." She affirmed without a bit of hesitation. "A bad person doesn't cry over taking lives, but you do, you're weeping for them."

Donovan said nothing.

He had wanted to tell her that she was wrong, but he couldn't find the strength to say that.

He had also wanted to tell her that what Lohar said was actually true, and his sole purpose in this world was to take lives, but he couldn't find the strength to say that either.

In the end, he couldn't find the strength to say anything.

Believing that her words reached his heart, Camillia said as she took his hands into her hands. "No matter what people say, I will never consider you to be a monster, Fane. I know that you're a good person, and nothing will change my thoughts on that."

At this, Donovan glanced down at their hands, and spoke in a low tone. "I do not deserve your kindness..."

"You do." She affirmed while tightening her grips on his hands. "You honestly do, Fane."

Still unsure if he did, Donovan said nothing, and simply stared at their hands. His hands were bigger than hers, and while they both wearing gauntlets, he imagined that they weren't.

The two stayed like this for a while, but eventually, it came to an end, and Donovan pulled his hands away from her while telling her. "You should probably go back to your room now. It's been a long day, and you probably need to talk to your father and let him know what we found out and what's going on."

Although she was a bit hesitant, Camillia believed that Donovan was no longer troubled by what had been said to him earlier, and said, "You're most likely right, so I'll let him know first thing in the morning."

With that said and done, Camillia exited the room.

On her way back to her room, Camillia came across someone she didn't expect to see, and that was the Emperor's most trusted advisor, Pavus.

He wasn't alone, and was accompanied by a dozen and half dwarves who were wearing black armor.

"Princess Camillia," He greeted with what appeared to be a friendly smile. "what a coincidence, I was just looking for you. I have many things I wish to discuss with you."

Surprised to see the man, Camillia said in a cautious tone as she entered a defensive stance. "Lord Pavus."

Seeing her shift into a wary stance made him chuckle. "Princess Camillia, what is with that stance of yours? You're making it look as if I'm some type of bad guy, who wants to bring you harm."

Camillia stayed silent, for a few seconds before speaking. "I know what you're planning, Lord Pavus, so please stop now before it's too late. I'm sure if you do my father will forgive you for all your transgressions, and let you continue serving him."

"Your father has grown soft, Princess Camillia." Lord Pavus said with a shake of his head. "Which is truly unfortunate, for I used to admire him greatly. However, now though, I do not, and like others feel he should be replaced with someone strong, someone like me."

Camillia clenched her fists at this, and declared in a serious voice. "Lord Pavus, stop. I have always considered you to be a member of my family since I was a little girl, but if you say something like that about my father again, I will kill you."

The Emperor's most trusted advisor remained silent for a few seconds as he stared her down. "Wow, I wasn't expecting that to come from your mouth, but then again, you're not the little girl I thought you were. I recall you being sweet, and uh, innocent. However, when I look at you now, I can't help but feel like my life is in danger."

As he said this, Camillia slowly moved her hands to the weapons that were strapped to her waist.

This didn't go unnoticed by Lord Pavus, or his men, and he couldn't help from smiling as he talked. "Unfortunately, I cannot be killed here. I have a mission and that is to purge our glorious Empire of the filth that dwells in our kingdoms, and to fight our true enemies! This is what our people, and the Stone wants from me, and I will not fail either of them!"

"You're insane and delusional, Lord Pavus, and because of that I will stop you." Camillia boldly declared as she unsheathed the blades from her waist, which earned a chuckle from the old man.

"By all means, try to stop me, but let me warn you now that it is a futile attempt." He proudly stated with not a trace of fear or concern in his voice.

Camillia wasn't deterred by this in the slightest and charged the man, which had caused Lord Pavus' guards to move to intercept.

As they did, Lord Pavus said in an offhand manner. "Do not kill the princess, I'm fine with you roughing her up a little, but I want her alive and breathing."

Had Camillia heard this comment, she might have said something, but because she was too preoccupied with the first person who got in her way, she paid it no attention.

The first man who had gotten in her way was a swordsman, and let out a battle cry as he charged at her with his blade held up high in the air.

It was obvious what type of attack he was going to do, and because of that, she was able to easily avoid his overhand strike without losing any momentum she had gained.

However, before moving past him, she reversed the grip on the short sword that was in her right hand, and after doing so, she sliced into his left abdomen.

Now, due to the sharpness of the blade, and the material used to make it, Camillia was able to cut through the metal armor he wore. Unfortunately, this didn't kill him, but it was enough to take him out of the fight.

As the man collapsed, and placed his hands onto his wound, the Dwarven Princess collided with another one of Lord Pavus' guards, and was forced to stop advancing and leap back.

The man wielded a maul, and swung it at her with relative ease. He was a bit wider than her first opponent, but that didn't mean he was fat. No, he was a robust dwarf, which was most likely the reason why he was able to swing the two-handed mace at her with little to no effort.

While evading another one of his attacks, that could cripple her, if not that kill her, another one of Lord Pavus' guards rushed past the man and lunged at her with his blade.

Camillia evaded the guard's thrust by sidestepping to her left, and then getting closer to him before planting the blade in her left hand into the man in the throat.

She then quickly removed it as the man fell to the ground, and was forced to move back again by the maul wielding dwarf as two more guards approached her from her left and right flank.

Dodging another blow that would have probably killed her, Camillia saw that the dwarf on her right was closer, but decided not to focus on him due to him carrying a shield.

The thought of fleeing had crossed her mind as her eyes shifted to the man on her left, but unfortunately, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to escape them, and that they would catch up to her, and capture her.

"What was I thinking?" She asked herself as the man on her right attempted to attack her, which made her have to dodge yet again. "I'm not like Fane, who can take on this many people at once without any help."

She believed herself to be very gifted in combat, but after seeing that she was still up against sixteen people, Camillia realized that she made a terrible mistake, and was now most likely going to pay the price because of it.

Avoiding another attack that was sent her way by doing a combat roll, Camillia countered by stabbing the man in the thigh before yanking her blade out only to see another man shoulder charge into her while letting out a roar.

The man could have ended her life with the mace in his hands by hitting her over the head with it, but instead of doing that, he knocked her down.

Not long after landing on her back did Lord Pavus' guards quickly covered the distance between them and surrounded her. The swordsmen of the group pointed their swords at her, but none of them roughed her up, for it was obvious they were the victors.

"That was a little disappointing, I was expecting a little more since she charged at us, but in reality, she wasn't that tough." One of the dwarves stated in a displeased tone.

"I agree, which makes me wonder if she is truly that man's daughter." Another added as he looked at his companions.

As a few more voiced their thoughts on Camillia, and her fighting prowess, the maul wielding dwarf said in an annoyed tone as Lord Pavus approached them with a satisfied smile. "Will you all shut your mouths, and stop acting so high and mighty? I doubt any of you could actually last against her in a one on one, so why don't you make yourselves useful and check on Jericho and Varric?"

Seeing that their commander was upset with them, the dwarves who voiced their thoughts on the matter decided to check on the wounded.

Meanwhile, Lord Pavus said, "If I'm going, to be honest, I was expecting something more grandiose, but then again, it was eighteen against one, and she is a woman, so I shouldn't have expected her to be like her father."

As he said this, tears welled up in Camillia's eyes. However, they weren't there because she feared she let her father down, no for some strange reason, she was thinking about Fane the Black Knight.

"Fane..." She thought as she held back the urge to let out a sniffle. "I'm sorry, I ended up doing something foolish. I shouldn't have done this, and should have just ran away, but because of my tactlessness you're going to lose your life."

The thought of Fane's head on a chopping block rushed through her mind, and upon this happening, she couldn't stop herself from letting out a tiny sniffle. It didn't attract Lord Pavus' attention or his guards, for he was too busy talking and giving out their next set of orders, but it nonetheless came out of her.

As the tears began to pour out of her eyes, Camillia wondered if this was truly how things were going to end. If everything she had done so far for the Empire was going to be washed away, and if that was the last time she was going to see Fane.

She didn't want that to be the case. She didn't want any of that to be the case, but she couldn't prevent herself from thinking like this. Of course, she was concerned she wasn't going to see her father either again, but that had fallen in the lines of everything she had done for the Empire, for he was the Emperor and she did a lot of things in secret to help him out.

"Anyways, take Princess Camillia here to my estate, and double the watch there." Lord Pavus declared. "As for the rest of you, take care of this Black Knight, I don't need him foiling my plans."

"Understood, My Lord, no My Emperor." The maul wielding dwarf stated with a bow of his head.

As Donovan laid in bed, he wondered about what was going to happen, and what exactly happened to Lady Nyx's servant.

Sure, he and Camillia had discovered a plot to overthrow her father, but they had yet to figure out anything about the missing servant, so he was a little more interested in her disappearance than anything else.

However, he was soon pulled out of these thoughts by the sound of the secret passageway opening, which was followed by several male voices.

Curious as to what was going on, Donovan sat up and watched as a group of black-armored dwarves entered his room while nonchalantly chatting with one another.

"Um, excuse me?" Donovan called out in an unsure manner as he got out of his, which gained the attention of the dwarves. "What are you guys doing in my room?"

The one who was leading the group was surprised to see a human, and couldn't exactly stop himself from saying, "Huh, a human? Why's a human in the Black Knight's room?"

"Did we perhaps enter the wrong room?" One dwarf questioned as Donovan frowned.

"No, this is his room as you can see, there's his armor." Another dwarf declared as he pointed at the armor and weapon of the Black Knight.

"Huh, you're right." The questioning dwarf said upon glancing at the black armor. "Hey human, where's the Black Knight? We have business with him. Also, what's your relationship with him? You his lover or something?"

Donovan said nothing at first, but he was pretty sure the man just assumed he was gay.

"No, I'm not his lover or anything like that." Donovan stated in an annoyed tone.

"I see." The dwarf said skeptically before murmuring to his companions. "I call bullshit on that, the human was laying in his bed."

Not saying anything on the matter, Donovan continued to pretend not to be the Black Knight, and said as the dwarf's companions chuckled at the previous statement. "Anyways, what business do you have with the Black Knight?"

"Important business, and that's all you need to know, so tell us where he went." The dwarf who was leading the group stated in a slightly peeved voice.

Narrowing his eyes, Donovan took a good look at them again.

There was ten of them, and all of them were armed, which wouldn't have made him suspicious of them had they been wearing the palace guards' armor, but because they wore black armor, he was a little on edge with them.

Thinking it was best to reveal who he was, Donovan said in a prideful tone. "Alright, well I'm telling you, you won't have to look far, for I am the Black Knight."

At this, the dwarfs stared at him before giving each other questioning looks before averting their attention back at him again. It took a few seconds, but then it came.

"Ahahaha, that was a good one!"

"Hahaha, awman for a second there I thought he actually was the Black Knight, but then I remembered he was a human!"

"Who would have thought humans could tell such good jokes? Ahahaha!"

Seeing them laugh at him pissed him off a little. "Am I joke to you?" He asked in a serious voice, which only made them laugh even harder than before and continue to mock him.

Getting more and more triggered by their laughter, black flames manifested in his hands, and he shouted loudly. "Enough, all of you!"

This made them shut their mouths and cease their laughing.

Satisfied that they stopped laughing, the black flames disappeared, and Donovan started to speak in a much more calmer tone. "Thank you, now what business do you have with me?"

"Same kind of business we had with Princess Camillia. However, unlike her, we don't need you alive." The dwarf leader stated as he unsheathed his blade.

Donovan's eyes narrowed once again, and clenched his fists a little as black flames conjured in his palms. "What did you just say?"

At this, the dwarf grinned and said arrogantly as one of his companions pulled out a tiny metallic ball from their pouch. "Oh you know, nothing worth being repeated twice."

Upon him saying this, the flames in Donovan's hands grew, but what he didn't see was the small metal sphere falling to the ground and becoming slightly bigger.

"Tell me what you just-" Donovan started before abruptly pausing. Something was off, he didn't know what it was, but it felt like the flames that had manifested in his hands had disappeared along with all the mana in his body.

It was strange, and out of curiosity, Donovan lifted his hands only to see that the flames were gone.

"Wha, What?" He said in surprise as he tried to conjure up some magic only to be unsuccessful.

"What's the matter?" The leader of the group asked with a big toothy grin. "Can't cast any spells?"

Looking at the dwarf, Donovan said in an angry tone. "What did you do to me?"

"Oh, I could tell you, but I'd rather not waste the energy, so why don't we just get onto killing you now, okay?" The dwarf stated before he and his companions rushed Donovan.