NOVEL WEB Ch. 25 Game of Lies (Charles)
The impact of armored bodies against the door made Charles jump. He knew it was only a matter of time until it happened but he had been hoping they would take longer to get here. The door into the portal chamber had a lock on it, but that didn’t stop Charles from piling up an impressive amount of heavy crates in front of the staircase entryway. Muffled voices shouted to one another briefly before heavy axes began smashing through the door.
Charles sighed and checked the mage’s watch-like instrument in his hand. He still had an hour before Alison would be sent through the teleporter. The guards would get through his makeshift barricade long before then. He needed more time.
“Mmmmm!”
Charles turned to see the gagged mage frantically pull at the rope around his arms and legs only to earn a sharp slap to the back of his head from the gleeful Sharon.
“Ah, ah, ah.” Sharon tisked. “You’re still needed here.”
The slightly crazed blond turned her gaze on Charles.
“I have no problem fighting the guard, but there’s a limit to how many I can fight at one time. I hope you have something more in mind than that pathetic pile of trash blocking the entrance.”
“Pathetic?” Charles huffed. “This is a finely constructed barricade.”
In direct contrast to his statement the top section of the barricade collapsed due to the axes hacking away at its base.
Charles coughed. “It’s uh, it's supposed to do that.”
I need to get them to back off. Charles bit his fingernails as he watched the guards working through their last line of defense. How would…
Inspiration struck Charles and he darted over to Sharon.
“Can you do an impression of a little girl?” Charles asked her frantically.
Sharon gagged. “You’re into that kind of roleplay? That’s pretty messed up.”
Charles punched her shoulder. “Not for me you idiot. We need to get the guards to back down, but the only way they’re going to do that is if we have a hostage.”
Sharon’s eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. “I can do it.”
Charles pulled her over near the barricade and cleared his throat.
“Attention crown’s guard!” He shouted at the diminishing pile of crates.
The sound of hacking quieted and an authoritative voice called back.
“Open this door and surrender! We have your colleagues arrested upstairs and the entire area sealed off. There’s no escape Basilisk scum!”
“Ho ho.” Charles projected what he hoped was a villainous laugh and proclaimed confidently. “It is you who needs to surrender. Unless you want innocent blood on your hands.”
He nodded to Sharon and she nodded back.
“Please don’t let them hurt me!” Sharon screamed in a scarily accurate voice of someone much younger and much more innocent. “I just want to go home.”
Charles heard several curses from the other side.
“You’ll rot in the furthest depths of the underworld if you touch a hair on that child’s head.” The authoritative voice shouted through the pile of splintered wood. “When we get in there-”
“You’ll do no such thing.” Charles grabbed one of Sharon’s long knives and dragged it loudly across a stone brick.
Sharon took the cue immediately and screamed out once again.
“No please!” She cried.
“Hold! Hold!” The authoritative voice had notably less heat, but still just as much anger as he addressed Charles. “We won’t force our way in. Just let the child go.”
I need to drag out this negotiation as long as possible… Charles glanced at the time keeping device once more.
“I’ll only make a deal with your boss.” Charles decided upon the lengthiest course of action he could think of. “Go get whoever you answer to and bring them down here.”
“I’m more than qualified to-”
The man’s protest was cut short by another blood curdling shriek from Sharon.
“Please don’t hurt me! I just want my mommy!”
“Okay! Okay!” The man shouted earnestly. “I’ll get what you asked for. If you hurt that child in any way while I’m away my men will not hesitate to break down this barrier and kill you where you stand.”
Charles gave Sharon a thumbs up in appreciation for her enthusiasm in her role.
“See that you do. I promise no harm will come to the child as long as you fulfill your end of the bargain.” Charles felt a surge of relief course through him as he heard metallic boots stomp up the staircase.
“How long will that escape route remain clear?” Charles nodded at the tunnel that all of the other members of Basilisk had disappeared down.
Sharon shrugged. “Could be days, could be minutes. Who knows?”
“You do a very good impression by the way.” Charles complimented her as he sat down on a nearby crate.
“Thank you.” Sharon beamed. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
Charles frowned. He honestly didn’t know what to make of that comment, but the implications were unnerving to say the least.
The hour passed, thankfully, without the authoritative guard returning. Charles checked the time and walked over to the bound and gagged mage.
“We’re just about ready for you.” Charles said to the older man while removing the clothes tied around his mouth.
“You’re mad.” Douglas clenched and unclenched his jaw. “I would have stayed if you had explained things properly.”
Charles chuckled. “No you wouldn’t. Get in position please. After the teleportation is complete you can run wherever you want to go.”
The mage grumbled but a quick glance at Sharon shut his mouth up for good. He retrieved his time keeping device from Charles and picked his book from off of the floor with a huff.
“So.” Sharon stepped close to Charles with a wide smile as Douglas got into position by the magical circle. “What’s our plan once your associate comes through?”
Charles shrugged. “First we’ll need to get away from the crown’s guard. Then we can worry about next steps.”
He kept his comments purposefully vague as he didn’t want to admit that he was making all of this up as he went along. Charles was still worried Sharon would discover he wasn’t actually working for Basilisk and turn on him. He needed Alison here to protect himself.
The only way to protect yourself from a crazy person is to hide behind another crazy person. Charles thought to himself with a sad chuckle.
Factually not true, but Charles didn’t really know of what other option he had at the moment.
“I know what you are.” Sharon said suddenly, bringing Charles back to the present.
He felt his heartbeat quicken. “What do you mean?”
Sharon placed an arm on his shoulder and leaned against him suggestively.
“At first I thought you were just good at hiding your true abilities, but now I don’t think that’s quite right.” She blew softly into his ear. “You’re not physically adept at all are you?”
Charles shuddered but he couldn’t tell if it was from fear or excitement from Sharon’s close proximity.
“Your class is charisma based isn’t it?” Sharon poked his cheek with an extended finger.
Charles shifted in place.
I need to keep playing aloof. Charles felt beads of sweat forming on the back of his neck. Keep calm and lie on.
“I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“Oh come on.” Sharon pouted. “You can tell me. I know that charisma classes are either elevated to nobility or killed at a young age. I don’t know how you escaped detection, but I can feel the effects your words have on people. It’s no wonder you were selected for a secretive mission. You can talk your way into any circle you want and your associate, I’m guessing, is the actual dagger of the operation. Why else would they send you first?”
Charles pointedly looked away. His class? Was that a thing in this world? No one had mentioned it to him before now. Charles thought back to his ‘talks’ with the locals and realized that they had all been focused on finding Devin. The absurdly strong wife Charles traveled with kind of dictated where any and all conversations ended up at so it makes sense this information had passed them by.
It did make a certain kind of sense to Charles. People were much more open to him here than he ever recalled in his previous world. Granted it was hard to tell when you had a psychopath at your side.
“So if I told you to do a backflip right now, would you?” Charles asked Sharon who still had her head close to his own.
Sharon laughed. “It’s not like all of your words are influential. I’ve only felt it when you’re wanting a certain outcome with enough energy to affect those around you. Of course, you already know that right? What is this, some kind of test?”
Charles opened his mouth to respond but Douglas cut them both off with a hiss.
“I’m going to need to concentrate over here.”
As the seconds ticked by Charles allowed himself to breathe freely. The past few hours had been extremely stressful but now it was finally over. Alison would teleport through, they would all escape down the tunnel, and then they would be off to find Devin once again.
Knock on wood. Charles reached a hand down to tap his knuckles against the wooden crate he sat on, but a voice caused them all to pause in fear.
“This is Regence Hilbern. Head mage of his majesty’s…” A different voice spoke firmly through the barricade at the door. “Thomas, I thought you said there was a hostage inside?”
The first authoritative voice that had negotiated with Charles spoke.
“There is sir. There’s a young girl being held-”
The head mage’s next words made Charles' heart freeze.
“You’ve been duped. There is no hostage in there that I can sense. Either she’s dead, gone, or a fabrication. Whatever the case may be there is no reason to negotiate with these fiends. Get in there and kill them.”
