The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(97)

She pressed again and then I turned a green knob; the sound of two voices congruent with the video started to play. The hologram appeared in the center of the room. ‘That’s it!’ I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down. ‘Go watch the door, Mariah!’

Within the hologram, King Trazuline was standing in front of a man with a hood over his head, as his favorite guard Pritok looked on. The king said to the hooded man, ‘Your objectives are to find Theodore and erase your target. Do you understand? You leave tonight.’

‘Yes, sire.’

‘I have procured the currency you wanted, as well. It will be waiting for you here if your mission is successful. If you fail, I wouldn't show your face around here.’

‘Yes, sire.’

‘Make sure you find your point of contact first. The prophecy demands it.’

‘Yes, sire.’

‘Now go! I cannot be seen with you.’

That was the end of the conversation, as the hooded figure left the scene. The hologram continued to play. It was like a security camera following the king and recording on an endless reel.

Mariah grabbed my shoulders. ‘They’re coming back. Turn it off!’

I panicked. ‘I don’t know how!’

Mariah shrieked. ‘They are right outside of the door, Dan! Turn it off!’

Right before the door opened, I turned off the audio, but the hologram continued to play. The king was indulging in a badly mumbled conversation with Pritok as they walked side by side. The hologram continued to play, and Mariah, her eyes wide open, stood with her back to it, shielding it from the king's view. With one last attempt I pressed the button I thought would end that damn hologram. He walked beyond where I was standing and I trembled with fear.

‘Alright. Where was I? Ah yes, will you join me in my fight?’ the king asked. He acted as if he didn’t suspect a thing.

Inwardly surprised at the lack of outrage, I turned around slowly to speak and let out a silent sigh of relief, as I turned to see that the hologram was gone.

‘Your Majesty,’ Mariah sang out in her best seductive voice, ‘We have carefully considered your offer. As you know, Ted means the whole world to us. We accept your mission.”

My eyes bulged, but I reasoned that Mariah must have known what she was doing. ‘Yes, I concur,’ I said, in my best steady voice.

King Trazuline looked jubilant. He appeared ready to give each of us a hug, as he spread his arms out wide. ‘Excellent,’ he said.

‘But,’ Mariah clasped her hands behind her back, pacing around. ‘We have a confession to make.’

The king stared at her, concerned. ‘Hmm?’

‘We’re not ready yet. Liam is at level five now, and he so badly wanted to be at level six in tactical defense before we go. He said to me that he would stab himself if anything happened to us just because he failed to train properly.’


A note of understanding registered on the king’s face. ‘Yes, yes. I am so proud of you. You finally understand the commitment.’

‘And,’ I spoke up, ‘Lincoln wants to achieve level eight in offensive maneuvers. He really wanted that goal.’

‘Wow,’ the king muttered, ‘Even my best trained guards are at level nine. That is not so far off.’

‘So, give us one week, Your Majesty. We will be ready.’

‘Excellent.’ The king said. “Permission granted.’ He walked over to a painting on his wall and stared at it. It was a desert landscape, obscured by the rippling heat of the sun. At least that is how Mariah described it later. When he turned his back, I glanced at a console to my left and saw a series of numbers on a piece of paper. I lifted them, stuffing them into my pocket. I figured they could be useful, a password, or maybe code for something.

‘Okay Mariah,’ I said, urging her with my eyes to leave.

“King Trazuline told us that he knew we loved Ted, and he wished us godspeed, and we left.”

Mariah and I knew we had to act fast. We strolled up to Lincoln and Dan who were still in the conservatory. I could tell Mariah was getting all giddy and star-crossed as she approached the love of her life—Lincoln.

‘Now be quiet, he might be napping, you know how crabby he is when someone wakes him up,’ Mariah said.

I walked toward him. Relieved, I noted that he was now awake. He was lying on the bench, mulling over the mission. ‘What’s up, Dan?’ he asked as Liam, also awake, looked on.

‘Watch out for the guards,’ Mariah snarled at us, ‘Pretend to be talking about the paintings on the walls.’

Pretending to point toward an enormous portrait of King Trazuline firmly seated on a Rangier Cliguire, ferociously leading his men into battle, I fiercely whispered to Lincoln and Liam, ‘Oh my God, you will not believe this, I saw that rotten Karshiz King in a meeting with some Rangier, and I heard them talking about taking out Theodore. I think.’

‘What!’ Lincoln and Liam clenched their hands into fists, but for the sake of show, pretended nothing had happened. A guard was glancing at them, and they had to act natural.

Lincoln angrily strode toward Mariah. ‘What’s this?’

‘Take it easy, honey,’ Mariah said sweetly and with a gentle tone. I could not go beyond the fact that she was calling him, hon—yuck, and they were looking at each other like there was something I didn’t know. ‘Daniel overheard a conversation between Trazuline and an assassin, and they might have been talking about killing Ted the first chance they had. The assassin was a Rangier, or we think he was. Dan said he was wearing a hood.’