Plans

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CHAPTER 28

Seated in his usual dark house, Korad kept a firm gaze on the man seated in front of him with the latter staring back in the same manner.

Moments later, the man cleared his throat and placed both hands on the table in front of them.

"Chase was right. Your little situation," his eyes dropped from Korad's face and settled on the paper in front of him. "He is a pain in the ass."

"I know," Korad voiced and exhaled.

"Then what are you going to do about it?" The man asked and this time a dark glint flashed in his eyes, giving a promising stare at Korad.

"Leave it to you to always want bloodshed, Fearghall."

"You cannot wait till you figure out who sent him. Taking him out now before he unravels your location as well as some of our own dirty business, I suggest we snuff out the flame."

"Hmm."

"You know I am not wrong. Besides, after killing him, it will be easier to get his employer to come out. These things play out so well and I know it like the back of my hand."

'Are sure of you that the mastermind would reveal his or herself?"

"You just have to trust me, Korad. Also, whether they reveal themselves or not, is not your business. He is a threat. The bone man sent me a message. He had been staking outside the shop for days now. He is bad for business."

As much as Zale could not find any leads yet, seeing that most of the messages Cairo went for at night were normal delivery of goods to different merchants in the black market.

However, what he failed to notice was that a verbal message had been passed across and they too passed the message without his knowledge.

"He is bad for business. Never you forget that. We need to take care of him quickly."

"I understand. I planned on killing him the next time he so much as tries to get close to my house."

"Well, he has tried. What more are you waiting for?" Fearghal asked.

He challenged Korad to take the step and bring an end to things.

One thing was sure, no one could tell if he was a spy from the royal house but whatever he was, it spelled doom for their work and that was not going to be tolerated.

"Fine. Arrange your men and do the needful," his deep voice echoed as he pushed back the loose strands of hair that covered his face.

"Now, you are speaking my language," Fearghal emphasized, shaking his head.

"And here, upfront payment," Korad began.

He placed a hand in his pocket, took out a pouch, and threw it on the table in front of Fearghal.

"Do a clean, nice, smooth, and untraceable job. I want it done as soon as possible. I have let this rodent scramble around too much."

"You have my word. You can count on me. Also, I can tell the others that business ease would once more be as it was."

"Do your part. I have done mine."

"Aye."

*******

By the next day when Zale came to visit, he met Pearl in a worse state than she was the previous day.

After the fight, he did all he could to keep her company and get her mind away from it, believing that Scarlet voiced those words out of anger.

Little did he know the naughty princess came to propose another nerve-wracking request.

Not wanting to ruin her mood, he offered to take her out of the house to get a new dose of fresh air.

For Pearl, the more she thought about what had happened recently, the more she knew she had feelings for him.

It explained her jealousy when he gave Scarlet his attention but unlike her friend, she always maintained a calm front and believed he did not share the same feelings with anyone of them.

Having told him of the unprecedented visit from Scarlet, while leaving out some subtle details, of course, Zale bought her a freshly baked cake and bread from the baker's shop and took her to her usual spot in hopes of getting her mind to be calm.

They sat under one of the trees, talking about different tales, some general problems, and the likes.

But never once did he mention the new problem he had with finding the Pearl.

One thing he failed to notice though, a plan had been set in motion to get him.

"Okay, how about I teach you how to fight and defend yourself?"

She looked at him, her doubt shining in her eyes.

"I mean it. I noticed you did well with your pow…" He did not get to complete his sentence when she shot him a stern gaze and he swallowed.

"What I mean is, you cannot use that when you are in real trouble. So, let me teach you a little about defending yourself, okay?"

Nodding her head, Pearl rose to her feet and quickly searched for the sticks that she played with.

Minutes later, Zale had tried to teach her the main things she needed to know about striking and blocking but never about stance.

At this point, Pearl could sense something was wrong. Being the curious little lady that he was, she questioned him about it.

"Shouldn't I learn the perfect stance first? I heard one of the men I saw training make mention of this."

As soon as she asked, he was left dumbfounded. All his life he had been in the water.

The stance wasn't, particularly what he was based on. Although there were a few considering he made use of tails and not legs, he was at a loss for the perfect stance.

Nevertheless, he wasn't particularly useless.

On one of his few outings in the village, he came upon some local soldiers trained and watched them.

Thanks to that knowledge, when she asked, he could show her a thing or two and when they tried outing it all to practice, she caught on quickly.

"Impressive. Now let us see you use defense and attack together and not separately."

"Sure,' she inhaled and exhaled quickly and got her stance ready while lifting her stick in front of her face.

"Here I come."

Immediately the words left his lips, Zale lounged forward, placing his right foot in front, and swung his sword to the side.

Effectively, she blocked with her stick, pushed him away, and struck at his neck.

Loving how quickly she moved on her feet, he decided to up his game and pushed her harder.

Within a few minutes, her gasp became quicker as sweat trickled down the side of her face.

'One more and I can aim for his leg and catch him off guard.' Pearl noted in her mind and got ready for the attack.

Just as he swung his sword at her stomach, she blocked it quickly, pushed it off, twirled on her feet, crunched low a bit, and struck at his leg.

As much as she did that, she never expected him to react as quickly as he did and the next thing she knew, Zale hit hard on her stick forcing it to fall.

Because she was not expecting such a reaction, she tried to move back but strained her ankle and lost her footing instead.

"Aaah!"

The shock and pain had affected her and swiftly she reacted holding on to the next thing she could grab—his shirt and pulled him down too.

Everything had happened fast. He least expected for her to hold on to him and before Zale could save her from falling, he too was sent down.

However, what shocked him most, was how he found his lips pressed right on hers.