Time to escape the Maze

Victoria poured water over Vince's head as he sat in a brass tub. He looked at Victoria with scorn.

"Don't touch me." He snapped as he grabbed the sponge from her hand before she could reach out with it.

"Well at least you have some fire." She giggled

Hector had whisked Vince off to a high class inn on the other side of the city and ordered him a bath to get him cleaned up. As Vince bathed the old mage had barraged him with questions about his past and on what kind of education he had received. Hector was disappointed but not surprised to find that Vince was a street urchin and had no education what so ever, he didn't even know how to read.

"We must correct these things and quickly. Knowledge is power boy, and power is everything in this world! You have a nice head start with your talent but without hard painful work talent means nothing."

Vince gave a scowl "Pain is something I'm used to."

Hectors eye scanned over all the scars that ran across Vince's upper torso. He slowly nodded his head.

"You have a good idea on what it feels like, but what comes in the future will surprise you. Now get some rest. We will head out in the morning and your days will be long and tiring. You have a lot to learn and your body is pitifully weak."

Hector turned about and exited the room the click, click, of his staff receding down the inns hallway.

Vince let out an exhausted sigh as he slide lower into the bath tub.

"What a day." He said to himself

After about 20 more minutes of scrubbing Vince had finally cleaned off all the blood and stepped out of the tub.

"AHH!" He gave a start and almost slipped on the floor. Right behind the head of the tub stood Victoria staring at him smiling.

He had forgotten she was even there, she was so silent the whole time he was bathing. He didn't even hear her breathing. As he stared at her he quickly noticed that her chest didn't rise and fall. She wasn't breathing!

"Having a good look?" She said with a smile "Well I don't mind, you're letting me look as well."

Vince's face reddened slightly as he quickly scrambled for a towel

"Are you going to stand there all night?" Vince inquired

"Father told me to watch over you so that you come to no harm, and so you don't try to run." She said with a small giggle.

Vince changed into the cloth Hector had given him when they got to the Inn. They hung loose on his body being a little too big. Vince didn't mind it in the least. These were the most comfortable cloths he had worn in his life.

"What are these made out of?" Vince inquired

"Star silk." Victoria replied "Those are a pair of father's old clothes, he thought you should have at least one pair of acceptable clothes before you become a real Wizard."

Vince looked down at his outfit appraisingly. The shirt was sky blue with a small amount of lace around the cuffs. The pants were midnight black and came with a dark blue silk belt that tied in the front. Vince walked over to the king sized bed and threw himself into the soft blankets and pillows. As his eyes slowly closed his last thoughts where about this being the most comfortable bed he had ever laid on.

Vince quickly fell into his dreams. The dreams didn't bring him any peace. He was back in the brothel. This time he was tied to the bed Roxxy straddled him, her face smiling down at him looking beautiful and sinister all at once. His mother was in the corner of the room at the table counting out gold coins and laughing. Fear gripped Vince. Was his escape a dream? Did he pass out form the pain and only dream of getting away? Raxxy slowly pulled out a knife from her leather case she then slowly leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"I will always be with you my little V."Roxxy started moving her hips up and down over Vince moaning. She then sat up and swung down with the knife aiming for his throat.

Vince's eyes shot open. He was covered in cold sweat. His breathing rapid. He quickly noticed a person holding him gently. Victoria was wrapped around him stroking his hair while humming. Vince's anger shot up and was about to yell and throw her off when he suddenly stopped. The song she hummed seemed to contain infinite sadness but was such a beautiful tune. Her skin was cool against his head and back. His anger quickly deflated.

"It's ok." She whispered in his ear "As long as I'm here I won't let anyone hurt you."

Vince's stomach moved into his throat as tears slowly weld up in his eyes and started to run down his face. Then with forceful sobs he started to cry for the first time in a long time. The night moved on as Victoria hummed a quit song and watched over Vince the serenity only broken by the occasional sob of a crying child.

Meanwhile across the city a large black carriage quickly rushed through the red light district. It came to a stop abruptly next to a column of city guards blocking the street. One of the guards quickly moved up to the side of the carriage and checked inside. With a small bow he waved the carriage through the cordon of troops. The carriage took off again at top speed. It came to a stop again right outside the Blue Mermaid. A tall man stepped down from the carriage wearing a black and white suit. His face was broad and riddled with scars. He was Lord Blackwood one of the wealthiest nobles in Maze. A captain of the guard quickly moved up to greet him.

"Lord Blackwood." He saluted. "As soon as I came to the scene I contacted you as soon as I could. It's not good my lord."

"Show me." Lord Blackwood's deep bass voice bellowed out.

The Captain nodded and quickly led Blackwood to the second level of the brothel. As both men entered two women's bodies came into view one was in front of the door a small knife sticking out of her eye socket, a pool of blood still around her head. Blackwood ignored the woman on the floor and put his concentration of the naked red headed woman on the bed. His eyes went to pin points as he saw her and he quickly moved up to the bed. Gently turning the bodies head to face him his lip slightly twitched.

"You fool daughter of mine. I knew you weren't right in the head. I should have been stricter with you from the beginning. Now look at you."

Blackwood's head snapped around to look at the captain. Killing intent immediately filling the room.

"I don't care the reasons for this, find the person that did this to my daughter and bring him to me!"

"Aye sir!" the captain called out as he ran out of the room shouting orders to his men outside.

Vince was awoken by the sun suddenly flashing across his face.

"Get up sleepy head." Victoria giggled as she finished opening the curtains of Vince's room.

Vince blinked away the sleep from his eyes and sat up with a grumble.

"What time is it Victoria?" he asked while giving a small yawn.

"Almost midday. We wanted to head out early but it seems you were a bad boy last night." Victoria said with a big grin. "The whole city is in an uproar looking for you. Father went out early to get you some supplies that we will need for our journey to the guild branch. He will be back soon."

"Guild branch?" Vince asked

"Yes, most wizards are a part of one guild or another. There are free Wizards but they don't get access to as much resources as guild mages, making them advance much slower."

Victoria then lifted the lid on a silver platter sitting on the table next to the bed. Steaming food was revealed underneath. Vince's mouth instantly started to salivate.

"You better eat up quickly you will need all the energy you can today." Victoria said as she poured him a glass of water filled with ice. After eating his fill Vince got out of bed and slipped on a new pair of boots that Victoria provide him. Just as Vince was about to ask when they would leave Hector came barging into the room with a bundle of stuff in his hands.

"Boy you sure know how to stir up a hornets nest." Hector said with a grin "This is more fun than I have had in a long while."

Hector threw the bundle he carried in his arm on the bed and unwrapped it.

"I could just blast our way out of the city but this is more fun." He cackled

Vince's eyes widened in horror as Hector pulled out a lacy dress and grinned evilly at him.