Mad

Prince Herod stretched his arms out and allowed one of his surviving knights to pick the lock of the iron cuffs. He took a quick check of his surroundings and cursed as he spotted several patrols lit by steam lamps moving up and down the streets. One of his knights said quietly, "We need to find a safe place to hide and recover."

He nodded in agreement but he did not know where to find a safe spot. The Prince has some contacts in the city of Iron Gate but he did not know if they will turn against him. The sudden appearance of killers and the strange movements of the City Guards meant that there was a conspiracy against him.

He did not know if the Greenrock Clan was the mastermind, but if they were, it would be puzzling as the amount of effort and resources they had used to support him was not small. Unless there was something major happening, the Greenrock Clan would not burn their bridges with him.

"There must be a third party out there manipulating things..." Prince Herod mumbled to himself. "But who will benefit the most from my death?"

"Your Highness!" A knight hissed and he gestured to the alley entrance. The telltale glow of an approaching patrol could be seen entering the dark alley. "They are coming!"

"Hide in the shadows!" Prince Herod whispered and he crouched low against some rotting crates. The rest of his knights followed suit and they watched tensely as the patrol shone beams of light down the dark alley.

"Come on," A dwarvan could be heard saying. "Let's go, there's nothing here!"

"Hold on for a moment," Another dwarvan said. "Let me check the alley real quick!"

"What for?" The rest grumbled. "We are not getting paid enough for this! I should be in bed nice and warm and not freezing in my leathers!"

"Hold your rocks will you?" The dwarvan mumbled as he strolled down the alley, sweeping his steam powered gas lamp left and right. "It will jus-!"

A fist flashed out and connected against the dwarvan's face with a loud crunch of breaking bones. The punch sent the dwarvan flipping backwards and knocked out cold. Cries of alarm came from the patrol when they witness one of their own getting attacked and they charged into the narrow alleyway.

Prince Herod feinted a retreat down the alleyway and lured the rest of the angry patrol after him while his knights remained hidden against the shadows. As the patrol ran past them, they tripped the dwarvans or hammered them with pieces of rotting planks. A one sided melee broke out and in just a span of several breathes, the dwarvan patrol was neutralized.

"Grab anything of use and go!" Prince Herod ordered quickly as he went forward and stripped a dagger off one of the dwarvans. The earlier shouts of alarm had already attracted more patrols over and the Prince and his men could see the bobbing glow of lights approaching them from the alley entrance. "GO!"

-----

"Shopper copies," The Marine radioman released the transmit button and turned to the rest. "The Captain says we are to find an inn or somewhere safe and stay the night in the city. A quick reaction force has been dispatched and will be standing by outside the city just in case."

"Great!" Dr. Sharon sighed. "Where can we find a place to stay at this time?"

Magister Thorn glanced around the unhappy crowd growing larger and larger at the closed gate and said, "We better go find an inn fast before they run out of rooms..."

"We saw some inns back that way!" Clarie helpfully said from the side. "We can see if they have any rooms left?"

Dr. Sharon nodded and they headed away from the gates. Many other people were doing the same as they too left to look for a place to sleep for the night. Anyone that tried to sleep next to the gates was kicked and forced away. The Iron Gate's city guard does not allow begging nor sleeping on the streets, hence many of the people that were planning to leave by the side gate were in a dilemma as many of them could not afford a place to sleep.

After an hour of scuttling up and the dark streets did they finally found an inn that only offered them space at their empty stables. The rest of the inns were all fully packed and even their stables were rented out. Without much choice, Dr. Sharon and the rest accepted the arrangements and they settled down to rest in one corner of the stable that was thankfully filled with fresh straw.

"First of all, I like to apologize for tonight..." Dr. Sharon said sheepishly. "If I did not get sidetracked with all the shopping... We would have been back in our comfortable bunks instead of sleeping out in the rough..."

"No sweat madam!" One of the Marine grinned as he set down the parcels and bags of purchases. "This is better than being cooped up on board the Old Ugly!"

"Yes!" The Professor's students all agreed. "We have been stuck on board for so long... Even sleeping out here feels so much better!"

Everyone laughed and they settled down as comfortably as they could with the straw filled floor while the Marines arranged a watch. It did not take long before the rest of the stables were filled with people who like everyone else were trapped in the city for the night. After a night of excitement, everyone quickly dozed off while one of the Marines stayed on watch inside the stable.

Dr. Sharon suddenly jolted awake from her sleep that was invaded by restless dreams. She kept seeing the handsome elf staring at her with murder in his eyes in her dreams. She wiped the sweat off her face and decided she needed some fresh air. She waved the Marine sentry back to his post and walked out of the stable and headed to the well in the courtyard and drew some water.

The cool water refreshed her and her military grade medical nanites worked overtime to clear the water of any harmful bacteria. She stood next to the well lost in thought when suddenly a scrape of a shoe startled her. She spun around and saw the elf in her dreams and for a moment she thought she was still dreaming when the elf stepped into the light.

She stepped back in fright and fumbled for her concealed sidearm, her suppressed pistol pointing directly at the centre of mass at the elf who shambled forward and paused at the well. He picked up the bucket with both hands and finish off the water and that was when Dr. Sharon noticed the sticky dark stain on his side.

"You are wounded?" Dr. Sharon's doctor brain took over when she noticed the blood, her fear temporarily forgotten.

The elf cast an unhurried glance at his side and made a grimace before he turned and headed towards the shadows. Dr. Sharon lowered her weapon and called out, "Wait! Your wound!"

She hurried over to his side and pulled him to one side of the stables and said, "Wait here! I got a med kit!"

------

"Med kit?" Prince Herod furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar words but he allowed himself to lean against the side of the building. The fighting earlier against the City Guard had taken a deadly toll on his body especially with the wound on his side. His valiant knights had remained behind to decoy and hold off the city guard while he escaped.

He was surprised to meet the strange female again when he stumbled into the courtyard. The female clearly recalled him and despite being frightened of him, she had an innocent look of pure concern in her eyes. Maybe that was why he allowed himself to listen to her. It has been such a long time since he last had someone expressing concern for him.

The strange female came back accompanied by a large bulky male. The male placed a bucket of water down and the female that wore a set of crystal glasses on her face peeled his shirt that was sticking to his side off. Prince Herod kept a wary eye on the male servant and his hand on his dagger just in case but the male servant just quietly stood at the side and shone a light at his wound.

"What a nasty wound!" The female tsked as she started cleaning the wound. Prince Herod watched her actions, seeing her take some bandages and some kind of poultice out. She tenderly cleaned his wounds and said, "Endure this, it will sting a bit!"

Prince Herod sucked in his breath when the female poured some clear fluid on his wound. It felt as if his wound was on fire. He threw an annoyed glare at the female but she seemed to not notice his anger. Instead, she gently patted his wound dry and applied some poultice before using a needle and thread and sewed his wound up quickly.

The speed and skilful manner she sewed his wound made him reassessed her in another light. She placed a square piece of cloth on his wound and miraculously, the piece of cloth stuck to his skin like glue! She gave a nod of satisfaction and took his hand and poured out two small white beans. "Swallow this, it will help heal you and reduce the chances of you getting an infection!"

Prince Herod stared at the strange white beans on his hand and wondered if it was some kind of poison before he gave up the distrustful thoughts. This strange girl has helped him despite earlier he had been so close to killing her. He tossed the beans into his mouth and swallowed them as he decided to trust her.

"So, Mr. Criminal, what are your plans now?" The girl asked as she started packing up her 'med kit' while her male servant watched him like a griffin. "You can't keep running like this, sooner or later, you will get killed and for what?"

"As they say, as long as you are alive, you can still rebuild everything!" The girl stood up and gave him an encouraging smile. "But everything will be gone if you are dead!"

Prince Herod felt like laughing out loud when he heard her words. Him a proud Prince of the Iron Kingdom, the next Crown Prince, a wanted criminal? He wondered if there was such an innocent person in this world still. He shook his head and said a small bow, "Thank you, miss, for tending my wounds."

"But I am not a criminal," He decided not to explain the entire truth to this simple girl and also not to drag her into his troubles. "I am being framed for something that I did not do."

"Oh well, if you say so," The girl clearly did not believe his words. "Well, I can only help you so much... You take care now!"

With that said, she carried her sling bag and walked off with her male servant who continued to keep an eye on him. Prince Herod hesitated for a moment before he called out, "Wait, miss!"

The girl stopped and turned around with a frown and Prince Herod couldn't help noticing the cute way she furrowed her brows and nose. "I- I, ah... can you help me get out of this city? I can promise you a great reward!"

"Me? Help a criminal escape out of this city?" The girl pointed a finger at herself with a shocked look. "You want me to help you escape?"

"Are you serious?" The girl blinked her eyes rapidly behind her glasses. "Wait, are you stupid or what?"

"Do you take me for a fool?" The girl angrily stomped her feet and stabbed her hands to her hips. "I have already broken the law by helping you and not reporting you to the authorities and yet now you want to climb over my head and help you escape?"

"Are you mad?"