An Attempt on Her Life

[thethiefofvictory 339]

I accepted the offer. I will kill the Queen. The treasury is a pretty good reward for it, I suppose.

 

I walk around the streets of Royalty, careful to hide my weaponry. People do not take lightly to a man in or around the Palace grounds, armed with guns, unless that man is of the Peacewatch. I am not.

 

My fingers make their way into my coat and reveal a map of the district. It should not be long before I reach the doors of the Palace. Once I enter, I’ll need to climb tens, maybe hundreds of floors to reach her office. Only seven are accessible to the public.

 

Why did the contract forbid teleporting into her office? It would be far easier, and I would not have to deal with the hundreds of guards patrolling the building. If it’s a test, it shouldn’t be. If this is a trap… but then there’s no reason for that. They know just as well as I do that I won’t betray them.

 

I fold the map and return it to a pocket in my coat, before walking towards the end of the street. I turn right, and the towering green Palace appears in sight, the white mountains of Deadcliff behind it, and the Pacific River circling the building.

 

I stop myself from walking further, and question whether it would be better to first head to the weapons shop at the edge of the industrial sector. I think about the equipment I have. A map, a sword, a dagger, and a silenced gun with no bullets. And no handteleport, either. I should have bought a new one the day I lost it.

 

Ten minutes later, I stand before the doors of the shop. It’s a small one, but renowned. It also has the prestige of being linked to not only Research, but also Peace Weapons Manufacturing.

 

From the glass dividing the shop’s territory and the city, I can see a young woman, clad in an ominous black coat and scarf, purchasing something. She looks familiar, so much that I am forced to recall who she may be. She is not of the Watch, surely - if she is, she has hidden it well.

 

I walk inside and navigate the shop. Ammunition, sedatives, guns, swords, daggers, and all sorts of equipment are on display.

 

I hear an argument between the woman and the shopkeeper. “I can pay, but what of the people? How do you expect them to be able to purchase anything at such prices?”

 

I pick up all I need and head to the counter. I show the items I need and pay for them, upon which the shopkeeper records the transaction while I collect the items. Suddenly suspicious, I whisper to the woman, careful to note that nobody notices me.

 

“Ma’am. Don’t be surprised. Their prices are not usually so high. He’s keeping you busy in a pointless argument to buy time for an assassin to kill you. I’ll leave the shop and kill him - once I do, hold the shopkeeper hostage. I have some questions for him.”

 

I walk towards the doors, and upon opening them, I unholster a gun and fire at a man on the rooftop of a building nearby. I walk back in to see the woman, holding a gun to the shopkeeper’s head.

 

“I see why you kept the prices so high today. So tell me, who’s behind this?”

 

The shopkeeper speaks a word or two, but dies before he can say anymore.

 

“Didn’t you have questions for him?” she asks me.

 

“He would have sounded the alarm. I figured he would not actually tell me anything, so I killed him.”

 

“Now tell me. Who are you, young man?”

 

“Just someone.”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t expect a ‘just someone’ to do what you did. You’re better at gunplay than anyone in the Peacewatch. Which means that you’re trained, and very skilled. Not something I would expect from a sixteen year old.”

 

How does she know my age?

 

She continues her monologue on my identity. “So must I figure out your identity myself? Let us see. You’re a Peace, and you hail from a historically important family. I can’t figure out which, though. And why are you staring at me so intently? Have you fallen in love? No, no, not that. You are too mature for such idiocy. You’re familiar with me, but you cannot recall who I am. You see me as a threat. You’re an assassin, right? Here to kill the Queen?”

 

I am not surprised. At this point, I’ve been expecting her to realize who I am. I’ve already prepared a reply.

 

“Tell me, why would anyone in Peace want to kill the Queen?”

 

“Money? Anyways. Now, why don’t I take you straight to prison before you do anything? You did kill two men, after all. And then you plan to assassinate her.”

 

“You don’t have the autho-”

 

Lightning strikes my mind. Victoria Peace! The Crown Princess, the Queen’s adopted daughter!

 

In which case I am about to kill her mother.

 

At once, money has become meaningless.

 

“Your Majesty, I apologize-”

 

“So you figured out my identity? Not bad. Also, ‘ma’am’ will be enough. Now, let us see what Mother thinks of this.”

 

“Uh. Ma’am, I need to meet the Queen.”

 

“Oh, so you can kill her?”

 

“This isn’t the time for jokes. This concerns her life. I need to meet her, now.”

 

“Name, and weapons.”

 

She holds out her right hand, in which lies a device. I take it and press a button, and my equipment magically disappears. I hand back the device, and she pockets it before asking my name one more time.

 

“James Peace.”

Edited October 7, 2018 by thethiefofvictory

[LOLKILLERTOTHEDEATH 1,921]

Approved!

 

Great story! You used lots of nice imagery and the way it was written was particularly appealing. My apologies about it taking 8 days though. I don't really have very many suggestions because the only thing I found was a missing hyphen.

[Person_Random 4,991]

I'm kind of not sure if this is a chapter or if this is the whole story.  Otherwise, great piece!

[thethiefofvictory 339]

I'm kind of not sure if this is a chapter or if this is the whole story. Otherwise, great piece!

Tbh, I'm not sure either, whether it's a chapter, or the whole story of the Queen's assassination :wacko:

 

Also, thanks a lot, both of you!

[hi-its-mebachoo_3000 1,247]

I'd be disappointed if this was the entire story.

[thethiefofvictory 339]

I'd be disappointed if this was the entire story.

Do I take that as a compliment? Anyways, it's a bit like Hippin's Tankiverse. I write one at a random point in the timeline, then another elsewhere in the timeline, etc. This one, for example, is set 23 years before The City of Peace, and just over 1071 years after The War Palace. 

 

As for directly continuing this particular story, I might as well do it. :p