The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 128: Eavesdropping

Chapter 128: Eavesdropping

The last thing that Annalise expected to happen to her was to find herself back in Millerville City in less than twenty-four hours since the last time she was there. The only difference was that, unlike the previous time, her husbands were not with her this time.

Her head was still spinning from the speed at which they had crossed the forest and arrived at the city right before sunset. While she found it funny that those dragon shifters rode horses at such speed to reach their destination instead of flying, she could also understand exactly why they did it.

The current citizens of the Mortal Realm and the Seelie Empire had been living their normal lives completely for centuries by now. Ever since the Midnight Realm went into seclusion after the destruction of the Seelie Realm, no one had heard or seen much of those who carried the real elemental powers.

So, in a world where people had become used to thinking of dragons, mermaids, faes, and other Seelie blood races as nothing more than just legends that used to exist at some point in the history of their world, imagine the shock that they would receive when they would suddenly see a bunch of dragons flying in the sky. Such a sight would sure create a wave of not only amazement and surprise but also panic and fear through the hearts of the general public.

"What are we doing here?" Leela asked Ezra and his men as they entered a huge inn that was undoubtedly one of the best in the city.

"We would rest here for the night before continuing with our journey in the morning. Is it alright for you two to share a room?" Ezra answered before asking a question in return.

"Where are you all even going? Mind to share?" Leela questioned while ignoring his question completely.

The man let out a sigh as he signaled his companions to book rooms with the manager before he returned his attention to Leela, those two seemed to have started disliking each other because of their constant clashing.

"We tried to track the person who tried to trespass into Sky Castle and found his traces leading to the south, so that’s exactly where we would be heading in the morning but for now, my men and our horses need some rest."

Leela let out a frustrated sigh before she opened her mouth to speak but got stopped by Annalise right before she could speak. Ezra passed a grateful look at Annalise before he turned away to talk with the manager.

Since all four men had once again put on the hoods of their cloaks, their bright red hair was hidden from the sight of other people. The only things making them stand out from the mass were their attire and bulky sizes. Still, no one paid them more than two or three minutes of attention, and they all safely made their way to their rooms.

"Why did you stop me from questioning that man? Don’t you feel that they are hiding things from us?" Leela questioned as soon as they were within the four walls of their room.

Annalise was quick to cover the girl’s mouth as she signaled her to stay silent. Her eyes scanned the door of their room while her ears tried to pick up any movement outside their room. Only when she was assured that they were not being eavesdropped on by anyone, she did remove her hand from Leela’s mouth and stepped back.

"Because we both know that those guys are hiding things from us, we should be careful around them. Let’s not make them think that we have started suspecting them." She advised the girl who slowly nodded her head before heading toward the bed and plopping down on it.

"What are we going to do now? If they didn’t clearly tell us where they will be heading, are we going to follow them clueless?" Leela asked after a couple of moments as she looked at Annalise who stared back at her with a surprised look on her face.

"Why are you asking that question from me? You are the one who decided to follow these men and you are the one who should have a plan, why am I involved?" She questioned the girl who just shrugged her shoulders in response with an innocent look on her face.

"I just received the order from Her Majesty to follow these men till I fin don’t exactly what they are trying to hide from us. I never had a plan, to begin with." Leela confessed truthfully as there was no point in hiding it from Annalise when they were already too far from the Lakeshire to turn back... or maybe not.

Annalise let out a sigh as she closed her eyes to allow her mind to take a break for a couple of seconds. When she finally opened her eyes a couple of moments later, she took a place on the bed next to the girl before she replied, "Then let’s do our best to find out exactly what is going on with these men from the Sky Castle." What else could they even do other than follow the original plan?

"How?" Leela asked as she turned around on the bed to face the woman who wasn’t really too much older than her, probably a year or two.

Annalise was silent for a while before she spoke, "They said that they were chasing the intruder who had fled to the south, however, Millerville city is located in the west of Lakeshire Town. If they had to head to the south then... the closest town was Brookweed."

"Then do you think they have a certain purpose for coming here?" Leela asked with excitement lacing her words and her crystal-like eyes twinkling.

Annalise shook her head as she allowed her upper body to fall on the comfortable bedding. "Don’t be too happy. There is a high possibility that my guess is completely wrong and they just chose to stay here for the night because this city was closer to Lakeshire compared to Brookweed."

-

Annalise and Leela had their dinner in their room while the men skipped the dinner completely which only made them more suspicious of their motives.

"Should we check on them? It’s been three hours since they disappeared in their rooms and haven’t stepped out." Leela seemed a little anxious as she paced the room, a new side of her that was nothing like the confident and collected girl that has portrayed herself throughout the journey.

"Can you stop pacing?" Annalise requested as she inspected their not-so-little room. "And... do you have a plan? You can’t be thinking about just barging inside their rooms, right? You will need a reason to knock on their doors."

Leela remained silent but she did stop pacing and went to sit on the edge of the bed. After several long moments of silence passed, she finally opened her mouth to speak. "We can try asking them about dinner or I can say that I wanted to know how early we will be leaving in the morning so that we can rest according to it. What do you think?"

Annalise nodded her head as she replied, "I think the second one will be much better of an option. Try to see if you can find out anything."

The girl nodded her head before she stood up from the bed and headed outside the room after giving Annalise a confident nod. The moment she stepped outside, she was back to the old Leela that had caused Ezra a headache.

’Master, do you want me to help you find out exactly what those men are planning?’

Annalise was suddenly greeted by the sweet voice of the little snow lion who spoke to her through their shared mind link. He seemed to be aware of everything that was going on around her.

’Can you do that? And where are you?’ Annalise sent the questions back through the mind link as her eyes searched the room to find the little beast but she found no one there other than herself.

The very next second, the little snow beast suddenly appeared right in front of her with a bright light that disappeared in less than two seconds leaving behind only the small lion who was staring up at her while craning its head.

Realizing that their height difference was making it hard for the little best to look at her, she crouched down in front of it as she asked, "Have you been following me all this time? I thought you were with one of my husbands."

The little lion shook its small head before it replied through the mind link. ’What’s wrong with you Master? I’m your familiar, why would I be following your husbands then?’

Annalise immediately realized just how stupid she sounded because of her ridiculous question but then she softly glared at the little lion as she recalled how informally it was talking to her while clearly disrespecting her for being too dumb.

"Enough of that. Tell me how you can help us." She became serious all over again as she questioned the little beast who gave her a wink in response while replying - ’I will go and eavesdrop on their conversation.’