Chapter 7: The Blood Lotus
The perpetual twilight of the Sunless Throne cast long distorted shadows across the royal gardens. The air was thick with the scent of exotic blooms and damp earth.
Queen Ravena had ordered the consorts to take their afternoon walk. It was a rare moment of freedom outside the gilded cage of their quarters but Silas knew it was just another display of power. They were paraded through the gardens like prized stallions while heavily armored guards watched their every move.
Lysander walked beside Silas. The golden haired consort wore a mask of perfect serenity. He pointed out the various rare flowers and offered polite conversation. Anyone watching would think they were the best of friends.
But Silas knew better. Elara had delivered the intelligence perfectly. Lysander had met with Captain Thorne and an assassination attempt was imminent.
Silas kept his posture relaxed but his mind was operating at maximum capacity. He scanned the perimeter. There were ten guards escorting the group of consorts.
System, Silas thought. Activate Aura Reader.
[Aura Reader Level 1: Activated. Cost 10 SP per minute. Current SP: 0.]
The world shifted into the familiar glowing mist. Silas swept his gaze over the guards. Nine of them glowed with a dull grey mist indicating boredom and apathy. But the tenth guard walking just a few paces ahead of Silas pulsed with a violent blinding red aura.
Pure killing intent.
Silas deactivated the skill immediately. He had zero points left but he had the information he needed. He tracked the assassin with his peripheral vision. The guard was subtly adjusting his path steering Silas toward a dense thicket of dark crimson flowers.
"Do you see those blooms Silas?" Lysander asked gesturing toward the thicket. His voice was smooth but Silas caught the slight tremor of anticipation in his tone. "They are called blood lotus. They are breathtakingly beautiful but their thorns carry a neurotoxin. A single scratch will paralyze a man’s lungs in seconds."
"Fascinating," Silas replied keeping his voice perfectly flat.
The trap was set. The guard would pretend to stumble and shove Silas into the toxic thorns. It would look like a tragic accident. Lysander would play the horrified witness and Silas would be dead before the Queen even heard about it.
They drew closer to the blood lotus thicket. The assassin slowed his pace allowing Silas to catch up.
Silas calculated the distance. Three meters. Two meters. One meter.
The guard suddenly pivoted. He let out a staged cry of surprise and lunged toward Silas with his heavy iron gauntlet raised to deliver the fatal shove.
Silas did not have the System points for magic. He did not need them. His past life had taught him that momentum was a weapon and his newly upgraded Perception stat allowed him to read the guard’s muscle tension in slow motion.
Silas did not flinch. He waited until the absolute last millisecond.
Just as the heavy iron gauntlet was about to strike his chest Silas dropped his center of gravity and pivoted sharply on his heel. He swept his right leg out hooking it perfectly behind the guard’s armored ankle.
The assassin hit empty air. His heavy armor and his own violent forward momentum betrayed him. Tripped by Silas’s perfectly timed sweep the guard pitched headfirst into the thicket of blood lotus flowers.
A muffled scream erupted from the thicket. The guard thrashed wildly crushing the delicate crimson petals. The toxic thorns pierced the exposed skin of his neck and face. Within seconds the thrashing stopped. The neurotoxin paralyzed his lungs exactly as Lysander had described. The guard lay dead among the ruined flowers.
Chaos erupted in the gardens. The other consorts shrieked and backed away. The remaining guards drew their swords and rushed toward the thicket shouting orders.
Silas stood perfectly still brushing a speck of dust from his tunic. He turned his head slowly and looked at Lysander.
Lysander was completely pale. His golden beauty was marred by absolute terror. He stared at the dead guard and then looked at Silas. He expected to see fear or confusion in the new consort’s eyes.
Instead Silas looked at him with dead calculating eyes. A cold predatory smile touched the corner of Silas’s mouth. It was a look that promised absolute ruin.
"A tragic accident," Silas said his voice cutting through the panic of the surrounding guards. "You were right Lysander. Those thorns are incredibly dangerous. We must be more careful where we step."
Lysander swallowed hard unable to speak. He realized in that terrifying moment that Silas was not a clumsy fool. Silas was a monster wearing a human face and Lysander had just missed his only chance to kill him.
[System Alert: Lethal Threat Neutralized.]
[Hidden Quest Complete: Survive the Garden Trap.]
[Reward: Plus 1 Perception and 150 SP.]
Silas turned away from the trembling golden haired consort and looked toward the towering spires of the palace. He had survived the physical attack using nothing but his wits and timing. Now it was time to go on the offensive. He needed to find the proof of Lady Seraphina’s embezzlement to win Lyra’s loyalty. And once he had the Royal Scribe he would use her blueprints to bury Lysander and Captain Thorne forever.
