Chapter 47: Ch. 46 – Like A Game of Chess

“So here’s the plan,” Teddy said, pointing with a pudgy finger towards a large board. “We win.”

Every member of the guild clapped obediently. Nia sighed.

Momo wasn’t sure how she found herself here.

“What the man in charge means to say,” Nia lifted herself off her chair gracefully, stepping like an elk towards the board. Everyone watched on in silence, even Teddy himself, “is that there can be no mistakes.”

“Precisely, lass,” Teddy said, with a boyish smile.

This version of Nia was what Momo had expected when she saw the posters – sharp, exact, graceful. Not the woman who would laugh giddily and fight her hair brush in front of a hotel mirror. Everyone had masks, but Momo hadn’t expected to peer under hers so quickly.

She frowned. It just didn’t seem right. She knew that people got easily comfortable around her; she was told that she had ‘one of those faces,’ but Nia was more clever than that. She was what Valerica would call a schemer at heart. And in a city full of conniving blackmailers, she was apparently their queen.

But she was also pretty, and nice to talk to, and she had a brilliant smile when she laughed, so Momo put her worries aside. She was only here as an accessory to the crime, anyway. She’d get the letter, and get out, and maybe take back a few gold coins on the way.

Her eyes widened. Her gold. She’d need a way to carry it all out. She could barely keep any of it in her pockets anymore. She’d have to acquire some sort of fantasy tote bag. One of those ‘appears to have a fixed size but is magically endless’ variety.

Nia rustled something out of her bag and plastered it onto the board. It was a map, a set of architectural plans for the Knight’s Hall.

“I stole this from the treasury during one of my visits,” she grinned, earning a chorus of praise. “It is an original blueprint of the Hall, including all the secret passageways, trap doors, exits and entrances. It will be our key.”

“And this is why we love working with you, Ms. Nightsbane,” Teddy said, clasping his hands together in glee. The small crowd agreed, even Radu looked impressed.

“Don’t get all sappy just yet,” Nia chuckled. “I haven’t given you your assignments yet.”

“Well naturally I will be heading towards the inner sanctum,” Teddy shot in, flexing his shapeshifting by turning his head from man to pig, and pig to handsome frog.

“Funny,” Nia corrected. “No, you will be in charge of distracting the knights. You can shapeshift into their new leader – Lord Gunther. The real one will be busy in the Banquet Hall.”

“Is there going to be a banquet?” Momo chimed in enthusiastically. If so, she wanted to be in charge of that. She could keep an eye on the cute bear man, and stuff her face with free snacks.

Nia frowned, looking slightly uncomfortable at the question.

“Yes, there will be. But it is of no consequence to our plan.”

“I disagree,” Radu piped up. “A banquet in Nam’Dal means someone important is in town. And considering I haven’t heard of this banquet until now, it must be someone of importance. A person they want to keep under wraps.”

Nia let out a breath. “You’re correct – but only about the last part. It’s a prisoner exchange.”

“Of which prisoners?” Radu pressed. “And why would two cities underneath the King’s rule want to exchange prisoners? It’s not like we’re at political odds.”

“I don’t know,” Nia shrugged. “Cities in other regions lack expertise in criminal classes. Nam’Dal is practically drowning in it. My best guess is we’re outsourcing a locked up criminal to another city so they can use him as free labor – an unpaid teacher for their own [Lockpickers] and the like.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Momo squeaked. “Like… borderline slavery?”

“Borderline?” Nia laughed. “It is. But that’s King Jarva for you. He’s a malignant pawn of Kyros, twisting morality whichever way suits him.”

Momo nodded. She’d heard as much from Valerica, in more murderous words.

“And who are we receiving in exchange for the criminal?” Radu wondered aloud.

“No idea, but I doubt it’s anyone powerful,” Nia said. “Regardless, we should not let this distract us. Back to planning.”

Radu didn’t seem to want to let it go, his eyebrows screwed up in worry. Momo did note Nia’s lack of enthusiasm in discussing it, but she could chalk that up to impatience. The woman clearly had a plan, and every stray question distracted from it.

“As the lass said, let’s stop interrupting her and hear out the rest,” Teddy echoed, his face stuck somewhere between bird and cow. “And maybe at the end, we can discuss my assignment…”

“Thank you, Teddy,” Nia said swiftly, pushing him out of the way. His cow-nose wrinkled up in surprise, but he obliged, slinking into the background. Momo grinned. She loved the confidence.

Nia took out a quill, freshly dipped in magical ink, and circled a room on the map.

“This is the Head Knight’s Judgment Room,” she explained, and Momo nodded in memory.

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“This is what Teddy refers to as the inner sanctum. This room will ever only contain Vivienne and her Executioner. If we time it right, this is the best place to confront – and subdue – her.”

“But she’s so scary,” one of the Con Artists yelped.

“I heard she can skewer you in two with a light beam,” another murmured.

“She’s not so bad,” Momo murmured, and every eye turned to her. “I mean, she did try to kill me, but she had good reason to.”

“Did she?” Radu said, blinking in disbelief.

“Sure,” Momo nodded. “I really messed with her castle. If someone barged into my room wreaking havoc, I might have bounced a few light beams around…”

“Are you saying you’re on Vivienne’s side?” Nia asked, her placid expression morphing into an ice cold stare. Momo gulped, instantly backtracking.

“Of course not!” Momo waved her hands. “After all, she did put me in jail. It was a cozy jail, but still, she should have asked for my permission beforehand.”

“That’s… good to hear,” Nia nodded. “So you won’t complain when I kidnap her against her will and throw her into my cozy dungeon?”

“Uh, that’s different,” Momo stuttered. “You have your reasons.”

She had no idea what Nia’s reasons were, but Momo didn’t want to argue. She liked being on Nia’s good side, and preferred to stay there.

“I certainly do,” Nia said, and pressed her quill to the parchment again. “So, let’s not delay any further. Our goal is simple, like a game of chess – we capture Vivienne, we win. Her army of doofs is useless without her, and we’ll have an invaluable bargaining chip.”

She drew a rudimentary smiley face in the Judgement Room and then gave it X’s for eyes. Momo applauded her artistic ability.

“As I said before, Teddy will be in charge of keeping the knights busy, posing as Lord Gunther. He will take two of you as his lackeys, posing as other members of the King’s guard. You will enter through the Knight’s Barracks entrance. The rest of us will not be so lucky.”

Nia drew a line in ink between a sewer grate and an entrance to the jailhouse. Momo frowned. She did not like what that line was suggesting.

“Due to Radu and Momo’s little escapade,” Nia smirked, “the guards will be on high alert. They will have all the regular entrances guarded. That leaves us with only one entry point: the plumbing repair tunnel.”

“But I just got rid of my dead rat smell,” Momo mumbled.

“I promise you’ll be able to afford a shower once this is all done.”

“Don’t you think Big Rat will have a problem with that?” Radu interrupted.

“Big Rat is in my pocket. We should have no problems with him.”

Radu didn’t look convinced, but he dropped the topic. Momo couldn’t imagine how big this rat could be that he posed such a threat. She was sure Nia could win against an oversized rodent.

“So what do we do once we’re inside? Just run up to Vivienne and yell boo?” the Eldergoat thief piped up. He seemed perpetually agitated.

From the look Nia gave him, he also seemed perpetually asking for an ass kicking.

“Not quite. Once we’re inside, we’ll split up. Radu, you’ll take the remaining con artists and guard the Banquet Hall. Make sure no one comes in or out. Momo and I will head to the Judgment Room.”

“You plan to take on Vivienne and the Executioner alone?” Teddy gaped.

“That’s a death sentence!”

“She did say Momo and I,” Momo muttered, but then remembered herself. Vivienne would probably want to murder her on sight. “But I agree, isn’t that a little, um, risky?”

“Nonsense. Momo proved to us with her escape that she’s more than capable. It will be a well-balanced fight – two against two. Plus, you all will be doing the hard part. Keeping everyone else at bay.”

Momo began to sweat. A well-balanced fight? A well-balanced fight would be between Momo and a possessed teddy bear, not two expert-level government officials who just watched her blow up their library. This plan had several holes.

“Really, I don’t know if I’ll be that much of a help –”

“Enough,” Nia stopped her, smiling placidly. “You will. Or you die trying. Whichever you prefer.”

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