Days slipped by as they stay within the princess's temple, their presence masked beneath a convenient guise. To the outside world, they were nothing more than hired mercenaries funded by the temple itself, tasked with safeguarding the Sixth Princess while the capital seethed with unrest.
It was a believable story.
The capital had grown dangerous. Whispers of opportunity and ruin coiled through the alleys like smoke, carried on the tongues of hopefuls vying in the trials of the King's Gambit. Every tavern hummed with speculation about who might claim the throne, and every corner held a spy or informant waiting to sell scraps of information for coin.
The capital below, once bustling with orderly trade and laughter, now bristled with tension.
All the while, he and the others remained hidden in plain sight, cloaked by the temple's authority and the princess's carefully maintained mask. But Keiser knew such disguises could only last so long.
