The Viking Empire - Part 2

Zhōng was shoved into a room with three of its four walls built with stone and the last with thick timbers. The three stone walls enveloped around the wooden timber wall as it ran along the hallway on the other side. The room was narrow but towered like Chief Stoick's study room as massive stained glass windows ran along the middle stone wall. There was a fireplace with a fire blazing to warm the room, a bed big enough for ten Ninjas to sleep in, and a table with chairs fitting perfectly for his height. Sitting in a couple of chairs were Xing and Hannah as they were reading books from a shelf when he entered.

"I hope you two did something more productive than reading while you waited for me," said Zhōng.

Xing closed her book, stood up, and approached Zhōng when she said, "We search every possible inch in this room."

"And what did you two find?" asked Zhōng.

"Behind the stained glass windows, there are bars running vertically and parallel to the windows." began Hannah as she joined them.

"How thick are the walls?" asked Zhōng.

"About two to three feet of stone boulder and concrete, I don't think we can chisel our way out." replied Xing.

"I figure, after seeing those boulders, what about the fireplace?" said Zhōng.

"It was difficult without putting out the fire or burning ourselves as we reached up, but we could feel bars that would be too tight to squeeze through." reported Hannah.

"So the only way to escape is either charged through the stone walls or through the wooden wall." listed Zhōng as he searched for options.

"Even if you activate a mech in here, it could bring this down before we move out of here." stated Xing. 

Zhōng sighed, his sister was right as it was too cramped to activate a full-size mech. "Well this is interesting," he said.

"I assume the negotiations didn't go well," stated Hannah as she and Xing saw their brother's mind racing with a plan.

"Brother is going to be here soon and Chief Stoick made a deal with him. To reclaim lands the Viking Empire lost, he's going to give to our brother." briefed Zhōng.

"And what happens if we escape before he trades you and us?" asked Xing.

"Well, I like to be far away," replied Zhōng. He walked up towards the stone wall opposite to the timber. After studying it and analyzing the space between them, an idea came to his head. "I'm going to take a running start to take this stone wall down. After I do, quickly follow behind, I'm sure we're going to set off alarms." he explained.

"Shouldn't you be facing the wall on this side?" questioned Hannah.

"He wants maximum momentum, jumping can be faster than running." stated Xing as she realized what her brother was going to do. The girls got near the stone wall and ready themselves to run immediately. When they were ready, Zhōng sprinted at the timber wall and planted his feet on it. He sprang backwards and activated his Ninja Valtryek mech as he plowed through the wall.

After crashing through the wall, Zhōng tumbled down the slope along with pieces of the wall. He was going faster and faster then suddenly felt something pierced his left shoulder as he came over a log. He finally stopped tumbling as he nestled in between two trees and a few fallen logs. He groaned as his head was spinning and shots of pain coming from his left shoulder screamed into his head when his sisters caught up to him.

"Brother! Are you okay?" asked Xing as she and Hannah slid next to Zhōng.

"I'm fine," groaned Zhōng as he tried to get up in his mech. He immediately regretted it as he collapsed and shock waves of pain rang through his head. After one attempt he decided to deactivate his mech to relieve the pain and let his sister get closer.

"Brother, that doesn't look good," stated Hannah. They all glanced at Zhōng's left shoulder as blood-drenched the sleeve and they could see the hole was deep.

"I had worse," grunted Zhōng as he tested his left hand and forearm to see if he could use them. After satisfying results, he stated, "We must move."

"You can barely stand," stated Xing as Zhōng tried to stand up but fell down again.

"We should get that patch up before we go," suggested Hannah.

"We don't have time, we need to move before the…" began arguing Zhōng before falling silent. His sisters looked at him and they realized they weren't the only ones nearby. "Assassins," said Zhōng, and Xing and Hannah drew their weapons, turned around, and pointed them at the intruders.

"Easy, Risen King, we mean no harm," smoothed one of the two Assassins. They were tall and strong much like the Vikings if their cowls and hidden blades didn't give them away.

"Then why are you here?" asked Zhōng, he finally was able to stand up but was leaning on one of the trees.

"To rescue you from Chief Stoick, we were told that the grand mentor has commanded you to see him." said the second Assassin, speaking with the same voice style as the first.

"Why should we believe you?" asked Xing, she was tense as she remembered the last time she encountered Assassins. She reached behind her and pulled out a hidden blade she received long ago, although it was for decor, it was lethal and sharp.

"And why come now?" questioned Hannah.

"Timing is everything and we were too late to intercept you." replied the first Assassin.

Zhōng grunted and the Assassins noticed his wound for the first time. "That looks painful, we aren't good at mending that but there's someone in our empire that can make it whole again." offered the second Assassin.

"How can we trust?" questioned Xing, as she strapped her hidden blade to her left arm.

"Can we trust them?" muttered Zhōng, speaking to the Ninja Sword.

"I don't judge or monitor other empires' peoples, but I don't sense any alternate motives. I know you sense it as well." stated the Ninja Sword.

"Where can we go to hide for a while?" asked Zhōng. His sisters turned to look at him and he nodded his head to assure them.

"Follow us, we'll take you somewhere to rest, change out to put on disguises, stop that wound from getting worse, and explain what to expect when you get to the Assassin Empire." stated the first Assassin. Zhōng nodded his head in acceptance and Xing went to her brother's right side to help him walk as they went into the city.

Tony studied his vials after mixing a few together to ensure a perfect blend. He was the only one up in the house as the lords and royals slept upstairs, the girls sleeping on the massive couches, and the boys sitting asleep near the stairwell. He couldn't sleep in the bed the boys brought down as he sat in the study room off of the living room with a candle as light. He looked up from his work, feeling another presence but saw no one was there. He then adjusted his ears to listen outside as he heard an explosion thirty minutes earlier. Feeling the presence again and closer, he stealthily grabbed his crossbow and spun around to point it at the intruder.

Zhen stared at the loaded crossbow as it caught off guard and held her breath in shock. She could see Tony's face was pale and scared but fully awake and alert for being this late at night. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked.

Tony lowered the crossbow and sighed with relief before going back to work. "It's rude for your status to sneak up on people," he said.

"Zhōng did it all the time when he was former royalty," pointed out Zhen.

"Zhōng made sure everyone didn't treat him like that," stated Tony as he studied his vials.

"Whatcha making?" asked Zhen, curiously as she picked up one of Tony's vials.

"Potions," answered Tony, snatching the vile from Zhen. "Just in case she comes after me next."

"Zhōng only mentioned her once or twice, I can tell he carries a lot of guilt for her," said Zhen.

"He carries even more than before, I can tell by how his blades dance. The more pain and suffering he bears, the more vicious and cunning his movements are. The Ninja Sword is the pain and suffering he bore personally and the Valtryek is the pain and suffering of those close to him. In our fight, I could see he had lost a lot more after I left him. I asked Jack and John if there was someone who died that greatly affected Zhōng. They told me there was a man that used to be a soldier for him, he died protecting Zhōng from Emperor Zhēngfú's secret weapon at the capital." said Tony.

"Do you know him?" asked Zhen.

"Considering they noticed the man the day prior, they told me Zhōng refused the man saying, 'I can't let you fight knowing that you might die, I can't face your family if you do and have you never see her again'." said Tony.

"Her as in Alice?" asked Zhen, she saw Tony nodding his head slowly to confirm.

"But I can see Alice carries some pain too, it won't surprise me that she wants revenge and will kill me and Zhōng when given the chance." said Tony as he poured one of his vials into a dart and loaded it into his crossbow.

"So you're preparing to kill her if she comes after you," assumed Zhen.

Tony chuckled, causing Zhen to be confused as to what she said. "Zhōng would kill me if I killed her, he cares deeply about her that he regrets not rescuing her sooner. Makes me jealous that he cares that much about someone, I bet it makes you feel more jealous," he said. Zhen's face went red with embarrassment and anger. Before she could respond, they heard alarms going off outside and could guess what happened. "Well, that was short, I can guess who's responsible," said Tony before returning to his work.

Xing peeked her head out of the door to a shop to see the dark quiet streets. It's been two hours since the alarms went off and she didn't see anyone out. Feeling safe, she opened the door to allow Zhōng to lead her and Hannah outside. They were wearing Viking clothes but were too small to be considered Vikings. They each carried a bag filled with their original clothes as well as clothes to wear when they reached the Assassin Empire. 

Zhōng stepped further out and noticed the quiet streets and saw no one further down the streets. He turned around and looked back inside the shop where the two Assassins were standing by the door. "Thank you for your help," he thanked. 

"Please rest and don't do anything stressful, you don't want that to start bleeding again." warned one of the Assassins. Indicating Zhōng's bandaged left shoulder as his left arm was in a sling.

"I promise I won't unless I have no other choice," said Zhōng.

"Good luck, Risen King," wished the other Assassin and they closed the door and locked it.

Zhōng and his sister headed to the harbor where a ship to the Assassin Empire was waiting for them. They didn't run into anyone even at the harbor as they went to board the ship. Zhōng suddenly stopped as he felt a presence behind him, his sisters noticed him stopping and were confused. "Something wrong?" asked Hannah.

"Board the ship," ordered Zhōng as he handed Xing his bag.

"What are you doing?" asked Xing.

"I'll be right behind you, there's something I must do first," stated Zhōng. The girls nodded and crossed the gangway as he turned around to look at their stalker. "I figure you won't rest till you get me," he said.

"You're coming with me dead or alive," growled Alice.

"This is wrong and you know it," stated Zhōng.

"You think I care? All I want is for you to suffer as much as I did." declared Alice.

"What makes you think I haven't? You don't know pain, loss, and betrayal as much as I do," said Zhōng.

"Don't try to level me, I've heard the myths and the legends. I know what you can do and perhaps even more," said Alice. Her green eyes glowed under her cowl, showing her anger and vengeance.

"Well they're a pale description of how strong I am," stated Zhōng. His eyes glowed as well as he pulled his cowl up, they shined with determination, confidence, and strength. They weren't like the ones before as they shine like diamonds but the dark blue flame can be seen in his pupils. 

"Then are you prepared to die?" asked Alice. She drew her axes and started chipping the dock underneath them in a massive circle of arcs. 

"If I have no choice but to fight you, then I will but you better hear me out when this is over," stated Zhōng. He reached for the Ninja Sword and drew it, its black blade slithered out as he grasped it firmly.

"I've waited a long time for this," chuckled Alice and she charged. She swung with one of her axes at Zhōng who blocked it, this allowed her to use her other axe to strike perpendicular to the first.

Seeing this, Zhōng jumped backward before charging at Alice. His blade slithered past her two axes causing her to leap back as his offensive charge began. He knows that the Vikings' axes are best when they're on the offensive but terrible for defense. Forcing her to defend a massive, heavy metal head on a wooden shaft will cause her to lose ground. However, Alice uses the momentum given by the axe heads as she swings them around. They deflected the Ninja Sword away and she soon found openings to attack. 

The momentum suddenly shifted back to Alice as she pushed Zhōng back. Wishing his arm wasn't injured, Zhōng had to adapt to using one sword to battle as the black sword perfectly blocked every strike. He twirled in circles as the Ninja Sword went high to low suddenly as it slithered warning strikes across Alice's body. It was too quick to push away and she was lucky they weren't committed. However, she was distracted as Zhōng sneaked behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck.

"There's no reason to fight like this," said Zhōng.

Alice didn't listen as she used her body to throw Zhōng over her. She watched him tumble and gasped in pain as his wounded left shoulder hit a pole. "I guess you are at a disadvantage if we keep fighting like this," she stated as Zhōng grabbed his shoulder. She put away both axes before activating one to become a mech.

"I like going against the odds," grunted Zhōng. He put away the Ninja Sword and reached for his Valtryek on his back. "This would be much more fair."

"You can't beat her if you don't use me," stated the Ninja Sword.

"Wasn't planning to beat her," said Zhōng and he activated his Valtryek mech.

Alice charged with speed and the two mechs crashed with fury. Blow after blow, the two mechs exchange with neither getting the advantage. Though Zhōng couldn't use his left arm to control and his head felt like it was going to blow, he was able to keep up and send threatening attacks. Alice didn't hold back either, she knew he was on the edge and a costly mistake would be his demise. It soon came as Zhōng became unbalanced after his strike completely missed. 

"Die!" cried Alice, as her mech axe came crashing down near Zhōng's head. His mech was deactivated after she finished her swing. Xing and Hannah gasped since they were watching the fight on the ship. When Alice looked down at Zhōng's body, his head was still intact while he kneeled with his head lower. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Giving you a better shot, you would have scratched my cheek if I didn't deactivate," replied Zhōng with his head still lower. He pulled his cowl down revealing his hair and exposed the back of his neck.

"Get up, I don't want your apology. You're too late for that," growled Alice, she raised her axe as her anger built up.

"I know, I'm always too late for everyone. I'm too late to stop my brother, I'm too late to protect Former Princess Zhen, and I'm too late to have your father see you," confessed Zhōng.

Alice paused and looked at Zhōng confused, something happened to her father and he knew about it. "What happened to my father?" she growled.

Zhōng looked up at Alice, his eyes showed no rage and no hunger for battle, they showed pain and pleading from what they'd seen. "I'm sorry, he saved me and I couldn't save him. Even after all I did to you, after I put years off in finding you so I could try to protect the Ninja Empire, and after the war was inevitable, your father still fulfilled his oath and fought and died for me. But I wasted his sacrifice for another year, I accepted to be a slave for King Alexios of the Spartan Empire. If it weren't for Tony, another one who I know you hate, I would have been lost. I have wronged you and your family from the moment we met till now, you have the right to execute me." said Zhōng.

"My father, he's… he's dead?" said Alice in disbelief. 

Zhōng lowered his head, exposing his neck again. "His last words to me were to tell you that he forgives me," he said. He heard a thud of the mech's weapon falling before deactivating, when he looked up he could see the green eyes under the cowl shedding tears.

"He's gone," cried Alice as she stared into Zhōng's regretful eyes. Her legs went limp and her body began to crumble to the dock.

"I'm sorry I didn't stop them that night, I'm sorry I took so long to bring you back, I'm sorry that you suffered here knowing you won't go home, and I'm sorry that I caused more pain for you." apologized Zhōng. 

Alice leaped and hugged Zhōng as she let tears fall and her voice cried. Her cowl came off exposing her hair which was cut very short and was braided across the top of her head. Her face was still smooth but was hard to tell since her cowl covered it. She hugged Zhōng tightly as he felt her impressive strength, he gently patted her back and they stayed like this for a few more minutes. "You must leave, Chief Stoick knows how quickly I can get to the harbor. He won't allow you to escape since your brother is coming soon," she said after she calmed down.

"Come with us, I know what's coming to him, and I barely survived." offered Zhōng after they broke from their hug.

"Though I am second in command, I'm still his slave and cannot leave till he dies or he pardons me. I'll tell your party what happened later, but I must prepare for our next chief," said Alice. She got up and helped Zhōng up and their eyes locked again.

"Don't die, I want to take you to see your family and your father's grave when this is over," ordered Zhōng.

"I survived for seven years, not a day went by when I wanted your head. I trained myself to become stronger, I won't go down easily," stated Alice.

Zhōng pulled Alice closer and hugged her one more time. "Thank you for hearing me out," he whispered.

"There's two sides to every story. Now go," replied Alice. Zhōng broke away and nodded at her, he quickly crossed the brow and it was removed. When he turned to look at her, he saw her pull up her cowl covering her face as her green eyes peered through the shadows.

Tony pulled out a vial and chugged it as the remaining members of Zhōng's party walked to the great hall. He didn't get a wink of sleep as the contents emptied from the vial into his mouth. "Are you sure you're supposed to drink that?" asked Jack.

"Or that much?" added John.

"I'm sure, but I wish I had a cup of coffee from the Egyptian Empire." groaned Tony as he put the empty vial away.

"If you weren't so paranoid, you could have gotten some sleep," stated Lord Zào.

"It isn't his fault that his past and present friends are deadly killers," stated Lord Tyron.

"Care to elaborate?" asked Lord Zào.

"I'm sure you're familiar with our wealth hierarchy," began Wēi. "At the top is myself and my daughter, below us, is our court, below them are the lords of all the fiefdoms, below them are commanding officers and barons, below them are their councils, below them are wealthy commoners, below them are commoners, and below them are beggars and peasants."

"Yes, yes, that's children's knowledge for me." gloated Lord Zào.

"When Tony started, he was on the low end of the commoner spectrum. Life for them was difficult and it was better to stick together. He soon reached the higher end of the spectrum when I made his mentor one of my closest members to keep my secret." explained Lord Tyron.

"It's better to stick with people who suffer like you do that low, we form a pack and protect it from others. We sometimes offer help to peasants and beggars since we are almost in the same boat. Zhōng and Xing are one examples of people I helped when I was that low." stated Tony.

"Well, there were other reasons why you helped," reminded Lord Tyron.

"Won't deny it," chuckled Tony.

"You guys done? We're going to be late," stated Zhen, she was getting frustrated since last night.

"It's not like we had an appointed time," stated King Alexios. He heard that something happened last night and wanted to see what was going on.

The group walked through all of the hallways of the great hall, they approached a door where two guards stood outside and they could hear Chief Stoick shouting. "We can't let you in, our chief is very busy right now." stated one of the guards, blocking them from entering.

"Tell him it's urgent," said King Alexios.

The two guards looked at each other with fear, they couldn't refuse but were hesitant to knock. The guard soon mustered the courage and knocked loudly on the wooden door. "WHAT?!?!?!" screamed Chief Stoick on the other side.

"It's King Alexios and his party, my chief, he says he has something urgent." said the other guard. 

"TELL THEM I'M BUSY WITH SOMETHING ELSE!!!" shouted Chief Stoick on the other side. 

The guards looked at King Alexios who was unamused of their chief's behavior. "You don't have to repeat it, I'm sure all seven empires heard him," said King Alexios.

"We're going in," stated Zhen, she walked past King Alexios and was blocked by the guards as well.

"I'm sorry but you caught our chief at a bad time," said the guard.

"Well maybe he should control his temper when things don't go his way," commented Tony as he, Jack, and John joined Zhen.

"This is your final warning," declared the second guard.

"Good, let me give you one then," said Tony. Jack and John suddenly tackled and held one of the guards. The other turned to face Tony who had a crossbow loaded pointing right at his face. "Open the door if you want to live," threatened Tony.

The door to the study opened and Chief Stoick turned to see King Alexios and his party entering. "I told you two now is not the time," he growled.

"Relax, we let ourselves in anyways," stated Tony, he still had his crossbow pointing at one of the guards while Jack and John dragged the other one in.

"You weak, incompetent guards," growled Chief Stoick.

"I understand you Vikings consider strength above everything, but it took two to tackle one and the other has a weapon ready to fire at his face." pointed out King Alexios.

Chief Stoick snarled as he looked at his men who trembled in fear. He turned to his second in command who he was shouting at. "We'll finish this later," he said as he went behind his desk and thudded into his chair. "I wish I could stop and talk but I am currently busy with my empire's problems."

"I can tell by your expression and voice level, but did you make the time to speak with the Risen King?" asked King Alexios.

"Yes, yes, I'll make time for him to see me today. Once I cool down from frustrations, I will have him come immediately," stated Chief Stoick.

"May I ask what was the explosion and alarm last night?" asked Zhen.

Chief Stoick hesitated, he wasn't expecting them to be still up when it happened and needed to think fast. "A prisoner of mine got out, we thought we could find his body or trail but it vanished so we sounded the alarms to look for him in the city," he explained.

"Is that the reason why you were yelling at him?" asked Wēi, indicating towards Alice.

"My second in command claims to have searched the entire city but I know he's still somewhere," growled Chief Stoick as he stared at Alice. She said nothing as her cowl covered her head and looked down to avoid her master's stare.

"Must be a tough prisoner," said Lord Tyron, he was getting suspicious of Chief Stoick.

"You know this, who is this prisoner?" demanded Tony. After hearing Lord Tyron's words, he stared at Alice who looked at him after he spoke. Her eyes revealed her hatred to him but he could see something else that wasn't there yesterday.

"King Alexios, you should keep your captain's tongue in line." rebuked Chief Stoick.

"I've tried, but he has a knack for noticing something small and unimportant," said King Alexios.

"Well the prisoner isn't your problem to worry about." snorted Chief Stoick.

"The prisoner is… is… is Zhōng," said Alice, softly. Everyone in the room fell silent as they heard what she had said.

"What do you mean?" asked Zhen.

"Forgive me, but Chief Stoick is going to sell Zhōng to Emperor Zhēngfú." replied Alice.

"What?" said Lord Tyron in disbelief. 

"Sell him?" repeated Wēi.

"Alexia, drop it," growled Chief Stoick.

"We've lost land to the Ninja Empire, in order to get it back, we must capture Zhōng and give him to Emperor Zhēngfú." stated Alice.

"Are the Ninjas onboard your ships also part of the deal?" asked King Alexios.

Alice turned to look at the Spartan king, she was shocked that he knew and nodded to confirm it to be true. "We broke an alliance in order to stop losing land, it's a temporary truce and was before the call," she spoke.

"I said, SHUT UP!!!" bellowed Chief Stoick. "I TOOK YOU IN AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?!?!?!"

"Zhōng left before daybreak, he knows what's coming and left immediately," informed Alice, quickly.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WERE TOO LATE TO STOP HIM?!?!?!" shouted Chief Stoick in anger, his rage was focused on Alice for betraying him.

"Then I can assume where you are standing for the incoming war?" said King Alexios, he knew the answer already.

Chief Stoick laughed sinisterly as he picked up the Viking Axe and slammed it into the desk. "The Viking Empire will fight, but we'll fight for the winning side. I'll have my men fight with Emperor Zhēngfú." he declared.

"You can't do that," stated King Alexios.

"I can, I promised Emperor Zhēngfú long before the call was activated. In case it was, I will fight for him and not this Risen King," said Chief Stoick.

"You will be punished," warned Lord Tyron.

"AND WHO DARES TO FIGHT ME?!?!?! I AM THE WIELDER OF THE VIKING AXE, I HAVE POWER THAT'S UNRIVAL!!! Since I can't offer General Zhōng, I will offer you to Emperor Zhēngfú when he arrives! And when Zhōng comes to fight with a little to no army against a massive one, I will crush him if given the chance and…" said Chief Stoick, bellowing at the beginning before going softer as he stared at someone. The Spartan King and the Ninjas looked at him confused except for Zhen whose face went pale with the chief's.

"I'll be your challenger," hissed the mysterious person as he walked past the boys, then the girls, and then the lords. As he passed Zhen, she tensed up remembering the last time she saw him. "Fight with the strong to protect the weak. When called upon, join the caller or stay out of the conflict. Be honorable and loyal to your people." he recited the first three vows.

"Who are you?" stuttered Chief Stoick as the person past the lords and the royals. Alice stared in shock as she didn't notice him entering as he slowly advanced to the chief.

"I am the Vow Keeper, I've come to list your sentence and execute you." began the Vow Keeper. Zhen's back shivered as he said his name and drew his sword, the same one he used to fight Zhōng almost two years ago. "The three vows you swear to follow take priority over any others. Yet you've hidden with your strong while the weak are being attacked by people, not from your empire. You are joining the enemy of the caller which is forbidden to do. Finally, you are ignoring your people's cries for help even though you promise you will send some." listed the Vow Keeper.

"You're a myth, there's no way you are! How dare you fool your chief?!" stated Chief Stoick. Though he still had confidence, his body trembled as the man drew closer.

"You're not my chief and you are not a chief anymore." hissed the Vow Keeper.

"ENOUGH WITH YOU!!!" shouted Chief Stoick and he swung the Viking Axe. As it came crashing, it disappeared from Chief Stoick's hands. He stared blankly at his empty hands and the all in the room faces went pale.

"I agree," said the Vow Keeper. He pierced Chief Stoick and pushed his sword deeper and higher into the chief's torso. Blood came out of Chief Stoick's mouth before the Vow Keeper pulled out and the chief's body collapsed. The Vow Keeper turned to look at everyone as they shuttered in fear before he walked past them. He stopped after passing Zhen and she shook in horror fearing if she was next. "I promised the Risen King that the next time we meet, we'll finish our duel. It's a good thing he's gone otherwise this would be difficult," he said to her. He then continued forward vanishing through the wall like a ghost.

"So he was real," muttered Lord Tyron, he could feel how fast his heartbeat was going.

"Informed all the other generals of what you just saw," ordered Alice to the two Viking guards present in the room. "Have every soldier and guard searched the entire empire to look for the new wielder of the Viking Axe. Bring him here since we're going to have a new chief." she continued. She looked at Tony who put away his crossbow and nodded at the boys to let go of the other guard. The two guards quickly left the room once they were free and shut the door forcefully. "Forgive me for requesting this, King Alexios, but will you and your party stay to help me prepare our chief?" asked Alice as she pulled down her cowl and revealed her face.