From the way the stranger had addressed Eliezer, the prince had a rather good idea of who was behind the mask, but he was not going to make an outright assumption. "So be it. You will ride with us to Sorene, though, you must have a name that you go by, lest you have us referring to you as 'the Moon Raven's lackey' during our time together."

As Eliezer and Hildebrand got onto their horses, the knight asked the prince a question. "Your Highness, who is this 'Moon Raven'?"

"She is... an ally," Eliezer responded.

"To the crown?"

The prince shook his head. "Only to me."

The answer just confused Hildebrand even more, but the knight decided to stop prodding. The three road swiftly out of the forest and along the path to Sorene through the night, and arrived at their destination at the break of dawn. The guards at the gates of Sorene recognized the crown prince of Dainia, and seeing the condition that he and his companions were in, immediately ushered the young men through and alerted the staff of Sorene Palace. Eliezer had a chance to report their encounter with the Lunarian assassins to the authorities, who then informed the guards at the border to look out for such people. They had their wounds treated, and were given accommodation so they could rest. While Eliezer attended to some matters, both Andy and Hildebrand were free to wander around the district of Sorene that they been brought to, or stay in their given quarters.
[hr]
As the Sun rose over the Kingdom of Dainia, a lone knight entering the kingdom dashed straight to the palace and through its gates on horseback, startling the surrounding guards and servants. The guards were about to attack, but fortunately stopped in time when they saw that she bore the Dainian crest. The disturbance outside attracted the attention of the other prince still at the palace, who emerged from the entrance to see what the commotion was about.

Upon seeing Mathazar, Gertrude immediately strode up to him and spoke. "Dame Gertrude Monday returning by order of the crown prince to report an unfortunate incident that has befallen the convoy on the way to Sorene, Your Highness. The convoy was ambushed by Lunarian assassins, and the only survivors of the attack are myself, one other knight, and His Highness Prince Eliezer."

She presented a Lunarian dagger to the prince, who, while examining it, stayed silent for a moment. So, despite the efforts of the Red Robin, his brother had still managed to make it out alive. "Where is the crown prince currently?"

"He has continued on to Sorene with the other knight and a masked stranger who protected him during the attack, Your Highness."

"A masked stranger, you say?"

"Yes, Your Highness, if it was not for him, Prince Eliezer might not have survived the ambush."

"Interesting..." Mathazar looked up at the knight from the dagger in his hands. "Thank you for the report, Dame Gertrude, you must be exhausted. You are dismissed for the rest of the day, please take a good rest."
[hr]
When night fell, the Red Robin was in a private section of Gloomvale Tavern, pacing back and forth across a table from the survivors of the group that had carried out the ambush in the forest the day before. Although hooded with the red mask hiding her face, the young woman was clearly frustrated. There was a moment of tense silence before she finally spoke up.

"Three, three survivors out of the entire convoy... and one of them had to be your target. Would any lady or gentleman here be willing to explain how that happened?"

Silence ensued once again, with the group of assassins glancing at one another before one finally broke it. "There was hesitation to take the prince out after learning that he is under the protection of the Moon Raven, Miss."

The Red Robin slammed the tip of the Lunarian dagger given to her by Mathazar into the wooden table. "You don't work for the Moon Raven, you work for me!"

The group before her flinched, but one of them had to point something out to her. "If we do manage to successfully assassinate the crown prince, you will be in danger if she finds out that we work for you, and she [i]will[/i] find out."

She released the dagger with a smirk, leaving it standing in the wood. "Are you all that afraid of the Moon Raven? Because, we shall revisit the assassination of Prince Eliezer in due time. Our next goal, is the abduction of this feared assassin."

The Red Robin now had knowledge of Raven's location, and had been spying on her the night before when she had passed the children under her care to an unknown elderly man she had referred to as 'master'. Also, from what she had been told, Raven's companion was currently with the crown prince in Sorene. It would be safe to assume that she was alone, and the perfect time to strike would be within the next few days. Of course, with the unexpected failure of the first job, they would take extra precautions for this one.