The realistic adventure

 Today is a day for tying up some "loose ends".  

A Dark Wife

HRM Black Cat and Ysabeau almost never traveled together.  Not that they didn't go to the same places, but the risk of Assassin involvement almost guaranteed that they would travel separately.  So the journey from Port Narl to Samovar was something of a novelty to them both.  While they had been married for decades, the trip might as well have been a honeymoon, from their behavior.  So it was, that they became 'young lovers' in the privacy of their flying coach... It was only when the craft began to descend, at the wrong time, that the couple reverted to their more 'dangerous' selves.  

"Quelque chose ne va pas, nous ne devrions pas nous arrêter." Ysabeau said, with quiet menace, "Je pense que nous devons être très prudents."
 Black Cat responded in a slightly less formal mode. "Ou gen rezon, sanble li lè pou w pi danjere."

Once they had agreed on the danger, and decided that they needed to take immediate action, the pair were "all business".  Black Cat donned his armor, as did Ysabeau.  He opened the carriage door, and as it grounded, was out and well away from it, in a single motion.  His assassins were ready, such that a powerful torus of magic surrounded him, in but an instant.  He tried it, in every quadrant, seeking some defect he could exploit.
  "We have him," a voice crowed with triumph, "Now we just need to take the female."
  "No worries, that," another voice put in, "She's just a woman, and probably not even dangerous."  
   The first speaker failed to respond, and so the secondary assassins moved toward the Carriage.  There were five of them, but no... only Four surrounded the carriage.  One had somehow fallen, on the way.  

The three remaining, and there were now only three, moved into a triangle for defense.  They had not yet seen the danger, but at least three deaths were enough to strike fear.  As he saw the magical taurus around Black Cat fade into nothingness, the darkest of the three spoke, his voice distorted with the fear he felt. 

 "Mon Deiu" he breathed, softly, "We maybe should have gone for the Queen, first".  

  Black Cat moved, magically... He stood between the two Assassins, in but a single step.  One died, almost instantly, and the other lacked time to even turn, before joining his former companions. Black Cat stepped again, and was in the forest, moving without sound and without a trace, as he made sure the perimeter was clear. He studied the flora and fauna, to see what had preceeded his initial observation, and was clearly, to Ysabeau, preturbed. 

  "One, or more, eluded us", she admitted, "And they knew we would land here, that's for certain." 
  As he checked the Flying Carriage, with care that only he could have managed, Black Cat became almost upset.  Not a usual thing for the Dark King.

  "They killed our Driver and his guard," came the remark to his Queen, "And there's a Bomb on the rig, as well.  Not one I can remove."  

  Ysabeau came to a proper social distance and agreed. "The driver and guard were poisoned, and it would seem that it came from their meal. As far as the Bomb, it seems made into the Carriage, and I wouldn't trust anyone short of His Grace Kur Lee, to even try to remove it."
  "So we walk to Castle Samovar," Black Cat almost growled, "We should carefully check what we brought with us, before we pack it."
  "I have a gift, from Seana, which will make the packing less... cumbersome", Ysabeau remarked, "It has enough interior space to hold the carriage and steeds, but is only a shoulder bag, from the outside." 

 "That's good, yeah," Black Cat said, his face a mask of non-emotion, "But we need to put distance between us and this event/ And that before those who survived can make a full report."   

  The brevity of action and speed of examination, would have made any observer who did not know the pair, think it to have been hasty, and almost casual.  Only those who knew the couple well would have been assured that nothing was missed. The equipment they took was as safe as it could possibly be.  

  The gear that they left behind, was "marked", so that any competent mage could identify it.  That way, if the group seeking the lives of the Royal Pair should attempt to reuse any of the equipment, it would be a clear link.  One does not become royalty, among the Dark Elves, unless your survival skills were well above average. This was why the two did not travel "straight to Targun", since their potential killers would be prepared for that eventuality.  So they went around Targun, and contacted someone they both knew, in the Guard, to carry the information to the Baronet, so that passage could be arranged by clandestine means.  It might have been excessive, but excess is a matter of perspective, when safety is paramount.  

It was almost not enough....  Had Baronet Kerlock not been as tall as he was, (almost two and a half arms) and a blue species descendent, as well, the assassin in the Stable might have scored at least a grievous wound.  As things developed,  Kerlock threw the offender to Ysabeau, and that assassin fell in several pieces. Cats can be dangerous, when aroused.