Chapter 1
Ishouldn’thavebeensurprised. Men like Tristen and Lord Galvisten were the scum of the earth, and scum liked to seep into dark corners, away from the light when exposed. I should've known what was going to happen. My father tried so hard to break that pesky emotion out of me: hope. Even when I shouldn’t, even when experience has proven otherwise, I always clung to it, hoping for a better future.But he was right.
After I got the guys out of the prison, we made plans to meet at my place in five days time, making sure everything cooled down before we met up. We thought the guard had captured the major players red handed and a trial would be held with an insurmountable amount of evidence. That someone, any of them, would get put to death, but like my father always said -cockroaches don’t die until you stab them, burn them and watch them take their last breath by your hands.
Later, we learned that Lord Galvisten influenced people into believing he wasn’t present at the auction. That he never stepped into that warehouse, that he was a victim of misinformation. This led us to believe that he somehow got out before any of the guards Vance sent saw or caught him. I specifically asked Vance to send guards he couldn’t bribe for that very reason. For those that got caught, and said he was there, they were conveniently hushed or killed while being detained. When the prisoners were on their regular duty, to patch the castle cliff side as their punishment, he managed to take out three of the main witnesses to him being there the day of. Surprise Surprise.
Also, Zayden’s father, Tristen, slipped the guards and was on the run. He made Romo in charge of the pleasure guild until he returned. He wanted them to know that he was just hiding until the heat of the situation backed off, which he swore that it would. I was sure he wastoldthat it would.
From how Zayden sounded, it seems his father expressed some threatening elements before his departure. He didn't say that of course, but I saw his hands clench when relaying the news and his eyes were constantly searching dark corners while he was on the streets. I read between the lines. It made my blood boil when I brought it up and he joked it off with a laugh and a wave of his hand.
I hated that piece of shit he called a father. Just that small glimpse I saw of how he treated Zayden made me want to kill him. Run my blade cleanly through his kidneys as I watched his eyes slowly close for the last time. Maybe I would, once all of this was done. It would be a parting gift to him, killing his father and removing that threat from his life. Then he could be free, like Zayden should be.
I stayed low for a week, not taking any jobs or really going out in daylight a lot, but that was about as much as I could take. After seven boring days of training indoors, I called our first meeting. Vance, Ajax, Zayden, Rykon, and Ruby met up at my apartment to talk about the objectives and plans we wanted to make. When we sat down, Ruby ran right into the kitchen. I could hear the clatter of plates and silverware. I almost called out to tell her not to bother but My eyes caught hers as she turned. She gave me those puppy dog eyes, begging me to let her do this, the thing she was good at for us. I nodded and as soon as the tea hit the table I quickly drank some and thanked her for it. Soon the others followed my lead and she was beaming at all of us.
My eyes flicked to each party member and not a single one made moves to talk or start any conversation. Guess I have to do everything.
“I know that I wasn't taking any jobs to try and lay low but I was thinking of maybe picking some up again. Seeing if I could trade jobs for information instead of goods.” With the faces that I got you would think that I told them I wanted to go work in the pleasure house. Rykon was the first to speak up.
“I don’t think that's a good idea. Since The Hood was hired by Tristian, it's safe to say that he needs to stay underground… for a little bit.” He had the decency to wince at the end but I heard him loud and clear. He didn't know if I could ever return to being The Hood.
Ajax chimed in, “You can’t go around doing kills as The Hood anymore.” I opened my mouth to argue when he kept going, “After I got home, my father wanted a status report on how I dealt with The Hood and I told him he wasn’t on board with joining the guild.” I closed my mouth as he seemed to have more to say.
“Don’t worry,” his satisfied grin made my hackles rise immediately, “I also told him I killed The Hood.” He kept smiling that stupid, smug smile, my muscles twitching to launch myself across the table and ring his neck, but I held myself in check….barely.
Kill me. Ha!Hefuckingkilledme! It was laughable. Impossible. Not even with magical help could he do it. I wanted to show him just how much he couldn’t kill me as my anger got to its peak and I ran my palms over the cool steel of my throwing knives.I’ll show you, prince of assassins.
Just before I used my middle finger to slide the knife out and imbed it into his chest, I felt a hand gently, yet firmly, lay on my forearm. I looked up to find that hand attached to Vance, and my anger immediately cooled. His soft, kind eyes told me he understood my anger, but it had no place here and now, reminding me to stay focused on the real goal. My fight was not with Ajax, even if he was being a dick. I needed his help. All of their help. Which just reminded me why I knew he was going to be a great king, and that I would be the king’s assassin, serving a good king for once. I settled back into my chair, ready to apologize, when I saw all their faces.
The entire group was looking between us with varying degrees of emotions. Ajax and Zayden's eyes were narrowed on Vance’s hand placement. While the latter's lips curled up as he looked away, the former looked at me like I had betrayed him. Rykon had more of an inquisitive gaze, like he just couldn’t quite figure out the puzzle in front of him, while Ruby’s eyes were as wide as her mouth.
Out of all of them, I cared about Ruby’s expression the most. This was the first time she was meeting Vance and I think she was still in shock I had another long-time friend besides her. When I first told her about him, after the day we saved the kids, she felt a little betrayed. She thought she was my only childhood friend, and she told me it made her feel special in a way. Now she knew I had this other friend the whole time, and he was a prince, of all things. She said she was starting to feel like an unnecessary piece in my life, which was far from the truth. I reminded her she was a vital piece in my life, that no one could ever touch what she means to me and how she grounds me. That seemed to make her feel better.
Then, a few days later, I told her about this meeting and how I would like for her to join us. She jumped at the opportunity to what I call “freakout hostess mode” as she baked pastries and bread for the meeting, making sure she brought over “proper” tea, whatever that means.
I winked at her, letting her know everything was fine. Vance was used to my little anger flare-ups. I had them a lot more in the palace as a child, especially when I wasn’t to be acknowledged or seen. Vance noticed and in turn understood the frustration I felt, which made it easier to swallow. I glared at Ajax. It was his fault I got so pissed.
“Well, it looks like all the noble families are cleaning house and making sure only the powerful, sneaky or useful members are still in court.” Vance’s nervous tone snagged my attention. “Which means that they are going to be very careful.” He folded his hands together as he leaned on the table.
“And what of Lord Galvisten?” Rykon asked, his eyes in Vance’s direction but I could tell they were looking in the distance, thinking about other things than what he was talking about. Ajax’s hand tightened into a fist on the table at the mention of his name and Zayden’s back went straight, as his attention was solely on Vance and what he was about to say.
After we got out of the prison, we gave Ajax the rundown of what happened, what I had learned from the beginning, how Tristan and Lord Galvisten were involved, and how it all worked out. The more we talked, the more Ajax shook with fury. His steps grew louder, showing he was not being careful, and his body vibrated so hard I thought he was going to explode. He said nothing to us, just nodded his head and got really quiet. This just incited Zayden to talk more the whole way back, with Ajax inevitably getting pissed off and punching a wall before he stormed off, throwing words over his shoulder for me to let him know when I needed him. Then he was gone. Rykon mumbled the same and went in the opposite direction, but at least he winked and waved at me. It was a start. Zayden asked that I walk him home like a proper lady should for her suitor. I rolled my eyes and walked in the opposite direction to where my apartment was. Zayden followed me the entire way, thinking that I didn’t notice him sneaking around, but I did. It was quite obvious when he tripped and cried out… twice, but I let that go and gave him the illusion that he found out where I lived without me knowing.
I came to regret that decision. He decided that since he knew where I lived, it gave him the green light to stop by and “hang out” every single day for a couple of hours. The first day, I slammed the door in his face, but he started screaming at the top of his lungs about how I used his services and never paid him. That got me to open the door and yank him into the apartment real fast as he grinned, saying he just wanted to hang. A piece of me knew he didn’t like to be at the pleasure guild if he didn’t have to, and once he was inside my apartment, it felt like no skin off my back if he wanted to sit and watch me work out. I would think it was boring, but he came every day for a couple hours and watched or talked to me as I was doing my reps. It was kind of nice in a weird sort of kind of way.
Vance took a deep breath as he concealed his rage. “It looks like the Lord has used his connections with my father to get out of things and keep a low profile. It seems like he pinned most of his deeds on others and had themkilled,” he emphasizes, “before they could go to court or prison.”
“Why don’t we just fucking kill them and get it over with?!” Ajax threw up his hands up and sighed out.
I looked at Vance and smirked, giving him the I-told-you-so look he always hated. He glared before looking up at Ajax like he was the idiot among idiots, opening his mouth before I lifted my hand for him to stop and I answered for him, “Look, I’ve been round and round with Vance on this for a while. In fact,” I looked over at Vance, remembering that day he stopped me, “I had those same thoughts a long time ago and I was very close to completing it, but Vance stopped me.”
Ajax’s eyes widened before his big mouth opened so far I could see his tonsils. Man, he liked to yell a lot, and I've had enough. I shot up out of my seat and slid my knife into his open mouth, laying the sharp edge along his tongue before he could say another single word. He paused, mouth opening wider as I put more pressure onto the blade. His mouth might be in trouble but his eyes narrowed on mine, the fire of his anger boiled over as he looked at me like he wanted to kill me, no fear in his eyes that I would carry out my threat. The young girl inside of me that was in love with him jumped for joy, so happy that he trusted us that much, while the trained killer inside me was enraged. Pissed off that he didn’t understand that his taunting face made me want to prove him wrong. Made me want to hurt him.
My voice came out in a cool, hushed tone, the threat behind it evident, “You know, for an assassin you sure have a big mouth. If you would've let me finish the story, you'd have found out that the king is protected by magic against harm. If anyone comes at him, intending to cause him harm, the magic will flare up and roast that person in flames right where they stood. That person will fall to the ground dead before the weapon is even within an inch of his body.” I pulled back my knife and wiped it on my pants. He glared at me as he stretched his jaw from side to side."The few times its happened, he's explanation is that its the gods will he survives, but I know better. I saw the flicker of the shield go up and down.
He points his hate filled gaze at me as he curled his hands into fists at his sides, “Don’t fucking do that to me ever again, or you will regret it.”
I turned and sat back down, leaning back in my chair to show his minor threat meant nothing to me. “Then I suggest you let people speak. You are not the leader here, Ajax. None of you are. In fact, let’s get this straight right now.” The feet of my chair slammed down, “I am your handler. I’ll be the one you talk to and interact with. Vance is here to help you understand why we are doing this, so you will shut up and listen to him.” Then I hit them all with a dose of reality, “Also, you better watch how you talk to him because he will be our next king. It would be a shame if you helped us now and then afterward, I was forced to kill you.”
