by Ivy Clyde
Drawing my cloak around me, I went downstairs. The tavern owner snored loudly as I walked past him into the street outside. Adal was already mounted on his steed.
“Let’s get going.”
I got on my horse. Adal trotted away but I took a moment to look around the street one last time. It was completely deserted.
“Stay safe, Daria,” I whispered to the sighing winds before riding away.
4
Morning chill seeped through the blanket covering Tilly’s body and mine. She was still deeply asleep, her head leaning against my shoulder. The girl looked so peaceful and innocent, I wondered if it would be better to leave her there and carry on towards Linmoor. At least, her innocence would be preserved a little longer that way.
As the gray light of dawn lit up the woods around us, my mind went back to reminisce my childhood. Elga, our leader, had found me abandoned in this very forest. To this day, I don’t remember how I got there. My memories from before that day were lost. While Elga fed and clothed me, it became apparent I was meant to be more than an errand girl in the hidden society of the most deadly assassins in the world.
Ever since I was five, Elga took over my training. Your blood is too powerful to be wasted, she’d said to me. Over the course of my education, I understood what she meant. While she could control the elements to some extent, I could conjure them through my powers. Elga could make the flame of a candle sway and dance but I could light up an unlit taper, a feat none of the practicing assassins could boast.
Along with Elga, there were thirteen assassins living in Linmoor. There were servant girls and maids too, but they were never sent on missions. The most interesting feature of our society was that only females were allowed to stay there.
Tilly stirred, pressing her thin body to mine for warmth. The girl couldn’t go home and if I left her to wander on her own, she might end up as someone else’s prey. A heavy sigh escaped me. Tilly left me no choice.
I prodded her shoulders. “Wake up. It’s time to go.”
Her eyes slowly blinked open and she looked blank for a moment. It took a few moments for her memories to surface and realization slowly dawned on her.
I got to my feet and stretched my arms over my head. My whole body was sore. Tilly came to stand next to me. There was color in her cheeks and she already looked much better than last night.
“Get on the horse,” I said.
She looked at the horse blankly before moving towards it. Tentatively, she extended an arm and touched its buttock.
“What are you doing?” I asked, untying the reins and watching her prod the horse’s leg with her finger.
“I am scared,” said Tilly in a small voice. “I never got on a horse before.”
“Didn’t your farm have one?”
“Yes, but only my brother was allowed to ride on it.”
Pity flared up inside me at once. “Come on. Put your foot here,” I said, pointing at the stirrup. “Grab the saddle. That’s it.” I pushed at her buttocks, giving her the lift she needed. Once she was seated, I mounted behind her. “Are you comfortable?”
“Yes. It feels so high up here.”
A chuckle escaped me as I led the horse to trot lightly through the trees. The pathway to Linmoor was further inside the forest.
“Miss Daria,” Tilly spoke up after a while. “Who sent you to save me?”
“No one.”
“But you killed that man and rescued me.”
“Yes, but I was only sent to kill him. Rescuing you was my personal choice.”
“Who sent you to kill him?”
I brought the horse to a halt. It was important she understood where she was going until it was too late. If she didn’t want to stay among a group of female assassins, we would have no choice but to silence her.
“Do you know what I am, Tilly?”
She turned back to glance at me and shook her head.
“I am an assassin. My master gives me the order to kill and I obey. Sometimes, I get paid a lot of gold for it. I was just a few years older than you when I first killed a man.”
Her pale eyes widened and she gulped. “Would I have to kill people too?”
“It takes years of training to become an assassin. If you are not suitable for it, no one will force you.”
Tilly looked visibly relieved at that.
“I am asking you for the last time, Tilly. Are you sure you don’t want to go home and make peace with your family? You can’t turn back once we leave.”
“I can’t go home,” she said in a sad but strong voice. “I will go with you, Miss Daria. You have shown me more kindness than anyone in my life. If you let me, I am ready to serve you all my life.”
“Ayah! You’re not so unfortunate as to be my lifetime maid,” I said with a laugh. “All right, then. We’ve dawdled long enough. Let’s go home.”
The horse sped up and soon we were on our way to Linmoor through the forest pathway. The trees whisked past us and the cool morning breeze felt good and fresh against my cheeks. Tilly often cried out with mirth, suddenly being the child she truly was. I made sure to keep one arm around her as we rode. Her excitement made me wary she would fall off anytime.
At times we would slow down to change directions. The route back to the hidden valley was convoluted, making sure our location was always concealed from common folk.
It was a few hours before we reached the point that separated Linmoor from the forest. The horse came to a stop at the edge of a cliff. Tilly peered over and then looked back at me. “How do we cross the chasm?” I smiled at her confusion. The cliff fell sharply several hundreds of feet from where we stood. A broad, swirling river gushed down below.
Turning the horse away from the edge, I climbed down from it. I hauled Tilly down next. Taking the reins in hand, I gestured towards a group of boulders. “That’s the way forward.” She looked confused but followed me. From a distant, it looked like a pile of rocks with thorn bushes around it.
Reaching close to a low rocky hill, I removed the dead bushes covering a part of it and revealed the hollow chamber inside. The entryway was tall enough for the horse. We entered it and I made sure to conceal the gateway before moving forward.
It was dark inside the cavernous hollow. Only the shafts of sunlight coming through the gaps in the bushes gave us some light. Tilly’s hand grabbed onto a handful of my dress as I started walking forward.
After a few minutes, we came upon a stone staircase that spiraled down several feet. In the low light, the bottom was hidden in darkness.
“What kind of place is it?” asked Tilly in a timid voice.
“You will see.”
Flames erupted on my fingertips, making Tilly gasp loudly. “Sshh. Follow me.”
I walked down the stone staircase with the horse’s rein in hand. He let out a nervous neigh but I soothed him with low whispers. It was difficult for him to walk down those stairs and the only part of the journey that caused him discomfort. As the three of us went down, the flames on my hand surrounded our little party in a ball of light, shrouding the rest of the cavern in shadows.
It took fifteen minutes for us to reach the bottom. From there, the underground chamber increased in height and led the way through a tunnel. Flames from lit torches flickered in the dark, lighting our way forward. It gave me pause. Those were rarely lit like that. Is someone else expected to come to the valley? I wondered.
We moved forward and the thunderous roar of the river flowing overhead echoed in the cavernous passageway. I quenched the flames in my hand and Tilly promptly grabbed my arm.
After half an hour’s walk, the ceiling of the cave began coming closer to our heads. Just when it was getting claustrophobic, cool, fresh air skimmed our faces. We rounded a bend and our eyes screwed tight shut because of the bright sunlight streaming through the wide opening a few feet away. The horse neighed loudly.
“Welcome back home, Cereus,” I said, patting the horse’s neck. “Come, Tilly.”
I led the way forward.
Our path was surrounded on all sides by green woods. The sound of the river was now a gentle murmur in the background as we headed towards Linmoor.
A heavy mist surrounded us as we got closer to the entrance of the valley.
“This place is so strange,” said Tilly, looking all around.
“It’s hidden well,” I explained. “No one knows the way in except for the people of the valley. Those who come to seek us out are led by one of our members.”
Wisps of thick, white fog soon surrounded us. Letting the reins fall from my hand, I stood with both arms outstretched to the front. Closing my eyes, I conjured the elemental power of wind and parted my arms, mimicking the motion of parting curtains at a window.
“Wow,” Tilly breathed.
When I opened my eyes, a pathway had been cleared for us. Taking the horse’s rein, I walked ahead with Tilly following behind me. The entrance to the village was marked by an ancient stone archway. Several small cottages lay in the distance.
“This place looks so much nicer than my village,” said Tilly. “Everything is so green here.”
“Elga is an expert in earth magic. Even in winter, the woods remain green and we are never short of food.”
“I am hungry again.”
“So am I.”
As we reached the village, I spotted a pair of girls hurrying towards the kitchen. They were carrying a massive pitcher of water between them.
“Gia! Taria!” I called out loudly.
They stopped and looked towards me, instantly noticing the stranger beside me. I hurried towards them as they set the pitcher back on the ground.
“This is Tilly,” I said, gently pushing the girl in front of me. They stared at her curiously, taking in her bandaged wrist and ragged dress. “She will be living here with us from now on. I need you to help her bathe and put on some fresh clothes. Get her something to eat as well.”
Tilly stared up at me, looking doubtful.
“Go with them. I will come find you later.”
“Come with us,” said Taria, the older of the pair. “We are going to the kitchen to finish our chores and then we shall eat.”
Tilly gave me one last glance before following the girls. I took Cereus and led him to the stables. The warm sun felt good against my face after the chilly night I’d spent outdoors. After putting him in his quarters, I took off his reins and saddle. With barely much energy left, I made sure his water bucket was full and dumped sweet hay before him.
“I’ll be back with sugar lumps later,” I promised him.
Leaving the stables, I hurried towards my living quarters. It was a small cottage but it solely belonged to me. It was one of the perks I earned at age twelve after becoming a professional assassin. A smile rose on my lips to see it in the distance.
Lavender blossomed in thick clusters on the path near my cottage. Their heady fragrance hung in the air, making me inhale deeply. It further helped to cleanse the rank odor of the brothel from my lungs.
Pushing open the door, I entered the cottage. Tuto was already dozing on his perch in the corner while my pet snake, Naya, snoozed in a patch of sunlight falling on my pillow. His navy blue scales glittered in the light and he looked utterly beautiful despite his strange abnormalities. Naya had four little horns on his brow. He even had four tiny limbs attached to his foot-long body.
I smiled at him, going to sit on the edge of the bed. With a large sigh, I fell back on the mattress. My movement woke him up and he came to slither up my chest and perch there, his dark, purplish eyes looking into mine.
“Hello, there,” I said. “Missed me?”
His head bowed in reply. This was another thing I liked about him. Naya seemed to understand everything I said and even responded to it. I’d found the strange little creature last month. He’d been washed ashore on the bank of the river. His glittering azure scales attracted my attention and I’d fished him out of the shallows. He was close to death, barely moving or breathing. I nursed Naya back to health, painstakingly catching grasshoppers and the occasional lizard to feed him.
“I brought a new girl to the village today,” I said. “She is a victim of the virgin blood trade. Isn’t it good I reached her before the bastard was able to bleed her out completely?”
His small head gave a nod.
“I met a handsome stranger on the way,” I said, reminiscing about Cain. “He was so nice and looked like a prince. I bet he was a noble.”
Naya’s eyes turned a shade darker. Within a flash, he sank his tiny but sharp fangs into my thumb.
“Naya!” I cried out, pushing him off my chest. Two red holes appeared on my pale skin and a drop of blood oozed out. “Bad, bad snake,” I admonished, climbing off the bed to go to cupboard in the corner. “Why did you have to bite me for no reason?” Taking a wooden box out, I opened it and fumbled around for the medicine reserved for snake bites. After I sprinkled the powdery substance on the wound, I waited. It was after a few seconds, I realized there was no pain other than the slight sting from the broken skin.
“Are you poisonous, Naya?” I asked, looking down at the snake who was coiled up near my feet.
He shook his head.
I breathed out a sigh of relief, leaning against the cupboard. “You’ve never bitten me before. What came over you just now?”
He remained quiet but slowly slithered up my legs and nuzzled his head on my knee. “Good thing you’re so sweet, Naya, or I would have given you to Elga. She would make a nice soup out of you.” A giggle escaped me as I gently caressed his horny head while he stared at me with reproachful eyes. “I am joking, silly. You know I love you.” Bending down, I kissed his head.
“Daria!” a voice called my name. “Have you returned yet?”
“I have,” I said, picking up Naya in my hand and taking him back to the bed. Leaving him there, I went outside. It was Sanita.
“Elga asked you to go see her now.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
I frowned. What was so urgent she sent Sanita, the second-most senior assassin, to call me? I was hoping for a long nap and a hot bath afterward. Instead, I followed Sanita as she led me towards Elga’s quarters.
Elga’s cabin was situated in the center of the village. We passed by other cottages and several women waved at us as we walked past them.
“Go in,” said Sanita, gesturing towards the open doorway. She turned around and walked away.
Curious, I walked through the door and entered Elga’s receiving chambers. At once, I knew something was up. There were two tall men sitting before her. At my entrance, they both turned around to glance at me.
I stopped short, my heart suddenly beating fast. One of the men was Cain.
5
I led the way through the dark underground passage that ran underneath the river flowing over us. Cain and I were on the road to Linmoor. So far, we’d been quiet. He was brooding over a woman he met last night. I knew he was reproaching me for not letting him wait longer at the town tavern for her to show up.
Cain was usually the most level-headed guy among the three of us, yet he was acting irrationally silly. How could he be swayed by the charms of a woman when both our lives and the lives of our people were dependent on keeping our identities secret? I wondered if I should have Elga check him for poisoning or some kind of spell that was making Cain so illogical. The leader of the assassins was a practiced witch and potion master. She would surely be capable of detecting an enchantment placed on him by a spy.
The grip on the rein of my horse tightened as I realized the amount of time I spent thinking about the woman Cain met last night. We were already close to Linmoor and I hadn’t spoken to him about the plot that had been brewing in my mind ever since I found out about the secretive assassins’ guild. When Cain came to see me about the virgin blood trade running rampant in his kingdom, I knew it was the perfect chance to see whether my great grandfather’s directions would really take me to the assassi
ns’ lair.
I came to a halt.
“What’s wrong?” came Cain’s tight voice from behind me.
I turned around to face him. “I have something to talk to you about.”
Cain’s eyebrows furrowed. “Now?”
“Yes.”
“I can barely hear you over the sound of the water flowing over our heads. Can’t it wait until later?”
I shook my head and led the horse to a corner. Conjuring up a ball of flames in my hand, I sat down against the wall of the cavernous tunnel. It was the only magic I was capable of doing because of the dragonblood coursing through me. Both Cain and I could summon fire and withstand very high heat without any physical harm. It was the only advantage we had over mortal men.
Cain looked surprised and came to sit beside me. “Do we need to converse this very moment?”
I nodded, turning to face him. “This is the best place for the conversation we’re about to have.”
Light from the flames flickered over Cain’s grim, unshaven face. “Go on.”
“After Norvin’s passing, I’ve been thinking of adding a new member among us, someone who can help us with our ultimate mission of ridding the four kingdoms of Emperor Ivan’s dictatorship. Even before we came to Linmoor, I wanted to have an assassin assist us with our plan. While we won’t always have the freedom to move around, this person could do it for us. The assassins of Linmoor work without leaving any trace behind. It would be perfect to have someone like that working for us.”
“It would,” he agreed. “Do you think Lady Elga would agree though?”
“I don’t think she will leave Linmoor,” I said, looking ahead into the dark corridor. “But it would be just as good to have one of her trusted people working for us.”
“It will be a woman.”
“I know.” Every assassin in Linmoor was a woman. In fact, every resident there was a female.