The Emerald Assassin

by Ellie Margot

  “My grandmother?” Riette sat forward quickly. The mental fog was clearing, and she wanted something to grab onto. “You knew her?”

  “Vera? Oh, yes. I know of her, and I know that despite all else, she would want you to have the book. Only a girl, a woman, wild enough to think she can save her realm would deserve it anyway.”

  Riette’s tattoo burned again, and Flora looked at her shoulder, as if she could see it glowing from the back.

  “No need for that or sad faces. Go forward and save yourself in the process.”

  “Thank you,” Riette said. She stood, half expecting her legs to fail her.

  Riette turned to leave.

  “Riette of Vitan, before you go,” Flora said. Her hand was raised as if she wanted to touch her but stopped herself. “The liar among you knew about the book, had this knowledge, but it doesn’t mean he’s rotten. Just his choices were.”

  Guy. Riette’s rage flared to life, her tattoo fast behind it. He’d acted as if he didn’t know, yet he’d kept this from her. What else was he hiding?

  Riette nodded her head and bit her lip. She walked through the opening and headed straight to the curtain she came from. The guard was gone, but the group was there.

  Cassian sat staring at the opening, his hands tented in front of his face with his elbow on his knees. He stood as soon as he saw her. Mekhi followed suit, and Guy, already standing, turned. Riette didn’t look at him. She couldn’t, not in her current state, or she’d burn the earth he stood on.

  “We’re going to Peruth,” she said, no room in her voice for question.

  “It’s a three-day journey,” said Guy.

  “Then we should hurry.”

  Chapter 27

  Riette hadn’t heard those same clicking night noises since she left Dire’s house, at least not outside of her head. Inside? The emotions ebbing in her head kept her stomach uneasy and her palms sweaty.

  She shifted the bag on her shoulder.

  Cassian pushed against her arm. He raised an eyebrow when she looked at him, but it wasn’t the first time she had kept quiet, despite him asking. She knew she needed to shake the darkness loose, but every breath was another moment the need for her grandmother’s book consumed her.

  Riette’s eyes found Guy. He sensed it from her right away and looked over. Caught again. He smiled with part of his face and then winked at her. She fought the urge to vomit or spit in his face. The same darkness that hovered just outside of her control edged closer. She faced ahead. She couldn’t afford to lose her walking, talking, lying map. Even if she wanted to lose him off the closest bridge.

  “What is Peruth like?” Cassian asked Guy.

  “It’s bigger than any place we’ve been,” said Guy. “It’s concentrated. A lot of trade happens there.”

  “All slaves?” asked Riette.

  “No, not solely, but that is one of the many lines of trade.” Guy looked at her. “It’s the easiest way for some people to make money. They already fight too much; you’ve seen that. This gives them a purpose.”

  “And gives a death sentence to someone else,” said Mekhi.

  “I have friends there. We’ll find her.”

  “You sold her to one of your ‘friends,’” said Mekhi.

  “They’re not my friends.”

  “But you knew them enough to trust them with my sister’s life?” asked Cassian.

  “They hold to their word,” said Guy. “I know that.”

  They traveled for hours more. Not stopping since they had a firm location to guide their journey by. Guy was the first to speak again.

  “What’s your type?” Guy asked. “Anyone?”

  “You ask a lot of questions,” said Mekhi.

  “We have a lot of time to kill.”

  Without her consent, Riette saw the siren again in her memories. She shook her head to shake the vision loose, and after a few moments, it did.

  “Corin,” Mekhi said. “Always has been.”

  “You’ve never wanted anyone else?” asked Guy.

  “There’s never been anyone else.”

  “What about Sara?” asked Cassian.

  “Sara wasn’t a thing.”

  “Sara thought so,” said Riette.

  “Sara was the first one I told about Corin. She was a friend. You,” he looked at Riette, “should know better.”

  “I do; Corin is the only one who’d deal with you,” she said, and she forced the darkness down. It wouldn’t consume her. It couldn’t if she didn’t let it.

  “You?” Guy said to her.

  “Pass.”

  “I didn’t say that was an option. My game, my rules.”

  Your bullshit.

  “You go first.”

  “Ladies first,” said Guy.

  Riette said nothing, refusing to look at him.

  “Fine, Cassian? Care to share?”

  Cassian didn’t lose a step. He barely turned toward Guy, but he answered a beat after everyone had given up hope that he would.

  “No time for girls.”

  “No one has time for girls,” said Guy. “Now, women...”

  “No time for them, either.”

  “Lily loved you,” said Riette. She pushed his arm lightly.

  “Lily loved things with pulses. They were her favorite.” Cassian said it just like Lily would, all lightness and full of cheer.

  Riette laughed, and Cassian smiled back.

  “Lily’s out of your league anyway,” said Mekhi.

  “Cassian could handle her,” said Riette, but Cassian turned away.

  “The point is, I know I could handle her, whoever she is,” said Guy.

  “I think you’re one of those guys who talk a big game but actually have none,” said Mekhi. “You look like you’re all mouth.”

  “Then don’t ask me,” said Guy. “Ask the resident girl.”

  “You don’t want to know what I think,” said Riette, and she kept her voice level, surprising even herself.

  “No, no. I can take it.”

  Riette stopped and turned to face him fully.

  “The only thing I care about in this world is loyalty,” she said all in one breath. “And you have none.”

  Guy’s face turned red. He laughed, but no one else did. “Ha, ha. I’m loyal.”

  “You’re—”

  “Let’s stop while we’re ahead, okay?” said Cassian. He pulled Riette’s arm. “Let’s keep going, yeah? Walk with me?”

  “We’ve been walking,” said Riette.

  Cassian got into rhythm next to her, and he let the others get ahead a good distance before he continued.

  “No, we’ve been moving. I’ve been walking. You’ve been stomping for the most part. What’s wrong?”

  Riette shook her head. She adjusted her bag again.

  “Tell me.”

  “Flora—the woman inside—she told me something about Guy that I can’t forgive him for.”

  Cassian’s eyebrows pinched. “Is it something about Corin?”

  Riette shook her head. “No, it’s something else.”

  “If we could stomach talking to him after what he did to my sister, everything else is forgivable.”

  Riette’s stomach clenched.

  I’m an asshole.

  She nodded. Cassian’s words were the cold water she needed to break the spell of anger on her shoulders. She didn’t need to hurt Guy or mess things up before she got Corin back. Corin was the only thing that mattered right now, and everything else, even her grandmother’s book, could wait until they found her.

  Until they got her back.

  Chapter 28

  The first sign they were close to Peruth was the smell. It was thick, choking, and acidic, like burning oil or grease gone long unattended. The buildings came second. The city itself was large, but all of its pieces were in ruin. The buildings that were once tall had their structures tumble to broken clay on the ground, leaving jagged edges that looked ready to scratch the sky. It looked like a land without l
aw, without reason, from the broken people who entered it and from the cracked remains of what had been.

  Riette tried to tell herself not to be surprised by anything in Esper anymore.

  The little she had known had been long erased by the things in front of her very eyes. She needed to survive to get back home. She couldn’t afford to get overwhelmed by things unlike she imagined.

  When Flora said it was a broken city of a place, a spot on Esper, she had imagined something small. Peruth was not that. It was all buildings and darkness, and it was a city left to its own ruin, with the people who belonged with such a backdrop.

  Guy turned to stop the group before they got too close. There were other people on foot, but there were also people being escorted by rope by men like the ones with stripes that had tried to attack her. Many of the people tied had their heads down, the women had their hair to cover their faces. They were dirty, skinny, and their clothes were as worn as the roads they walked on. They shuffled, one foot after the other, like cattle, lumbering and slow.

  “Riette,” Guy said.

  She turned her head.

  “Don’t look anywhere but ahead. No staring, remember? Peruth is not a place where you want to piss people off or get separated from everyone else.”

  Riette looked over his shoulder. Other people were following his advice. No one moved alone, and no one moved quickly. They walked almost in single file on the one path that would take them inside.

  Another thing Riette noticed was that people weren’t walking out. From what she could see, people entered Peruth, but they didn’t leave, or at least not while she stood there.

  “Where do we go when we get in there?” Cassian asked. He wasn’t looking at them either. His eyes had too much to take in. Too much to be worried about.

  “I’m not sure. I haven’t been here much. I’ve heard the most dangerous part of the city is when you first enter it. Predators look for people who are out of rhythm, people who look lost. They pick them off and haul them away. Some are traded, or traded again if they were already being smuggled. We don’t need to lose someone else we’d have to rescue. We stick together to get out of this in one piece.”

  Riette set her bag on the ground and took off the cloak. The outfit from Mary Beth was in full display, and her hair had almost gone back to normal. That, in itself, was a miracle.

  “That’s not a good idea,” said Guy. “We don’t need attention. I’ll know the group when I see them.”

  “And the rest of us?” asked Riette. “We just wait for your guidance?”

  “Haven’t you so far?” asked Guy.

  “And what good has it done? We still don’t have Corin. Maybe the same people who would want Corin would want me. I shouldn’t hide if it would help me get to them faster.”

  “Cassian—” Guy started.

  “She’s right. We’ve hid instead of bringing the bad guys to us. Maybe that’s been a mistake.”

  “Or maybe that’s kept us alive so far,” said Guy.

  “If she’s here, we need to find her,” Mekhi said. “Now. Not later. If that means Riette shows off her cash and prizes, so be it.”

  “I wouldn’t say all that,” said Riette.

  “No, you’re showing it,” said Guy. It was more grumbled than spoken.

  They moved ahead with Guy leading. Riette watched him and fought the urge to smile. She had been in hiding too long.

  The road wasn’t crowded, but they lined up with Cassian in the rear with Riette and Mekhi by Guy’s side.

  Each building still looked intact, and there were people moving quickly throughout. It was more people than Riette had seen since being at the port, which made it hard to listen to Guy’s main rule, not to stop and stare, because there was a lot to see, more Cyclops included.

  Seeing one who walked near them brought Jeffery front of mind. She wanted to see him again. Having him here would make her feel more secure, but she didn’t want to be weak or feel that way. Riette was better than that.

  She flicked her wrist and felt the heat just beyond her reach. She didn’t grab it, but she knew she could, and that quieted some of the demons.

  They moved farther ahead.

  A man turned and looked at Riette. He wasn’t an Elf, but the smirk on his face showed that he appreciated her all the same. He walked straight into another man, and Riette turned. She heard the crack of fist finding face for the transgression, and the interaction made Guy’s words all the more real.

  Cassian tensed beside her. He wasn’t going to tell her to put the cloak on. He knew what it meant to her. Besides, Riette had never had to hide before leaving Vitan. She never thought she was anything special before then either, not for her looks anyway.

  It made her think of the Siren. The call it had. The impression it made. Had it marked her soul or her tranquility? Did she attract the wildness in others, or were they attracted to her own?

  Riette swallowed, forcing down the thoughts with the burning knowledge that she didn’t know what caused it, but she wasn’t happy about it.

  Her tattoo tingled, and she didn’t calm it down. She didn’t want to breathe it out. She wanted to burn her feelings into the ground at her feet and into the sky far above her. She wanted to break the city in half with her fist hitting the ground and crack the sky with the flames from her fingertips.

  The flames moved closer to the surface but didn’t cross the plane, and Riette moved one foot in front of the other, forcing herself to keep pace with Cassian. If she focused on anything else, the darkness would claim her again.

  Something darted in front of her path. A woman. Tall, skinny, with many small steps. The woman was an Elf, judging by her size. The woman as half a head taller than the rest. At that height, it was air that only Riette and her party shared, with several notable, one-eyed exceptions.

  But all Riette could see beyond that was that she was wearing blue, and she was slight. The woman was mostly bones and sharp angles, and her body screamed of the things she couldn’t have had access to: food, warmth, Vitan.

  “Don’t try to find her,” she said in a quiet voice.

  “You know who we’re looking for?” asked Riette, moving forward.

  “Stop now while you can,” the woman said as she stumbled back.

  Riette called out, “Wait. Talk to us.”

  The woman didn’t slow. She glanced back for the briefest of seconds before turning a corner and pushing her legs to take her away as fast as she possibly could. In a world where no one moved quickly, the woman thundered with all of the little she had.

  “We have to follow her.”

  “It could be a trap,” said Cassian.

  “Or she could be the link we need to find other Elves,” Riette said. “Corin.”

  She knew it wouldn’t be easy to chase her, not with a lead like that, but she also knew a clue when she saw it.

  Chapter 29

  Riette took off first. Guy was close behind her, and Cassian and Mekhi took up the rear. Others around them were startled by the sudden movement, but no one said anything. Keeping to one’s own business was rule one. No one wanted trouble that they could avoid.

  Riette’s feet hit the pavement, small glances of blue in front of her were the only thing that kept her moving in the right direction. The woman was fast, but she was hurried. Fear jumbled her steps.

  She turned a corner, and her hand touched the wall. Riette saw it scraping down the side as if the woman touching the wall was the only thing that kept her upright. The woman was almost to the end. She couldn’t keep up with the pace in her current state.

  Cassian pushed ahead and was by Riette’s side. When they got to the corner, Cassian touched Riette’s arm and nodded to let himself go first. Riette nodded back, and Cassian turned the corner seconds before she did.

  The woman stood there, her chest rising and falling with violent breaths shaking her small frame. She had one hand on her chest and was bent over with the other on her knee. The clothes she was wearing
hadn’t helped her purpose. The dress was well kept but still ragged around the edges. If she hadn’t been tall, Riette wouldn’t have known she was an Elf at all. There didn’t look to be any magic left in her.

  Riette moved closer. The woman turned to face her pursuers.

  “Why are you running from us? What do you know?”

  “Nothing. You—you scared me. You chased me down the street.”

  “Bullshit. What you said before about Corin. You are afraid; you tried to warn us away. Why? Tell us now.”

  Riette’s tattoo burned, and a power surged through her. The bark from the supply they had brought with them that she had been eating on the journey had upped her strength. She was still riding high after being near the Vitan roots days previous. Nothing could stop her now.

  Cassian touched her shoulder. The tattoo burned hot against his hand, through her shirt. Riette looked at him, and he gave a slight shake of his head.

  “Let me talk to her.”

  A noise came from Riette’s throat, something akin to a growl.

  “You spoke of my sister,” Cassian said. “Do you know where she is?”

  The woman worried the edges of her sleeves. “People travel into Peruth all the time,” she said. “I couldn’t possibly—”

  “Please. We’ve traveled a long way. If you know anything about a fire wielder. She—she might be being held against her will here. Somewhere.”

  The woman’s eyes flitted over Cassian’s face. She took in his features and swallowed before nodding her head and looking back down at the ground.

  “I don’t know if it’s her, but I heard of a girl. A girl with powers. She hasn’t been in town long, but she set a fire, brought trouble.”

  “No, I’m the trouble for them,” Riette said. “They have brought me.”

  The woman turned quickly. She didn’t run, but the movement showed the edges of the marking on her shoulder. She was an earth-wielding Elf.

  “Please,” said Mekhi. “We need to bring her back. I can’t lose her again.”

  The woman faced them again. There was a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.