5
The assassin starts to stir. She’s lying on her side with her back towards me but I can see her body move ever so slightly.
Slowly, she rises to a sitting position and instantly tenses while looking around to find out where she is. Presumably noting the trees around us and the deep forest floor below and realising she’s not at her base.
The assassin is quick to react, she jumps to her feet and turns around taking in all of the guards watching her.
They have orders not to hurt her unless she attacks. But I don’t think anyone really knows what she’s going to do.
She finally spots me, her brows knotting and eyes wild.
“What the fuck is going on?”
I smirk up at her from where I'm still seated.
“I’ve decided that I want to convince you to work for us.”
She scoffs. “Kidnapping is a sore start.”
I roll my eyes. “That's a bit dramatic.”
The assassin holds her hands up. Shaking them slightly to gesture at the ropes while looking at me pointedly.
I snort, as I get up from the ground and walk over to where she’s standing.
“I’m sure you can get out of those eventually but for now, until we can trust you, you’re going to stay tied up.”
“That sounds like a wonderful start to a partnership.” She says, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
I lean in closer to her, feeling her harsh breath on my face.
“Your reputation and display yesterday is why you’ll stay tied up until I decide otherwise. Don’t like it, don’t care.”
The assassin looks up at me, her green eyes share a mix of anger and curiosity.
“What makes you so sure that you can convince me?” She asks bitterly.
“Once you know what we’re fighting for, I’m sure you’ll come around. But even if you are as heartless as they say you are, I will be paying you pretty generously.”
That seems to get her attention, I almost laugh.
“I wouldn’t count on me caring about whatever your supposed cause is. But if I am to be a paid worker, I would prefer to be out of these ropes.”
“Nice try.” I sneer back at her.
The assassin just shoots me a glare, offering no further comments.
I take a step back from her and gesture to my royal guards all standing around us.
“It appears some introductions may be in order.” I say, which only earns yet another death stare from the assassin.
I point at the two guards to our right.
“That’s Desmond Dale and Alistair Ryker.” She looks them up and down, first at Desmond who is quite pale and bears no hair on his head. He is still promising death with his stare towards the assassin, she returns the look back, not cowering.
I’ll have to pull him aside later.
Then she looks to Alistair, who smiles, his blonde hair flowing slightly over his blue eyes.
The assassin doesn’t give him so much as a nod, so I move onto the rest.
“And to the left, Mannuel Tressor and Finch and Fray Tatum.” The latter both give the assassin a sly wave. Their similar features not being the only thing that pairs them together. They quite often move as one, always looking after each other.
Mannuel, who is next to them, looks quite the opposite. He has a much deeper skin tone and short black hair cropped above his head. He turns and gives her a bright smile.
Ever the saint, that one.
“All are members of my personal royal guard in which Cole Grayson commands.” I say with a subtle nod towards my commander next to me.
The assassin says nothing at all.
“Normally this is the part of the introduction where you share your own name.” I say, mostly to tease her but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t also slightly intrigued.
She once again says nothing, glaring at me and glaring at everyone around. I’m starting to think that’s the only facial expression she knows.
I turn away from the assassin to face Cole and give him a nod.
He chucks the pre packed food at her like we discussed and I walk away to sit back down and eat my own.
“Eat up, you have ten minutes until we leave.” Cole says.
Alistair walks over to me while I’m adjusting the pack on my horse, preparing to leave.
“Want me to use my powers Xander? To help her become agreeable?”
I knot my brows, looking over my shoulder, flicking my gaze between the assassin still standing where I left her and Alistair.
“No.” I say coldly. “I want her to trust us, if she finds out you used your powers on her, that would be the end.”
“Understood.” He says and walks back over to help Mannuel with his own horse.
My gaze shifts over my shoulder, back to the assassin, she hasn’t touched her food.
“Not hungry?” I call out, turning my attention back to my horse.
“Never eat food from your enemies.” She quotes, “I thought a King would know that.”
I tilt my head up slightly, looking towards the sky, as if asking the gods above for patience.
“We are not your enemies.” I grit out, looking back down towards my horse in front of me.
“That’s to be determined, and you’re not exactly off to a great start.”
I sigh and reach into the pack on my horse, to retrieve a flask.
“Fine, don’t eat. But you have to drink this.”
I turn and throw her the flask and watch as her brows knot and she picks it up.
“What is it?”
“It stops you turning invisible and running away.” I answer her honestly, no point beating around the bush.
“Or, it poisons me and I die.” She says pointedly, “and why would I give up my advantage? Either way, not happening.”
“Trust me, you have plenty of advantages even without being able to turn invisible, consider this me evening it out.”
“Not happening.” She says as she retreats and throws the flask in front of her.
“Okay, have it your way.” I say and shrug.
Cole approaches her quickly and the assassin looks across to him warily.
“What are you doing?” She demands, holding her hands up like she’s ready to fight.
“Leveling our advantages.” Cole says plainly before darting around behind her.
“No.” She yells in protest as Cole grabs her. She starts kicking at him and trying to get out of his hold but he’s too strong. With the sleeping tonic only just wearing off, she would be struggling to access her fae strength.
I walk over and pick up the abandoned flask before grabbing her face. The assassin grunts as I force her mouth open by squeezing her jaw.
I tip the tonic down her throat and don’t let go until she has swallowed it.
Cole and I both release her and she looks at us with disgust. Panting as she catches her breath and wipes her tied up hands across her mouth.
“If you want me to believe we’re not enemies– that’s the wrong way to go about it.” She hisses at us.
“You don’t trust us yet and we don’t trust you, it’s the only way.” I say simply and walk towards our horses.
The assassin protests as we haul her up onto Cole’s horse to sit in front of him. I can see that she’s going to be a pain in the ass but I should have known.
“I can ride on my own.” She says turning to look at Cole.
“Yeah so you can ride off into the sunset, sure sounds great, what do you think Xander?” Cole retorts.
“Perfect idea, let’s go get a horse for her.”
She rolls her eyes as we start to take off, riding out of the forest and back towards the path.
We ride in silence along the dirt trail for a few hours. The trees along the road get thicker and thicker, the further we trek. Suddenly, the assassin deigns to speak.
“So where are we going?” She asks.
“Oh, she speaks.” I say sarcastically, earning another expected glare. I smile softly to myself but it’s Cole who answers her next.
“I thought Xander made that clear.” Coles says as he scoffs.
“I know I’m supposed to be working for you.” She says obviously, “I just mean, is there a mission, are we going to an army base or what?”
“We’re going home.” I say.
She looks at me bewildered. “You’re going to take an enemy into your home?”
“I’m hoping that by that stage you’ll be more willing to work with us but I have precautions otherwise. Besides, we can’t work with you from a distance can we?” I say mocking her.
She ignores me and looks away.
“You know, I thought you’d be way more unsettled, you’re just letting us take you to our home, with little to no issues.” Cole says suddenly.
Honestly if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was taunting her. He looks at me and smirks.
Yep, definitely taunting her.
“I’m an opportunist.” she replies, almost sounding offended, “why waste my energy at the wrong time.”
“Fair point.” I say with a shrug.
She shakes her head. “This has been such a strange day.”
“I suppose with the life of an assassin, your days would always be different?”
It’s actually Fray from behind us who chimes in and says this. The assassin looks back for the first time, her face unreadable as I watch her cautiously.
“My days are generally more interesting than being stuck on a horse for hours, yes”
“This must be a holiday for you then?” Fray suggests.
The assassin just shrugs. “It is… more rest than I’ve had in a while.”
She then gives Fray a slight smile who returns her own. Though Fray’s is strained, like she’s not sure whether to trust her yet.
The wind falls suddenly and sounds around us start to deaden.
We’re now approaching one of the hardest parts of our journey. I look around as we pass through a deeper section of the forest. The trees become denser, deeper toned and more jagged. There’s no proof of wildlife here, no sounds of rustling leaves, calls or footsteps.
Suddenly everything goes dark.
Looking around, I can’t see more than two feet in front of me, the trees and bushes are so thick that they cover the natural sunlight. I can also feel that there's a particularly strange magic here. Some stories say that it makes the path appear darker, making the Devils Pass feel more ominous.
I don’t disagree, not when the magic thrums beneath my veins like a silent warning.
We ride along the small manmade path that’s narrowed out since travelling further. The path is now only just big enough for two horses crammed pretty close together.
“Oh my gods.” The assassin exclaims from next to me. I look across to see her taking in the view around her.
Or what she can see anyway.
“This is Devils Pass, isn’t it?” She asks, her voice a whisper.
“Yes.” I hear Cole answer.
“This place has claimed more fae than any other place in the land.” She states.
“It’s still probably killed less than you have.” Cole rebuttals.
“I’ve killed no more than your war has.” The assassin answers gravely.
My shoulders tense at her words. She truly doesn’t know anything about the war.
“Enough, we need to be quiet through here.” I command bluntly.
The more attention we draw towards ourselves, the higher the chance that we’ll get attacked.
I’d rather not have to fight, or potentially lose the assassin. She would run the first chance she gets. The more distracted we are the better.
We ride on in the deafening silence for an hour before I hear rustling in the trees to the right of me and know exactly what it is.
But I’m not sure that she does.
“Don’t look at it.” I say quietly to her while looking straight ahead. Being careful not to shift my gaze to the right myself.
“Why not?” She whispers back.
“They can only attack if you look at them.” I answer her, my voice blunt, needing her to get the point sooner rather than later.
The assassin is quiet for a moment, not bothering to reply to my answer.
The bushes rustle again to my right, sounding faster, more aggressive.
“What in the gods' names are they?” She breathes.
“They’re called the Sentirex.”
I look into her eyes and can see her caution but surprisingly no fear. I’m sure she is scared but I can imagine she’s spent her life learning to mask it.
We hear a scream to my right and my body goes stiff. The scream sounds like a child’s, like a cry for help.
“Don’t look.” I warn again. “It will do whatever it can to make you approach, to make you look.”
I hear the assassin’s breathing increase and watch as her chest rises and falls. We just have to get past the Sentirex and then we’ll be fine. I have no interest in trying to fight one of them and we’re still a good few metres out from the end of Devils Pass.
“Help! Somebody help me!” A child’s voice exclaims.
It’s coming from behind us now, sounding more like a young girl.
I feel a shiver run down my spine. It’s moving, trying to get our attention, to lure us in.
“So you’re telling me, that’s not a child?” The assassin whispers.
I can tell the fear is starting to rise inside of her, it shows in her voice.
“No, it most definitely is not a child. It mimics whatever it can to lure you in. These creatures have evolved to know what sounds are most effective to hunt the fae.”
“Maaeeeve.” it calls in a shrilling voice.
That must be her name.
Gods, I hope she can hold it together. It’s targeting her because it can tell she’s scared, it can tell she hasn’t been here before.
She smells new.
“Maaeeevee.” It calls again in that same voice, it sends another round of shivers down my spine.
“Maeve!” It snaps at her from my left. Its voice is becoming more deranged.
It must be so close now.
She hasn’t looked at it yet but I know the temptation. The Sentirex draws on your fears and pricks those tiny hairs at the back of your neck that make you want to look, that make you sense danger.
“Look at me.” It whispers, trying its best to peak the assassin's fears and instincts.
The assassin looks across at me, horror all over her features, her eyes wide.
Footsteps sound from next to her and I watch as her breath hitches. I’m careful not to look further, to the place just behind her head where I know it lurks. I can hear its breathing, feel its presence right there.
I beckon the horses faster and hear the Sentirex’s footsteps increase, sounding heavier and angrier each step.
“Maeve!” It yells again in that dark horrifying voice.
“Just look forward.” I say to her, praying to the gods that she can pull through this.
“Maaaevveee.” It stretches out her name in that shrilling voice that grates at the insides of my ears, making me clench my jaw.
“Look.”
“At.”
“Me.”
It drags out the three words in a deeper, more deranged tone.
Twigs snap aggressively and I hear a familiar female scream to my left.
“MAEVE!” I shout and whip my head towards her.
Before realising my mistake.