Once

by Alyson Serena Stone

  "Amberfall?" Frostfire asked, his voice just low enough for her to hear.

  She stared up at the king, who looked back down at her with a sickening sweet smile. There was something in his eyes that chilled her very soul. Darkness had taken root on him.

  "My lady, shall we keep going?" Frostfire asked, his voice a little bit louder this time.

  Amberfall blinked as she looked away from the king's death glare. "Yes, I was just taking in the beauty of this fine room." She smiled. "It really is grand. I've never seen or felt anything like I do in this room."

  King Teodric smiled. "Ah, yes, we take great pride in making sure that we have the best to show to our guests."

  Amberfall nodded her head just enough to make it seem like she was bowing to him. "Well, I am enjoying the effort. It's not every day that we get to enjoy mortal artwork."

  Teodric smiled again. "Good, I am hoping that you will also enjoy the Yule Ball we are holding in your honour. So many have been wanting to see you and we thought this would be the best way to give the people what they want. We have even extended the invitation to all of Xandria."

  "Of course." It took every bit of effort that Ambefall had to keep her smile from collapsing. A ball with mortals? She had been prepared for a ball with the court, but not with every Xandrian citizen.

  Frostfire rested his hand on the small of her back. "Forgive me, but I must request that we discuss security plans with your captain of the guard before we can agree to attend such an event." He smiled at Teodric. "I hope you understand, of course."

  "Yes, the well being of our guests is of upmost importance." Teodric's voice was calm, but Ambefall could hear the sweet poison in it. "Captain Morninghelm!"

  A young man with heavy features stepped out of the shadows, his eyes lowered. There was something about him that looked so familiar to about the captain. It was odd that they shared the same last name. Maybe he was a cousin or something Amberfall gasped as she got a better look at the captain. He was a mirror image of the king! This was no cousin then. Was he possibly another son?

  "Yes, my lord?" the Captain muttered.

  "These fine people wish for you to go over your security plan with them."

  The captain looked back at the king. "Oh, right! I'll have to go to my office to retrieve them, so if you'll excuse me for a moment."

  Frostfire held his hand up to Captain Morninghelm. "That won't be necessary. We can come with you to discuss the matter in a private area. We don't need the entire court knowing the plan, now do we?"

  Teodric smiled. "No, we don't. So, I guess we can discuss the reason for this visit at another time. After all, the safety of others is our most important concern."

  "Thought so," Frostfire replied as he bowed. "Captain Morninghelm, could you lead the way?"

  Amberfall and Frostfire followed the captain out of the throne room. Amberfall could feel the life slowly pouring back into her body.

  "He really is a piece of work, isn't he?" Frostfire asked Captain Morninghelm as soon as they were out of the sight of the throne room.

  Captain Morninghelm just kept walking. Amberfall frowned. Maybe he was dense or didn't hear Frostfire. True, he wasn't as cold as the king, but there was still a darkness that surrounded him. He didn't move like a soldier, but like a hunter who never stopped hunting his prey.

  They rounded another corner. Amberfall could tell that he was leading them away from the main part of the castle. There was a warmth here that hadn't been in the other parts of the castle. It was like the darkness hadn't reached here yet.

  "Yes, he is rather vile," Captain Morninghelm muttered as they turned down an empty corridor. "The Crowned Prince is just as bad."

  "So you did hear me," Frostfire mused.

  Captain Morninghelm paused. "The right to freedom of speech doesn't exist in this court. We all have to watch our words or we'll end up dead."

  "I see."

  "He almost got us all killed a few weeks ago. The Iron Fairies appeared."

  Amberfall gasped. "The Iron Fairies? How is that even possible? Why now?" Why was this the first time she was hearing about it?

  The captain slowly eyed Amberfall. "Because you're here, my Queen. They came on a full moon and killed and the king did nothing about it. I can't believe he didn't send word."

  Amberfall and Frostfire exchanged wide eyed looks. Why would the Iron Fairies decide to attack Xandria? Why not come and destroy the Nature Fairies on their journey? It just didn't make any sense.

  "Watch the stairs, they can get a bit slippery," Captain Morninghelm said. He gave them a small smile. "You don't have to worry. Everything is going to be okay."

  There was something in his tone that told Amberfall that everything was not going to be okay. She had heard rumours about Xandria being poisoned, but never thought it would be this bad.

  They made their way down the steep and dark steps. Amberfall would had thought the captain of the guard would have better chambers than this. While they weren't terrible, they just weren't what she expected.

  It was still kind of dark, with only a little bit of sun light finding its way through the small window at the top of the wall. The floor was littered in papers and books, while the desk was almost impossible to see. In fact, the only organized things in the room were the weapons and battle gear. Yet, despite the mess, Amberfall could not help but to feel at home.

  Captain Morninghelm ran his hand through his short, dark hair. "Um, cleanliness is something I'm still working on."

  Frostfire smirked. "If only you could see Amberfall's chambers, you would understand. This is actually pretty clean for her."

  Amberfall playfully hit him around the ribs. "It is not that bad! Besides, I know where everything is!"

  Captain Morninghelm gave Amberfall a small smile. "I also know where everything is."

  Amberfall returned his small smile as he pulled out a large looking roll of parchment and laid it flat out on the large desk in front of them. It was a rather complicated looking plan with arrows and dots all over the place. Some of it looked like it had just been together. At a closer glance, Amberfall could make out that it was plans for if the Iron Fairies were to attempt to sack the city again. It really did make her feel better to know that the captain of the guard took her safety and his job very seriously.

  Frostfire nodded at the plan. "Very nice. It seems you have thought of everything here." He leaned closer, pointing to the ballroom. "Is this the layout for the Yule Ball?"

  Captain Morninghelm nodded. "Yes, as you can see I have doubled up on men that night. It would be the perfect opportunity for an assassin to sneak in."

  Amberfall eyed the captain out of the corner of her eyes. It was very possible that the assassin was already within the walls. She really didn't know the dynamics of the royal family, but there was clearly enough going on here that it would make it a high possibility.

  "We have heard about the darkness in Xandria," Frostfire muttered. "We didn't think it had reached the castle."

  "The illness makes them mad," Captain Morninghelm said. "You surely must have heard about the illness?"

  Amberfall shook her head. "No, we haven't." She glanced over at Frostfire, who looked just as confused. "How long has this been going on?"

  "Ever since the curse," Captain Morninghelm replied. "It seems to have stayed closer to the borders, but it is still a threat. Our scholars seem to think it is Nightstone's doing, but we can't be sure. There's no outbreak pattern to it, that's for sure."

  "Why were we not made aware of this?" Frostfire asked, his voice hard.

  Captain Morninghelm looked them in the eye. "Because it only affects humans."

  "So, we should be safe?" Amberfall inquired.

  "Yes, you should."

  As they went over the plans, Amberfall made a mental note look further into the illness. She first had to get through this ball.

  Chapter Thirteen: The Yule Ball

  In the days leading up to the ball, Ryanon actually found he
rself getting excited. In between training sessions, she would actually run up to her room and stare at her dress. At some point, Aliss had shown up with jewelry and shoes that were a perfect match for it.

  No one else at the guild knew about the dress and she preferred to keep it that way. Once the other assassins found out, she would never hear the end of it. To make matters worse, the others would probably see her as weak and would feel the need to actually protect her.

  It really was sad. Sometimes she just wanted to be a normal young woman and wear pretty things without having to worry about what the others thought.

  Well, being a young woman did actually help her in her line of work. Everyone always thought as murder as being male and no woman was strong enough to commit such an act.

  The guild was starting to look rather homely for the Yule season. A number of trees had been brought in and the assassins spent many of their evenings drinking ale and covering the trees in the decorations they found in the streets. Holly and ivy covered all the staircases and fireplaces with lights poking out of them. It really did look like little fairies had moved in and were calling the plants home.

  No one else was really talking about going to the ball. Masse would had been the only one interested in it and she had left for home long before the official announcement. A few of Ryanon's fellow assassins were talking about going to see family or friends over the Yule holiday. The rest were going on some kind of trip that involved seeing what all the drinks of Xandria were. Neither one of those sounded much fun to Ryanon. Plus, she really didn't have any friends or family to go see.

  Business was actually so slow that there was no need to keep the guild fully manned. It was kind of depressing to see everyone acting like this. It made Ryanon wish that she had something outside of here.

  As it got closer to Yule, more and more assassins were leaving. Pretty soon, it was only Ryanon left. The holiday decorations didn't seem an inviting now that she had no one to share them with. However, it was pretty cozy to sit in the nicest armchair, pull it close to the fire, and pass the howling nights away with a good book and one of her many stuffed animals.

  Of course, she had to tend to the fire on her own.

  And it would be really nice if someone would stop poking her. She really should just get up and kill them, but this warm spot made it too difficult.

  But biting wasn't.

  The next time the finger came back down on her, she sank her teeth into the person's boney finger, hard to drew blood. The person gasped and yanked their finger away the moment Ryanon released it.

  "Was that necessary?" Ryanon looked over her chair. Dak was standing behind her, rubbing his slightly bleeding finger.

  Ryanon shrugged. "You're just lucky it wasn't a knife." She calmly closed her book and moved her stuffed dog to the side of her chair before standing. "You should know better than to sneak up on me."

  Dak just glared at her. "Well, you weren't answering. I wasn't even sure if anyone was around. I have a report and this is the first time I've been able to get away."

  "Ah, did the poor captain of the guard actually have to do something instead of sitting in his fancy office?" Ryanon taunted.

  Dak's eyes just narrowed. "I'll just put my report in the office and be on my way."

  Ryanon smirked. "Are you busy getting ready for the ball?"

  Dak lowered himself into another arm chair. "I see you've been getting ready for the season." His eyes scanned all the decorations. "The ball is all anyone can talk about. The only person who doesn't seem excited is Queen Amberfall."

  "Maybe the Nature Fairies don't have balls." Ryanon lowered herself down next to Dak. "It really could not be her thing."

  Dak just shrugged. "Don't know, don't really care. All I know is I'm supposed to have my best men present in their best uniforms. Other than that, my father really doesn't care."

  "I'm surprised you're allowed to have a part," Ryanon muttered.

  Dak got to his feet and threw a couple of logs onto the dying embers. "Well, we still have to pretend that they don't hate my guts."

  She just nodded, staring into the now brightly glowing fire. "Do you ever get sick of playing the nice act?"

  Dak lowered himself back down into the soft sofa. "Do you the fact that it is so hard to put up with jerks when you know you could kill them in about two seconds? Yeah, I think I know what you are talking about."

  Ryanon smiled. "So, tell me what are you wearing to the ball?"

  "Dress uniform." He paused and his smile widened. "At least, I can say that my medals are real, unlike the ones that will be on my father's and brother’s."

  Ryanon laughed. "Well, you do have that much going for you." She got to her feet. "I could use some milk and cookies." She started out of the room. "Are you coming?"

  Dak jumped to his feet and followed her. His eyes widened as they made their way toward the kitchen. Every bit of the house had been covered in Yule decorations. "You really do like this time of year."

  Ryanon was pulling out glasses out of one of the cupboards. "The others helped. There's been nothing to do besides train and we really can't do that all the time."

  "I see." Dak poured some milk into the two glasses. "And where did all of this come from? I just don't see everyone going out and buying Yule things."

  Ryanon finished out the cookie jar. "Oh, we didn't. People really do need to lock their stuff up a little better. It really was quiet simple to walk in there and just get what we needed."

  Dak rolled his eyes. "You do realize that if one of my men saw you, they would have to arrest you? You are wanted for questioning."

  Ryanon waved him away as she dunked a cookie into her milk. "We all know their too big of pansies to wonder into this part of town." She took a bite of her cookie. "Besides, they wouldn't catch us anyway."

  "What makes you say that?"

  "They were trained by you, after all."

  Dak through a dishtowel at her. "Hey, I have trained one of the best Royal Guards in all of the kingdoms."

  "But you see we are assassins, ninjas of the world," Ryanon pointed out, throwing the towel back at Dak.

  "Did you really just claim to be a ninja?" Dak snorted. "Now, I've heard it all."

  "Just shut up and eat your cookies before I decide to kill you."

  "It's now like I haven't heard that one before and I'm still standing here." He did shut up though for about a total of thirty seconds. "So, what are you wearing?"

  "To what?" Ryanon could feel her heart racing. It was one thing to discuss these matters with Aliss , but with Dak it was a whole different game.

  "I know you went dress shopping with Aliss ."

  "How do you know about?" Ryanon was pretty sure that Dak hadn't been around earlier.

  He smiled. "I have my ways."

  "I'm am going to kill Aliss." She looked at Dak. "Please, tell me you didn't bed her."

  Dak laughed. "What makes you think I would do something like that?"

  "Because you're you."

  He bit into another cookie. "So, tell me, are you really going to the ball?"

  Ryanon shrugged. "You know everything, so why don't you tell me?"

  He smiled. "I really think you will end up showing up." He paused. "You know why? You can't stand the chance of missing me in my dress uniform. You can't stand to miss the chance of trying to pick a fight with me."

  Now, it was her turn to smile. "Ah, you really do know me too well." She tossed her hair back over shoulder. Aliss said it was supposed to seduce men, but it made Ryanon feel stupid. "I can't stand missing the chance to make fun of you."

  He stuffed the last cookie in his mouth. "Well, I'd better go. I'm supposed to baby sit Queen Amberfall tonight."

  "Ah, tell me how did you get picked for such a big honour?"

  "I didn't. I was told this is what I'm going to be doing tonight."

  He got to his feet, looking around. "Um, where's my cloak? I don't remember taking it off."

  Ryanon smirke
d as she pulled it out from behind her. "And I thought you were supposed to be Captain of the Guard and, yet, you can't even keep track of your own belongings."

  Dak grabbed the cloak from her. "Everyone else knows not to cross me."

  "You know, I could have laced that with poison and you didn't even check it." She shook her head. "What kind of an assassin are you?"

  He just glared at her as he stormed out of the kitchen and let the front door slam shut behind him.

  Smiling, Ryanon started to clean up the mess. Ah, it really did feel good to get under Dak's skin. Still, he was of royal blood and had been taught manners. He could have at least cleaned up after himself before leaving.

  Yule Eve arrived a lot quicker than Ryanon would had thought. She spent most of her days either at the guild or walking the streets with Aliss. It really wasn't as lonely as she thought it would be.

  And the night of the ball was on her before she really had the chance to think about rather or not she would be attending.

  The dress stared back at her, as if it was begging her to wear it. It really was kind of a shame not to give the dress what it wanted. Plus, it would be quiet entertaining to make fun of Dak in his uniform. She had never seem him in his dress uniform.

  And she hadn't given him his Yule gift yet.

  It really was a shame to let this night slip by her.

  She got up and slid into the dress. It still clung to her like it had in the shop. It looked even better with the tiny Yule lights dancing off it. Yeah, it really was a shame to let this dress go to waste and not give it a chance to shine. Plus, the shoes were really comfortable and the jewelry was probably the finest she had ever known. Added to all of that, Aliss had shown Ryanon a really simple to style her hair in an elegant manner.

  Yeah, it was just a shame.

  And she could not let this chance to make fun of Dak slip by her.

  Ah, what the hell? She was going to a ball!

  About an hour later, she was ready. Now, she had just had catch one of the carriages the royal family was sending out to everyone.