Artus scratched at his jaw with his bound hands. “It’s hard to explain. When we were invited to Kanra’s castle, to be assigned the contract, all he said was that he needed twelve priestess to be brought back to Vhorgo, unblemished. The contract said we needed to travel to a convent in Atimae. Kanra mentioned something about needing the priestesses to help him carry out a ritual to his gods.”
Troian cut him off with a harsh laugh and a shake of his head. His brother-in-arms understood his reaction well. “Little did we know that the priestesses aren’t needed to help with the ritual but, to be part of it; each as a sacrifice to Kanra’s fucked up deities.”
That alone had Preeya covering her mouth in time to muffle a cry of dismay. Her knees began to tremble and she would have fallen to the ground with fright, had Ariadna not caught her by her side just in time.
“What?” Artus asked. He dared to take a step closer to the trembling girl.
Behind them all, the horses stood chewing on grass. The beasts were content with just standing around and doing nothing but, Ariadna was eager to set off soon.
It seemed Preeya was too. “We have to go back! We have to return to Atimae, to warn them.” she begged the assassin.
Ariadna shook the girl away as she took hold of her arm and began tugging at it. “No. I don’t have the time for that, I need to carry out my contract.” she replied.
Preeya’s eyes lined with tears and she clasped her hands together.
“Please! Please, they’re my sisters. We can’t leave them to be murdered like this, we just can’t,” she began.
Ariadna was hearing none of it. She wasted no time in swinging herself up onto her horse and she looked down at the girl with a bored stare.
“I will leave you here, if that’s what you really want.” she threatened.
Preeya looked to the mercenaries a moment. Pulling a knife out of the assassin’s bag, she held it up against Artus’ throat and said,
“You’ll take me back to Atimae. I need to warn my sisters.” she cut the rope around his wrists and did the same to Troian, all whilst Ariadna leapt off her horse and stalked towards her.
The assassin snatched the knife out of her hands and pulled her towards her horse. “Are you out of your mind?” Ariadna snapped.
Preeya shoved her hand away and clenched her fists by her side.
“Why are you being so selfish? You cold-hearted woman. Why can’t you just forgive and forget whatever happened to you in the past; your father is already dead, do the others really need to die too? Get over yourself. You could actually help save someone for once rather than just murdering people all the time.” she snapped. It was not often that Preeya got well and truly mad but, Ariadna was exceptionally good at setting her off.
“And you? Why are you suddenly so interested in returning to the one place you hate so much?” Ariadna challenged her.
“There’s only one person I care enough about to go back for. Ana, my only friend. The others; I don’t want them to suffer an end as cruel as being sacrificed but, I can’t bear to think of Ana being butchered for some gods.”
“We’ll help you.” Troian said, easing his way into the conversation. There was already enough tension amongst them all already, an ounce more and weapons would be out again.
Preeya opened her mouth to thank him but, the mercenary was not finished.
“Only if the Assassin agrees to come with us. We’ll need all the help we can get. This isn’t just some man we’re up against, he has an entire army and a meticulously guarded castle,” Troian said
“It’s likely we won’t make it to Atimae in time. The Khaishee Mercenaries have likely already found the women or are at least close to the convent. Our best chance is to intercept them on the way back to Vhorgo since they’ll be using a route Troian and I are familiar with.” Artus finished off.
Everyone turned to look at Ariadna. They waited on her response; whether she would make the call to go after the priestesses or not. Either way, the others were probably still going to go. With or without the assassin. But it would certainly help to have a master murderer on their side.
Ariadna let out a heavy sigh and looked away for the briefest of moments. “We go to Forta, to see my own business carried out first. If these priestesses really mean that damn much to you,” she paused, not quite believing the next few words that were going to come out of her mouth. This was so unlike her. “I’ll forget about my sister and we’ll go about intercepting the mercenaries on the way back to Vhorgo. But!” she paused to point a finger up at Preeya. “You will say nothing about this contract to shame me or make me feel guilty, because quite frankly I don’t give a shit about your personal morals. We go to Forta, then to Vhorgo and then we part ways after that. I won’t be dragging a dozen priestesses back home with me. Understood?”
Preeya let out a sigh of relief and threw her arms around the assassin’s neck, thanking her over and over again for the change of heart.
Ariadna leaned back at the unexpected hug. “Okay, you can get off me now.” she cocked her head towards Atha and the young priestess did not press her luck by saying anything else, instead she swung herself up on the beast and waited for Ariadna to join her.
Preeya did not look at the mercenaries as they got onto their own horses and trotted them after Atha. She gripped the horse’s rein tight and smiled until her face began to ache. “Ari,” she began.
“What?” the assassin asked, feeling rather annoyed.
Preeya gave herself a moment longer to smile before saying for the last time, "Thank you.” She did not see the assassin’s slight smile, not whilst she was so busy thinking about how wonderful it was going to be to see Ana again. Now, she just hoped they all got to the priestesses in time first.
28 –
Vinn
It never occurred to Vinn that a woman could best him; not Ariadna, of all people. As he stood staring at the safe in his room, left empty by the young woman after she had raided it days back, he laughed at himself.
“For god’s sake. I should have really put a double lock on this fucking thing.” he muttered and slammed the door of the safe shut; hard enough to send the wall around it trembling. Vinn rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was tired. Turning away from the safe, he tried to put all thoughts of his stolen documents aside but, it proved useless. All he ever knew was work; his memory was excellent and he could easily tell when something was off – down to work going missing or something as meagre as a pencil having been shifted an inch from its original position. There was a reason Vinn was the leader of The Anari. He was so good at his job, it was damn near frightening.
Above him, the candelabra threw specks of light across his room. It was not too bright, as Vinn preferred a dim setting wherever possible, it made the room glow with a lovely orange warmth. It made him feel relaxed and at home after a day’s work in the office – deciding who lived and died at the hands of his skilled assassins.
Just yesterday, Gray had returned from a successful heist with Tory and Rue. The three thieves had brought with them a splendid array of contracts and protected documents from a group of gypsy rebels from Balatha. The immigration agency had hired the thieves in Atimae to find out when a rumoured attempt to bring in Balathian gypsies would be carried out. All three men had had little to no trouble sniffing out the headquarters of the gypsy rebels, hidden away in a shack of a hideout just past the city walls of Atimae; where a secret entryway had been carved out by the gypsies themselves.
The contracts and lists of names of the gypsies being smuggled in were to be delivered into the hands of the authorities themselves. All in exchange for a hefty bag of gold and the gratitude of a city (whether the residents knew about these doings or not), for keeping swarms of gypsy scum out of the city. At the end of the day, the Anari were not fussed who was kept in and out of the city. As long they weren’t in line for any trouble and not as long as they got paid. It was all just good business.
“I thought you’d be happier, h
aving received reports on a successful heist yesterday. Have you drunk with Gray and the others yet? You always do when your men come back from a successful mission.” Oberon said from behind Vinn as he headed towards his office in silence.
Vinn pushed the heavy mahogany doors open and entered his office, still without a word. It was only after Obe had sealed himself and his superior off, with no one around to listen into their conversation, when Vinn finally replied. “I will. Once I’ve sorted this mess out.”
Oberon furrowed his brows. “What mess?” he asked.
Vinn slammed his hands down onto the desk and looked up at his companion. “This mess that Ariadna has created! How dare she? How dare she leave this institute without my permission? What she doesn’t seem to realise is how bad this makes me look – a leader of an institute who can’t even keep a girl under control.”
Oberon felt offended on Ariadna’s behalf.
“Oh, so she’s a girl to you now? She’s only a woman to you when she’s spreading her legs for you in your bed,”
“Watch it.” Vinn growled.
Oberon was brave enough to approach his superior, and he found a seat in the chair in front of his desk. He crossed his legs so calmly, it only made Vinn angrier.
“If you have something to say, then say it already.” Vinn returned his gaze to his desk and began pulling out leather folders from the once locked drawers, one at a time, to check for any anymore missing papers. He pushed some dark hair out of his face; his forehead gleaming with sweat from how angry he had gotten.
Oberon sat back in his chair a little deeper.
“She must be in Forta,” Vinn began after some time. He knew the contracts concerning Mallice Mara’s assassination were gone already, it was the first thing he had checked for. “Completing the contract I had given her before she’d escaped. I don’t doubt she’s also working towards completing her own damn list – we’d never had one conversation that didn’t include a mentioning of that list.” he sounded like he was talking to himself so, Vinn felt the need to pause again and look up at Oberon. He braced his hands against the desk again and said with a sigh. “I’m going to kill her. I’m going to have her brought back to this institute in one piece, just so I can kill her with my own two hands.”
Oberon blinked hard at that. If he was not mistaken, he believed his superior almost sounded upset to be saying such a thing.
“Why can’t you let her go about her business, just this once? Ariadna’s served you loyally and without complaint for five years now. What is it about her that makes you doubt her capability to serve you and herself at the same time?” he paused to let his words sink into Vinn as deep as the man would allow them to go.
Vinn shook his head and dropped into his own seat, his body moulding into the padded leather. He kept his gaze on the paperwork before him as he said, “It’s not that I doubt her, I just - The Anari have a reputation to protect. I cannot allow a rogue assassin to go wandering around without my knowing.”
Oberon understood where Vinn was going with this but, he still could not understand why after all these years he still trusted Ariadna so little; to do what she was best at, not to mention. He held his hands behind the back of his neck. “I will admit that Ariadna can be reckless at times, stubborn – always – and hot headed. Even then, I think she deserves this opportunity to do what she needs to do to reconcile with her past. You constantly tell her to forget about what had happened to her as a child. Would you be able to get over that same betrayal and abandonment by your father?”
Vinn did not like talking about his past. It was not because he had bad memories regarding his childhood, or broken relationships which were too far gone to be mended. Vinn had decided to leave his family himself, to pursue what he had believed to be a calling to the life of an assassin. Even at twelve years old, Vinn had been aware of the risk and even more so of the rewards.
Yet, what the leader of The Anari had never told anyone was the exact reason why he had left in the dead of night and why, even now, he could not recall the last time he had been in contact with his family. Vinn did not like when Ariadna spoke of her time as a Sister because it brought back unwanted memories of his own father, who had been a deeply religious man and believed his family were dirt beneath the gods’ boots.
He had lived a life of self-inflicted poverty, by his father, to prove a point that they were only human. And Vinn had hated every moment of it. He had wanted more from life. He had wanted more money than he could count, to drink wine and ale until he was stupidly drunk and to take to bed as many women as he wanted, whenever he wanted. With the life his father had offered him, it would have left him with no more than a miserable existence and endless suffering, all to appease some gods’ he did not care to think about.
Maybe that was why Vinn had been so drawn to Ariadna all these years? Because whether he liked to admit it or not, he and the young woman were more alike than they both thought.
29 –
Ariadna
After riding in glorious silence for a couple hours, Ariadna was bitterly disappointed to find herself being bombarded by questions again. Only this time they came from the two mercenaries which, in truth, just annoyed her more. She hardly trusted them with her name. Why should she trust them to let her go about her business with Mallice Mara?
“This contract of yours,” Troian began. He kept his gaze on the road ahead as he spoke, not feeling even the slightest bit tempted to look the assassin’s way.
“Is none of your concern; I thought we had an agreement? The three of you will let me do what I need to do and then we’ll handle the priestesses.” Ariadna cut in. For once she did not sound mean. Rather, she sounded bored having to remind her unwanted companions time and time again to keep their mouths shut, especially about the things she did. “I need you both to just keep quiet and stay with Preeya when I tell you to. Atha trotted ahead of the group, proud and strong against the dodgy roads which the riders had to take as a shortcut to Mallice Mara’s manor. Loren had not lied about it being quite a trek. The route leading to the manor house, which Ariadna followed effortlessly using a map she had stolen from Loren earlier on, was dangerous and it appeared to have been built that way. Forta was known for its high crime rates, gypsy vermin on the roads and death tolls.
“So why would he choose to live here, of all places?” Ariadna asked herself.
The river running around the outskirts of Forta was surprisingly clean, considering all the waste within in the city. No doubt a few bodies were thrown in every once in a while too when they were needed to be disposed of quickly. Stone walls were occasionally lined along parts of the road, now a dull grey and covered in moss so thick it blended the stone in with the surrounding nature.
Ariadna cast a stone in front of each wall before they passed, just to make sure there were no hidden crossbows ready to shoot at them, should they set off some sensory trap. Even after five years of learning to handle different weapons and how to avoid being killed by those secretly hidden away, Ariadna was still amazed by how fast weaponry was advancing.
Weapons activated by sensory triggers were quite a recent invention and already, it appeared every man who could afford to buy them, well they had stocked up on as many kinds as possible: crossbows, bear traps, even flame throwers. There were far too many weapons for Ariadna to focus too hard on for now, should she want to avoid a potential cross bolt in the head for her brief moment of daydreaming. Even her mind sometimes wandered but, not for long and not without good reason.
“Will you need any help with this contract?” Troian asked the assassin. He ducked in time to avoid a thorny branch in the face and when he looked back, he found Artus doing the same.
Preeya could feel Ariadna’s breath against the back of her neck as the assassin let out a heavy sigh. “No.” was all Ariadna said in response and apparently that was that.
Preeya let out a yawn but, she covered her mouth in time to keep Ariadna from hearing. She did not want to be afr
aid of her reaction to everything she did but, from what Preeya knew of the assassin she knew not to press her luck with the smallest of things. Being an assassin and killing people, no matter how good you were at it, was a stressful job. Why not just save yourself the stress and not kill anyone in the first place? It was a question Preeya only asked herself as she knew Ariadna would shove her off the horse if she voiced it to her.
“Look, I know you like to think we’re being nothing but burdens here but,” Artus began in Troian’s stead. He knew his companion was just getting frustrated with the assassin.
“I think you should just keep quiet. We’re almost there and I want to be in and out of here like I’d planned. Can you all do that for me? Not say or do a damn thing to mess this up for me?” Ariadna snapped. She could feel her blood beginning to boil and her leather fighting gear did nothing to help either; she felt like she was being roasted alive in the thing. But it was hers. It was a part of her identity and for that, she loved it.
Artus clicked his tongue and his horse sped up a little. “That’s a charming friend you’ve got there.” he said to Preeya.
“Isn’t she just?” the priestess replied. That response earned her a hard pinch in the ribs from Ariadna and to her own delight, when she laughed, the assassin even joined in.
“Look, I know you must all think I’m some aggressive, moody bitch and you’re all right – I am. I just need you all to understand that if I fuck up this contract for any reason, it’s my life on the line. As a matter of fact, it’s everyone’s lives; you’re all a part of this now too. Which is why you should all keep quiet and in the shadows when I go in.”
“In there?” Preeya asked as she sat staring wide eyed ahead, at a splendid manor house just about hidden behind a series of manicured hedges.
There were the red tiles and the rose garden Loren had spoken about. Lanterns had already been lit as darkness crept up on the day like a predator, slow and unexpected. Where had all the time gone?
The Anari Page 13
