by Tiya Rayne
Today has turned out to be an exhausting emotional experience. I’ve recovered from a near death experience. I found Rykan after thinking I would never see him again, and then lost him to his horrible fiancée. I was told my sons will be the kings of a mystical world filled with every creature imaginable and I’ve met more people in one day than I have in my entire life. Oh, and don’t forget I can’t go home because some half human, half witch is out to kill me. Who would have thought that safe, predictable Lilly would find herself in this predicament?
Chapter Eight
I could kill them all. I will start with Rykan. It would be so easy to take my sword and rip through his gut. The other Immortal Kings would be next, I can’t deny the thought of killing Artumis hasn’t crossed my mind on more than one occasion. However, I know Avalia would place her magic on me and would hold me in place stopping me from finishing my task. Sigh. Or I could trace in, grab Lilly, and trace back out before anyone realizes it. I would take her to a place far away where no one could find her.
“Are you contemplating killing us?” The Queen speaks behind me.
I turn my head slightly and glare at her before turning back to my perch on top of the windowsill in the highest tower of the glass castle.
She sighs, “Are you going to stay locked away in this tower all night brooding?” I don’t acknowledge her comment. I hear Avalia cross the room towards me.
“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” she says trying another tactic to get me talking.
“You lied to her.” I state unable to play this small talk game any longer.
“Yes, I did.” Avalia says unrepentant.
“How could you?” I demand as I stand to my feet.
“Because I did not want to be the one to tell the girl; who not only just found out that the asshole that got her pregnant and abandoned her and is also engaged to a conniving heathen of a woman, that our entire society relied on a decision she would soon make. I’m sorry if I felt she had enough problems to deal with in one day, please forgive me.”
I turn and punch the stone wall behind me. Pieces of stone and dust cascade down from where my fist just went into the stone. I see the logic in what Avalia is saying but I am still angry. How can they ask so much from Lilly? She owes us nothing. She wouldn’t even have any dealings with us if it had not been for that fucker, Rykan.
“Tell me you’re wrong. Tell me you misinterpreted your vision. Please, Avalia.” I plead turning to her. “Please tell me something.”
Avalia hesitates, her emotions showing vividly across her face. I know she doesn’t know what to make of my show of weakness. I honestly have no idea myself. I know I would give anything for all of this to be some humorless joke on my behalf.
“Assassin,” Avalia starts softly placing her hand on my shoulder. “You know as well as I do how accurate my visions are.” I turn from her with haste, snatching my shoulder from under her hand. I brace both hands against the arch ways of the window and peer out at nothing.
“Are you sure your relationship with Lilly is as platonic as you say?”
I turn to her quickly barely containing the rage that is on the rise inside me. “I’ve watched over her from a babe, surely you do not think I’ve longed for her in such a way that may suggest I’m as uncivil as the Ogres?”
“I am only implying that maybe you have formed an attraction to a beautiful woman that you just so happen to know when she was a ....”
My blade is out and at Avalia’s throat before she finishes her sentence.
“Or maybe not.” She says with an eye roll. I vanish my sword and turn back to the window. “Look, in spite of what you do or don’t feel for Lilly she is still our chosen. And soon after those twins are born SHE will make the sacrifice to save the Locke.”
“What sacrifice?” I ask turning back to her abruptly. Avalia pause, her eyes shoot quickly to the ground and then backup to me.
“I meant, decision.” once again I get the sense that Avalia is hiding something from me. I push into her mind and catch a glimpse of Lilly standing in front of me with the most broken hearted look on her face and tears in her eyes. Immediately a wall goes up in Avalia’s mind and I am forcefully shoved out.
“Do. Not. Do that again.” She warns.
“What did I see? Why is she crying?” Avalia turns her back to me. “Does it have something to do with her decision?” Her silence is deafening. “What aren’t you telling me?” Avalia shakes her head, refusing to respond. “Answer me, damn you!” I shout.
Avalia turns back to me abruptly. “You have no idea what the power of foresight entails. My secrets are my own to bear. You have never questioned my motives or my secrets before, you have always trusted me. I need you to trust me now. Trust that I cannot tell you this, it will destroy our fate if I do.” The sorrow in the Queen’s face told me that what she battled was her burden alone. She’s right I’ve always trusted her and have followed her judgment devotedly. But, can I trust Avalia with Lilly’s life? A life I value even more than my own, can I risk her for my devotion?
“What is your plan, Avalia?”
With a sigh of relief Avalia states, “As I said before, Lilly’s happiness is my upmost priority. She will be treated as the savior that she is and that requires your help.”
“My help?” I ask turning to face her.
“Yes, Assassin. The girl has taken a liking to you. She feels comfort when you are around, probably because of your presence throughout her life. For the time remaining you will be her assassin. You will protect her with your life.”
“Just because I agree to hear you out,” I say walking away from the Queen. “does not mean I will participate in your little game.” Immediately I hit an invisible wall. I turn to see Avalia’s eyes are illuminated a bright blue with her power.
“You will do as I say. As much as you want to deny it, it was your interference 15 years ago that started this.”
Images begin to play in my head. Lilly at six years old, her gun across her back and Bo at her side running through the forest as her drunken step father shouts her name. The images change and I almost retch at the visions in my head. The physical abuse was just the beginning. That night Billy Ray’s abuse turned sexual.
“That night was the start of the downfall of Lilly Ann Peters. After years of her step-fathers physical and sexual abuse …” Avalia continues and so does the scene she forces in my head. I witness every blow, every thrust, and every muffled cry she goes through over the years.
“Lilly finally has too much and after years of hiding her pain, she takes a shot gun from her Uncle Buddy’s cabinet and….”
“Stop!” I scream dropping down to my knees. I hang my head in my hands unable to face the pain and violation on her face as that bastard defiles her over and over until the day she places a gun in her mouth. I saved Lilly from more than death that night. However my actions threw her in the middle of a war, and now she is the prize possession of that war. I took Lilly’s life away from the great God when I intervened, now I think he is punishing me for it.
“I will do as you ask.” I say, my voice coming out in a submissive whisper.
“In two days’ time I want you to take a small caravan to escort Lilly to the Southern realm. Bartus says he wants to spend time with her. However, as always the Immortal Kings are after the Northern throne and right now Lilly holds the key to it. Bartus assumes he has a leg up on everyone else because Lilly carries Rykan’s twins. I don’t want her out of your sight for a moment. I don’t trust the Kings. There is a leak in our circle, I’m sure of it and I don’t know from which kingdom the deceit flows.”
“Why must I take a caravan, I can just trace her there. It’s faster” I say getting to my feet.
“Lilly isn’t from our realm, she is not made to trace. You will have to do it the long way.”
“From here to the Southern Kingdom by horse is five days. We are in the midst of a war. I can’t …”
“You will,” Avalia says holding
her hand up to stop me. “Because, before her boys are due Lilly has to visit all the kingdoms.”
This is my breaking point. Has Avalia gone mad? We should keep Lilly safely locked away in the glass tower. It is bad enough I have to take her to see Bartus, but to march her through the entire Locke like a walking bulls−eye is pure insanity.
“Have you gone mad? Why in the hell would we parade her around like this?” Avalia sighs and turns her back to me taking my spot at the glassless window.
“You were not yet born during the great war between the magicals.” She says staring at the same empty spot I saw just moments ago. “Many of our kind were killed before any of us would even stand and fight. The centaurs and the giants were slaughtering us by the hundreds. It wasn’t until O’Rydan came and gave us a reason to fight. He gave us someone to stand behind, a face to rally us. The Dark King has terrorized our people. They are afraid of him. As much as they want to take the Locke back they are afraid to go against him. But if they have a face, someone to get behind, someone that would make this fight personal for them, when the time came we would have an army.”
“These people you speak of, they are not fighters they are farmers and nobles who have never picked up a weapon. What do you want them to do?”
“It is those people that have tipped the scale in many wars, not only in our realm but in the human realm as well. If you haven’t noticed our trained soldiers are dwindling. The Dark king is depleting our armies while expanding his own. We need them. More importantly, we need her.” As always Avalia is right. We are losing this war. If Lilly’s decision is going to change anything, we need an army to back her. As much as I hate to admit it she needs to be seen. I have to stand back from this and look at it as a war tactic. I’m good at war.
“What about the kings, do they know of your plans?” I ask standing a little taller with my arms cross over my chest. Now that I am viewing this differently I feel more confident in my actions.
“They all have their own motives for Lilly, right now they are focused on what they want from her. I need them to keep focused on that. Best thing right now is to let the hands play; I will study the movements from afar. At least until I find out who is leaking the information to the Dark King.” Avalia sits down in the arched glassless window and sighs. “There are only two people in this world I trust right now; you, obviously, and Lilly. She is pure of heart and strong, I can sense the goodness inside her like a beacon of light. They attacked her today, not physically.” She says waving her hand at me when I reacted to her comment. “They all want to control her and those boys, but she stood up for herself. She’s as strong as I thought she would be.”
I walk over to the window and sit down beside Avalia. “This is Lilly you speak of. She was abused, tortured and bullied her entire life. Dealing with a bunch of pompous immortals is nothing to her. I know she can handle it.” I say smiling to myself. My little human can handle anything. I immediately shake that thought from my head. Lilly, is not mine and if I’m going to be her assassin I need to start viewing her as my new job.
“You should go see her. She spent the entire night watching the door for you to return.” I nod at the queen and stand to my feet. “And, Assassin,” Avalia adds before I trace away. “One does not control the heart. No matter whom they are.” I bow to Avalia and trace away. I’m not sure what she meant by her last comment but neither did I care to focus on it. I have a job, keep Lilly alive long enough to save the Locke, then get her the hell out of dodge.
************
“Really, it’s quite alright. I can get undressed by myself.” I trace into her room to find that Lilly is pleading with the three servants Avalia has assigned to her.
“It is our honor, chosen.” One of the servants says.
“Again, call me Lilly and I don’t need help.” I forget this is all new to Lilly. Though most people would delight in having someone at their beck and call, Lilly is having a hard time being served. I make myself visible, standing in the door way. As soon as Lilly sees me her face lights up. I want to say that her reaction did not affect me, but that would be a lie.
“Assassin.” My name is a caress against her lips that makes me shudder. I push away from the door and cross the room towards her.
“Ladies, give Lilly some privacy, please.” I say without taking my eyes away from Lilly. The servants bow and all three exit the room and close the door behind them.
“Thank you!” She says blushing down at her hands. “I’m not use to people making such a fuss over me. I mean, Mama tends to hover a little bit but even she lets me dress myself.” She says with a chuckle. Her mother is overbearing on many things In Lilly’s life. The woman was having a hard time allowing Lilly to grow up and be a woman herself. I’ve felt for many years she was afraid to let Lilly go away, not to protect Lilly, but she was too afraid that Lilly would never come back.
“How are you feeling?” I ask her. She sits down on the edge of her bed and twirls her butterfly pendant charm around her fingers.
“Scared.” She says looking up at me briefly. “Being a mother was not in my plans right now, being a single mother was never in my plans and this,” She says circling her hands around the room. “This just feels like too much. I get this feeling when everyone looks at me, they are expecting something big from me, and I’m not sure I can deliver it.” My heart tightens at those words. We were not only expecting something big, I get the feeling from Avalia we were expecting something unfathomable.
“I’ve learned that few people really understand the true value of themselves.” This makes her smile and my heart warm. I scold myself for that. I need to distance myself from her. I need to view her as someone who has hired me for a job. I cannot think clearly if I see her as My Lilly. Avalia was right. My interference 15 years ago got Lilly in this mess. I will do all I can to see her out of it safely.
“You should rest. You have had a rough day.”
“Tell me about it.” Lilly says as she stands up from the bed. She crosses over to her privacy screen and stands behind it. I hear the fabric of her dress ruffle as she pulls it off. I stiffen. Everywhere.
“You know, when I met Rykan I felt so comfortable with him.” she tosses her dress over the top of her privacy screen and walks around the screen in nothing but her shift. When the light hit her linen white shift her black panties and bra peek through like shadows underneath. I turn my head to look at the wall, she has no idea how the light is playing with her clothing, or how her clothing is playing with my increasing erection. Where the fuck did that come from?
“He made me feel safe.” she goes on to say still oblivious to her clothing. I ‘m only half paying attention to her, those black pieces of scrap under her shift have most of my attention. I grab the robe off the chair that the servants had left and hand it to her. She takes it from me and shrugs it on.
“It felt like I was supposed to be with him.” She says flopping down on the bed pulling one leg underneath her. “I guess that was stupid. Why would someone like Rykan want to be with me?” I feel the pain in her words. I hear the years of being told she was ugly or not good enough when she spoke. Lilly is taking this as just another example of how she is inferior. Another reason for me to kill Rykan, I am making a list.
“Funny, I was just thinking the opposite.” She looks up at me with her bright eyes in shock. “I wondered why someone as kind, and as beautiful as you would ever settle for Rykan.” Her cheeks immediately redden. She looks down at her hands in her lap.
“Thanks!”
“For what?” I ask puzzled.
“For being nice, for saving my ass at the diner, for not treating me like the others.” She says drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. “You would think I would be accustomed to being stared at and looked down upon, but I guess no matter what the reason for the prejudice, it still sucks.” Her eyes sparkle with unshed tears. For the first time, I am able to physically wipe her tears away. Something I’v
e longed to do since I first saw her. I do not hesitate. I sit down on the bed in front of her and brush the tear off her cheek with my thumb. Her skin feels like silk underneath my touch. I wonder what it would taste like. What the fuck? No, I don’t. I shake my head trying to dislodge the vision of running my tongue over Lilly’s body. Get your shit together, Assassin.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be bothering you with my silly issues.” She says wiping at the freefalling tears, so sweetly oblivious to the perverted thoughts running through my mind.
I swallow the lump in my throat and try to sound as normal as possible despite the heated blood rushing south through my body. “Never apologize for being who you are around me, Lilly.” She flashes her dimples at me and my hand aches to touch her face again. However, she is no longer crying or in need of my comfort, so why does my hand shake with the urge to feel her skin? I ball my hands into fist to keep them from developing minds of their own and reaching out to her. Thankfully she yawns, which gives me a reason to leave her before I do something foolish. I stand up from the bed.
“Do you have to go?” she asks.
“You are tired.”
“I’m not tired.” She says then yawns again. We both laugh. It’s nice to know she still fights sleep, the same as she did when she was a little girl.
“Goodnight, Lilly.” I bow to her and then head to the door.
“Assassin.” She calls my name in a sleepy whisper and I turn to find her under the covers, eyes already closed. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
“Yes. Now go to sleep, little human.” I stand in her doorway watching her as she drifts off to sleep. I extinguish the lights in her room as I walk out, and then close the door behind me.
