Quint sighed. “Kind of,” he said. “He's going to look the other way for now. What he saw here – he's going to forget he ever saw it. I mean, it could be another hundred years before one of the Council shows up here again. He's also going to try to very quietly build a coalition that will approve of what we're doing. And once he has the votes, he'll pass the reform to our Charter through.”
“And what does he want in return?” I asked.
Quint sighed again and wouldn't meet my eyes – which sent a small chill through me. Quint was not a man who had a hard time making eye contact. Nor was he the kind of man who had trouble articulating his thoughts.
“He wants two things,” he said. “The first is that he wants the two of you to take on a mission for him.”
“What's the mission?” Alex asked.
“He wants you to –” that same dark shadow passed over Quint's face again, but this time it lingered – he was nervous. “There's really no way to sugar-coat this, so I'm going to be blunt. He wants you both to travel to Chondelai – in secret – and assassinate somebody for him. Somebody who is threatening to rip Chondelai in half.”
My stomach fell into my shoes. Assassinate? He wanted us to be his assassins? I defended the helpless. That was my duty as a Ranger – I wasn't a contract killer. I looked over at Alex and saw the same expression of shock etched upon her face. A moment of tense silence descended over the table as we all stared into our wine glasses.
“And who is it we're supposed to assassinate?” she finally asked.
“He wants you to kill King Nepar of the River Clan.”
My mouth fell open and all I could do was stare at Quint in shock and disbelief. In exchange for not blowing the whistle on us, he wanted us to be his personal assassins. And he wanted us to kill not just any person, but a member of the Council of Kings.
“Son of a bitch,” I whispered.
Alex and I shared another look – this one of absolute horror.
Chapter Twelve
Alexis
I couldn't think of anything coherent to say for the next few minutes. I looked to Deyro and he looked back at me with the same expression of astonishment and horror I was sure was painted on my face. I'd joined the Children of the Dawn to defend the people. To fight and protect those who couldn't protect themselves.
I didn't sign up to be an assassin.
“With all due respect, War – Quint,” I said pitching my voice low, hoping to avoid being overheard, “Cold blooded murder isn't what I signed on for. That's not something I'm willing to do.”
“Even if it means protecting what we've built here?” Quint asked, holding my gaze, a stern look upon his face.
“It's a terrible thing to ask of us,” Deyro said. “It goes against everything we believe. You know that.”
Quint sighed heavily and looked down at the table. “I know.”
“What did you tell the King?” I asked.
He took a sip of his coffee and gently set his cup back down on the saucer. “I told him that I would discuss it with you,” he said. “That I wasn't going to order you to do something like this.”
“If we do this, he'll work on amending the Charter,” Deyro said. “What happens if we say no?”
Quint sighed again and shook his head. “I don't know.”
I twisted the napkin in my lap, my nervous energy forcing me to do something. I looked from Deyro to Quint and back again, not sure what to think, let alone say. What Shango was asking of us was monstrous.
“I know what I'm asking of you is terrible. Beyond terrible,” Quint said. “And I'm sorry to even have to put this out there. Shango is a good man. He has a good heart.”
“Then why does he want us to murder somebody?” I asked.
Quint cleared his throat and looked at each of us in turn. “Alexis, you won't know the answer to this question,” he said as he turned his attention to Deyro. “What do you know of the Shadow Clan?”
Deyro chuckled. “That it's a myth,” he said. “A scary story told to younglings to keep them in line. I remember my own mother teasing me that if I wasn't good, the Shadow Clan would come and take me away.”
Deyro laughed, but Quint's expression remained serious. Unflinching. Deyro's laughter died off and the look on his face changed from one of amusement to one of nervousness.
“Are you telling me it's real?” he asked. “The Shadow Clan is a real thing?”
Quint nodded. “Very real,” he said. “And very, very dangerous.”
I looked at them, completely confused. “Anybody mind filling me in on this Shadow Clan business?”
Turning his eyes to me, Quint gave me a tight smile. “Sorry, I didn't mean to exclude you,” he said. “Basically, there are the major and minor clans in Chondelai. Fire, River, Ice, Ocean – and on and on. The Shadow Clan exists outside of that Clan hierarchy. They exist outside of our world's power structure and governmental bodies.”
“What is their purpose?” I asked.
“Power. Control,” Deyro said.
Quint nodded. “They seek to destroy the clans, destroy the Council of Kings, and take over rule of Chondelai themselves,” he said. “And from not only what I've heard, but some recent experiences, they have their eyes set on expanding their rule to the world of man.”
“The old ghost stories I was told as a child,” Deyro said, “painted the Shadow Clan as monsters. As predators waiting in the dark to butcher us. To kill anybody who does not bend the knee to them.”
“They seek to kill or enslave the Dragonborn who resist them,” Quint said. “Just as they will seek to kill or enslave those who resist them here as well, Alexis.”
Another long moment of silence stretched out between the three of us. Honestly, I had no idea what to think. If what Quint and Deyro were talking about was true, and this Nepar was part of this Shadow Clan, it might be in our best interest to eliminate him. On the other hand though, I know that Deyro had talked to me at length about the politics in Chondelai.
And part of me wondered if Shango was being honest. Or if he was perhaps, looking to have us eliminate one of his political rivals. Setting us up as the patsies who'd take the fall if things went sideways. Involving us gave him political cover. Plausible deniability.
“I hate to state the obvious,” Deyro said. “But, this could all be a set-up, Quint. Shango could be playing us to achieve his own goals – and perhaps even shafting us in the process.”
I was glad to see that I wasn't alone in thinking that. And I'm even more glad that Deyro had chosen to give voice to the thought. Given that I was a mere human, I didn't feel it was necessarily my place to question a Dragonborn King about the politics in his world – their world.
“If Shango is lying, it would be a first,” Quint said. “I've known him a long, long time. And he's never been anything but honest. He's honest to a fault.”
“I understand what he means to you, but –”
“That being said,” Quint cut Deyro off, “the thought crossed my mind as well. I know how political things are in Chondelai. It would be naive of me to think that even somebody as honorable as Shango couldn't be touched – or poisoned – by the politics of our world.”
“What is your feeling about this, Quint?” I asked.
He scratched at the scruff on his chin. “I've made a few quiet inquiries of some friends I have in Chondelai. People I trust,” he said. “And they seem to believe that Shango is on the up and up. There is a genuine current of fear back home that the Shadow Clan is making their play. The results of which, would be disastrous for both of our worlds.”
I retreated back into my thoughts – as did Deyro. Even with everything Quint had told us, I still was not comfortable with the idea of becoming an assassin. Of murdering somebody in cold blood. And I could see by the look in his eyes, that Deyro wasn't either.
But what choice did we have, really? If we didn't play ball with Shango, the apparently unspoken threat was that he wouldn't play ball with us. That he m
ight shut down the Dragonborn alliance with the Children. And if that happened – then what? Where would I go? What would I do?
I had no doubt that Ella wouldn't let the Children collapse entirely. But we'd be without the resources and training the Dragonborn provided to us. Hunting would have to go back to being my second job.
When I first joined Ella and the Children, I'd had to hold a part-time job just to bring in a little extra money. My attention of focus had been split between hunting and trying to earn enough money to survive. As good as Ella was, learning technique from some of the Dragonborn had elevated my game to a whole new level.
Thinking back on those days made me realize just how much I appreciated working with the Dragonborn. They'd given me a chance to make a real difference in the world. They'd allowed me to help protect people from the monsters that prowled the city, looking to snatch precious lives away and drag them down into the dark.
Not having to make hunting my second job, really being able to focus on it and train hard – it had made me more efficient. More lethal. It had helped me be a better protector of the people.
“I'm in,” I said. “I'll do it.”
I looked over at Deyro who still looked torn. I would do the mission alone, if I needed to. I realized that I owed not just Ella, but the Dragonborn a debt I could never hope to repay. They'd given me a life. A purpose. They'd given me meaning and had allowed for me to define myself and my life.
For that, I owed them. I owed them everything. And if that meant doing something that I might find personally distasteful, but would help everybody involved, then so be it. I was game.
“Yeah, count me in,” Deyro finally said – albeit reluctantly.
Quint nodded, his face remaining grim. I could tell he was not happy about this in the least. Could tell that he understood where we were both coming from.
“I have one condition,” I said.
“And what is that condition, Alexis?”
“I want to be sure,” I said. “We verify that this Nepar actually is part of this Shadow Clan. If he is, we carry out our mission. If he's not though –”
“Fair enough,” Quint said.
Deyro nodded. And it was settled. We were going to become the King's assassins. I still wasn't thrilled with the idea, but I felt like I owed it to them.
“There's one more thing,” Quint said. “And this one is going to be tough.”
“Tougher than stomaching the thought of being a royal assassin?” Deyro asked.
Quint sighed and nodded, sending a worm of ice crawling through my veins. Worse than being a hired killer. I had no idea what the second thing was, I just knew already that I was going to hate it. My stomach was twisted into knots and I looked at our Warden with fear surging through my body.
“To – consummate our alliance,” he said. “And to make it formal, Shango is requiring the two of you to – marry.”
Deyro and I shared a quick, harried look and then, with eyes wide and in perfect unison, blurted out, “What?”
Chapter Thirteen
Deyro
“You have to be kidding,” I said.
Quint shook his head and looked away. “I'm not.”
“He actually expects us to get – married?” Alex asked.
“It was one of his conditions for helping us push this alliance to the Council, yes.”
I looked over at Alex who looked as stricken as I felt. Marriage. Had he gone mad? Alex was my partner. We fought alongside one another. We'd spilled and shed blood together. And just because we had sex from time to time, that didn't mean we were suited well enough to be married. We weren't really even well suited enough to be friends.
We watched each other's backs in battle. That's what we did. No more, no less. The idea that we should be married was beyond mad.
“Why?” I asked. “Why does he feel that's necessary?”
Quint sighed. “He agrees with the idea that the humans should have an equal stake in the fight to protect their world. And he thinks they have every bit as much right to defend it from those things we fight,” he said. “But he also believes that for this alliance to truly work, we both – Dragonborn and humans alike – must have an equal stake in each other as well.”
“But why us?” Alex asked. “Why not you and Astrid? Or Zarik and Ella? Your couplings would seem much more natural. They're already well established.”
Quint nodded. “And that's exactly why,” he said. “They're well established. Shango's belief is that our marriages would be to – easy. But he sees the tension and the rivalry between the two of you. He sees that you're not exactly – friends. And it's his belief that because of that, if you two can overcome the negativity between you and find that spark within each other – that thing you can love – then the alliance will be ironclad.”
I shook my head, disbelief still washing over me. “That's crazy, Quint,” I said. “This is all crazy. Not only demanding we become assassins, but that we marry as well?”
“I have to agree,” Alex said. “Basing the foundation of the alliance on whether or not Deyro and I can get along and be a happily married couple of ludicrous. That's not something that can happen. Not something that's going to happen. And it's setting us up to fail. Setting what we've built up to fail.”
It was ridiculous, of course, but listening to Alex's words stung me a bit. She was so dismissive that she and I could ever find happiness or love between us. It was entirely irrational, I admit. I really doubted that we could ever live some life of domestic bliss – not just because of what we did, but because of that rivalry and tension between us.
I knew that. Understood it.
And yet, to hear that Alex had already written off the idea as untenable, saying that it was something that couldn't or wasn't going to happen – it felt a little bit like a slap across the face.
Like I said, it was irrational and wholly ridiculous.
I didn't know where those feelings came from or why I was even having them. Alex and I were warriors. We weren't cut out for marriage. I knew that. But something had started to shift in my brain a little bit. It started with Quint dressing me down about being a leader. It continued with Alex beating me in single combat in front of everybody. It further continued with the conversation I'd had with the bartender. And it continued even further with the feelings that had enveloped me the moment I saw Alex in that red dress when I'd picked her up for our meeting with Quint.
I was having thoughts and feelings I'd never thought or felt before. I'd always been so sure of myself. So sure of my course. I knew who and what I was down to my very core – and I embraced that. But the last few days had done something to me. Had caused some sort of chain reaction in my head and I wasn't sure what was happening. I suddenly felt unsure. Unsteady. And uncertain.
They were things I'd never felt before in my life. And I didn't know what to do with all of it.
But I knew that being forced into a marriage with Alex was probably the wrong move. I knew she'd probably resent it. And I supposed that on some level, I would too. I didn't like having things dictated to me. And I knew she was the same way.
Given that our personalities were actually quite similar, forcing us to marry was very likely only going to end in disaster. Disaster for us, but even worse, disaster for everything we – the Children and the Dragonborn – had built together.
“Believe me,” Quint said, “I tried to dissuade him. I tried to tell him that it was a bad idea. I tried to convince him that if he was going to require a marriage to solidify this alliance, he would be better off choosing somebody else. He wasn't having it.”
“Why not?” I asked. “How does this make sense?”
Quint shook his head. “I don't know,” he admitted. “All he would say was that he saw something between the two of you when he watched you during that challenge bout. He came away not just impressed with you as fighters, but with you as people. And he believes he saw some sort of spark between you. Something deeper. Shango believes t
hat if you two can get past the rivalry and see each other for who you really are, that you'll find something deep and abiding between you. Something you both don't even realize exists right now.”
“That's ridiculous,” Alex said – a little too quickly for my liking.
I cleared my throat and tried to avoid looking at her. “Yeah, I agree,” I said. “Ridiculous.”
Quint shrugged. “Shango is a good man,” he said. “He's also a romantic. He still believes in true love and romance. And he believes he sees something between the two of you.”
“This is insane,” Alex said. “If he truly believed in this alliance like he says he does, he wouldn't require something like this. Something doomed to fail from the start.”
Again, another cold slap across the face. I ran a hand through my hair and bit back a dozen different responses. I didn't want Alex to think I thought any differently from her. She was right. Of course, she was right. A romantic relationship between us was doomed to fail. Of course it was.
The Warden cleared his throat. “Believe it or not, this is the least of our worries,” he said. “And something we need not discuss right now. Our bigger concern is with his first requirement – the mission.”
Quint was right – a mission to assassinate a King was the bigger problem and the bigger priority. But the thought of being required to marry Alex – and having her be so dismissive of it right off the bat – continued to swirl around in my head. I couldn't shake it. And was growing irritated that I couldn't. We weren't well matched. And Shango, though his intentions might be pure, was foolish to think he could force a match.
Arranged marriages were frequent in Chondelai. The problem though, was that we were not in Chondelai. So, to require us to abide by an ancient custom from a different world – it was folly.
Perhaps it was simply my pride and my ego that Alex had bruised – again – but to hear her so casually and quickly dismiss the pairing was like throwing salt in a still open wound. Even though I agreed with her. Like I said, it was irrational, bordering on stupid.
Married to a Dragon (No Such Thing as Dragons Book 4) Page 8
