by Eric Vall
“Have a change of heart?” I asked with amusement.
“Fine,” Mara gave a choked off sob and looked up to me, “but you have to promise you won’t let the sect find out. If they know it was me who told their secrets, they won’t stop until they rip me apart.”
I looked around the room. Nike kept his gaze on Mara while I locked eyes with the Elders and Laika, and they all subtly nodded before I turned back to Mara.
“If you give us information, we will protect you if the sect comes for you.” I assured her. “We’ll let you live, for now, but once we’re done with you, you will pay for your crimes against Hatra.”
“I suppose I’m not in a position to argue.” Mara nodded once.
“No, you’re not,” I reminded her. “Now, for my first question: how long have you been in the city?”
Mara sighed deeply. “I was sent to infiltrate the city a month ago. I was given very specific orders on how to enter and where to hide until we were given instructions to begin our mission.”
“Where were you hiding?” I asked.
“I never stayed in the same area for long.” The assassin shrugged. “Mostly, I moved around the city, along the areas under reconstruction.”
“How many others are there?”
“There were only three of us.”
“That seems convenient,” Laika replied as she cocked a gray eyebrow. “We killed two and captured you. Are you sure that’s the truth?”
“Yes,” Mara insisted, “I was meant to attack the princess, but when we reported that Aleksey and the other sect prisoners were still alive, the sect changed my mission. It was a higher risk for Aleksey to live than Alyona. If we finished in time, we were to take her out as well, but she was no longer a priority.”
Laika glared at the assassin but didn’t speak.
“Why us?” I asked. “You said Alyona was originally a target, but they decided against her. What is the sect so afraid of?”
“The sect members being held prisoner are a risk the sect was no longer willing to accept,” she explained with a slight shrug. “They needed to be terminated.”
“Will more of your people come?” Julia asked, and she shared a worried glance with Ruslan and Moskal.
“Perhaps, I don’t know.” Mara shrugged again. “I am only given my mission and nothing else. I don’t even know which assassins were assigned to the other targets.”
“Wait,” Nike interrupted, “if you never met the other assassins, why were all of your bags together inside the tunnel?”
“They had us plant evidence when we arrived,” Mara replied. “They knew you’d inspect the tunnels soon, but then you sealed them up and ruined our plans. They wanted all of our bags together when you found them, I don’t know why.”
“How did you know about the passages?” I growled. “We didn’t even know about them until a few days ago.”
“I don’t know.” Mara scowled. “Our leader--”
“Olivier,” I interrupted.
Mara looked slightly surprised but didn’t confirm anything.
“Our leader,” she continued, “is resourceful. He has maps of Rahma. Every road in every city in every nation on the continent is mapped out on his collection of maps. He knows everything there is to know about this country. There is nowhere you can ever hide from him.”
I thought of the cave in the mountains that we had found at the end of one of the passages. It was an escape route, so it would be strange for the route to be marked on a map, but I knew better than to underestimate Olivier.
“Who says we’re hiding from him?” I sneered. “I’m not afraid of him.”
“Everyone is hiding from him,” Mara admitted as she peered up at me.
I frowned, but she seemed lost in her mind for a second before she cleared her throat and continued.
“Our sect has begun to receive a bad reputation, thanks to Hatra and you,” she glared at me, “so now cities are terrified. They try to hide themselves from us to prevent us from ‘corrupting’ them. They don’t understand what we can accomplish.”
“You want to assassinate the king,” I pointed out, “and King Rodion is admired and beloved by the people, so of course they wouldn’t like you.”
“You’re all blind,” Mara murmured and shook her head. “The false king has poisoned your mind.”
“We’ll get to the main plot later,” I scoffed. “Right now, I am more concerned with the safety of Hatra. How many other secret passages are in the tunnels?”
“That depends on what you mean,” Mara replied with a grin. “There are dozens of passages, but some of them have collapsed, some were never finished, and others lead to nothing. You’ll need to be specific.”
My scales crawled up my arms as my annoyance with her turned to anger, and Mara’s grin slipped quickly from her face.
“Don’t you dare mess with us,” I warned her, and my voice was dark with unspoken threats. “You know what we mean, don’t play dumb.”
Her eyes lit up with fear as I spoke, and she nodded silently.
“There are only a handful of passages that lead out from the city,” she explained quickly. “I imagine you found one of them while you searched the third tunnel under the library.”
“I thought there were two--” Moskal started to speak up, but I silenced him with a hand.
“Yes, we found the tunnel that led into the forest,” I interrupted, since I didn’t want him to reveal that the escape route to the mountains was inside the third cave. “Where are the rest?”
A grin appeared on Mara’s face again. “I’ll show you. We were made to memorize the tunnels and all their passages before we were sent out.”
“No,” I immediately responded, and I was echoed nearly simultaneously by Laika, Nike, and Ruslan.
“Do you think we would be foolish enough to release you into dark tunnels that only you know how to maneuver?” Laika sneered, and her tail flicked with irritation.
“Keep me on a leash then, and there wouldn’t be much I can do,” Mara shook her chained hands and jerked her head toward me, “and as the dragon has made very clear, the sect thinks I am dead. I am no longer connected to them, so even if I was able to free myself, I wouldn’t be able to find them.”
“We said no,” I repeated with finality.
“Fine,” Mara fell back against the chair, “good luck finding the tunnels before more assassins get sent here.”
Julia and Moskal each took a step forward.
“So, you do think more will come?” Moskal questioned.
“I don’t know for certain, of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised,” Mara drawled. “The sect was adamant about this mission. They wouldn’t give up on it now.”
There was a breath of silence as we absorbed her words.
“I think I’m done with questions for now,” I grunted after a moment. “Laika, lock her back up inside the cell. We need to talk about what to do next.”
Laika nodded, and I tossed her the keys she’d loaned me. Then the wolf grabbed Mara and unlocked her hands from the chair before she cuffed them with actual handcuffs.
“We can take Aleksey to the other prisoners,” I added as I glanced at the assassin. “There isn’t much any of them can do to each other while they’re cursed, and I don’t want Mara alone with him. She might try to finish the job.”
Mara smiled. “You are a little paranoid, aren’t you, dragon?”
Laika unlocked the cell and shoved Mara inside. Then Ruslan and Moskal grabbed Aleksey’s limp form and hauled him up together.
“Meet us back at the palace, I’ll find Alyona,” I said before I paused. “Wait, can you grab the corpse of the assassin while you go to the other prison cell? We need to figure out what to do with them.”
“Just toss them in the forest,” Nike offered with a dark grin. “They don’t deserve to be buried or burned honorably.”
“That could work,” I laughed, “but with our luck, it would only attract more monsters we’d have to dea
l with.”
“That’s true,” Nike agreed with a sigh. “Maybe you can just torch them?”
“That’s actually a good idea,” I mused as I tapped my chin. “It gets rid of the bodies, and they don’t get the satisfaction of a pyre or any kind of funeral.”
“Gods, this bastard is heavy!” Ruslan grunted suddenly, and I looked over to see him and Moskal struggle with Aleksey’s limp body.
“Take him to the others, and take the body outside the walls,” I ordered. “We can burn them together.”
My father and Moskal both nodded as they slipped from the room, but not before they thumped Aleksey’s head against the doorjamb.
I snickered and turned back to the others in the room.
Laika locked the cell and walked back to us while she clipped the keys to her hip.
“She shouldn’t be a problem,” the wolf updated us. “I double checked to make sure she has nothing that she can use to escape. We should still be careful, though, since I’m sure she can be extremely resourceful.”
“You’re right, we need to make sure she can’t escape,” I agreed. “Can we have guards inside the room and out? She needs to be treated like a threat, I don’t care how well we chain her up. I’m not going to risk letting her escape.”
“Of course,” the Demi-Human nodded, “I’ll let Daya know to grab some extra guards.”
“Thanks, Laika. I’m going to grab the last assassin who’s dead in my room at the palace.”
Julia grabbed my arm as I walked toward the door. “I’ll come with you. I have some cleaning supplies stored away in the infirmary. I can clean the mess so you don’t have a giant blond stain on the floor, and I’m sure you won’t need me to watch the bodies burn.”
“Thanks, Julia. That would be great.” I smiled and wrapped my hand around hers. Then I looked back to Nike and Laika. “Can the two of you find a place for us to burn the bodies? I don’t want it to be too close to the city, no one else needs to smell them.”
“Of course, brother.” Nike nodded as we walked out of the room and down the hall of the airship.
“We can start on the north side of the wall, there is less plant life there so nothing really lives around it,” Laika suggested as she walked with us. “Plus, it will blow the smoke and therefore the stench away from the city.”
“Perfect,” I told them, “start there. I’ll come find you once I’m ready.”
We reached the bottom of the ship, and the sky was still black while the stars twinkled above us. With all the excitement, I’d forgotten it was late.
I sighed, and Julia smiled next to me.
“We can rest once everything is sorted out,” she offered hopefully.
“Yeah, I suppose.”
Nike and Laika walked toward the wall of the city and disappeared once the gate opened. Then Julia and I strolled through the dark roads as we headed toward the palace.
As we drew closer to our temporary home, I noticed a light in Alyona’s window and smiled.
“I’m going to update Alyona and Ravi about everything so they can relax,” I told Julia.
Her eyes drifted toward the illuminated window, and she sighed. “Tell them to rest. They don’t need to watch traitors turn to ash. They are dead, that’s all they need to know.”
I nodded as we walked inside the palace, and then I turned toward the staircase while Julia began to walk toward my room on the lower level. I quickly jogged up the steps and made my way toward Alyona’s room. Then I knocked once before the door was unceremoniously flung open to reveal Alyona and Ravi, and both of their eyes were wide.
“What happened?” the phoenix demanded.
“Did she say anything else?” Alyona questioned.
“Did you learn the Green Glass Sect’s plan?”
“Do you know when they plan to attack my father?”
“Hey,” I raised my voice to be heard above them, “calm down. One at a time.”
Ravi and Alyona shared a look before Alyona nodded.
“What else did you learn from her?” the princess asked in a more composed voice.
“We know she came here alone,” I explained. “The other two assassins were probably sent here alone as well. She said there were only three of them, so if she’s to be believed, we should be safe for now. We also know the sect has maps of Rahma, every road and path is charted out for them. There are also more passages beneath Hatra, and the sect knows about them. The tunnels are no longer safe. We can’t risk using them, so they have to be sealed. All of them except one. I don’t think they know about the escape tunnel that leads to the cave in the mountains.”
“That would make sense,” Alyona mused with a furrowed brow. “They wouldn’t want any evidence of the passage since that could prove to be dangerous. The Lords and Ladies of Hatra would have memorized the paths to get out of the mountains and taught them to their children. Which is unfortunate for us because it means it will probably be impossible to figure the paths out.”
“Maybe not,” I told her as I thought of Tristan, “I think I can figure them out. I just need some time.”
Alyona nodded. “If you truly think you can figure out the maze, you should try. If we have a road unknown to the sect, it could give us an advantage.”
“Did she say anything about the sect retaliating for killing their assassins?” Ravi asked from Alyona’s side.
“She said it was a possibility,” I answered, “which is why we need to remain focused. We are already short on time, but we can’t let the Green Glass Sect sneak up on us.”
“Agreed,” Alyona replied with a nod. “We need to be ready to fight back.”
I smiled as the princess’s face creased in determination. Ravi stood next to her, and she looked ready to listen to our plan of action. I liked having my women ready to fight with me. It was reassuring and reminded me why we needed to do this.
“For now, you two should rest,” I said. “It’s late, and tomorrow is going to be extremely busy as we continue the reconstruction and finish the search through the tunnels. Hopefully, we can find the last few passages and seal them before anyone else gets through.”
Both women pouted before they agreed with me.
“Fine,” Alyona responded with a sigh.
I leaned in to kiss her briefly, and she smiled softly as our lips met.
“Goodnight,” I told her as I pulled away, and then I turned to the phoenix. “Ravi, I’ll walk you back to the airship.”
“Actually, I thought she could stay here with me,” Alyona suggested as she locked her arms around Ravi’s and gave me a mischievous smile. “My bed is plenty big enough for two people.”
“I guess that would be fine …” I said as I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “Is that okay with you, Ravi?”
“Yes!” she squealed, and her blue eyes were like two bright flames. “Alyona’s bed looks incredibly soft. I would love to stay the night here!”
Alyona and Ravi began to talk over each other quickly in their excitement, and I laughed. Then Ravi turned back to me and quickly placed a chaste kiss to my lips.
“Good night, Lord Evan!”
“Goodnight, Ravi,” I replied as she took off toward Alyona’s bed.
“There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” Alyona murmured in my ear as she stepped closer to me. “It may seem silly to you, but there are rooms up here, next to me. I want you to consider moving to one of them. You were attacked today, and I didn’t even know about it until Laika and Nike came for me. I would feel so much better if you were closer to me.”
I smiled and pulled her to my chest.
“Alyona, you don’t need to worry about me. There is no one alive who could hurt me.” I paused and then chuckled. “Well, maybe Valerra could,”
“True, but she never would,” Alyona laughed with me and snuggled into my arms.
“But,” I continued, “I need to stay in my current room. I like being able to hear everyone walk around me. And, if I’m on the opposite
side as everyone else, no one will be in danger. Tonight was a perfect example. There was an assassin in the palace, but he didn’t even go after you or my parents, he only came for me. The rest of you were perfectly safe.”
“But--” Alyona began until I stopped her with a kiss.
“But nothing. I won’t put you in any danger you don’t need to be in, okay?”
She nodded and sighed. “Okay. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I pressed another kiss to her lips.
The princess smiled as she stepped back into her room. Then she shut the door quietly, and I could hear her footsteps as she walked toward the bed.
I stood there for a moment and debated on going back inside. I could still hear Ravi’s excited chatter through the door, and a rush of lust nearly made me lightheaded as all of my blood decided to travel south.
The thought of the two of them in bed together was enough to make my trousers uncomfortably tight, and I could just imagine both of them with me in bed as I kissed along their soft skin.
I was pulled from my thoughts, though, when I heard Julia call my name. Then I shook my head and released a deep breath as I let my excitement die down.
I walked into my room a few minutes later, and Julia was on the ground with bloodied rags around her while she mopped up as much blood as best she could.
“Let me help,” I offered, but I was shooed away.
“I have this,” Julia said quickly as she scrubbed vigorously at the floor. “Just get the body out of here so I can finish.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied with a salute, which resulted in a clean rag being thrown at my face.
“You are just like your father,” Julia laughed. “I should be done once you return. You should get some sleep afterwards.”
“I will,” I told her, “and you need rest, too. If you’re not done when I return, I’ll finish up. It’s my mess anyways.”
A heavy moment of silence passed between us.
“You could have been killed tonight,” Julia said in a broken voice, and she shook her head. “I won’t let you clean up the mess that saved your life.”
I looked over at my mother and noticed her wipe away a tear that rolled down her cheek.
