Roses and Royalty

Chapter 1

The first time Ivy had met Nikos was in the middle of battle. Unfortunately, all of her friends had been knocked down by him, leaving her the last one standing. He'd briefly set down his sword, leaning on it with his arm as he gave her an infuriating smirk.

"Looks like it's just the two of us, Witch. Ready to give up yet?" he'd grinned her.

"You will be the one in chains when we're done here." she had responded, her voice laced with irritation.

"Kinky." he'd quipped back.

With that, Ivy had unsheathed her dagger with one hand, conjuring purple crackles of magic with the other. The corner of his mouth had lifted in a small smile just before he swung his own sword around and assumed a fighting position, drawing his own magic from the Earth and charging at her, unrelenting as he pelted her magical shields with attacks.

In the end, Ivy had kept her promise and Nikos had been tied up and led away, but not before she gave him a triumphant smirk. He'd replied by raising an eyebrow at her as the guards shoved him into the back of a carriage.

That had been the last Ivy saw of the irritating Elf warrior. She'd pushed the memory of him aside, continuing on with her life as an assassin knowing she'd never have to look at his aggravating grin again. She was very, very mistaken.

Standing before her now, was the same bothersome man she'd encountered over a month ago.

"Well, well, well, little Witch, we meet again." He eyed her up and down, "Fate seems to continue to push us together. Can't say you look as good as last time we saw each other."

"You look pretty terrible yourself." she scoffed.

"Oh?" he chuckled, "The way you're ogling me says otherwise."

"Only so I could do this."

Without missing a beat, she wound the tendrils of her purple magic around his ankles, causing him to stumble. She dove to the side to avoid a blast of magic he aimed at her, quickly kicking him down onto the ground and pressing a dagger to his throat.

"Still have any more of those arrogant little words of yours?" she taunted him.

"It's kind of hard to think clearly while you're straddling me." he smiled innocently up at her.

She hadn't been expecting his quick-witted response. Cursing herself for letting his words make her flustered, she quickly regained her composure and retracted the dagger from his neck, promptly replacing it with her elbow.

Nikos cursed under his breath as he tried and failed to shove her arm off.

"Regretting that remark now, huh?" she sneered.

His only response was to sputter, unable to get any words out with his airway cut off.

"Alright, alright, I won't torture you forever, I'm not that evil." Ivy released her hold from his throat. "Don't even try to escape. You'll be dead before you can get up."

"I hate you." he mumbled, gasping for air.

"I don't care." she replied, "Now tell me why you're here and not rotting away in a prison cell."

"You really thought I wouldn't escape?" He laughed.

"Well, you are quite weak and useless. I suppose I underestimated you."

"I suppose you did." there was a pause of silence. "Can you get off me now? You're still sitting on me."

"Why would I do that?" Ivy smirked, deciding to push his buttons a little. He deserved it, after all.

He sighed. "If you get off me, I'll let you go capture whoever you're supposed to capture and leave you alone."

She considered this. It wasn't a horrible idea, since she wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. The man was beyond annoying.

"I have better idea." she eventually decided, "You're going to help me capture who I need to capture."

"Absolutely not." Nikos immediately rejected.

"Too bad, you don't have a choice."

Rolling off of him, she grabbed him and hoisted him up to his feet. Quickly, she dissolved the magic around his ankles and bound new magical handcuffs around his wrists. Ivy was not going to risk this idiot betraying her and escaping.

"Am I at least getting paid for this?" he grumbled.

"The fact that I'm not turning you into the king is your payment." she grabbed him and dragged him along as they emerged from the tunnel they'd fought in a few moments earlier.

He reluctantly followed her. The king had ordered her to find a man by the name of Sykes. He was an Elf who had stolen a large quantity of some kind of material from Vena, and the king had sent her, the King's Assassin, to find and retrieve him. She imagined the king would not be too happy if he found out she'd collaborated with Nikos, considering he was a fugitive and an Elf. The truth was, she had no desire to put Nikos in harm's way. Despite all his irksome behavior, he was quite entertaining to be around and he took her mind off the stress that came with the pressure of being the King's Assassin. Her job was grueling, dangerous, and oftentimes violent and gory. A distraction was very appreciated, even as brief as it was.

Ivy and Nikos ducked behind an empty market stall by the side of a pathway. Citizens of Vena bustled about, many chatting with companions as they strolled around the marketplace, bargaining prices and filling their baskets with fruit and vegetables.

"Where are we?" Nikos hissed.

"The main marketplace of Vena. I'm searching for a thief named Sykes."

Nikos stiffened. Ivy peeked over the top of the stall, quickly scanning the area with her sharp eyes. She was about to signal to Nikos to move on to the next area before she spot suspicious behavior out of the corner of her eyes. A man stood with someone else, quietly talking with a young woman. Ivy would've looked right over him had not been glancing around so much. She turned back to Nikos, ready to motion him to follow.

Nikos wasn't next to her.

"Miss me already?" a voice behind her said.

She would've recognized his voice anywhere. That pesky, infuriating elf. How had he managed to slip from her detection?

Before she could respond, she felt a cloth slip over her mouth. The fabric was obviously laced with drugs, and Ivy struggled, trying to free herself from Niko's unyielding grip. Unfortunately, he held tight until she felt her eyes fluttering.

"No!" Ivy thought, "Stay awake!"

Her last thought before she was pulled under was how she was going to kick Niko's ass as soon as she woke.