The Assassin of Lichelle

1

Walking in the large council room, Lydia Deighton sat down at the farthest chair from the head, "This better be worth it." She said, adjusting her short blood color red leather skirt as it had risen up too high. They were all called this morning while it was still pitch-black outside by the king himself. If there was anyone worth getting up so early in the morning it was for him. He controlled everything. "This better be important," Lydia said once again making sure everyone in that enormous room knew that the king was late to the meeting that he called.

"She better watch her mouth, or she is just begging to be punished." A young man pointed his eyes to Lydia while talking amongst his friends. She ignored his little gesture and stared straight ahead to where the king will soon sit. It was true, surviving in Lichelle is no easy task but having the king breathing down your neck every second of every day is horrifying.

Lydia knew the risk of talking about the king like she did. Punishment goes unsaid for such accusations. The two large chestnut wood doors swung open and all the assassins in the council room rose. The king took his time getting to his chair. He did not look up nor down. His head was straight, everyone knew that this meeting could be one of their last. The king gracefully got to his chair, looked up directly at Lydia then to the group of boys that were to her side, and merely said, "Seats."

Minutes went by and the King of Lichelle was simply sitting there staring straight ahead. He had not been to the Assassin's Keep since his late son was murder by another kingdom to strike revenge for Lichelle winning the war against them. There were many lives lost, over half of the assassins whom Lydia were good friends with died protecting the King and Lichelle. Every single person, the servants included were waiting for the King to say something, anything. There were soft whispers from many of the young assassins. Most of who perhaps were not worked hard enough and still do not know right from wrong. Lydia was the farthest away from the king though he stared at her for those minutes, then she knew what had happened.

Moments later everything stopped, it was as if time had stopped everyone in the room grew silent as the king harshly proclaimed, "Who?", the king then stood, his hands now in fists on the table, he had a look on his face that begged to kill, "Who helped them?" Everyone in the room's posture had been perfect, no one flinched. Them. Every single person in that room had known who the king referred to. The king stood and started walking around the large table able to fit 100 people, 100 killers. There was a conspirator amongst them. Someone had given Whitethorn information, there was a traitor in the room.

Lydia did not know what to do. The king's son was her greatest companion. Lucian was the future for Lydia but four months ago he was murdered. The kingdom of Lichelle got its revenge. She got her revenge. There was no doubt that she wasn't the most adequate and trained assassin in that room. Many of her fellow assassins were much older than her. Many envied her and most were scared.

The king wondered a long way to the back of the room to get to where Lydia was sitting so anxious and bloodthirsty from hearing what King Durack had just announced. Lydia felt his breath lower into her ear and he said, "My sweet child, you will find this man and kill him. For Lucian." Lydia's heart stopped. Memories flooded her mind, her heart, of Lucian. Her lover. Companion. Prince. Time stopped, she felt nothing. Everyone was looking at the King and mainly at Lydia who just stared down almost about to cry. The king hesitated to walk away knowing that Lydia needed to be comforted, but the king moved on walking and walking all the way back to his chair where he began. He said nothing else as he then pushed in his chair and walk to the two once again chestnut wood doors and stopped. "Is this how you defend your home? By letting a traitor walk in here and call it home as well. You are Lichelle's finest or have you lost your touch." Yelling in frustration the king walked out and there was a bang as the doors closed.

No one moved. There was no talking, those bastard boys learned their lesson and they better hope to the gods that they never talk again in a meeting. Minutes went by, they turned into hours. Every assassin was in their seats staring, maybe they all were trying to figure out who the traitor was or maybe they were all wondering what the king had said to Lydia. After what seemed like forever to Lydia, she got up slowly, gracefully, and walked to her room. She laid on the bed that she used to share with the Prince. The entire day passed. Lydia did not leave her room once after the meeting. She simply sat on the edge of her bed and began crying. She began reliving all the moments that she and her lover had together.

The council room was now empty, after Lydia had left most deemed it acceptable to leave. The boy who had talked about Lydia now felt terrible, he didn't do anything wrong, but he felt guilty for giving her a hard time. The entire Assassins Keep knew about the love affair going on between the Prince and Lydia. The Prince was at the Keep often and became friends with many of the Keeps residents. The assassin was a close friend of the Prince but never tried to get to know Lydia. She was always with Lucian or training.

The King's rest of the day was morbid. His own son was killed as revenge, it was his fault that Lucian had died. It was a father's job to protect his children and he failed. It was soon night in Lichelle, and the king sat in his red velvet chair in front of the fireplace looking at a picture of his now-deceased son on the small round table that held a few more pictures and a lamp.