The Assassin of Lichelle

5

No one said anything after. They only stood there in silence for a long while. Until Lydia hoarsely said while pressing the knife even harder to his neck making a small stream of blood pour out, "Get. Up. We are leaving." She looked at Nox who did not know what to do and started for the door. Killian got up and her knife moved from his neck to his back piercing and clothing he had on.

They had unsuspiciously gotten back to their horses, who were tied up in the same spot they left them. "Nox, come here."

He turned around and looked at Lydia with worried eyes, what about she did not know. "What is it?"

"Knock him out will you, we have some work to do when we get back home," Lydia said letting go of Killian and pushing him towards Nox who was surprisingly happy to do so.

Killian was draped over Lydia's horse and out cold thanks to Nox. Lydia wanted to do it but she didn't want to waste her energy now when she had so much planned for him. After what seemed like forever to Nox they got back to the Keep. She got off her horse, handed it to the stable boy, walked right inside only looking straight, and went down to the basement. She only said, "Grab him let's go."

Nox did and he wondered if the only reason he there was to do the heavy lifting since he did not do anything else. He was worried about Lydia; he knew what Lucian meant to her and he did not want to see her breakdown and darken her soul just to get revenge for Lucian's death.

He got to the basement at last with the old man on his shoulder and put him down against the wall where the chains were. When he was done he looked at Lydia, she stood completely still looking at a table of knives, plyers, axes, and every other tool you could possibly use somehow to hurt a person. Nox understood why she was just standing there. It was either to take in what she was about to do and who it was for or to plan out the order of everything, what weapons to use where if she was going to start with the fingernails or first slicing him up.

Lydia then out of nowhere said, "Leave, this is no place for you." She then picked up a pair of plyers, she was going to take off his fingernail and pull out a few teeth. She turned to Nox who was standing too close, she could feel his breath on her face, could smell the nice scent of his cologne coming off of him. Lydia put down the plyers, she noticed that Killian was still knocked out. She tried walking past Nox but he stepped in her path. His broad shoulders and chest knocking into hers, she looked up at him. They made eye contact and Lydia could see in Nox's eyes that he was truly worried and did not want to leave her.

Nox turned to her and said, "You can't do this alone, I don't want you to go down this path."

"It's not like I haven't done this before, and I am glad to do it again, for him." Lydia quietly said taking out one of her many knives hidden in her tunic and studied it for a split second. She then brought her other hand up to the knife, now playing with it as if it were a toy and this was her favorite thing to play with. She then looked up to Nox again and said with a bit of an attitude, "You can stay if you truly wish but I have to warn you, I'm good at what I do and this is going to be bloody. So, if you have a weak stomp by all means, please exit, so I can do this the right and in the most excruciating way." Nox did not flinch at all he only walked away to stand in front of Killian.

Moments later Killian awoke and fidgeted for a few seconds. He soon recognized where he was and saw Lydia and Nox side by side staring directly at him and he smiles once again, "Well this should be fun, I've heard you are a master at this part of your work." Directed only at Lydia who stepped closer and smirked.

Turning her side, she said to Nox, "So, should I start with the nails, teeth, or just get right into it?" she then turned back to Killian and almost chuckled, "Or would you like to choose what we do from here?"

Killian looked pleased with what was happening. He did not flinch at all and he looked around for a bit and then quietly but clearly said, "I enjoyed watching your Prince die, watching him suffer."

Something snapped Lydia was about to pounce when a soft manly hand gripped her waist and pulled her back, stopping her from doing something that she would regret. Nox was holding as tight as he could. He knew this would happen, knew that Killian was an arrogant son of a bitch, and knew that she was too emotionally attached for her not to snap. He swiftly brought her out of the room, and he let go. She walked a few feet away, turned back around, and walked fiercely to where Nox was standing, "You have no right!" she screamed about to breakdown.

All Nox wanted to do was hug her and tell her that she was not alone. She then tried again to get past Nox, but his body got in the way and he looked at her, "Let's take a break, let him starve for a little then well go back in. Ok. You need to be prepared for him to say things like that. He has nothing left and he knows that he is not going to get out of this. He just wants you to end it before he has the chance to suffer." Lydia looked deeply into his eyes, tears streaming down hers, "Let's just take a break and leave him to his thoughts. We'll come back down later." With that Nox guided Lydia back to her room. She did not say a word the entire way back to her room.

When they got to her door she opened it and walked in not closing it behind her. Nox wondered if this was an invitation in or if she was too drained to shut it herself. Lydia stared at Nox awkwardly and sat down by the fire on the little couch. "Come in. Stay awhile. Come sit." She said in the plainest and most broken voice he had ever heard.

He walked in and sat next to her on the couch. She moved closer and laid her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and they both sat staring at the barely lit fire.

When Nox was almost asleep, "He killed him." Lydia looked up to him, tears sliding down her face, "He killed him." She repeated.

"I know." Nox wiped away her tears and gave her a small smile, "I know. And he will pay. You just need to let me in so you don't do what you almost did tonight. I want this guy to suffer as much as you do and I'd hate for you to do something that you would regret." Nox stopped looking at Lydia and stared at the fire that was now just a pile of ash and no flame.

"I know. And thank you, for what you did. I would have killed him then and there and just thank you for stopping me. I want you to be there tomorrow and I'll treat you like a real person. When you first came to my door, I thought you were just going to be another assassin wanting a big break, but you were a friend of his and you deserve this as much as I do. I was not the only one who lost him, the entire country did. I realized how I acted, and I am sorry. It's just that he was the love of my life and now I have nothing left. He was everything I had. He was the light, and I was the darkness. I needed him and now I will never see him again." Looking at each other, Nox again wiped her tears and readjusted his arm, and they did not say anything throughout the rest of the night.