League of Legends: Stories

Raised To Be

Raised To Be

The ways in the Noxian Empire were always questionable, yet no one dared to utter a query as long as the method led to the success and benefit of the nation. The House of Du Couteau had become one of the prime representations of Noxus' brilliance and power. The patriarch of the said name was revered and given admiration, respect and absolute loyalty.

Whenever Katarina observed the way her father worked, it initially baffled her when she was still at such a young age. The sight of Marcus casually slitting a traitor's throat as if he merely swatted a fly away had startled the little redhead. When she tailed her father on his way to High Command, of all things to see, an abrupt execution was not one of them.

Once she had retreated back home and hid into her quarters, Katarina's initial shock and hints of horror diminished into something else. With her growing up in Noxus, it wasn't too uncommon to not witness the daily bloodshed in the streets, especially during evenings.

Fascination and curiosity soon bloomed within Katarina and on the same night of that traitor's brisk termination, she waited for Marcus to come home, who she chose to ask a great deal about what she had seen.

Much to the General's delight, Katarina showed a massive interest in following his footsteps and when the latter asked him to teach her everything, oh, how could he refuse?

And so, at the young age of seven, Katarina began her first ever training with her first ever dagger.

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"Is... Is he dead?"

Cassiopeia's words didn't seem to reach Katarina, whose ears were ringing deafeningly while her gaze drifted away from the blade she had in her trembling hand to the intruder that attempted to assassinate their mother in such a late hour.

There was no rain, but there had been thunderclaps and lightning for the past few hours. In the dimly lit hallway they were both in, Katarina stared down at the carpeted floor where the shattered glass of the broken wall light and the bleeding, lifeless body of the trespasser could be found.

When the dagger she was holding slipped through her bloodstained fingers, the thud on the floor was muted by the loud roar of thunder the sky unleashed. Behind her, Cassiopeia switched her gaze between her older sister and the dead assailant, heart pounding as quick as the former's.

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Dark emeralds trailed down to shaking burgundy hands and lips trembled as they formed into murmured words.

"He was going to kill mother." Katarina slowly turned and looked over her shoulder, meeting the green hues of her sister's stare. "He was going to kill us. I had to kill him."

Cassiopeia held her gaze for another moment before she directed hers back to the unmoving corpse. "I didn't say you didn't need to."

Katarina copied her sister and returned her attention to the body before them. Two more flashes of thunder came from the tall windows in the hall and it provided them more than a single glimpse of the dead attacker's face, which was now unveiled by the mask Katarina had torn off during the initial scuffle.

"Serkan..." Cassiopeia whispered the late man's name, her expression unreadable as she did. "I guess his name suits him more now."

The slain assassin was once known to be one of the staff in the house. Before this attempt on their mother's life, he was once just a mere worker that cleaned around the house and occasionally helped with other household tasks. The second to the last time the two sisters saw him, he was using an outdoor broom to sweep the fallen leaves on the wide backyard of the estate.