A Song of Silence

Chapter 43: A Mission in the Dark

Zion FireStarter

Akilah had settled in well over the past few days, leaving me with plenty of time to plan how to get to Guinevere's brother. Firstly, I would need to come up with an excuse for my absence to the inner circle and the rest of the court. Shouldn't be too hard, after all I could just get the jobs done at night and be back before anyone was the wiser. Secondly, I need to figure out what the consequence will be for Guinevere, now that she has crossed me. I already had a few ideas, but now the things that I would have gone to others that crossed me in the past, seemed distasteful. I already knew where the Grand Assassin would hold her brother, so that wasn't an issue. It was probably where he would keep all the other people that were supposedly "under his protection". In the river yown that was the capital of the Air Spires, Rilzes.

Once my plan was formulated, I excused myself early from dinner, feigning tiredness from taking care of Akilah. Karasi looked at me quizzically before letting me go back to my rooms. Once there, I quickly changed into my assassin outfit. A collection of long sleeved clothes, fitted with flexible armor and sturdy, oiled boots. When I was fully changed, I grabbed some weapons from my stash under my mattress and jumped out my window. I maneuvered the guards doing their rounds as I made my way to the castle wall. On the other side of the wall, I whistled for Millie from where I had left her earlier today. It would be a couple hours ride to Rilzes, but once there, finding and taking care of Guinevere's brother and returning back to the city, should give me enough time to return before sunrise.

The quiet night air revitalizes me as I finally arrive in Rilzes. The horses chuff in the nearby stable, but otherwise there is little sound to be heard. Perfect for my sneaking about. The location of where the Grand Assassin keeps those "under his protection" is a widely kept secret under the Assassins Guild. Luckily I was high up enough before I earned my freedom to know where they were kept. Those under the Grand Assassins protection in Rilzes were assigned a few lazy guards before being forgotten about, so taking care of the brothers guards should be easy enough. The only problem would be where to find the brother. There were dozens of homes in the city that the Grand Assassin owned and it could take me hours just to find the right one.

Luckily, I had plenty of time. Going from house to house, I would search until I saw the denizens of the home and check to see if the males of the household looked anything like Guinevere. Snooping through windows wasn't my preferred way of looking for someone, mainly because you would often find fae in the throes of passion with another. Fae were known to seek sexual partners often, so it wasn't uncommon to find such a thing, but it sure was uncomfortable to discover.

The last of the homes had little movement in them, seeing as most of their owners were asleep. What was strange to me though, was the lack of any sort of life from the last house, at all. No dishes in the sink, a perfectly kept bed. This was where Guinevere's brother has been kept. Guinevere obviously had some time to warn her brother, given my distraction yesterday, but despite the lack of life in the house, it still smelled of a visitor. Somebody who had been in the house recently, or more likely, had never left.

Cutting the window latch from the outside, I was able to unlock the window and make my way inside. Silently, I creeped around the house, looking for any sign of where her brother might be. Knowing Guinevere, I would try to be clever and sneaky in the way I hid my brother. Not gone, but hidden somewhere in the house. She had learned from me after all. It's what I would have done. But where would he have been hidden. The bedroom, no. Too obvious. Living room? Too often looked over. Ah ha! The drawing room. Creeping inside, I wasn't astonished to find a wide rug covering the majority of the floor. An easy, but hard to detect way to hide a secret area. Throwing the rug aside, sure enough, the concealed handle of a hidden door is revealed in the floor. Pulling the handle up, the toned face of a scared, frail little boy looks up at me. He looks young. No older than eight years.

"Are you Guinevere's brother?" I ask the boy. He doesn't speak, but merely shrinks into himself and tries to hide himself even further. I ask him again, my question louder this time. My tone seems to shake him out of his fear-engulfed state and he reluctantly shakes his head yes. Holding my hand out to the boy, he takes my hand and I pull his starved body out of the Dani hole he had been sitting in. I couldn't harm this boy. Not matter my revenge, I couldn't harm a boy who had done nothing to me other than be related to a woman who had crossed me. "Where are your guards?" I ask, looking around in case one decided to jump out of the shadows.

The boy opens his mouth, as if to speak, and then finally manages to squeak the words out, "Th- they have not come in days. They only visit to hit and feed me watered down broth." How he has survived this long, I have no idea. The way he flinched at me as I reached for him makes so much more sense now. He was flinching from my touch because the assassin guards had done nothing but hit the poor boy.

Laying down the trapdoor once more and covering it with a rug, I motion for the boy to follow me out of the room and into the kitchen. He does so, reluctantly. Grabbing some bread from the satchel at my side, I hand it to the boy. He looks at it questioningly before scarfing it down. "What is your name?"

"Zion," he whispers before asking, "Do you have any more bread?"

I shake my head before saying, "We have to save the rest for the road. I'll get us some more when it is safe." Zion's bottom lip juts out in a pout. I had only planned for myself to return to the Capital city, so I didn't have many provisions with me at the moment. "What is your gift?" I ask carefully. It was dangerous to ask anyone about their gift because most fae would become angry at such a personal question.

Zion merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "FireStarter. I wish I was like older sister though. Anything is better than being a FireStarter."

I squat down until I am level with Zion, "Don't say that, little one. Being a FireStarter is a wonderful gift, Just like any other."

Zion puts his lower lip out even further, "All I can do is start fires. There's nothing cool about that, " he whines.

I shake my head at his pout, "There are many things you can do. For starters, you can heat metal and make a sword or you could create ash to help plants grow."

Zion finally meets my eyes and looks at me with hope and adoration in his gaze, "Really?" The excitedness in his voice makes me smile. I nod at him. Grabbing Zions hand, I lead him outside, cautious of anyone who might see us, assassin or civilian. I see, nor sense anyone. Content we aren't being followed, I lead Zion to the edge of the city and call for Millie. She trots over and regards our newest addition with distaste. She never was really fond of children. Smiling at her reluctance, I hoist Zion onto Millie's back and jump on behind him. Grabbing Millie's reigns, I click my tongue and Millie starts to head back to the Capital city.

I can only imagine the horror that will appear on Guinevere's face if she finds out her brothers disappearance. Or Karasi's for that matter. Maybe once I explain, Karasi won't look quite so horrified that I kidnapped a child. If she finds out. I could always keep this a secret from Karasi and send Zion somewhere where he will be safe and cared for. A place I had not been in many, many years. The only person that could get Zion there in one piece and take care of him, would exact a price from me. One I'm not sure I would want to pay.

I would hope that after our encounter a few months earlier, he might not exact too much a toll. But there was no telling with Jameson. Yes. That's right. The emotion manipulator that wants nothing to do with me. He always did have a soft spot for children. Maybe Zion could convince him. Let's only hope.