Lady Mutiny

One

Most went to the summer masquerade hoping to find love; she went intending to deliver death.

With seven concealed weapons on her person, it was two more than she originally planned, and that didn't include the poison.

The two pins that held her dark hair in its conglomeration of curls and spirals were easily accessible for close combat. The space between her bosom and the dress' dark corset was sturdy enough to support the weight of the small dagger, and her blossoming cleavage made hiding the hilt just as efficient. The corset itself was sewn into the body of the dress, leaving little room to stash a knife. Luckily, the edging towards the back was open just enough at the bottom that she could store one between the bones next to the bodice lacings.

Another dagger sat comfortably in the garter on her left thigh, easily hidden under her billowing skirts, and she made certain the boots she wore would conceal a knife at each calf.

One could say Lilia Cortova always arrived prepared.

She leaned over her vanity for a closer look in the mirror as she applied rouge to her lips and powder to her eyelids. There was nothing overly particular about her appearance, but her eyes were just bright enough, her lips just plump enough, and her bosom just supple enough that she seemed to catch the attention of every man—and woman—she had the pleasure of encountering.

Attraction was just as deadly as it was pleasuring, and her victims found that out in the most painful of fashions.

"You're going to die from overheating if you go out like that tonight."

Lilia's gaze shifted to the reflection of the woman standing in her bedroom doorway, and she couldn't help but smile at her younger sister's observations regarding her dark attire.

"I need somewhere to hide my knives, Cassandra, and this dress is the safest way to do so," she mused as she returned her attention to her own reflection.

"I still say you only need one," her sister countered as she crossed her arms upon her chest while she leaned against the doorway of the lavish bedroom.

"And that is why this assignment is mine, and you're still within your first year of training." After slipping a poison-filled ring upon her left hand she gave her bodice its last adjustment, and with a final fluff of her piled hair, Lilia turned to face her sibling.

Where Lilia was darker in complexion, her younger sister was far fairer, and the assassin always wondered why Cass wanted to follow her into the depths of the Underground. Cass shined like a ray of sunlight, not a dweller in the shadows. She should be at court, fawning over this lord or that prince, instead of hiding behind a curtain trying to decipher the best way to kill them.

But Cass insisted and proved herself during her training sessions well enough, and now she prepared for her Trials to take place just months away. There was nothing Lilia could do or say to change her mind; she knew her sister was old enough to manage herself, but it was in the elder Cortova's blood to worry about her.

"Can you at least do something constructive while you stand there?" Lilia finally asked as she held out a necklace to her sibling.

Cassandra furrowed her brows at her sister's smirk, uncrossing her arms with an annoyed huff. "At least Baz will be there to keep an eye on you," Cass taunted as she grabbed the chain from Lilia's hand.

"Why?" Lilia snapped incredulously as she turned her back towards Cass, pulling her hair gently out of the way. "This isn't his assignment."

With a shrug, Cass grinned as she met her sister's gaze in the mirror. "He didn't say he was going for an assignment. He said he received an invitation."