From The Ashes [#NaNoWriMo16]

Chapter Thirty Nine - Ryia Ivetta

Ryia was, for the first time in her life, nervous. Since the threat had ended and she was able to go home now, she'd had this panicky feeling in her stomach that sometimes made her want to vomit and then curl up in a corner to cry. She didn't have a home. Her family had abandoned her when she was young, and she'd killed everyone she'd been left with. Then she was taken in by a group of killers, who had since disowned her for not killing a child even though she was going to go through with it. But now she had a new family, one she was willing to do anything for. She sacrificed her own life for Kida's, and that was the kind of person she had become since separating from her assassin life. Now, all she had to do was make sure no one else died because of them. And she had the perfect plan to make it happen.

"I still can't believe you brought me with you," Kieron grumbled, gripping the sword in his hand tightly. "Why did you bring me with you?"

"You know why," Ryia shot back as they weaved their way through the streets of Long Island, heading for the sewerage hole that would lead her to her old family. "I couldn't do it on my own, and obviously Kida is out with her parents so I have no other options."

"What about Arlo?" Kieron hissed. "Or Hallee?"

"They're moving into their house," Ryia sighed. "I did ask them, but Arlo had something planned for Hallee that he obviously didn't want murder and blood involved, so I left them both out of it."

"What about Issey?"

Ryia shot him a look, and he rolled his eyes.

"Right, that was a stupid thing to say," he muttered, then his eyes perked up. "What about Quin? I'm sure he wouldn't have minded tagging along."

"Quin's been MIA since the party," Ryia sighed. "He told Kida to tell everyone to give him a few days to himself to just deal with everything, but I think Issey already went to see him. He would've been my next option, believe me, but I respect his need for space."

"You mean I was your last preference?" Kieron demanded. "Well, thanks. That's appreciated."

Ryia bit her tongue to refrain from using her dagger on him. "This is exactly why I chose you last," she grumbled. "You complain. All. The. Time."

"I'd be more than willing to help you spill some blood, honestly," Kieron sighed. "But I'm the captain of the Queen's guard; if anyone sees me, I could be in huge shit."

"Issey won't let you go, don't be ridiculous," Ryia retorted. "You're too good at your job; she'd be a fool to drop you. Stop freaking out."

"Oh, you think I'm good at my job, do you?" he crooned, and Ryia shot him a sly smile.

"I think I'm better, but yeah," she agreed. "You do it pretty well yourself."

His grin widened. "If you're so good," he said casually, "then why don't you talk to Issey and get yourself a spot?"

Ryia scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous," she muttered. "If anything, I'd be a killer bodyguard, not a knight in shining armour."

"And you think Issey doesn't need a bodyguard, don't you?"

She shrugged. "With Helio at her side, no one would dare try to hurt her," she explained. "There'd be no point in me protecting her, anyway. She's more than capable of protecting herself. Besides, I don't want to do that. I don't know what I want to do."

"Let's just focus on doing this first, then, okay?" Kieron said softly. "Then you can think about what you want to do after."

Ryia laughed shakily. "Yeah, okay, I can do that," she sighed, then slowed as they neared the sewer grate in the floor. She bent down, praying they hadn't changed the combination as she looked around to make sure no one was looking, then tapped at the metal with her knuckle just like she'd done when she used to live here. She couldn't remember how long it had been; surely it was months. It felt like much longer; she didn't even remember what her old room looked like.

The metal opened after a few moments, and Ryia slipped in instantly, knocking down the person that had allowed her entry. She stood firmly, pulling her daggers out of their holsters before she started forward, hearing Kieron drop down behind her. There were wide-eyes staring at her as she passed, and all she did in response was slice her knife at their necks and keep walking, feeling a spray of blood hit her when she passed them. She made it to the main room quickly, seeing Mercer rise from his seat with a plate of what appeared to be chicken sitting before him, half eaten. Mercer looked mad.

"I knew you'd come back," he hissed. "That's why we didn't move. I knew you'd be back here, begging us to accept you again. Well, it's too late, Red Spirit. I've put a bounty on your head."

Ryia raised an eyebrow, leaning sideways on one leg. "Oh?" she said. "And how much am I worth, exactly?"

"Twenty thousand gold pieces," he shot back, his mouth stretching out into an ugly grin. Ryia's eyes widened.

"Twenty thousand?" she demanded. "That's ridiculous."

"I agree," Kieron announced as he joined her, his blade dripping with dark red liquid. "I say she's at least forty. She is the Queen's best friend, after all."

Mercer didn't know what to do, at this point. He didn't know whether to address Kieron, the blood on his weapon or the comment made about Issey. Finally, he decided on the latter.

"The Queen's friend?" he sneered. "Well well, you've been busy, haven't you?"

"I have," Ryia agreed. "I've saved the world from certain death. What have you done? Kill the child you were after? Or did you get Collin to do it for you?"

"Collin refused," Mercer growled, and gestured sideways. Ryia's eyes almost bulged out of her head when she found his head on the end of a spear, rotting and on display for everyone to see. Her insides went cold. "That's going to be you up there, sitting beside him. You corrupted him, and now you will rot beside him."

"I don't think so," Ryia scowled back, and before she could stop herself she was launching forward and her right dagger went right through Mercer's face and into his brain, savouring his gobsmacked expression as he died. She growled and – with her other knife – hacked at his throat until his head came off, and stuck the end of his own sword up the stump. She knocked down the spear with Collin's head on it hoisted up Mercer's, driving it into the wall so it would stay in place. She whirled around, eyes full of fire, and everyone else backed down, shrinking back into their skins. No one challenged her.

"I'm gonna be sick," Kieron managed to choke out before he stumbled into the next room, and Ryia heard him chuck up what he had for breakfast earlier before a long slice of silence filled the room. Finally, he came back in, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he struggled to wipe the sick feeling from his face. He smiled weakly and held a thumb up shakily. "All good," he added. "Let's go, yeah?"

Ryia narrowed her eyes at everyone else in the room before pointing to one of them, a girl named Ana. She gestured to Collin's head. "You. Burn him but don't touch the other one. He deserves to hang there." She hesitated, then nodded at Ana. "Right. You're in charge now. If I ever hear about you killing kids or babies or anything Mercer would kill, I'll find you and finish you all. Am I understood?" Ana nodded nervously, so Ryia nodded back and went to the exit with Kieron in front of her. She stopped when she reached the door, hesitated, then turned around and took Mercer's plate of chicken in her hands, some of it now covered with his blood. She picked up a leg, sunk her teeth into it and sighed out in appreciation.

"God, I love chicken," she murmured, then nodded to Kieron. "Right. We can go now." Kieron grinned.

She was the Assassin, alright.