The Rogue Lady

Chapter Thirty Five

     I looked at my archers and I couldn’t help but feel worried. They all looked a little tired despite having slept several hours. I didn’t want them to fall asleep the moment we were on top of the roofs of Blackwalls and have them falling down to the streets. Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed them as hard as I had; they obviously couldn’t train at the same rhythm as me.

     “Are you sure you are fit enough to come with me? You don’t have to come; I can do this on my own.”

     “What am I? Invisible?” Eric asked as if I had completely forgotten he was coming with us.

     I grinned at him, “No, you’re not invisible, that is the problem. You are not coming with us without a cape so you better go and get it before we leave.”

     He grumbled something under his breath but left to get his cape nonetheless; I didn’t understand why he had a problem with wearing it. If anyone should have a problem with it, it should be my archers and I because the cover got in the way of our weapons. My archers laughed at the magician’s expense and I sent them a cold look that shut them up almost instantly.

     “Don’t you laugh; I have not forgotten what you said about Eric and me.”

     Surprise crossed their faces. Alex hesitantly spoke up, “You mean what we said when you were sleeping? How can you possibly know that?”

     “The nightmares due to magic are like water sometimes; they pull me under but sometimes I drift to the surface and I hear things even though I’m not really awake,” I explained, feeling my voice lose in intensity as I talked to them about what I hated so much. But then I found the spark again and hit Alex on his arm and hissed, “Don’t say anything like that ever again.”

     He rubbed his arm a little but even in the dark I could see him rolling his eyes at me. “We all know it’s true. Except, obviously, those whom it really concerns.”

     I wanted to hit him again but Eric came back at that precise moment; instead I started walking to the city. I had explained to the archers what was expected from us and had giving a ball of metal yarn to Tom and Harper, making sure they understood not to lose them. The only thing that needed to be done before we reached the wall was for me to braid my hair so it wouldn’t get in the way. I had noticed, over the months I had first spent in the dungeons of Silverley and then traveling north, that my hair had gotten longer than what I was used to. What surprised me though, was that it could occupy my mind as simply as it did now even when it shouldn’t. It was so ordinary that it didn’t seem to have its place in our current situation. It reminded me of my mother and when I braided it, I could easily imagine her doing it before she would send me off to my training.

     “Are you okay?” Alex asked, jerking me out of my thoughts. I realized that my braid was long done and only needed to be fastened so that I could pull up the hood of my cape. “I’m sorry about what I said; I didn’t think it would matter that much.”

     “I’m fine and that wasn’t even what I was thinking about. It’s okay to joke, and even to say something like that as something serious; I just don’t like knowing about it if it is about me. Then again; I can’t say I like having people talk behind my back either.”

     “You are one difficult Lady, aren’t you?”

     “Not really,” I shrugged.

     I pulled my hood over my head and signed for everyone to be quiet as we came closer to the walls. We would go in the same way we had gone in last time, though using a rope instead of the ladders. As they had learned by now, they didn’t say anything when I went up first, peering over the edge when I got to the top to make sure that there was no one around. The closest guard was ten feet away; I had to be quick and swift. Pulling myself up as fast as I could, I dropped low when the guard turned to look briefly behind him. Thanks to my cape, I was completely out of view and when I was sure he had turned around again, I got to my feet once more. I pulled out one blade as I approached him soundlessly, going up onto my tiptoes to cover his mouth with one hand, I sliced his throat with my other hand. The guard was heavy when his legs gave out but I simply couldn’t let him fall, with fear of causing too much noise.