Known to be the most feared assassin to ever live, Void Icefall is a living weapon. Trained since she was a child in the King's palace, Void gets rid of anybody the King wants dead. Wanting freedom that could come at the cost of her parents' lives...
One moment the vengeful assassin was looking at me, the next she was on her knees, clawing at something on her neck.
"Good night, sweetheart." A familiar voice whispers to the assassin before she falls to the ground with a soft thud.
I blink, making sure what I'm seeing is real. Sure enough, she's still on the ground. I look up, my eyes meet the familiar storm-gray eyes of Liam, my best friend. He's the prince of the Restorers, a kingdom of healers that are allianced with us, the Vexes.
"I threw a tranquilizer dart at her, almost instantly putting her to sleep," Liam explains simply.
I'm not the least bit surprised that Liam threw the dart so accurately. The Kingdom of Restorers are peaceful, but Liam is quite the opposite. His mother was a warrior while his father was a healer. And though he can heal, he takes more after his mother. So although he is a healer by default, he trained and honed himself, both mind and body, to become a warrior.
During this war, being a warrior sure is useful.
Liam gives me a grim look, and that's when I notice that I'm still frozen to the ground with ice frozen over my mouth to keep it shut.
"We'll need to melt the ice, though that might take a while. As soon as this assassin wakes up, we'll force her to unfreeze you." He adds.
I nod, and the ice around covering my mouth bites into my skin, making me cringe.
"Maybe don't move so you don't further injure yourself." Liam drawls sarcastically.
I roll my eyes, and Liam moves forward, not toward me, but the assassin. My eyes widen in alarm, imagining the assassin waking up suddenly and slitting Liam's throat.
Liam doesn't seem the least bit fazed as he squats next to the assassin, awe taking over his face.
"She sure is beautiful." He says more to himself than me, pausing for a moment. "And deadly..." He adds, throwing a look towards the dead bodies of guards littering the ground.
I suddenly feel guilty, knowing that they were trying to help me but only got slaughtered instead.
"Back-up should be arriving at any moment, now." He mutters matter-a-factly.
And not a moment later, a rush of guards come in, some going towards the sleeping assassin and others coming towards me.
The guards block my view of the assassin as they hold torches to my frozen mouth and the parts of me that are frozen to the ground. I move my head from side-to-side, trying to get one last look of the assassin before they take her away.
To my dismay, Liam pushes the guards away, lifting the assassin up himself. He marches out of the room, assassin in his arms, the guards trailing behind him.
An emotion I've never felt before squeezes my heart, and I'm suddenly angry at Liam for touching the assassin, for even picking her up.
And that's when I realize something that fills my stomach with dread - I'm jealous.
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- 1 hour later -
Guards are still holding torches next to the frozen parts of me, not being able to build a fire in fear of setting the whole room on fire. It's been at least an hour already, and I'm shivering down to the bone.
The melting process is going very slowly, making me realize that the assassin's ice is far colder than normal ice. And it hits me then, right then and there, that she is an Outlander.
I should've realized it from the start, but it's only just coming to me now. Only an Outlander has the ability to control the elements. Only an Outlander can be affected by the Bentiote crystal, the same one I held up to her neck about an hour before.
It feels like a week ago since then.
I replay all the events that had happened since I held that crystal to her neck. She kicked me, sent the Bentiote flying, with me flying with it. And when she stood up, me realizing how gorgeous she was, even after she froze me, torturing me for a moment.
I grimace at the memory of the pain but keep going through my memories. The guards came to aid me, but she was ready. She cut them down faster than I've ever seen. And then Liam. With the dart. Then her, on the ground. And lastly, Liam picking her up as more guards came in to help me.
Suddenly, I remember the feeling of jealousy that came along with the memory of Liam picking up the assassin and cringe.
'You can't start having feelings for, first of all, an assassin, and second of all, an assassin who is an Outlander.' I scold myself mentally.
My father would probably throw me in the dungeon just for the thought of it.
I close my eyes, using the opportunity to tuck away the weird feeling of jealousy and the thoughts that came with it to the back of my mind, my face becoming a mask of emotionless cold.
And just in time, too, because when I open my eyes, a group of guards surges into my room, with Liam in tow.
But there's one more person with them.
She walks in, new bruises and cuts littered over her beautiful face, and probably all over her body too, but it's covered by her all-black assassin suit. Despite being knocked out with a dart earlier and getting what seems like beat up afterward, a smirk occupies her face.
Shackles made of Bentiote are on her wrists, stopping her from using her Outlander abilities. Guard after guard surround her from the back, left and right, only leaving the space in front of her unoccupied so she can face me.
It's her.
She's back.
The assassin.
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