You groan as you gain consiousness, your head pounding in time with your pulse is the first thing you feel, Along with the floor jerking your body around. You try to steady yourself on the ground but find your hands pinned under you, you can feel rope cutting off the circulation in your wrists. You realize your laying on your back, on the floor of a carriage thats moving, rope around your hands and feet. You had been captured by the men you had been sent to kill. Fear fills your chest as you realize what this means, soon the tribe will find out and if your not dead by the time they do, they will make sure you die a most painful death.The carriage rocked again, making you grunt in pain and finally open your eyes to seen the brunette stareing at you. You quickly notice the rest of the group sitting in the other seats around you, no means of escape.
"Don't try anything" the dark skinned blonde snarls, moving his foot onto your leg. As if he could do anything with that if you did choose to fight but the pain in your shins still makes you wince slightly. You close your eyes again without replying, masking your face before thinking seriously about your situation. Theres not much to think about though, you were going to die. Only thing to think about was weather your theacher Val would do it or if the king would. You rest your head on the floor which rocked back and forth, allowing your body to relax as you decide to get some rest. You fall asleep even with the floor shaking, you had been trained to endure worse situations.
When you wake up you were on a cold hard bed on the back wall of a jail cell. You look around the dark room and notice that your underground. You growl to no one in particular, would have been easier to escape in a normal jail you think as you try to get up. Your ankle jerks back as you try to stand and you look at the thick metal cuff around your ankle, following the chain to the wall beside your cot. You note after a quick check that your gear has been taken off you. Including the pocket knife you had stuffed in your bra.
"You're awake" a gruff voice says and the older man that had been with the carrage is standing outside the bars with his arms crossed over the palace guards uniform. He held a set of cuffs in one hand and a set of keys in the other, witch he swiftly puts back in his pocket after unlocking the door"Put these on" the guard in the doorway threw a pair of handcuffs at you. you let them land on the floor before slowly moving to put them on, swallowing slightly as fear fills you at the sound of the cuffs closing over your wrists. You fight against memories as He shoves you roughly down the hall. You tugged at the cuffs but they wouldn't budge, not that you though they would, even if you could escape, they knew your face.
"Where are we going?" you ask the guard who doesnt seem to be too cruel dispute the shove he gave every three or four minutes if walking. His answer is immediate.
"To the throne room" the guards voice held no contempt or defensiveness. No weaknesses to exploit, I note as we continue to a staircase, coming to a large gold laced door. The guard knocks 3 times, sure to keep a firm grip on the cuffs around my wrists as he does.
"Bring her in" a voice says from the other side of the door and you can hear the crowd muttering. The doors open with a loud creak and the room was large, white wash walls and a clean white floor. A red carpet lead to the king's chair. The king was a broad shouldered man, he had a shadow of a beard and his eyes were strangely warm. The guard jerked you to a stop a few meters away from the king's chair which was raised from the rest of the floor. You try to ignore the guards hand on your arm as you look over the king, your gaze turning dark at the sight of the mans fear. You look up at the king with a hard look but did not glare at him. That would only make him punish you more severely than he already would for trying to kill the prince. You hadn't known at first but now there was no doubt that the person you were sent to kill was the second prince of the kingdom.
"state your name for the court." A tall skinny man with a nasally voice orders you. The guards grip tightens as Iyou hesitate. "___" you say deciding to use your real name as you watch the kings reaction carefully "Are you an assassin?" the king's voice was calm as he spoke, not betraying the waiver I see in his hands. Panic rises in your chest, and your normal defense kicks on, humor. "Define assassin" you say, rock backing on your heels and chuckling, anything to delay the feel of rope around your neck. One of the guards next to the king steps forward with his spear pointed at you and snarls.
"Don't patronize the Ki-"the king interrupts with a wave of his hand and meets your gaze with steely determination, all previous signs of fear gone from his face. "Someone who is hired to kill someone for money" the king's voice was slightly clipped. You stifle a sigh as you resign yourself to your fate. "Yes, I was an assassin." You state clearly and the king speaks befire the mutters around the room can grow louder. "You said was? Are you not anymore?" The king asks and I cant help but smirk, slightly surpised he caught the small choice if words. "My life was firefeit the moment your soldiers bested me and I allowed myself to be captured. From the moment I entered the castle grounds as a prisoner I was stripped of my membership of the tribe. If you do not kill me they will send someone to do worse once they learn of what happened." You say plainly, with no hesitation or doubt in your voice. The king pauses and leans over to the blonde prince, murmuring in his ear for a moment before listening to him. The murmurs in the room grow louder the longer the pause gose on but as soon as the king leans back into his seat its quiet.
"Were you aware that the person you were hired to kill was a prince?" his voice cold now but his eyes were still soft. "No, I should have though, by the price alone." You say, regreting your inability to question when it came to your teacher. The prince speaks up then, " what was the price?" He says, shrugging at the look his father gives him, muttering "was just curious." As he sinks into his seat, I cant help but let the corners of my mouth turn up in a carefully practiced look of greed as I reply. "50 thousand gold peices."your practiced look of greed had been the correct response amongst the evil hearted of the tribe but you immediately realise your mistake as angry mutterings start and the guard tightens his grip in your arm slightly. You quickly school your features into an unreadable mask, hoping to minimize any more damage. Itd been so long since youve interacted with people that seem unaffected by the evils of humanity, youd forgotten how to act.
"I hear you took on 4 of my best men single-handed. Is that true?" the king asks next, and you start feeling anxious, almost wishing that this was already over, until you thought of the rope around your neck. "If your talking about the men who protected the prince then no. I had to retreat, the brunette drove me away from the prince and held me off until the others came for backup. When they showed the brunette retreated to the prince and they took me on two to one, allowing me no room for attack." Your eyes flicker to the prince as you recap the fight. "Your men were smart and thought of nothing more than protecting the prince. You should be proud of them." You say, your last comment directed at the prince who shifts in his chair, his face looking as if he smelled something bad.
"You said before that as soon as you steped on these grounds as a prisoner you were no longer a part of the tribe. What if you were nit on these grounds as a prisoner?" The king asks and the prince pulls his father closer, leaning to wisper in his ear. Your eyes narrow, what could the king be thinking? What could he gain from keeping you alive? Not that it mattered too much, anything that helped keep your neck attached was appreciated. "If the tribe were not to be informed of my capture I would still be able to act as a member. I would probably be concidered undercover, since my most recent target lives on the palace grounds." You say, beginning to understand what the king was thinking, he wanted information on the tribe in echange for something, hopefully your life.
"We have a slight problem ____. I feel you would be a valuable resourse of information and protection. My son here however is less prepaired to forgive you for your attempt on his life." The king says and I shift my weight to my other foot, avoiding the burning glare coming from the prince. "So ive decided you will repent by training the guards that will one day protect him, and you shall proove your newfound loyalty to the crown by providing me details about the tribe and its inner workings. In exchange your life will be spared." The king doesnt look like hes finished but he lets the prince inturrupt anyways.
"If you can proove you fight better than our guards." The prince says and you stare at him with one eyebrow up, disbelieving. "Sounds easy enough." You agree, no matter the terms of the fight you were confident in your ability to win. This seemed to peeve off the prince a bit but the king grins. "Then we are agreed."
