Broken Birds

Chapter Four - Ra's Al Ghul

Nyssa's POV:

I walked down the hallway, turning left in order to reach the throne room. As I entered I yelled out "airhal alan (leave, now)." The assassins that were sparring before my father, swiftly knelt towards me and waited for their ruler to accept my order. He clapped twice, signalling for them to leave. I slowly walked towards the throne, dropping to one knee and looking at the floor. My father yelled out "rise, my heir." I stood up in one silent movement and sat on my throne, beside my father.

I looked over at him "father I wish to question as to why you ordered me to kill one of your strongest assassins, in front of Sara." He slowly nodded listening to my words. He stood up and picked up a fallen sword, "my child, spare with me?" I obediently stood up, wielding my own blade. He stepped towards me, swiftly slicing his sword through the air. I quickly dodged it, swiping my own blade to reach his. We continued to fight as he yelled out "Al Owal disrespected the next successor to my throne. I will not tolerate that behaviour in my castle. It was best to ensure death was upon him."

I quickly side stepped his blade then spun as I landed several hits to his sword with my own. "Why in front of Sara?" I asked. He stepped back, raising his sword "you are training her to become an assassin, I had to be certain she could witness death. That girl has a darkness within her, I can sense you trying to prevent the release of that darkness. Why must you protect her from the inevitable?" I pounced at him, slashing the air around me with my blade. He swiftly ran his sharp blade along my arm, making me yelp as I stepped back. "She is innocent, father. Why must she become what we are? She should be protected from the darkness of Nanda Parbat."

Ra's Al Ghul furiously wielded his blade and continued to attack me. "Do not speak of our lands in such a way." I fell to the ground, my father pointing his sword to my abdomen. "My child, this girl weakens you." I closed my eyes preparing for my death. He dragged the sword along my abdomen, slicing through my armour. "Get out of my sight, you should know better than to care for a stray." I got up clutching at my wound. "Father I do not care for her, if I did I would not allow her to become an assassin, yet I am." He nodded, his cold eyes meeting mine. "You have one week to train her, if she cannot fight, she shall die at the hand of my heir," he bitterly stated.

I slowly walked back to my living quarters, trying to compress the gash along my skin. I walked passed Sara's room, pushing my hand against the wall to keep my balance. The door flew open and an angry Sara stepped out with her arms crossed.

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Sara's POV:

I glared at Nyssa. She was paler than usual and clutching her abdomen. I wondered why I was able to hear her pass, she was usually silent. Then I realised the blood seeping through her fingers. My eyes widened as I guided her into my room. "Nyssa what happened?" I asked while I tried moving her hand from her stomach. "Sara stop, I am fine," she said through clenched teeth. I finally pulled her hand away and saw the large gap in her armour. I unclipped her cape from her back and unbuckled her armour.

She tried to step back, but I gripped her wrist and pulled her towards my bed, making her lay down. "Nyssa, please stop, you're hurt, let me help," I asked with pleading eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed from the pain and she slowly nodded. I pulled her armour off and threw it aside. The top she wore underneath was torn where the wound was. I carefully ripped it open so I could clean her cut. I quickly grabbed a bowl of water and some of the herbs Nyssa used on me and followed what she had done when I was injured. I gently pushed her face to look at me, "did your father do this?"

She exhaled slowly, "yes." I angrily shook my head "why would he?" She clenched her eyes shut as I poured the herb paste into her wound. "B-Because I care for you," she stuttered. I gently spread the paste and wrapped a bandage around her waist. "Does that feel better?" I asked. She weakly nodded "yes, I haven't been injured like this for a while, I am usually quicker on my feet." I pushed the dark locks of hair away from her face. "It's ok Nyssa, get some sleep," I whispered as I stroked her cheek.

I walked to the other side of the bed and laid down next to her. I lay awake listening to Nyssa's steady breathing. I turned on my side and studied her beautiful face. Did I like her? I've never thought about a girl like this before. I was fairly sure that Nyssa liked girls after the way she spoke about marrying a man. Being around her seemed so easy, even when I should be scared of her, I just felt more intrigued by her. I'm not sure if I'm attracted to girls or not though. I silently watched her until she whispered "are you going to watch me all night?" I quickly sat up "I didn't know you were awake."

She opened her eyes and smirked at me "my whole life I have been trained to be aware of my surroundings. I know when I'm being watched." I gently blushed and laid back down. She turned on her side to face me, gently wincing from her wound. "What were you thinking of?" she asked as her gaze pierced my eyes. "Nothing," I mumbled. She pushed my golden hair from my face. "You have an inflection in your voice when you lie," she stated. My eyes widened "I'm not lying," I said defensively. She scoffed at my obvious lies and pulled her hand away.

She turned onto her back again and asked "what is America like?" I laughed "you've never been?" She smiled "I have but only for league work, therefore, I haven't experienced much there other than enemies of my father." I nodded, "America is nice but I love it because my family is there." Her dark eyes found my blue ones, "you wish to go back?" I closed my eyes and exhaled "everyday." She sat up slightly "is Nanda Parbat not accomodating enough?" I shook my head "I like being here with you. I just wish I could tell my sister, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" she questioned. I sighed "I slept with her boyfriend and our ship sunk." Her eyes widened "you stole your sister's beloved?" I furrowed my brows "he didn't love her." Nyssa angrily stood up "how could you take someone's beloved? Especially your own sister." I crossed my arms and glared at her "why are you so upset." She winced and clutched her abdomen, as stepped back from the bed. "In Nanda Parbat, love is sacred, you do not steal someone's beloved without facing consequences."

I stood up in front of her and placed my hand against her warm abdomen. "Are you feeling ok?" I asked with concern. She put her hand over mine. "Yes, I am just stressed, that is all, my father is putting me under a lot of pressure and hearing about you with a boy does not assist." She looked down at her admission and I blushed slightly. I slowly moved my hand to her shoulder and massaged her tight muscles gently. "I want to apologise to my sister, I know stealing her boyfriend was not fair." She nodded, relaxing into my hand. "Once you join the league, you will not have the opportunity."

I moved my hand to the back of her neck and continued to massage her. I tilted my head "but you have been to America, surely I can go on a mission and see them as well." She stepped back "it is against the oath, you will no longer be Sara Lance, you will have no contact with your previous friends, family or lovers." She said the last part with anger in her eyes. I smirked at her possessiveness. "I guess I'll make new friends and lovers here then," I said to her. She slowly started to glare at me, "very well," she muttered. Then she turned to walk towards the door. "I shall reside in my living quarters tonight, Sara, I will wake you tomorrow for training." I nodded as she briskly exited.