Chosen : Assassin Book 1

Chosen - Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The town lay quiet and sleeping. At least that's how it appeared. The pub in the center of everything, The Kingsly Inn, had lively music and lights shining bright. It was like a flame attracting the moth. I pulled the cloak tight around my body. I was not the usual clientele. I didn't need to draw any undue attention to Jonathan and I. Scanning the room I spotted the man I was hunting in a far corner. It was shadowy, and he was alone, but I knew the disgraced Lord Elmsworth. He was a disheveled mess guzzling down ale and chewing on dried meat. I pushed my way through the crowd and stood in front of his table.

"That's your contact?" Jonathan asked in disbelief.

"He's more formidable and knowledgeable than he looks. Don't let the smell and fake drunk fool you."

"Fake drunk?"

I looked at the man who slowed his chewing. "Isn't that right, Lord Elmsworth?"

"Joselyn," he grunted.

"Lady Joselyn." I reminded him.

He tore off another piece of the dried meat, speaking while he chewed. "A lady does not become an assassin. A proper lady marries and bears her husband many children. Especially big, strong boys. Like the ones I had at one time."

"He knows that you're an assassin?"

"Yes," I replied.

"How and why?"

"I know a lot of things. It doesn't matter how."

I rolled my eyes and smacked my hands on the table. "Pay attention, please."

"You're interrupting my nightly constitution."

"Deal with it. We have a problem. Someone is trying to murder the king."

"I'm supposed to care why?" he asked, taking another swill of his ale. "He's the one who banned me from court and took my lordship for absolutely no reason other than his own enjoyment. Do you know what that caused? I lost my houses, my land, my wife was granted a divorce and took my sons away!"

"Henry Elmsworth! It was not for his own enjoyment. If I remember correctly, you married the king's youngest sister without his permission and cheated on her with her own maid. I cannot blame a woman for seeking a divorce from a man who sired children with how many mistresses?"

He shrugged his shoulders and pulled his hat further over his face.

"You married the king's sister?" Jonathan asked.

"Maybe," Henry mumbled.

"There are no maybes, Henry. You did. Without permission."

He slammed the mug down and stood up. His face mere inches from my own. He was unshaved, and a smudge of dried blood streaked across his cheek. His eyes didn't have the same merry twinkle from years past.

"What do you want, Joselyn?" he spat at me.

"What have you been doing, Henry?" I asked, throwing a handkerchief at him. "You missed some blood on your face."

He snatched it off the table and wiped furiously at himself. "It's none of your concern. A man must do what he must in order to survive."

"Murder is against the law."

"You have no right to tell me about what's right or wrong, assassin."

"Joselyn, obviously he's not going to help. Let's go."

"We're going to need his help. We just need him sober."

"I'm fine."

Jonathan shook his head while looking at the shadow of man before us. It was true, Lord Elmsworth was a mess. He had been the king's third man in charge, rising military and political figure in the kingdom for how young he was. When the king found out Henry secretly married his sister and subsequently cheated on her with every lady in court, Cassius had him banished and stripped of his title. For a man who grew up poor that would not have been a problem. They would adapt. They would go back to life as normal. For Lord Henry Elmsworth that was a death sentence. He was a man of privilege. He expected certain luxuries in life. Now he had to forge his own way. There were no more favors from the king. Nothing was handed to him on a silver platter like he was accustomed to. A small part of me felt pity for the man; however, he did it to himself. If only he hadn't married the king's sister. Now he hires himself out to do people's bidding and became a drunkard.