Into the Heart of a Killer: Memoirs of an Assassin

Chapter Three

"Jae'sa, are you paying attention to me?"

I turned my head. No, obviously I hadn't been. Ceseth sighed, clearly irritated by my lack of attention to him.

"We're going to build a shelter," he said. "I've never needed to have so many poisons all at once, but if I'm to properly train you, I'll need to have them all. It's too risky to have them all here at one time."

"We're going to...build...one?"

"Yes. It'll be a tree house, to keep too many animals from getting into it."

"I can hardly build a bookshelf. How am I going to build a shelter?"

"You won't be building it alone," Ceseth said. "I said 'we,' and besides, I can't have you messing it up."

I frowned deeply. How incapable did he think I was? I couldn't build a house, no, but I could definitely use a little bit of confidence from him.

"Don't mope," he said. "And stop thinking."

I rolled my eyes. I hated how he always seemed to know when I was thinking – and for that matter, over-thinking. He knew too many things, was able to detect much more than he ought to be able to. Ever since I had noticed his "hidden eye" I had wanted it. But it was hard to learn something that was practically unattainable. He must have been born with it. How else would it come so naturally to him? It made no sense.

"I've already got the location," he said. "And the frame is already built. I had a little help from some old friends of mine. It's hard to get up into the tree. You'll have to climb, but I've create d a temporary pulley system so we can move supplies up and down the tree without having to carry them up ourselves. Come, I'll show you where it is."

~*&*~

I stared up at the huge oak. The frame was made out of a wood of a similar shade to the tree, the oak's huge, winding branches helping to hold it in place. The leaves, branches, and overhangs from the tree would protect the house from harsh winds and the house would move along with the tree if it was necessary. Ceseth had explained these things to me on the walk, which had been excruciating. I was ready to curl up amid the roots of the tree and go to sleep, but I had to hide how exhausted I was. If Ceseth suspected I was too out of shape, he'd work me into the ground with whatever he thought was necessary to get me into shape. I knew it would happen one day, but for now I was still trying to digest what was going on right now.

Build a tree house. Make poisons. Be a killer...

Suddenly I felt myself tearing up again. It had been a year, yes, but I still found myself terrified. I still wanted to go home to Mother and live out the rest of my life normally. I didn't want to kill people. I'd make him kill me first if anyone was going to die. I would rather kill myself than kill other people. And maybe I would. I could simply... fall out of the tree house. I cringed at the thought. No, that would hurt too much. I could make incense out of oleander! That would be toxic enough to kill me, but simultaneously how would that be any less painful than falling out of the tree? I'd suffocate to death. I shook my head.

What am I thinking?

"Stop thinking," he snapped angrily. "I swear, the next time you start thinking I'm going to hit you upside the head."

"Sorry..."

"Now, how well do you think you can climb this tree?"

"I've never climbed a tree before," I admitted. "My Mo—I was never allowed to."

"Well, no better time to learn than now," Ceseth said as he moved closer to the tree trunk. "I've made a fairly simple pathway to the top. Just follow behind me and try not to fall."