Assassins Crown

Chapter 14

"Your Highness, there has been an attack on the palace. His Majesty, is requesting your presence."

Prince Aaron turned away from his piano. He had been playing a particularly difficult musical piece that was starting to frustrate him. The prospect of something to tear his attention away from the music, was not a terrible one.

"An attack you say? Is my sister okay?" Aaron said as he stood up from the piano bench.

"Yes, an attack. The Princess is well and protected, she was not at the place of the attack. And she is on her way to the king," the guard said. He was at high attention; hands behind back, shoulders straight, and head up. Aaron always noticed that when he was around or passing down a hallway, the surrounding guards would straightened up at the sight of him.

He rarely enjoyed the special attention; it was just a constant reminder that he was still a prisoner, destined to be king someday.

His Father's puppet.

"Thank you. Well, I better get on the move then. Lead the way," Aaron said kindly.

"Of course, Your Highness. This way." The guard obediently led Aaron out of the music room. Aaron sighed internally. No one ever questioned him; they just did as they were told, like robots. It sometimes irked him that none of them would stand up to him; he felt like he was always taking advantage of them.

The guard guided Aaron through the palace until he was at the foyer of the palace. He could see that the entry doors into the palace seemed normal except for the six palace guards lying in a pool of blood on the ground, dead.

On the inside on the door, the side that you could see only from inside, was the symbol.

The symbol of the Assassins was very similar to a dragon's head. It had large horns and blank, hatred written eyes. There were smaller horns on the both sides of the dragon's face. And there was an empty space in between the horns, just above the eyes, where a black arrow was lodged in the decorative wood. But out of all the horrid features, the one that was the most gut wrenching and disturbing, was that the symbol was in the color of dark red.

Red like blood.

Aaron recoiled.

Was that real blood? Did they draw their symbol in the guard's blood? Did they use their hands? Did they use that black arrow to slit the guards throats? Did they play in the blood too? Or did they just enjoy the calming sensation of finger painting with blood?

And then Aaron saw the message.

GIVE HER BACK

As Aaron looked in horror at the bloody mess, he was disgustingly impressed that nothing seemed disturbed or that anything out of the ordinary; nothing that gave the impression that attackers had even been there.

Well, except the dead guards and the bloody finger painted dragon head.

"Aaron!"

Aaron barely turned to see who had called him by his first name, only to discover that it was his sister, Rosily.

She hurled herself at him and wrapped him in an unpredictable hug. Her hug brushed against his newly sore shoulder. He struggled to not flinch in pain.

"I'm glad your alright, Rose," Aaron said. Even though Aaron hated the prison he called home and often wished he could run away, he could never leave his sister.

"See! I told you it was that stupid, lying girl!" a voice full of scorn suddenly exclaimed in a harsh whisper. Aaron failed to see the new guard and his squad that came from behind his sister. He looked over now.