Bloodstains and Betrayal

March 4th 1850: Kuhmo Finland

Who knew that the assassin community was so large? I mean, there were so many of us... And they all chose... Me... to lead... them.

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"Madie? You awake?"

"Hm?" I asked, slowly opening my eyes. Vlad's gentle smile greeted me, as I found my self still in his arms.

I smiled as he hugged me tightly, setting me softly into the snow.

"We're out of Moscow, don't worry." Arkadi said, face slowly coming into view. I flinched at the mention of the city, biting my tongue to keep from saying anything.

"So this is Finland..." I smiled faintly, shaking snow from my hair. I sat up and looked around, noticing many cloaked individuals surrounded us.

"Holy shit..." I absently said, Ivanna helping me to my feet. "Who are all of you?"

"The Finnish fraction of the assassins." One of the individuals explained. My eyes scanned the area, seeing many assassins, each cloak a different color burning bright.

The one who had spoken to me looked about Nikolai's age, but his hair was beginning to grey.

"The name's Kai." He smiled, reaching out to shake my hand.

"Madelyn Marko-"

"Trust me, we know." He laughed, nodding to my other hand, which was tucked safely in my cloak pocket.

"Can I see?" He asked. My heart fell, afraid that he was referring to my hand.

"The ring." Vlad whispered beside me, obliviously noting my panic.

"O-oh." Said in relief, lifting my hand up for him to see.

"So it's true..." The crowd behind him mumbled, eyes glued to my hand. I felt as if the glove was transparent in those moments, as if they could see right through my veil of lies.

Kai looked at me with much interest, and I could feel my heart rate spiking. Did he see the fire through the glove?

"Can we see your eyes... As a snowblind?" He asked, averting his eyes away from my hand. I felt like some freak circus act... I sighed slightly, making sure it wasn't loud enough to be disrespectful.

"Sure thing."

I slowly closed my eyes, feeling my irises and pupils fade away. When I opened them, a gasp rippled through the crown. Kai smiled, waving his hand infront of my face.

"Remarkable..." He breathed, turning to Vlad. "If you would, do you mind showing us a demonstration of how she fights?"

"I would be honored to Elder Kai." He said, flicking out Nikolai's hidden blade that he wore on his wrist.

"No. Not him. One of yours." I said sharply. His face paled, simply nodding his head.

"As you wish."

He then averted his gaze to the crowd of Finns, raising his voice drastically.

"WHO WISHES TO FIGHT THE GIRL!"

The majority of them backed up in fear. I looked to the reaming options, or should I say, option. A slender boy stood before me, hatred gleaming in his green eyes.

"Ah, if it isn't Kalevi." Kai smiled, shaking his head. "This was expected."

"Just shut up and let me fight her." He growled. He swiped impatiently at his dirty blonde hair, still giving me a deathly glare.

"If you're so eager, then let's not waste any time." I grinned. "Mercy rul-"

"To the death." He snapped, drawing his sword.