Cecily looked up to Orion, eyebrow raised, then took another sip of the steaming tea.
"No."
Now that only seemed to aggravate the assassin.
So, she picked up her feet and pulled them up the side of the couch, laying sideways on the cushion. Then, and only then, did she meet the assassin's eyes again. Only when she knew she'd managed to piss him off a little further.
"Why not?" He asked. From Cecily's point of view, it looked like he was fighting not to grit his teeth. Or punch her. That also seemed like a reasonable reply.
She took another sip, shrugging her shoulders. "I have nothing to gain."
"It's always about gain with you, isn't it?"
She let a cat like smirk slide across her lips, slow and calculated with all the intention of a true criminal. "Usually."
"Fine. What do you want?"
"Hmm, nothing really."
Orion's hand came up and pinched the space above his nose.
"I want to see you fight too," Zephyr said from the kitchen, where he was digging through the cupboards.
"You never watched the videos?" Reiko asked from the other couch where he was flipping through channels. "The ones from the prison?"
"I trusted your judgement." Cecily listened as his footsteps made their way over to the little living room. "It wouldn't hurt to spar him just once, would it? No weapons, just hand to hand?"
"I never said that," Orion replied.
"It's my own condition. I trust the collar on her neck to react faster than she can choke you but not faster than she can decapitate you."
Orion scowled. "Don't worry about me. I've had enough training to defend myself at least."
Cecily caught Reiko's eye, just waiting for him to stand up for her. Of course, he didn't.
"Don't want to," she said again, taking yet another mouthful of tea.
"You scared," Orion hissed. "Don't think you can beat me, murderer?"
"There's no point in that," Reiko commented. "She doesn't get mad over things like that."
"I'll take away the tea," Zephyr mentioned.
Now he had her attention. Her glare more like. He only returned it with a simple smirk.
"There you go," Reiko remarked, peeking over at her, "now you got her."
---
Scared wasn't one of the emotions Alma felt when Reiko told her that they were going outside to watch Cecily and Orion spar. Worried? Maybe. Concerned? A little. Aggravated? Definitely. The damned assassin was still healing and absolutely refused to sit still. Francis Pugh, Saints guide him, was one thing, a job. This was another. This was pointless, senseless, useless fighting.
Still, she found herself following the eastern guard outside.
"Rules?" Cecily asked from where she was casually standing in the grass. Alma noted that her hands were free of weapons.
Orion was going around, drawing a circle with about a ten foot radius, a twenty foot diameter, around her, before throwing the stick back into the foliage.
"You ever spared?" Reiko asked from the sidelines.
"A bit. Not much."
"This is what most people use around he palace when they're drunk and bored."
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
The Hunt
काल्पनिकCecily's blade swung, hitting its mark as always. The man's arm fell to the cold grass of the prison with a familiar thud. He let out a blood curdling scream. A warning to the rest. Stay away, the Hunter is here. That's the name they'd given her...
