Return to Inheritance

Chapter III

"If I tell you, you won't like it," he told her on a sad tone.

Without a word, Jade grabbed his hand and started walking away to a more silent place where nobody could see or hear them, even as it was late at night and no more than a couple of people could be seen passing by. What surprised her was that the hooded man came without complaint.

As some point she stopped and turned to look at him, right into those gleaming eyes. This time they didn't make her freeze in place as she started at them.

"You can tell me now."

He still hesitated, clearly not wanting to give her the answer, so she asked again.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll try to run away if I tell you."

"In that case," she started, taking a deep breath. "You have my word that wherever you intend to take me and whatever reason you have for it, I won't oppose you. I'll come willingly and not try to resist or fight you back."

The man remained silent when she paused, therefore she continued.

"If you don't believe me, and you have no reason to, I know, then you might as well tie me up, knock me unconscious, put me in a sack and carry me all the way if you prefer it that way." She said those words keeping one hand on her heart and one in the air, a sign that she was true to her words. "I promise I won't even complain, but I want to know where you're taking me."

The man's first reaction was to laugh, which made the girl feel awkward because she was serious. For a moment she felt very discouraged.

"Why would you throw your freedom like that? If there's anything I learned today it's that you, out of all people, refuse to let others control your path in life."

"That's true," she admitted. "But I have no freedom left since I am, in truth, in your captivity and at your mercy whether I like it or not. Besides, I have lost absolutely everything so I have nothing to fight for, nowhere to go and nothing to do, supposing I could escape you. But I doubt it to be possible."

The first rays of sunlight started appearing slowly, and it was just enough for the girl to notice a faint smile underneath the man's hood.

"You are such a weird person," he said mockingly. "But I have faith you'll be true to your word, so I'll tell you where I'm taking you."

The girl awaited eagerly, but in silence as she watched him hesitate before speaking. Trust or no trust, he would have rather kept the information hidden.

"My name is Cinder and I'm an assassin. I'm taking you to the Brotherhood to be imprisoned."

"An assassin..." the girl whispered in fascination. Her heart started beating quicker in excitement and expectation for the worst. "What do the assassins have against me? I never crossed their paths before, I'm sure, and I know they pick their targets with care."

Cinder shrugged, apparently not knowing himself. "You seem to know something about assassins," he pointed out.

"If I knew, it should have struck me earlier that you were one yourself, judging by your clothes and combat style." Jade saw that faint smile once more, but continued talking. "In fact, when I was little my dad used to tell me stories about them. That was before I ran away from home, and I remember little of it."

"Not many have access to any sort of information about us, so your dad must have been someone very well informed and of a great importance."

Jade shrugged. "I wouldn't know."

"You know what I find strange right now?"

"What?"

"That even though you know where I'm taking you and that you're at my mercy, you don't seem afraid."