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Chapter VII

A whoosh rung in her ear as a gust of wind seemed to slash at her. Jade knew better than to blame the wind. Cinder's arrow sprung loose.

However, she felt no pain at all. He hadn't hit her.

Jade opened her eyes and tilted her head to the right. Her nose met the arrow that was now fixed in the ground. It had passed her head so closely that she genuinely thought it had scratched her ear, but when she pressed a hand against it, there was no blood on her fingers.

She looked back at Cinder in confusion only to find him laughing.

"This is the first time I see you scared like that," he mocked as he lent a hand to help her up. He patted her shoulder. "It doesn't fit you."

"Hilarious," she said sarcastically making it clear she was very annoyed. "How did you even know I was there?"

"You were so nervous I could hear your heartbeat from miles away!" When the girl didn't seem to be tasting his jokes he forcefully coughed and resumed on a more serious note. "Your breathing was louder than your footsteps, and I felt how you pulled the knife out of its pocket. Besides, I knew you'd have to pass this test, and since there aren't many people here at this hour I expected I'd make Solomon's target."

"You could've at least pretended not to notice me," she suggested in a whisper, knowing it was a silly thing to say, but she was annoyed and not thinking clearly because of the shock. "You really scared me, you know."

"My sincere apologies, miss Jade," he told her with a courteous bow as he gently grabbed her hand and kissed it. The name, however, was emphasised in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. As if he were mocking her.

"I have to get back to master Solomon now," she quickly said as she took her hand back.

"He will tell you to get lunch and take the rest of the day to yourself. I'll wait for you at the exit of the training grounds, at the spiral staircase."

The girl ignored him and minded her own business. Indeed, the master assassin told her exactly what Cinder had foretold so she found herself walking towards him.

"I didn't ask for a babysitter."

"Because you're no baby... or are you?" he mocked, but noticed she didn't even look at him a bit. She was clearly upset and he was making things worse. "Would you rather stay alone all day then?"

"I didn't say that. Now show me how to open this trapdoor, I can't even find it!"

He took a few steps towards a suspiciously grassy spot and then stepped on it like he was trying to kill a bug, with great force. Then, when he retreated his foot, the trapdoor opened. "You probably noticed there's a mechanism to this thing," he started explaining. "From the inside you have to clear the metal pieces that are in the way, but from the outside it's enough to step on it with power. It makes those pieces move just enough so as to get it open."

"Quite the challenge to get in as an outsider."

"That's the point," he said as he motioned for her to go first. "If anyone attempted to get in, they mustn't know how to or even where from. That's why it's camouflaged."

The girl didn't answer anymore and only kept walking. The conversation had died out, but Cinder tried to start a new one.

"So how was your initiation day?"

"Tough."

He waited for her to detail a little, but she was in no mood for walking. Colling, however, didn't take nicely to being ignored.

"Define tough."

At first she prolonged the silence and he thought she might not answer at all, but she did, still searching for the right words.