Return to Inheritance

Chapter VII

"Well, repeatedly carrying the same heavy barrel from one place to another and having to improvise when given an eavesdropping task was what I call tough. Besides, you had to add up to it and ruin why whole day." She said the last sentence especially seriously, but the assassin laughed.

"I know you don't mean it."

"I know."

"You know that I know you don't mean it? Or you know you don't mean it?"

"Both." Again he laughed, but she didn't as much as smile. 

"Trust me, your acting skills are going to save your life one day," he said, and this time the girl did raise a corner of her lips and looked at him for a slight second. He had taken off his hood by now. For a second time she saw his partially burnt face. Seeing the confusion in her eyes, he spoke. "I was just hiding from the sun earlier."

"You were wearing the hood at breakfast too," she pointed out.

"Well," he hesitated at first. "It depends who I'm with. Some people can't bear looking at me."

"I don't see why." With the corner of her eye she noticed him smiling.

"Then look at me," he told her, and before she knew it he was in front of her, not letting her pass unless she did prove that she could handle the look of his burnt face, with all its twisted flesh. It made her own skin ache, but she held in the grimace.

Beyond the obvious repelling sight, she noticed for the first time the crystal blue in the eyes and all the strands of black hair that fell over the burnt part of his forehead. If not for the reddened flesh, his skin was rather pale. It only added to the contrast with his hair, making him look quite stunning. Without even realising, Jade smiled. She only realised when he returned a smile of his own, his lips stretching to form a thin line. Jade forced herself to look away when the embarrassment kicked in.

"Let's go," Jade spoke, returning to reality. Without waiting for a response, she stepped past him and made her way to the dining hall.

It turned out that the only free places were one in front of the other, so Jade was forced to face him for a while longer, but to avoid his gaze, she tended to stare at her plate.

Next to her were two assassins she didn't recognise at first glance, but the one to her right deliberately hit her foot under the table so she looked at him. It was one of the two assassins she had to eavesdrop on; the one that called her pretty. He had chestnut hair and brown eyes, just like her.

"What were you doing earlier?" he said, barely a whisper. Without looking at him she answered in as much of a whisper.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"At the training grounds. You were climbing one of the ladders. Why's that?"

"Had a spare moment and I thought of checking my surroundings."

"Yea I bet." Without answering, the girl just shrugged. When she raised her head slightly, just enough to get a glimpse of Cinder. She found him smiling. A knowing smile she decided to ignore.

Just moments later, that guy had finished eating and left the room without a word. The room was slowly starting to get empty as people kept leaving and none came to take their places. Eventually it was the girl's turn to leave, leaving Cinder alone with another two assassins.

As soon as she got on the hallway and closed the door behind her, that guy from earlier came right in front of her, taking her by surprise.

"What is it?" she asked after taking a deep breath.