The Secret No One Expected (Three Books)

The Secret of the Blade (Book One)

Aleah made her way down the stairway of an abandoned palace as quietly as she could, which was nearly impossible considering that her leg was cut open from her thigh to her knee from her previous fight. It seemed that she wasn't the only assassin who knew about the black magic. Maybe if others could learn to keep their mouths shut, or if people weren't smart enough to believe the legends then maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to kill fellow assassins every five seconds. The black magic was dangerous though, and Aleah couldn't just let anyone have it. She was under strict orders to bring it back to Master Diatomi, so he could lock it away before someone tried to destroy the universe with it.

Aleah had to force herself to keep her breath even as she searched the third floor of the abandoned palace full of nightmares. It actually was not full of anything really, just dust, moldy furniture, and the occasional stray. And possibly the secret to control the black magic.

Thud. Aleah whipped around with her swords raised. She took a step forward bracing herself for whatever was to come next. If she tried hard enough, Aleah could hear the steady breathing of something not too far away. Were there more assassins than the ones she had already slain?, Aleah quiety laughed to herself as she thought this. Of course there were more assassins, who wouldn't be coming for the black magic? Besides she could handle whatever came her way, she wasn't known as the Queen of Assassins for nothing.

Aleah rounded the corner to find a very attractive boy gagged and tied to an old rickety chair. He was very satisfying to look at to be honest. He had long dark brown hair, that almost looked black, that curled at the ends. He had high cheekbones and a magnificent jawline. His skin was pale, so pale it looked like snow, except maybe a little more peachy. She looked into the boy's pleading eyes to find that they were pure black. That didn't seem normal, but was anything in her life ever normal? Maybe it's just the lighting and his eyes are actually a dark brown, She thought to herself.

Aleah removed the gag from his mouth but left him tied to the chair.

"Speak." Aleah looked deeply into his eyes. "Tell me why you are here, who you are, who did this to you, and why would they need to. Not necessarily in that order and don't bothering lying, because I will not hesitate to torture you where you stand."

The mysterious boy grinned slyly. "That shouldn't be a problem for me considering that I'm not standing." That earned him a murderous glare. "Okay, okay. Calm down, I'll explain as best as I can. So, My name is Damien, and I'm 17 summers old. I have no idea why I'm here, I woke up tied to this chair." He was staring at his feet, a clear sign that there was more that he wasn't telling Aleah.

Aleah removed her hidden dagger from the inside of her boot. "Tell me what you are withholding about yourself." She threatenly twirled the dagger in her calloused fingers.

Damien gulped. "I think you look stunningly beautiful?" He was still avoiding looking into her eyes.

Another glare aimed his way. "Flattery don't run these batteries. Speak the heck up."

"Fine. I think whoever brought me here did so because of my father. He was a great assassin and taught me everything I know, but he, uh, sorta rebelled against our leader and betrayed us for another group of assassins. He said that he wanted to train with the very best, whatever that means."

She felt as if he was still hiding something but he seemed pretty sincere. "Why couldn't you just tell me that?"

He finally looked her in the face, "Because it means that I was an embarrassment to him. That I wasn't good enough for him to train with even though he was the one who taught me everything."

She looked into his black eyes with a ghost of a smile. "Wanna know a secret? Screw what other people think of you. You can get so much more accomplished is you just be who you truly are and bow down to no one."