The next morning I found that the caravan had arrived. Some of the elders directed me what to do. I let myself be their tool.
Their short, wrinkled bodies were too old to do any of this hard labor. So even though the sun beat down persistently on my face, I did whatever they told me. It was a mix of chores ranging from lifting boxes of cabbages to bags of rice. There was one wagon that arrived, however, they did not let me unload. They kept me busy with sorting the other products while Bazel came and unloaded. He gave me a slight wave when he saw me but immediately went to work. It seemed to be several barrels filled with scrolls. Perhaps secret plans for Vermilion himself? Whatever they were, Bazel made sure to escort them personally.
About midday I found Rem waiting for me with a cup of water and food.
"Thank you." She nodded and scurried away.
I devoured the bread and fresh ham then continued unloading the wagon.
I caught a glimpse of Vermilion talking to the caravan driver a little bit away. As I worked, I could feel his glare burning through my back. It made me nervous to think that I was standing out. What did those prying eyes want to discover and what did they already know? I looked over in his direction hoping that he would look away if I caught him at it, but he didn't even flinch. He stared right back until I was the one that looked away. For the rest of the evening, I had to work with his eyes watching my every move.
It wasn't until late afternoon where I finally saw him leave with some other men. I took a sigh of relief. It felt like a huge rock had been lifted from my shoulders.
When I finally finished, I was sweaty and exhausted. I could feel my muscles shake from the work. I had never done such strenuous work before since that was the job of the servants. My body would have to adapt to the exuberant activities in this field.
Since I still had time before I was supposed to meet the others for dinner, I decided that a bath was due. I found a lady who easily directed me in the direction of the bathing stream. She was kind enough to give me a bar of soap and cloth too. For being assassins they were quite friendly. Honestly, I was expecting more of a cold shoulder since I was new. Perhaps not all of the townsfolk were stone hard killers. For all the stories I had heard of this place, Kalzr seemed to be a rather normal village, that just so happened to be protected by the largest group of assassins in the land. Thankfully I listened to Akyto's lessons about them. Akyto never believed I listened to him at all. He was only partially wrong. There were other groups of mercenaries throughout Galasia. The larger ones being the White Wolves, which were a group of bandits who would raid merchants traveling in the Ultr mountains, and then there were the Blood Brothers. The Blood Brothers were slave traders who raised abandoned slaves to fight, then sold them at a higher price. Though some say their entire operation was depleted by the King himself. Regardless, these were still organizations you did not want to get involved in.
A little bit into the woods I found a small stream like the lady had explained. I looked around making sure I had no followers.
Seeing that no one was around, I stripped my clothes and placed my small pocket knife close to the bank hidden in some tall grass. Since the water was a stream, the sun did little to warm it, and it was as refreshing as a cold cloth. My body relaxed as I sank into the water. A sigh escaped my lips. At home, I was blessed with two baths a day. Here I was going to be lucky enough if I got one every few. It was going to be tough adapting but I had no other choice. My thoughts seemed to drift with the stream.
"What am I going to do?" I said aloud. How was I going to accomplish my goal? I hated them with all my heart, yes, but deep down, I knew there was a chance that I wouldn't be able to do it. What do you want me to do, Debynn? There is no way I can just let them go without them paying for what they have done. I had to take revenge. Somehow I had to. I had to find the courage. Though since arriving at their camp I hadn't been able to locate Debynn's sword. Sometimes it was with Vermilion and sometimes it wasn't. I needed to locate it but with Vermilion's eyes on me I had to be careful. Laying low was probably best for now.
I heard a snap of a twig in the woods behind me. I ducked into the water and swirled around. My hand fumbled around through the grass until it grasped the cold metal of my pocket knife.
Out came Illyana from the forest. I sighed slightly.
"Thought I'd come join you. Is that alright?"
"Of course." I slipped the pocketknife back amidst the tall grass.
She stripped quickly in front of me. I looked away semi-embarrassed. She obviously had no shame about her body.
I heard her splash into the water. A deep sigh escaped her parched lips.
"Now this is something I need to do more often." She laughed. She seemed friendlier than yesterday.
I peeked quick glances at her, trying not to be too obvious.
Illyana's hair lay flat down past her lower back. She had a skinny waist and a proper stance. I wonder what her story was? How did she become an assassin?
"So, I see that you have quickly gained the boss's trust."
"You think so?" I laid back into the water and stared up into the cloudy sky.
"If I may voice my opinion," Illyana said sternly, "I think he is quite interested in you."
"Oh?" So this wasn't normal behavior?
"The way he follows you around, I guess." So she noticed too.
"I just figured he did that with all new joiners. To make sure that they weren't spies or anything."
She sighed again. "Yes, but this time it's different."
"Well, thank you for telling me." I didn't know how to feel about the idea. And why was she telling me this? I can't imagine that she was concerned. It didn't seem like she cared for anyone but herself.
"So what about you?" Illyana stared down while she ran her fingers through her soaked curls.
"Me?"
"Do you have feelings in return?" She teased.
"Um." Her question threw me. She suspected that I liked him? Now it made sense. She was jealous that he was following me around. Perhaps she was used to getting all the attention. "I haven't really thought about it, I guess." I chuckled. Romance was the last thing on my mind right now.
She shrugged.
The air seemed suddenly stiff.
"Guess we should head back up for dinner."
~
We dried off, dressed, then headed back to camp where we met up with Bazel and Reubyn at the same place as last night.
"Mmmm you ladies smell like fresh flowers. Did you finally decide that the smell of dirt wasn't appealing anymore?" Reuben stated blatantly.
"Ow!" Reubyn screamed as Illyana grabbed his ear and pulled him along. "Stop! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He tried to apologize. Bazel laughed at his unfortunate friend.
We sat down and chowed into the leftover ham and fresh greens.
"Oh, so are you excited? Reubynn and Bazel looked at me.
"For what?" Had I missed something?
"You start your training tomorrow," Bazel stated.
"Training? For what? Didn't I practically beat the boss in that one versus one battle? Isn't that enough?"
"That was lucky." Illyana laughed at me.
"We have to make sure you are teammate material!" Reubyn charmed in.
"What if I'm not?"
"Well, then we have the right to kick you out or give you a different job here, like doing laundry."
"Sounds fun."
"Yep." They all grinned widely.
"So, who's going to be my trainer?" That's when everyone looked at Illyana, who was smirking at me.
"I'm not going to go easy on you kid." She puffed out her chest. I gave a fake smile.
"Can't wait."
"She's one of our top swordsmen so you should watch yourself," Reubynn whispered in my ear.
"Without a doubt," someone said behind us. We all looked up to find Vermilion. "Illyana is one of my best. However, this time I will be training you personally. You have a unique fighting style that I believe needs special attention."
I heard Illyana mumble to herself. The red on her face from his comment earlier had disappeared and been replaced with a slight scowl, that she made no effort to hide.
"We will start immediately after your chores tomorrow. So come prepared." With that he walked off.
"You must be something special because he never trains anybody. Seriously." Reubyn jokingly threw a punch to my shoulder.
Illyana stood up.
"He can do whatever pleases him." She disappeared into the night.
The guys sighed.
"She's pissed." Bazel rubbed his temples.
"She's kinda had a crush on him ever since we came here. It has been going on about five years now, mind you; until just recently when Vermilion himself decided to tell her that he was interested in someone else." Reubyn shook his head. "She denies that he ever said it though."
I couldn't tell if I was reading the conversation right, but it felt like a warning. Maybe if Illyana saw that I wasn't into Vermilion, she might not hate me. Wait, what was I thinking? Why should I care what they think? I have been so concerned about fitting in I almost fooled myself into it.
I played along with the rest of their conversation then headed back to my tent. I needed to plan a way to get that sword.
~
The sun had risen before I knew it, and my first day of training awaited.
Unfortunately, it was hotter than yesterday, and my chores seemed harder than before. So as the day progressed I could feel my hands become covered in blisters. Not to sound like a brat but the only work I had done in my noble life was school work and bow training, nothing like this. Even Debynn's sword training was as hard.
"That should be it." The old elder, Jaeger, patted my sweaty back. I quickly dropped the last bag of grain with the other bags.
"Do you have any cloth I could wrap my hands in?" I asked Jaeger.
"Yes, give me but a moment." The old man disappeared around the corner. My legs felt like they could give way at any moment. How was I supposed to train feeling like this?
"Miss?" I turned to see Rem. "The boss sent me to find you. He is growing impatient."
"Did we set a time?" I looked around hoping the old man would return.
"Coming?" Rem asked and began walking away.
"Yes," my hands continued to throb. I followed Rem away regretting my decision to not have waited for Jaeger to return.
~
"You're late." Vermilion got up from a nearby stump holding a wooden sword in hand.
How could he say I was late when we didn't even set a time. Had we?
Rem handed a wooden sword out to me then quickly went back into the village.
Since he didn't move, I figured he was waiting for me.
I gathered up all my strength and courage and took the first step. Within an instance, I found myself on the ground. I wasn't prepared for how serious he was right now. I picked myself up, brushed off and tried again.
About five fights in, I caught his fighting technique. He waited for me to strike. He would strike any little opening I gave, and if I tried to block him, he would use his body to knock me off balance.
No matter how many times I tried to outwit him, he was always one step ahead of me. I couldn't tell if he was just good at reading me or if every move of his was a trick that I fell for. Whatever he was doing I was getting tired of falling on my ass over and over again.
It was a pain. The difference in skill level was extremely evident. I was focusing too much on my mistakes then I was on fighting. Thank god we were using wooden swords, but still, the impact stung and my blistered cover hands stung more.
My sword was batted away and I saw his sword flying after me. The stick hit harder than I expected and I fell to the ground again.
"Ow."
"Not as easy as our first fight, is it?" He smirked. He obviously was enjoying himself.
I stood back up and ran at him.
"Whoever taught you didn't teach you enough because you have a lot of openings."
I threw my sword in the line of his, finally blocking an attack.
"Ha!" I smiled.
He smiled back.
As I stepped towards him my foot fumbled over his own and I collapsed to the ground. I growled to myself. Vermilion stared triumphantly over me.
"Why do I feel as if you do not want me to be an assassin?" I mumbled under my breath.
"Why do you ask?" He struck forward, quickly knocking the sword from my hand once again.
"Well let's see, you basically had a fit the first day I was here."
"A fit?" He asked. "I question every new volunteer that wants to be an assassin. Most of the time, it's not what many expect. What else have you got?" He challenged me.
"You asked to train me personally; however, it feels more like punishment than training."
"Again, I believe your fighting style is specific and requires special training." He circled around me.
"I don't believe it." I was frustrated now. What was this guy's deal? Everyone else had noticed he was different around me. So why me?
He laughed.
"How am I to trust you?" He retorted. "I can finally be what I've always wanted." He imitated a girl's voice which I assumed to be my own. "You wanted to be an assassin your whole life? I seriously can't believe that."
"My parents were extremist that-"
"-That were killed by the king and you've wanted to avenge them ever since, yea, yea, yea, I know the story you told the others." He turned and faced me. "We take things seriously here. We kill people. Are you going to be able to kill someone if I asked you to?"
"I understand what assassins do. That is why I joined." I told him.
"Is it?" He approached me.
"Yes."
Vermilion stopped a foot from me.
"Look, you do not have to try so hard." He hissed. "I know you are Emilea, the daughter of Dazaron."
I held my breath.
"What? What are you talking about?" I tried to play confused, but my nervousness slipped through.
"Please, Lady Emilea. I knew it was you since the first time I saw your face." There was no fooling him now, but I was curious.
"Have we met before?"
"I am-," he paused, "I am an assassin. It's my job to know every important person."
"Tsk. Why? So you know who to kill?"
"Only if it's necessary."
"Was killing a whole town necessary?" Anger boiled in me. How dare he say it so casually like it was a chore.
"What?" He looked at me confused.
"My village, Aldan, the village you claim to be beautiful, was burnt to the ground by those three assassins of yours that recruited me! Was that necessary? And for what? Just to steal a sword?" I was pissed. I wanted to yell at him, but he looked completely surprised.
"The sword? As in the one Debynn made?"
"Yes. The one they stole from him!"
"Stole? Debynn arranged that we hold on to it for safekeeping. The last thing he wanted was for the King to have it. None of us realized the Imperial Guards would come to receive it a day in advance. Believe me, if I had known that those damn soldiers were that close to the village I would have ordered Illyana and the others to kill them. But I had specifically instructed them to return to camp immediately after getting the sword."
"He came to you? I didn't realize Debynn would trust people like you."
He eyed me from the side.
"Believe it or not Debynn is actually a good friend of mine. But did he tell you that we stole it? I have had it with his jokes."
"No, I must have misunderstood. The Imperial Guards said the assassins took it so..."
"You believed them."
I looked down ashamed. If I hadn't learned this I could have made a big mistake. I could have killed the wrong people.
"So," I looked into his eyes, "does that mean it was the Imperial Guards that killed him?"
We were both silent.
"So Debynn is dead?" Vermilion exhaled.
I nodded.
"I'm sorry. He was a dear friend to both of us. He talked highly of you."
Again silence burned between us.
"So I guess you don't really want to become an Assassin then? You came after us just so you could get Debynn's sword back; is that correct? That's rather stupid you know. Illyana, Bazel, Reubynn- they could've killed you. "
Dead on. I looked away, mad at myself for being so naive.
"I'm sorry." I do not know why I was apologizing, but I felt guilty.
"Why don't we put this behind us? How about I make you an offer? Debynn was your trainer, was he not? If I see a vast improvement in your training by the end of the month, I will let you hold on to the sword. I am sure Debynn would want you to be the one to have it."
I nodded, trying to blink away my emotions.
"Thank you, Vermilion."
"Well do not thank me yet. Show me your resolve. Show me that this is what you want." He picked the wooden sword back up. "Ready, Ezailia?" Vermilion winked at me.
I gripped my wooden sword tightly, ignoring the popped blisters.
"Ready."