Red
It was dark. So dark.
I used to be scared of the dark. I used to hate the slow descent of the sun over the hills. Now... Now the dark was my favorite. I owned the dark. It was mine.
I controlled it.
It obviously wasn't the dark that sent my heart racing and my breath hyperventilating.
The push of the walls against my shoulders and the rapidly suffocating feeling that permeated the air were causing my panic. I was in a tight space.
I didn't own dark spaces. I didn't control it. They controlled me.
My fingers probed at every surface surrounding me, desperately searching for space.
I hated how familiar the door in front of me felt. The slated doors felt just like the ones I had hidden behind when I was eight years old.
The doors that did nothing to quiet her last sounds. The doors that separated me from her dead body. The doors that will always haunt me.
Before I could push at the doors, demanding to be let out into the open space in front of me, heavy footsteps thudded towards me.
It was him. He was back.
My thoughts raced. I hadn't told anybody. I had changed my name. He couldn't know where I was.
I kept my promise.
I hadn't told anybody about-
"Red!" a panicked tone tried desperately to shake me awake.
I shot up in my bed, gasping for air, and quickly tried to take in my surroundings.
It was my room. It was my wide-open room. I was safe.
I tried to take settling breaths, purposely trying to ignore the male perched on his knees beside me on my bed.
"I'm sorry, you were... having a nightmare -" Fenris trailed off, his blue eyes desperately trying to catch my attention.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Breath out. One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Breath In.
As my heart finally stopped trying to explode out of my chest. I finally turned my gaze to Fenris.
He seemed to take a deep breath himself. His shoulders slumped as he shifted his legs so that he sat properly on my bed.
"Damn it, Las. You have a way of worrying me like no other," Fenris cursed, his hand brushing over his clean-cut jaw and pushing back his wavy black hair.
I watched the gesture, noticing the slight shake of his hand. How bad had my nightmare been?
I looked away from the male, instead turning to notice the setting sun outside.
Most people in Dunkev would be retiring for the night, but here, in the manor, the day was just beginning. I could hear as loud voices traveled up the staircase, tenderfoots shouting curses and fighting in the levels below.
Fenris sighed from beside me while sliding off my bed.
"Ezekiel wanted to speak to you whenever you woke up," the male spoke softly.
Apparently keeping the deadly feline around offered the male buried within insight on how best to handle me. Fenris didn't push for information. Instead, he had woken me up and simply stayed near me while I grounded myself.
Now he was offering a distraction, knowing that that was what I needed.
I met his navy eyes, which reflected the worry he wasn't voicing, and offered a small smile and a wordless thank you.
"You'd do well to wash up before meeting with Zeke," the male offered back with a genuine smile, again avoiding bringing up my rude awakening.
His soundless steps carried him over to my window where he fully drew back my drapes and opened the large windows.
The cool breeze slithered into the room, greeting my sweaty skin and I had to suppress the urge to curl back up under my covers. After all, my body still ached with exhaustion after days of intense conditioning.
Fenris watched my inner battle, the usual twinkle in his eyes returning as he too calmed down, while he took his usual seat - the one he had stolen from Ezekiel's office. The male settled deeper into the chair, his legs stretching out in front of him.
With a groan, I finally lifted myself out of my comfortable, warm, and inviting bed.
The male across the room chuckled at my sound, causing my temper to flare.
Faster than he could follow, the male earned a stuffed pillow to the face. My arm screamed as I chucked the pillow as hard as I could.
He recovered fast from the attack though and grabbed the pillow, his large hands dwarfing the decorative head cushion.
"What was that for?" The male feigned shock.
I huffed a growl before disappearing into my closet. Where I quickly sorted through my dirty clothes and collected them in a basket to take to the maids.
The numerous amounts of male clothing littered all over the wooden floors didn't go unnoticed either. I questioned the articles of clothing and couldn't resist bringing them to my nose.
What the-?
The undeniable scent of pine mixed with leather confused my senses as I processed the smells.
Fenris smelled of pine. Ezekiel smelled of woody leather. Why were their scents in here?
"Why- What are you doing?" The teasing lilt of Fenris's voice filled the space of my closet.
Shock rolled through me as I turned towards the male, my guilt written clearly on my face as I - for whatever reason - still held the clothing in my hands.
The male leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed, a nearly sinful pose as his short-sleeved shirt pulled at his toned biceps and against his carved stomach. His navy eyes examined the fabrics before meeting my mortified gaze with nothing but humor in them.
At the teasing curve of his lips, I snapped out of my stupor and shoved the clothing into a separate basket before straightening my spine and turning back to him.
"Haven't you ever heard of privacy?" I glared at the mischievous shifter.
"Were you sniffing my shirt?" Fenris asked in response.
I scowled at the dense male, praying that I could find a way out of this conversation.
"I prefer the sleeping feline," I told the male as I once again turned my back to him and continued tidying up the space.
A deep chuckle met my back and I fought hard to resist turning to see the way his body would move with his laughter. He was too tempting for his own good.
Wait, what?
Stop that.
Don't think about Fenris like that. He's a friend. A friend from work. A very attractive friend from work who has slept in my bed for two months straight.
Odin help me. I silently pleaded.
"The leopard doesn't leave clothes for you to smell in a dark closet though," he teased.
"Bastard," I hissed as warmth spread up to my cheeks. I made sure to keep my head firmly facing the wall as I sifted through my drawers to pick out today's outfit.
"Creep."
After picking out the rest of my outfit, I slammed the drawers shut and turned to the male with a huff. My hip jutted out and I threw a hand on it for extra measure as I glared at the cocky bastard.
His lips were pulled up into their usual self-satisfied smile. His sapphire blue eyes took their time looking over my exposed legs and the random shirt I had thrown on before falling asleep. His nostrils flaring as his gaze met mine.
Smug, cocky bastard. I mentally cursed at the male as my resolve threatened to crumble at this exchange.
I nearly gave into whatever was happening between us when his tongue came out and ran over his bottom lip, looking at me as if I was something to eat.
Fenris acted as if he was going to jump at me as I squeezed past him to enter back into the wide-open space that was my bedroom. His eyes danced with heat and his body seemed to buzz with similar energy as he watched my every move.
I went to speak, though I don't know what I would've said, but all thoughts froze in my head as he once again ran over my body with his intense gaze.
The male shifted against the doorframe, straightening, and cleared his throat before he spoke. "I think I want to see you wearing only my shirts from now on," the deep rumble of his voice was too tempting. Too dangerous.
A war raged in my head as I weighed my response.
Should I close the distance I just put between us?
Should I stab him?
What the fuck is happening?
I instead settled for an awkward shift of my feet as I padded over to my attached bathing room. "I need to shower," I said before quickly shuffling in and shutting the door behind me.
Smooth.
With the door shut, I collapsed against it. My head rested against it as I fought for control over my racing heart rate and the heat coursing throughout my body.
"Me too." Fenris rumbled again before I heard my main door rip open and slam shut.
After a very cold and silent shower, I managed to finally recover from the strange interaction with the male shifter.
Well, I think he is a shifter - a being with the ability to shapeshift their bodies. He still hasn't told me what he is exactly. And I need some space. So I will not be pursuing that academic quest today.
I pushed away my rapidly racing thoughts as I threw on some simple black leather pants and a thick black wool shirt that covered my entire torso and arms. Once all the heat left my body, a persistent chill racked my body, and the temperature outside dropped more every day as the seasons shifted, so it was about time to start dressing warmer.
Once mostly clothed, I dragged a comb through my hair and left it down to dry before throwing long wool socks on. After another small mental battle, I decided to forgo throwing shoes on, deciding that the short walk down the hallway didn't require them.
Instead, I left the comfort of my warm bathing room and quickly made my bed before finally facing the inevitable. The rest of the shadowed manor.
Luckily no one loitered in the hallway, the top floor of the manor as dead as usual.
However, before I could rap on the door of Ezekiel's office, a voice had me freezing.
An unfamiliar voice.
A female voice.
It was light. It was honeyed. It was raising the hairs on my arm.
There were no female tenderfoots in the manor. Not because there couldn't be, but because it was extra harder for females to be assassins. It was difficult to earn respect, and assassins were lowlifes who had no problems playing dirty. Females didn't make it very far in this line of work.
I was the only female assassin who had made it into Illyra's brotherhood.
Yet there was a female in Ezekiel's office. Which, for some reason, had a strange emotion bubbling in my chest.
I quickly stamped down the foreign feeling and scoffed at my behavior.
Perhaps it's a maid.
I didn't have to knock twice before Ezekiel invited me in and I kept my head down as I entered. Offering him the respect he deserved in front of others. Had we been alone, I would've treated him as my equal. Because that's truly what we were.
"Red," Ezekiel's gruff voice greeted me.
I offered a polite nod before lifting my head, instantly meeting golden brown eyes.
Definitely not a maid.
The piercing stare didn't relent as we entered into an unspoken competition. This had a more familiar feeling settling in my bones. Disdain. The feeling burned throughout my chest, and strangely enough, caused the scar on my palm to burn.
Whoever this female was, I didn't like her.
Our dominance contest was interrupted as Zeke cut the tension.
"I'd offer everyone seats, but I've been redecorating lately," Ezekiel chuckled lightly, his masculine charm shining brightly.
That, for whatever reason, caused me to snort.
Redecorating. Yeah, right. Fenris still hadn't returned Ezekiel's precious furniture, and it had become an unspoken competition between the two of who would break first.
Golden eyes narrowed at me before turning back to Ezekiel.
I win, I mentally tallied.
"That's quite alright," her honeyed voice irritated me and the way she looked at my Master Assassin made my skin crawl.
Who was this female?
With her back turned to me now, her first mistake, I took my time cataloging everything about her.
She was maybe an inch shorter than me, her body just as muscled as mine though. Her legs were covered with thin black fabric that was neatly stuffed into her calf-high boots. Her torso was covered with black clothing that seemed to be a mix of a dress and shirt. The fabric had high slits that would've exposed her legs if not for the pants underneath, but still offered another layer that fell to around her knees. Her arms were exposed with short sleeves but mostly covered by long gloves. Her deep brown hair was long, extremely long. Currently pulled back into a ponytail, it was wild and still fell to about her lower back. The long blade sheathed at her hip was thin, but no doubt, deadly.
Her sure-fire arrogance and straight posture was unmistakable. The female was clearly an assassin.
Ezekiel met my gaze over her shoulder, his palms pressed into his desk as he stood before he straightened and gestured to her with a hand.
"Red, this is Enola. Third-in-command to Velkon," he introduced us.
Luckily, I had slid my mask in place before he spoke. Because I would've balked at his words.
Velkon was the Master Assassin of the Rorkstead Brotherhood. We were civil with them, but Velkon was a monster. To the point where assassins all over the world were uneasy around him. To have his third standing in front of me, was just as unsettling.
Not much was known about his second. Just that you never wanted to run into them. The unknown was the real achievement there as it alluded to just how silent and deadly they were.
To be the runner-up to such myth and talk was quite an achievement.
If I hadn't already decided to hate the female in front of me, I would've been impressed.
The female, Enola, didn't bother to turn back to me, instead, she held Ezekiel's gaze.
His expression was unreadable, even for me, which was irritating as I desperately wanted to know what was happening and when I was allowed to kill her.
Enola bent into a graceful bow, her head bowing respectfully, before she straightened again. "I look forward to further speaking with you." Her voice was smooth, nearly a purr.
Vomit.
Ezekiel returned a polite head bow and she took her leave after that. Turning back towards me and the door with a smug smirk.
The biggest insult though was her turning her back on me once again. Me. The Royal Assassin.
Stifling Harlot.
I couldn't help but let a deadly sneer chase her as she left the room, not once turning back to check if a knife was flying towards her. I stayed glaring at the door longer than necessary for good measure, only breaking my seething thoughts when shuffling filled the room.
I turned to watch as Ezekiel rounded his huge desk and propped against it, his hands gripping the edges as his legs stretched out in front of him.
His jade-green eyes watched me with curiosity, a smile tugging at his lips. "You wish to explain what just happened, Little Red?"
At his cocky attitude, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. My body was exhausted, even after a nap. And now, after dealing with so many assassins, my emotions were just as exasperated.
I needed to go for a run. With Ivar. By myself.
~~~~~~
Hey Hey,
Thank you for reading Chapter 30!! It's finally winter break and I'm literally so relieved to be done with another semester of college. Hopefully, with my new free time, I can get some more updates out for this story, but in the meantime, I wish all of y'all a very Merry Christmas!
~Until Next Chapter