The next morning, Nikandros woke refreshed and invigorated. He lay there for a couple minutes, listening to Thea's steady breathing before a light knock sounded on the door.
Being careful as to not wake Thea, Nikandros went to the door, and upon opening it, saw Joel, who was about to knock again.
"Oh! Morning sir!" He greeted Nikandros, "The King wishes to see you two."
For a moment, Nikandros felt a sense of panic, wondering if Ulric had decided to punish them, but he quickly dispelled the feeling. He nodded, "I'll wake Thea."
Walking over to the bed, Nikandros kissed Thea lightly, "Morning, Thea."
She groaned and rolled over, planting her face in a pillow, not wanting to leave the comforts of the bed.
Nikandros laughed softly, "Ulric wants to see us."
"Tell him we're not at home." Her voice came out muffled through the fabric.
"Thea..."
"Ugh...fine." She rolled back over and started to climb out of the bed begrudgingly.
"Uh, sir?" Joel asked, "Ulric sent some fresh clothes... If you want." He added quickly.
Thea answered for him, "Thank you!" She piped up, "Could you tell him we'll be right there?"
Joel nodded, hesitating awkwardly with the clothes in his hand, wondering what to do.
Nikandros chuckled slightly and went over to relieve him. Taking the clothes, he said, "Thank you." Joel smiled briefly, and then raced off to tell Ulric. Nikandros closed the door, and laid the clothes on the bed.
Thea peered over the articles of clothing and frowned, "A dress...really Ulric?" She grumbled to herself, lifting the cream colored gown up by her fingertips
Nikandros laughed, "I can go ask him for a tunic if you want." He offered.
"No...it's fine. I guess I'll...wear it." She sighed. "I'll be right back." She headed to the bathroom that was joined to the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Laughing quietly to himself, Nikandros changed into the fresh clothes that had been brought for him and waited for Thea.
She was finished soon after him and came out, a half frown on her face as she struggled with the dress, almost tripping on its hem. "This is ridiculous...I have no idea how to wear one of these."
Nikandros walked over to her, "You look lovely." Then he couldn't resist adding, "Now smile and you'll like lovelier."
Thea frowned deeper and crossed her arms, then her resolve cracked and she couldn't help but grin. "I guess you're right." She admitted and hiked up the skirt of her dress, ready to go.
Nikandros offered his arm, "Shall we go?"
She raised an eyebrow, a smirk still on her face, "Sure." She answered simply.
Thea took his arm and together they walked out to the throne room. Coming through the door way, they saw Ulric on his throne, but that wasn't what captured their attention.
Standing next to Ulric was the Master.
Ulric shifted in his seat to face them, a small frown on his face, "Thea, your uncle is here." He said shortly.
Thea froze, "Um..." She stared directly into the Master's eyes, feeling nervous and confused.
"Thea, Nikandros, come back. Stop running away from me, please," the Master said.
Nikandros stared at him in shock, before composing himself. He narrowed his eyes, "We were trying to survive." He spat out, "After you sent us to kill the prince."
"Stop lying, Nikandros," the Master said calmly, his hand around the red gem on the pommel of his sword. "Come home. Both of you."
"No." Nikandros said, his tone definite, "We are done being assassins."
Ulric glanced at both of them, "Nikandros... Surely your wife would like to go back to her family's house."
"We don't have any family!" Nikandros exclaimed.
Ulric waved a hand at the Master, "He is her uncle!"
"Thea, come back to my home." The Master's hand twitched around the jewel.
Thea licked her lips and unhooked her hands from Nikandros, "Sir, we don't want to go back. You sent us on a fools mission and we almost died." She said calmly, almost too calmly.
"I didn't send you on anything! You ran away, and I was worrying about you the whole time! You scared me, with you mother dead and all," the Master said, retaining his calmness by a thread.
Ulric stood up, "Wait." He glanced at the two assassins and back at the master. "You," he pointed at the master, "said that Thea was your niece. Thea, do you deny this?"
She looked back and forth between Ulric and the Master, "I-I...um...he was the one that sent us here in the first place. But he's not my uncle! I have no idea why he is saying that." She ended with a glare towards the Master.
The Master took a deep breath and calmed down. "Thea, why do you deny me as your uncle? And why would I send you on some hair-brained scheme when I didn't even know where you were until yesterday. I traveled all day and night to get here so that I could bring you home! And now all I get in return is a rejection from my only living relative. How could you?"
Ulric glanced at Thea and Nikandros, "You said that he was the one that sent you to kill me?"
Nikandros nodded, "After we had just been appointed assassins."
"Then why would you pretend to be their uncle?" Ulric directed the question at the Master.
"I didn't send them on any mission. Why would I, and even if I would, I didn't know where they were, your majesty. I am their uncle, but they apparently don't want to live in my house, where I give them food, and a nice place to live. I also give them money to buy whatever they want! And all they do is reject me." The master remained calm, his hand tightening and relaxing on the pummel of his sword.
"How dare you lie to him!" Thea hissed, "You are not my uncle! And I hate you." She growled.
"I am not the liar, Thea. You are, and that needs to stop right now," the Master said calmly.
"Both of you stop." Ulric ordered, "Thea, you deny that this man is your uncle?" The assassin nodded once in conformation, and Ulric continued, "And you insist that she is your niece?" The Master nodded. Ulric rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "It would seem to me that it doesn't matter. Even if you were their uncle, Nikandros and Thea have clearly stated they have no wish to return with you. It seems the matter is out of your hands." Ulric said simply.
The Master sighed. "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this." The head assassin quickly stepped out Ulric's reach, and commanded, "Alicia, Eric."
Nikandros and Thea gasped as they recognized the two names. They were the top assassins, and had been looked up to.
The door burst open and the two assassins walked in, closing the door behind them. Then, they both drew two swords, and closed the gap between them and the the former assassins.
"I tried to get you to come peacefully, but apparently, you want to die. Now, you brought the very person I wanted dead in the first place into this also. So you are all going to die." The master then pulled out his own sword.
Ulric drew his own sword and faced the Master, holding his sword in a guard position, "Why on earth did you send Nikandros and-" he didn't finish his sentence and leaped at the Master, sword gleaming in the light.
But the Master knew this trick and had used it himself on a few occasions, so he was ready for Ulric. The swords clanged against each other. "I thought you were better than this. I was right to try to keep your father on the throne. You don't deserve the crown." Then he pushed Ulric backwards, and glanced back to make that Nikandros and Thea were not going to try to attack him. The master advanced on Ulric, keeping his eyes on him, but making sure that Nikandros or Thea didn't catch him unaware.
Ulric narrowed his eyes and fought back, soon realizing that he was fighting a highly trained swordsman.
Nikandros glanced around desperately for a weapon, but saw none. "Thea, follow me." Nikandros whispered, starting to leave the room.
"What? We can't just leave them! They need help!" She argued.
"Well I don't have a weapon! I need to go get one!" Nikandros explained urgently.
Thea agreed, and hurried after him. "Drat you!" She exclaimed when she almost tripped on the long hem of her dress. She hiked it up without further thought and ran after Nikandros, desperately ignoring the steady throbbing of her foot.
They turned a corner, and saw a couple guards standing there. Nikandros went up to one, yanking the sword from his grasp, "Get a new sword and get to the citadel. The king is in danger." Nikandros ordered the two guards. He turned to Thea, "Go to our room. I'll get you when this is all over."
She grabbed his arm, stopping him from going. "I'm not leaving you." She hissed, "No way." Then, Thea grabbed another one of the astonished guard's sword.
"You're injured!" Nikandros protested.
"I don't feel...a thing." She grit out, obviously lying.
"Thea, get to your room before I tell the guards to force you to your room!"
She stepped back, her eyes wide, "Nik, I-"
"Thea," Nikandros said gently, "I have to know you are safe. Please?"
"You don't think I can handle it?" She asked weakly.
"I know you could, but you have an injured foot." Nikandros said quietly.
"I want to fight. He caused us all this pain and I want to make him pay." Thea said honestly. She didn't begin to go, but instead waited for him to answer her.
"Very well. Just please be careful." Nikandros looked into her eyes, "Promise?"
"I will. I promise." She reassured him with a smile. Before heading back to the fight, she used the sword to rip her dress up to her knees. "There. Now I can run."
Nikandros and Thea soon arrived back at the citadel, where Ulric and the Master were still fighting. Immediately, Nikandros joined the attack on the Master.
Thea looked around the room for a moment before joining the fight as well. She jumped in on the fight with one of her mentor assassins.
Alicia sneered at Thea and swung her sword at her, "Couldn't handle the pressure, eh?" She taunted.
Thea blocked the blow and held steady, "No, I was just tired of being a puppet. Too bad you haven't come to that conclusion yet." She smirked as Alicia grew angry.
Nikandros didn't see Thea leave for a moment. When he did notice she was gone, he quickly searched for her. Seeing her fighting Alicia, he was about to go help her when he realized that Ulric still needed his help. Gritting his teeth, he went back to fighting the master, hoping guards would help Thea. The Master fought them both off, and every once in awhile, touched the jewel on his sword with his left hand. After he touched it, he would make an exceptionally hard stroke, almost causing Ulric or Nikandros to lose their swords.
Nikandros soon noticed this pattern, and seeing the master touch the jewel again before aiming a blow at Ulric, he shouted a warning, "Look out!"
Ulric also had noticed the pattern, and as the master swung he swayed to one side, avoiding the deadly blade, and went on with the attack. He reigned blow after blow on the master, never penetrating his guard, but trying to keep him from touching the jewel.
Nikandros soon realized what Ulric was doing and joined, aggressively attacking the master.
The Master quickly realized that they had found out what he was doing. He furrowed his brow, and quickly retreated to where Alicia was fighting Thea. He fought Ulric and Nikandros, then suddenly grabbed his sword with both hands, and hit Ulric's sword harder than he had ever done before. Ulric stumbled back with the impact. The Master blocked Nikandros' sword and quickly delivered a kick, making Nikandros bump back into Ulric, who was just getting up, and they both tumbled to the floor.
The Master quickly turned to where Alicia was fighting Thea, and joined Alicia, overpowering Thea quickly, while Eric was trying to buy them some time by fighting both Nikandros and Ulric. The Master grabbed Thea, put her in an armlock, and put his sword to her neck, but not before they had killed Eric. "I suggest that you put your weapons down, or she dies."
Nikandros and Ulric froze in place, seething in frustration, "What. Do. You. Want." Nikandros ground out.
The Master cocked his head. "I want what you failed to do. And since you didn't do what I wanted you to do, and sided with my enemy, I guess both of you have to die as well."
"Why?" Nikandros asked, frustration clear in his posture, "Why did you want to kill Ulric in the first place?"
"Because there are wiser people to rule the kingdom than this phony princeling," the Master sneered, then addressed Ulric. "You would never have been a just King. You are weak, and have no backbone. Your father was a puppet of mine. He always granted my every wish. He gave me whatever I wanted. Your father could deliver no matter what the punishment he decided would be. Your father could actually carry out his every wish. But you. You are weak and too kind. You would never be able to sentence someone to banishment or torture."
Ulric's eyes narrowed, "I don't need to prove myself to you, assassin. I am not my father, and will not be your puppet."
"What a pity. I should just kill her now and be done with her, but I will offer you a deal, Nikandros."
Alicia walked to stand behind the Master, smirking.
The Master continued, "I will not kill Thea, and I will hand her over, if you give me Ulric, and release the true king. That is my only proposition."
"Nik, no." Thea interjected, struggling against the Master's grip.
Nikandros glanced with anguish between Thea and Ulric, "Just let her go." He said, "Are you a coward that you use such desperate measures?
"I'm not a coward. I just like to use my ability to..." he stopped, then let out a low rumble of laughter. "Never mind. You don't need to know. I am the last of my race, and now you try to kill me. Make no mistake. Even if I hadn't come after you here, admit that you eventually would have come after me. Especially this unworthy prince who hasn't been made king yet and can't because his father still lives."
"Is there anything you want me to do, master?" Alicia asked formally.
"Yes. See if Eric is still alive," the Master said, never taking his eyes off of Nikandros and Ulric. She turned to go, still right behind the Master.
Thea saw her opportunity and took it. She reached up for the blade against her neck and grabbed it in her bare hands, wrenching it away from the Master. The tender skin across her palms split open easily, but she took no mind as she swung it around and used the sword to swipe across the Master's stomach. In shock, he blinked once and she kicked him to the ground.
Unknown to Thea, Alicia was right behind him and when he fell, she flipped out one of her throwing knives and spun it towards Thea. Ulric saw her throwing it and managed to warn Thea just in time.
Thea ducked her small frame just as the knife whizzed past her and struck straight into Nikandros' stomach. He swayed for a moment, in shock, and then collapsed to the ground.
What a wonderful place to stop it at:) Yes, I do believe this is the perfect cliffhanger. Haha, and man this is literally the climax of the book right now! So that's why it is way longer of a chapter. Also, don't worry I will post the next chapter asap right after this one so you don't have to wait in suspense any longer:) In return, don't forget to spread the love by voting, commenting, or following! Thanks again for reading!
Ithildae, Evara, and Aris
Writers:
Thea--Ithildae
Nikandros--Evara
Ulric--Evara
The Master--Aris
Alicia--Aris, Ithildae, and Evara
Eric--Aris and Evara