The closer they traipsed, the more of that daunting building came into view. It certainly stood out from the hustle and bustle of a street market...
It was entirely different, the dark red saturated so vibrantly against the afternoon sun as more stairs, twists and turns connected the entire circle to the street.
Being revolved around a market, it was circular, lanterns hanging from its eaves and some sort of guard stationed at every stair entrance.
Slowing their pace once 20 metres from the closest passageway, Aloysia peered up to the top floor of the cylinder. It had balconies wrapped around it that interloped with smaller rooms over pathways. It truly was majestic. It was familiar.
"Wait" Liam pushed, curious as to why they had walked around said building instead of directly at it... "Are we sneaking in the building? I thought you said you had a friend here!"
Aloysia sighed, ducking her head out of sight, "I do, its just that they may not particularly like me..."
Liam couldn't believe her. "Seriously?!"
"Yes, just shut your whining and listen"
They both were tucked on the left side of the circular market, standing in the shadows of taller buildings. There was nowhere to hide, no place that would grant you solitude. It was indescribably tricky.
"Guards are stationed at each entrance all out in the open, and if I know her correctly, she would have trained them herself..."
Aloysia gazed over her shoulder, Liam following her line of sight. They had to be discreet.
Sure enough, a guard was leaning on a banister, the sand sweeping up by their feet.
Being the west, their clothing differed; favouring the light silks and one layer.
Grey arm guards lined with red embellishments wrapped tightly across their forearms and biceps like a tattoo, a transparent-gold poncho rested on their shoulders curving down to the waist line where it's skin either side was on full display. Beneath the fabric, because of its transparency, a woman would have a red band securely wrapped around their front, decorated wonderfully with dip dye's of vibrant colour.
At the tip of the fabric below their bellybutton, the light material met a trouser line equipped with the weapon of choice, usually a double edged blade of some kind.
The trousers were puffed to allow ventilation but cut off at the shins; down it against the red material were the intricate designs of a gold snake slithering along the fabric. Alternatively, in the royal guard, it bore the insignia.
As head gear, depending on preference, they wore bright red bandanas holding their hair back. Sometimes, they wore other fabrics in any way they wished- to differentiate originality.
Around their neck and underneath the transparent material was a beaded 'necklace' that complimented the simplicity of the garment flowing above it.
Their uniforms allowed movement, utility and a gentle breeze to cool them in the monstrous heat. It certainly pushed a statement too, highlighting the guard's well-trained bodies with toned muscles and high definition on their stunningly dark skin. They were not one to be messed with.
"So what is your plan exactly?" Liam deadpanned, hope for his survival slipping away like the sand with the wind around him. "How are we going to get past them in broad daylight without making a scene?"
Aloysia smirked. "Have you forgotten who you're dealing with here? When there's a will, there's a way"
Oh lord... what did she have planned? Liam faced away from the guards, being led by Aloysia further to the side-lines, closing in on one of the less obvious entrances. His nerves grew ravenous, his eyes tired by the constant fear of being discovered. It was exhausting.
She spoke accurately and low, "This 'friend' of mine always loves the chase, a good puzzle, she revolves everything she does around that fact."
He quelled the shaking.
"What do you mean?"
It wasn't some simple merchant business person? He should've expected as such.
Aloysia tilted his head, placing him in the direction she spoke of, "Have a look for yourself"
Her hands were stiff on his hood forcing him to do as she pleased. Once peering above the bobbing heads of people browsing shops, he could see what she was getting at.
The stair leading to the top from an alternative side was shielded from view, accessed behind a curtain of colourful clothes that just so happened to have no guards either side it. He breathed a heartbeat later, "A way in?"
She smiled, nodding her head subtly, "For her, the challenge is part of the fun, she makes her enemies think they have a chance and tunnels them, setting up elaborate ways of destroying and picking off her foe one by one"
So that's what she meant...
"She's famous for her methods"
Another assassin... splendid.
Liam picked up the pace, brushing past people and leaving the chatter behind as he parted the clothes dimming the light. She was right. As he looked beyond the steps, guards were placed strategically to lure them down a certain path. No major criminal would be able to detect it, the fear of being caught overriding the senses to see clearly...
She just strolled in casually after him, her face protruding with a honing instinct while her eyes beneath the hood glinted in the revelation that she was correct. Of course she was, she was in her element.
So perhaps... that's what separated the assassins to the lowly crooks, cognitive vision. He gazed back at Aloysia, her fingers fumbling with a blade he didn't even knew had been drawn. How was that silence possible?
For Aloysia, the experience brought back memories. She hadn't had to deal with any of the assassin's mind games in a long while; finding it both exhilarating and refreshing. A rush of pride beamed in her as she watched the way Liam grew more and more amazed with her vast knowledge and connections. Being an assassin... there was more to it that people thought.
She let her mind drift off...
Lying near unconsciousness high above the world on a rooftop was someone begging at the knees. Their blood-soaked torso was held weakly while they bled out in the silence, the heavy weight of the night sky deaf to their pleads. Cough after cough earned them no sympathy. Her body was exhausted, close to death as she couldn't move. Standing tall above her was a young assassin experiencing a new feeling they hadn't felt before but quickly welcomed. Below her arms were dripping blades under the gruelling night, its pommel a lions head, with a fresh cloth around its grip. The young assassin spoke, blood drooling from her lips, long blonde locks sticking to the sweat, "How far you have fallen Viper, I thought you would be more of a challenge"
Grinding her teeth, Viper cursed, hot tears flooding the numerous slashes on her face. She warned, eyes bloodshot while staring at The Shadow who bore no expression, "Once you take my crown, you won't be able to do as you please anymore. Oh no. You'll have others coming for your head."
Aloysia clicked her tongue, "Let them, I would love to see them try"
Viper winced, body falling further to the bloodied rooftop as the wind pushed at her hair.
"It does not scare me as it did you, nothing does Belinda, not anymore"
Hearing her name, Belinda dipped her head, the struggle to force her eyes open grew worse each passing second. Her wound screamed for attention, multiple wounds actually that gorged on her body. She could remember the shock of it all. Someone so young, so capable... what was this world turning too?
Another surge of pain and Belinda didn't care. To hell with this world she thought. Reality was slipping past her watch, the haziness before death sure was something. "I pity you Shadow, I really do" she spat out, exhaustion pulling her words.
Aloysia cracked her neck, body still intact with minor bruising and cuts. At that age, her cocky attitude hadn't developed to be a full fledged asshole just yet.
"Why? I have no need for it"
Emotionless... It was appalling to see the face of a child drenched in blood instead of water. "Whatever has led you to this life... I am truly sorry"
The young assassin brought her blade to her crimson eyes. The Viper had seen a glimpse of those eyes but decided to keep her secret -unlike the person perched a foot away from her- she was not a monster.
All Belinda wanted was for it all to end, for her leave this cruel world if she couldn't fix it. Aloyisa continued to gaze, her stare so cold and inhumane, but so calm.
"What are you waiting for, an invitation? Finish me"
It was a heartbeat of silence before the blade withdrew from the humid air and found its home sheathed. The action had the Viper confused, fumbling with her wound.
"Wh- what?" Belinda breathed, sucking in a breath. She thought she would pass out from the excruciating pain.
Aloysia blinked, face a calm mask, "It is not I who you should pity, but yourself"
The young assassin delved into her pocket, chucking a ragged cloth that already had its corners coated in filth to the quaking assassin beneath her.
Belinda was lost, squeezing between breaths, "Why? Why condemn me to live?"
It was simple in her eyes.
"By sparing your life, you owe me a debt, and one day, I intend to collect that debt to better this world"
As fast as she had attacked, she left; sliding down the rooftop to merge with the darkness. She was like a shadow, always there, but only visible when she wished it.
Grabbing the cloth along with a string of vulgar curses in her mother tongue, Belinda wrapped it around her front, stopping the bleeding.
It was so quiet. So silent. What just happened?
She rolled onto her back, lying there with a gentle breeze. History had just been made. A statement. Something that in the long run with her at its head, would change Caswor for the better...
Aloysia grimaced at the memory re-surfacing... her youth. They were dark, dark times...
She stood still momentarily, swallowing the upcoming feelings. That was the past. She broke that weakness immediately. Having no need for it to weigh her down or change her thinking. She noticed Liam look equally pale.
"Don't look so nervous idiot, that's exactly what she wants, she loves to get into your mind and make you your own undoing"
Liam blinked. She was that type?
Brilliant. Fantastic. Things couldn't have gone ANY better...
His head dropped to the floor, eyes squeezed closed as he focused on his breathing.
"Are you sure about this, how is another assassin supposed to help us let alone get us into the castle?"
Based of Aloysia's expression, she knew exactly how... and it was disturbing.
"Don't you go worrying your pretty little face about that, I have it all sorted" she cooed, flicking his chin. He didn't appreciate it.
"And that is what exactly?" He huffed as his tried to keep his annoyance on a leash.
Aloysia couldn't help but make a face at his queries. It was a none stop battering ram with a truck load of nonsense when it came to the prince. The questions were endless.
She sighed, "If you haven't figured it out already, which I think you have-" she side-glanced him cheekily, no point hiding it "-this assassin was my predecessor known as 'The Viper'"
Liam swallowed thickly, the banks of his mind feeding him all the information he had read on her in that book...
His suspicions led him well.
The Viper... used to be the most revered, not for brutality, but for her methods. They were manipulative, calculating and down right horrifying, and if she set her sights on a target, they were done for; a perfect record... all until 1 particular person. When The Shadow started to rise, she intervened, played around with other's victims. The Viper knew next who she would hunt... but eventually, the crown of number 1 fell to Aloysia...
The events of that fateful night was un-recorded, but the Viper had been dethroned maliciously 4 years ago; the assassin brought to her mercy after a month of psychological warfare that spilled more blood than bodies... and in the end, resulted to a change in power, sparing the defeated assassin's life...
Aloysia had only just turned 16 when she became number 1. The power she held... it was frightening.
"That Viper? The one you almost killed 4 years ago?" he stared.
"I see you know your history" she mocked in return, an edge to her face showing that there was more to that story. The Shadow had spared her life for a reason, and now, finally after years was it coming to use.
Liam was gobsmacked. Someone that powerful near the borders... made sense. If war broke out, she would be the first to know. "So you plan to use that leverage over her to get into the castle?"
He didn't expect a straight answer.
"I plan to cash in my life debt in return for safe passage to the castle"
He stood back, her silhouette standing tall as she looked directly at him. Her hood had slithered back, so the eyes pierced him. Something lingered there besides the typical arrogance, it was dutiful... Did she feel obliged? She was sacrificing her only advantage over the Viper so he would remain safe... Liam was lost for words.
"To reach her we do as she intended, we follow her lead and play along to her scheme, because the moment we stray, she will know its not some lowly scum trying to reach the top, but that of her past creeping up on her"
The last words were spoken immorally. Their history truly was terrifying, even to read.
Aloysia didn't dwell on it, craning her neck while taking a red step under her shoes, one leg now higher than the other.
"Now you know the plan, lets get moving shall we?"