A Song of Silence

Chapter 82: An Escort in the Dark

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The city was eerily quiet when I arrived. Not to say it wasn't busy. It was very busy. People went from place to place, from shop to shop. Buying and talking as they usually did, but there was a sort of quiet anticipation in the air. The people of the city showed no signs of noticing it, though. They walked and did as they had always done. It was so palpable I could almost smell it. As if the city was in wait for my next move. Or more likely, the Grand Assassin was in wait of my next move.

That next move, at least was rather obvious. I didn't bother hiding my hair under my hood or my eyes under the cowl of my cloak. The Grand Assassin would know I was coming. His spies were too numerous and too widespread to avoid. Most of them knew my face and my name. No to mention I only ever rode Millie and she was hard to forget. I could have forgone the assassins garb that I now wore and picked a different horse, but I would still be recognized and Millie would never forgive me if I left her behind.

Hooded shadows on the roofs of the buildings caught my attention. They raced by with their eyes trained on me as I passed. No doubt they raced to tell their master of my return. More likely, though, the Grand Assassin had called all the assassins back into the keep to witness what was about to happen. My intention for returning was probably very clear to him. I had once promised myself I would not return to this forsaken city and yet I returned months ago to mock my father and here I returned once again.

Knowing him, he was expecting my return. How could he not. He knew what buttons to push and how far he could go before I chapped. This time, he had gone too far and he knew it. I knew it. Hell, his second and third definitely knew it. Now it was only a matter of time before I stood in front of the man that had made me into the killer that I am. Until I stood in front of him, I did not know what I would do. Would I rage? Would I scream? Would I cry? Would I ask the questions that desperately bubbled up in my head? Maybe. I could do one of those things, I could do all of them. Now, it was only time to wait.

I left Millie with a stable hand and walked around the bustling city. No doubt the assassins knew my every move and it was only a matter of time before they came to fetch me per my fathers orders. It did not take long. He was not a patient man and he no doubt wanted to know my reaction to his message sooner rather than later. A bevy of assassins appeared around me as the leader of them turned to face me and said, "He will see you now." We both knew who 'he' was and I only nodded before the leader turned and the assassins escorted me to the keep.

The crowds were roughly pushed to the side as my escort mowed over them as if they were beneath them. Their actions disgusted me and I wanted nothing but to snap at them to be more careful. It would be no use and they would only report my newest weakness to the Grand Assassin now. The fact that I cared about the fae of Altreya. I cared that they lived and breathed as I did. I cared that they were unharmed. No doubt the Grand Assassin would use that weakness against me just as he used the threat of the death of orphans against me now.

As my escort jostled me, it struck me how many of them had come. Nearly fifteen of them. That might not seem like a lot of assassins to the ordinary fae, but every fae that graduated from the keep was highly skilled and capable of taking down fifty people easily before being defeated. Fifteen of them escorted me now and I knew that they watched my every twitch of a muscle and breath in wait of my actions. I knew they would not hesitate to put themselves in harms way to protect their master. He held something over all of them. Whether it was a family member or lover, it was how my father kept power over those under his command. They wouldn't dare move against him when he held something they cared for more than anything else.

Years ago I had once thought that maybe we could all rebel. Maybe we could save those that we loved and overthrow the man that had held our reigns all these years. It was a foolish hope and had left me with more broken bones than I could count. Those in his inner circle were loyal to him. They enjoyed the cruelty he inflicted on others. They quickly completed his every order and the Grand Assassin didn't need to hold anything over their heads. They were sadistic and cruel enough to relish in the power their loyalty gave them.

The assassins surrounding me were not any of the Grand Assassins inner circle though I had no doubt that they would not hesitate to kill me to protect whatever they held most dear. I stayed silent as we walked and ignored the stares that followed my escort and I. It was truly laughable that the Grand Assassin thought I needed this many escorts to the keep. I would not harm them until I had my audience with my father. What I would do when I got that audience, well I had yet to figure that part out. Would I try to kill him? Would I threaten him? I'd have to figure something out soon. Going to face my father with no plant wasn't the most advisable of things I could have done, but I was too tired of his games to care right now.

Our group arrived at the gates to the keep in quite a short amount of time. The gates swung open as we approached and the assassins manning the gate kept their hostile gazes on me as we passed through them. I didn't acknowledge them as I had gone to all the other stares. They didn't seem to mind and only lost sight of me when they had to close the yawning gates behind us. The leader of the group led the way through the keep most likely to the Grand Assassins throne room. That's right. A throne room. My father thought himself to be king of the realm, or King of Assassins. That was mostly true. Many of his assassins were too loyal to him or he held something over them, so that they would never be foolish enough to attack or undermine him. The Grand Assassin had numerous spies, quite a store of magical power, and a vast array of wealth. In many ways, he was a king of sorts.

The halls I had long memorized from years and years of walking them soon brought me closer and closer to the man that was my biological father, but was a monster more than anything. I did not fear him as I used to when I would be in his presence, nor did I fear the consequences of disrespecting him. He had gone too far this time and he was about to learn what happens to those that push me too far.

The doors to his throne room swung open as the gates had. No doubt he had numerous people updating him of my location as we neared the keep. I don't mind though. I had no plans if needing to fight my way out of the keep. Even if I did, I would not make it far before being taken down. The keep was built to keep fae inside it, not out. He throne room was as opulent and elegant as I had remembered it to be. The dark theme gave an air of 'I am better than you and I can have you killed in an instant' while the flagrant wealth surrounding me boasted that he was richer than many in Altreya. Almost as wealthy as the High King himself. Further studying the room, I looked straight ahead and there he sat on his throne of opulence and his threats. He lounged there unafraid and boastful as he surveyed my coming to meet him. In his eyes, I had come crawling back to him and there was nothing more satisfying in his eyes than being right. My posse separated and walked to the periphery of the room, watchful all the while. I stood and stared at my father, anger very obvious on my face. We both waited to see who would speak first. Contrary to my guess of how this meeting would go, he broke the silence first.

"Well, Aerilynn. Here you come crawling back to me after so long. What a surprise."