A Song of Silence

Chapter 83: A Challenge in the Dark

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"I wouldn't go quite that far." I say simply. His eyes punch together in displeasure that I did not address him by his title. His eyes spark with curiosity and anger. He was expecting me to cower and grovel and beg to be let back into his good graces.

He folds one leg over the other and asks, "Well then, Aerilynn. Enlighten me as to the reason of your visit."

"The boys death was unnecessary."

He tsks at me as he responds, "Not so. I am many things, my dear, but wasteful I am not. The boy was foolish enough to try to cheat my men out of their coin and I needed to teach you a lesson about sticking your nose where it is not wanted. The boys death was necessary and I gladly slaughtered him to teach you some respect."

His words echo across the gilded floors and walls until they are no more. We stare at each other in silence because his threats did not have the effect he intended them to. The needless slaughter of the young man was hardly necessary and it did not teach me respect. Oh no. All it did was make me really fucking angry. The Grand Assassin seems to notice the anger in my eyes because he shifts around in his seat uncomfortably. "Respect is the last thing I have for you," I say simply, menace evident in my voice.

Instead of being uneasy as my words had intended to make him, the Grand Assassin further languishes on his dark throne and smirks, "That's the beauty of the power I hold. It was one of the things you were never truly able to fully grasp, my dear. True power is being surrounded by fae that want you dead and knowing that those fae can't do a thing to harm you."

So those around him hated him? I was under the impression they were fiercely loyal. That they would never be tempted to stray from their master because of the power they gained at his heels. Interesting. A smirk on my face mirrors his as I respond, "Similarly to you father," I sneer, "You were never quite able to learn one thing about me."

His jaw clenches at my calling him father. No doubt it grates on his nerves. He never truly claimed me as his daughter in any sense of the word, but we were blood all the same, whether he liked it or not. "And what would that be exactly?"

"That I do desperate things when cornered." The twelve assassins around me drop unconscious. I didn't even have to touch them and my magic made them immobile with a simple thought. My father did not realize the true extent of my power until now and I think it surprised him just how much control I had over my power. Instead of showing his surprise though, he only clapped his hands and the doors behind us swung open and slammed closed just as quickly. The practiced steps were ones I knew well. They spoke of poise, elegance, and manipulation. Guinevere checked my shoulder with hers as she walked up from behind me. I did not flinch at her blatant spitting in the face of what was once a friendship that flourished. Now that friendship was nothing but ashes and coal waiting to meet a spark and explode into an inferno.

Guinevere walked up the dias until she was a step lower than my father. She then lowered herself on that step, so she sat at my fathers knees. She seemed proud of sitting there, under a man, but all I saw was a woman being demeaned with the illusion of power. It was a sad sight to be sure. "Cease this foolishness child and come kneel at my feet as you were always meant to."

I let out an audible scoff at his words. Seeing I am not moved or surprised by my old friend's presence, a crease forms between his brows.

Guinevere tries persuading me next, "Come now, Aeri. Don't be so cruel. We're family now. Let us kneel before the ruler in our lives together." I can tell those words are practiced and forced. She is putting on an air for my father. Ah, so she didn't tell him that she told me of their engagement. Well, I wasn't one to keep someone in suspense.

"Oh, she didn't tell you," I drawl. "She bragged about your engagement to me weeks ago. And before you go all on about my death once she bears you another heir, let me let you in on a little secret." My father regards me carefully, very interested in what I am about to reveal. Guinevere tries to stop me, but the words are already out of my mouth before she can speak, "Your fiancée is infertile father. She had fucked men from all over Altreya, and no pregnancy? She hasn't had her 6 monthly in over 10 years." The Grand Assassins face turns white as a sheet at this proclamation. The blood seems to drain from Guinevere's body right in front of me. I raise an eyebrow at Guinevere's pale form, "What? You thought I wouldn't notice you never having your blooding after all the years together. Perception was the first thing my father taught me and I noticed a mere year after we met."

"I'd this true?" The Grand Assassin asks, his anger barely concealed in his voice.

Guinevere tries to salvage things. She kneels and lays her head on the step in front of her in a show of reverence to the Grand Assassin. "My love. You mustn't believe her. She lies. She only wishes me gone so that my womb is no longer a threat to her. Please, My Lord. You must believe me."

The Grand Assassins face remains impassive as he contemplates the pitiful female at his feet. "I'd this true, Guinevere?" Guinevere pitifully shakes her head and continues to cower and bow at his feet. She says nothing. "Is it true, Guinevere!" He asks even louder this time.

"No sir, I swear it. I swear it. I would never deceive you like that." She sputters. The Grand Assassin trained all of his assassins to detect lies through body language. It was easy to tell she was lying and I could tell my father knew it as well.

"Guards," his voice is whisper soft. Though the guards are outside heavy wooden doors, they burst open and two assassins walk in and carry the screeching and begging Guinevere out of the room. I do not want to think of her fate now that the Grand Assassin knew of her lie. Her only use was to bear him heirs and no that he knew she couldn't, she would be killed or sent to be a mangled whore out on the streets. The Grand Assassin and I say nothing to each other until the doors are shut once more. With Guinevere gone and her deception revealed, my father turns his attention back to me and now regards me with a certain cool interest. I had caught his attention at my willingness to betray a former friend. "And to think you cared for her a great deal," he says at last.

"I figured out she was a plant years ago. I knew you would never truly allow me to go free from your watchful eye. Once the scouts stopped appearing, I knew it was only a matter of time until I found her. To her credit, she was quite good at her job and it took me longer than most to find out who she was."

"And why did you not kill her as you had done to the other plants?"

I shrugged, "I knew you would only send more after that and I was done playing into your hand."

A victorious smile lifts the corner of his scowl, "Well, here you are again, Aerilynn. Playing into my hand once again. What a surprise."

"Did I?"

His smile sinks from his face, "Did you what"

A devious smile rises on my own face, "Did I really play into your hand."

He scoffs and gestures to the room around us, "Well what else could it have been, my dear. You are here. In my fortress of your own violation."

"Or did you play into mine when you allowed me entrance into your so called fortress?" I fire back. He freezes as if realizing my reason for returning. It was not to plead with him. It was not to seek revenge. Oh no. It was to challenge him. "I, Aerilynn Maeve StormBringer, hereby challenge you, James Peter MagicLess, to a duel to the death over your throne and all that you possess. As your only living blood, it is my right to challenge and I do so now."