The Arsenic Widow #Wattys2015 (mxm)

Chapter Three

Hey guys, this is a bit of a short chapter while I try to establish characters and plot! I hope I don't bore you too much!

I hope you'll leave me a review or comment once you finish reading because it really keeps me writing!

My body quivered in anticipation to what the King had in mind, "As in... another human being, your majesty?" I asked, speaking for the first time in his presence.

He nodded quickly, obviously excited, "Yes. You have met some of our assassins, am I correct to say this?" I nodded in return. I had indeed met the assassins; their cold stares and the way that they held themselves always seemed to chill me to the bone. I never wanted to become like them.

"I want you," the King paused, and licked his lips, as if working out a way to say whatever was in his mind, "to kill someone who has been bothering me lately." He turned to the far East wall, away from most of the coloured windows and motioned to the map that was painted on the wall. It was a map of the five Kingdoms and the land in which we were all located. He pointed to the biggest land on the map, the Azures Kingdom, and he walked over to point directly to their capital city where their Queen resided. The city was called Corples, and was the largest city known to man.

"Here." He started speaking again, "Here lies the Queen. But don't fret; it's not her I want taken care of. It's her eldest son. He just turned twenty and is ready to ascend to the throne. I have no issue with this, but," the King sighed and rubbed his temples lightly, "he is smart. His other brothers have interests in fine wine and women, but instead he has the battle strategy of a fine warrior, and the mental capability of any number of our tutors. He is quite a fine young man, and you can see why I don't want him to ascend to the throne. He could wipe us out."

I frowned at that small piece of information, grasping it in my mind and realising that our Kingdom was not as strong as I always thought; always hoped.

"His name is Acorn," the King sneered, "His father named him that because he thought his son was as cute as a squirrel."

The King began chuckling in mirth, his golden crown glittering while the Queen joined in with her high pitched cawing, "That was before he died!" she crowed in victory.

"So," he looked over at me, and my eyes moved to the map again instead of meeting his pure blue eyes that were the same colour as mine, "I want you to kill him for me. I'm sending you to Azures as a hunter, we will not lie to them about that, and we can hardly hide it with your looks, but you will be there to teach them battle strategy as a friendly nation. You will spend three months there, gaining their trust, before assassinating Acorn."

I wanted to shake my head, say no, or throw a tantrum and leave. But this was the King, and nobody would get away with acting like that in front of him. By the time by three months was up, I would have already turned nineteen, which means I could leave without killing anybody, but would I be allowed back into the kingdom? Instead, I nodded silently and the King rested one hand on my shoulder before telling me to clean up and prepare to travel to Corples the next day.

Almost running out of the room, I nearly tripped over Par who was sitting on the floor and waiting for me, rolling a small leaf between his fingers which he quickly discarded. I knew he caught the distressed look on my face, but to my relief, he said nothing. He stood up and tugged on one of my arms, leading me to the hunter's chambers. He took my cloak from me and hung it up for me on the rack before leading me to the bath station.

While I stood in shock at what happened with the king, Par stripped off my messy clothes, his nose wrinkling in disgust as the state of my pants. It look him a lot of fiddling with the buckles before he was able to drape them over the side of the tub, not caring if they got wet.

I was standing there naked, and it was finally the slight chill in the room that caused me to move into the bath itself for the warm waters. Unlike in other professions, it was not uncommon for hunters to bath together, so being naked in front of Par was not unusual.

I dipped into the warm waters, sighing with the contrast of comfort and pain on my injuries. Par's hand reached over, his hand lathered in some healing ointment, and rubbed my back slowly, "You don't need any more scars," he whispered to me. I knew he was referring to the long straight scars on my back. I had never told him how I got them, but I knew that he had guessed.

I finally calmed down and got out of the tub which led Par to throw a towel my way and leave. I relaxed into my fluffy towel and sat down on the wet tiles. The room was quite nice, I considered as I yawned. The tiles, walls and ceiling were a pale green that calmed and soothed, but it was the insides of this colour that was the most important. Gunhio crystals, our Kingdom's treasure, were crushed up and turned into paint for this bathroom. Gunhio crystals contained a healing power which, in large quantities, can heal injuries and sickness. The amount in this room wouldn't be enough to heal a person completely, but it's enough to make them feel comfortable and to heal any small cuts. I fell backwards, pressing my wet back up against the tiles and felt my back slowly begin to knit together. It was a strange feeling, as if someone was trying to tickle your back.

A grin spread across my face and I suddenly felt lucky that I was alone in the room. I didn't want people reporting back to the King that I was just some sort of goof. I needed this assignment. It was easy though... not something I had ever wanted to do. Killing this man named Acorn felt wrong, although with a name like that, I didn't feel too bad about it. Once I had done the deed, I would be back home with the ability to start a new life. My own life.

White walls, I thought to myself. A nice new home with white, clean walls. And yellow doors! Why not? And a pet! A dog? No, they can be too much effort. A cat? Eh, they wouldn't show me enough love. I want something protective, but not something that had to rely on me too much. A snake?

I broke into laughter at that thought and got off the tiles which had become uncomfortably cold. Tightening the towel around me, I left the bathing chambers like that. Maids would be in soon enough to clean up the mess I had left.

While I claimed to not have much, I did have a room with four walls and a bed. It wasn't much, but it felt safe to me. I could keep whatever I wanted in there without people asking too many questions.

I ducked into my room and closed the door quickly before dropping my towel, no longer needing it. A small shiver wound its way up my body and I had to take a moment to let it fade before moving to my dresser and pulling out some other clothes (my favourites were now unable to rejoin them).

Pulling on some loose garments, I had to give a mental word of thanks to Par for not asking what my job was. He knew it was important, and he had looked interested by the look on my face but he hadn't asked. It felt good not to talk about it. Assassination was a dirty job, and I didn't want anyone thinking I was one.

I rubbed a hand over my eyes and slipped into my bed. I would start packing tomorrow morning, before I left. The King would want me by Acorn's side as soon as possible to start the plan. The only problem was: could I be deceptive?

I hope no one has fallen asleep!! xD
As I said earlier, please leave a review so I keep wanting to write! If you're having difficulty figuring out what to write, I'll leave you with a question: Who is your favourite character and why?

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