Secrets of the Crown Assassins

19

DAMIEN

I couldn't tell the difference between my mother's funeral and the theater drama we were holding for the public.

I adjust the silk blue cape I wore on top of my formal fighting gear. I didn't even know why it was called fighting gear. It was just an overly fancy form of fighting gear but without any of the weapons. Of course, I hid a bomb underneath, but nothing visible.

I walked down the stairs and journeyed down the hall to enter the main hall. The overhead windows were dark as clouds gathered. Xavier, my father, and Edsel were already gathered in the main hall, waiting for Arielle and me. I was surprised that Arielle was taking so long since she was normally the first person to get ready. Perhaps her meeting with Phoenix took longer than expected.

I wasn't sure why she tried again, but I guess she needed something to distract herself with. At least her distraction was healthier than mine. I thought back to yesterday when I foolishly stole Amelia Balker's medication so that I could sneak under my father's radar. How stupid could I have been? It hasn't even been two years since the car accident where I drove the boy I loved and his sister straight to the grave.

I could still hear the screeching tires, feel the glass piercing my body as I spun through the air, the flashing lights and blurring world. I remember landing in Tristan's lap on impact. I forgot to put on the seat belt. I reached up, tapping his unconscious face to wake him up, my hands coming away covered in blood. It was to no avail. He was dead on impact.

The worst part? They got in the car to convince me to come back to the Golden Palace and get help. I didn't listen, instead of locking them in and starting the car in my drunken haze. They tried to help me and I got them killed for it.

I dug my hands into my pockets, messing with the gears hidden there to pull me out of my thoughts. I couldn't think about the past. Not now. Assassins weren't supposed to cry during funerals, and certainly not the only Royal Kingston. If I wanted to survive, I needed to turn it all off. Xavier was always better at tuning out his emotions, but I could do it for a day. I have to.

I stood by my brother and waited, though not for long. Arielle walked into the main hall in her formal gear and a cape that covered half of her arm. Her hair was tied back and her face giving away no form of emotion. There was nothing there. Just a blank stare. Maybe that's what I looked like now too.

The Crown Fortier scowled. "What took so long?"

Arielle only shrugged, but he answered for her. "The massacre on the streets of Chicago. Why did you even go there at a time like this?"

"I felt like it."

He threw up his hands. "And getting caught in Streeter clothes of all things? Do you know what type of message that sends?"

Arielle visibly snapped at that moment as she stared up at her father with defiance I'd never seen her carry against him.

"What does it send, father? Because as far as I can tell, your cowering behind the golden walls is sending a much worse message than I ever was. I stood up for the Crown and put those Streeters in their place."

"A Raven could've been there!"

"They weren't. And even if they were, they either ran with their tail between their legs or joined the bodies in the street."

Edsel opened his mouth to say something but Arielle cut him off.

"You always wanted me to be a better Assassin, one with the guts to do something and the skill to be unstoppable. Now I have both. What are you going to do about it?"