An Arcane Scrapbook Collection

DWC /// Day 26 - Kill the King

You step into the king's chambers. He stands on the balcony, the moon overlooking his imposing figure. "I want you to hire an assassin to try to kill me. Take down all the names and contacts you encounter through the process and report them to me. I want to know who my true friends are."

The image was still fresh in his mind. The king standing in front of the window, facing the grand city before him. The moonlight outlining his silhouette and his hands held together behind his back as he spoke.

"I want you to hire an assassin to kill me."

The words echoed through Hasley's mind, repeating once, twice and then again. Seemingly never ending in the torture chamber that was his mind.

"Take down all the names and contacts you encounter through the process and report them to me. I want to know who my true friends are..."

Halsey could almost feel the king's hands gripping his shoulders as he got real close to his face. "You cannot tell anyone about this. Not my children. Not my wife. Trust. No one."

Why him?

He took a deep breath, trying to shrug off the heavy feeling weighing down on him as he slowly made his way down the dark hallway, following after the pretty barista who agreed to show him to the back room. Where all the shady stuff usually went down.

Laughter and the smell of cigarettes overwhelmed his sense as they came to a stop in front of a pair of doors and the girl swung them open, stopping in between the doorframe, her hands lingering on either side, preventing him from entering.

"Pretty rich boy here to see ya, Lady Rose~" she giggled, glancing back at Halsey, looking him up and down in amusement.

A voice from inside muttered out a "come in" and the girl stepped aside, watching Halsey as he stepped inside, taking a look at his surroundings before his eyes landed on the couch where a few youngsters were messing around. Probably getting high.

"I'm looking for Hellock" He said.

A young girl, not much older than Halsey looked up, scanning him head to toe before pulling herself up and placing the cigarette against her lips, taking a puff of the smoke as she approached him, getting real close to him before blowing the smoke into his face.

"Who's asking...?"

Halsey looked away, trying to hold back the urge to cough which came out as muffled grunts. He cleared his throat, trying to ignore just how close the young woman was to him, completely invading his personal space. "Hal. Hal Varrok"

She hummed in acknowledgement, slowly circling him once before ending up in front of him again, tilting her head to the side as a form of invitation for him to continue.

"Where's Hellock?" he repeated, this time with a sterner tone. One he had used on so many workers on so many occasions. But unlike them, the girl seemed amused by his growing frustration.

"You're looking at her~" she said, extending her arms out as she gestured to herself.

Halsey scoffed, taking in a deep breath to calm himself before speaking again. "Pretty sure you're not the world renowned Lady Hellock."

The girl shrugged, taking another puff of her cigar and blowing it onto his face. "I'm every bit as talented... and the only Hellock around fooorrr..." she paused a moment, pretending to think only to immediately continue. "...Well... ever"

Silence settled between them as Halsey rethought his plan of action. The assassin he wanted, wasn't here. Only this young annoying girl. Yet she claimed to be a Hellock.

He wanted nothing more than to turn around, go home and explain the whole situation to Camilia. She would understand. She could help. Or even Sarah.

But neither were here... and how could he ever disobey his king's orders.

"...I have a job" he finally said, walking over to the table and pulling a stack of credits from his jacket's pocket and slamming it on the table. "60k upfront"

The woman raised an eyebrow, curiously as she took another puff of her cigarette before speaking. "Do tell, pretty boy"

Halsey stared her down, the words catching in his throat as soon as he tried to speak up, barely able to believe what he was about to say. But he did. A sudden wave of regret hitting him as soon as he uttered those cursed words out.

"I want you to kill the king" 

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I had to write a short story based on a prompt I had to speed run to get from a select few :3 I'm quite happy with how this turned out; might make it into a full story ;)