The Assassin And The King [Completed]

|Chapter Fifteen : The Amulet|

▪︎ K a i t l y n     W i n c h e s t e r ▪︎

If a person's heart could wring out of their chest by beating too loud, then I'm sure mine would be laying on the ground at my feet now.

I try to not let any of my inner turmoil show on my face as Valerian takes my amulet from Marilla's hand to examine it. Did the coachman had that all along? But didn't Marilla just say he stole it? Was it from the king? How foolish was I to think by my luck-which never shines-somehow the amulet didn't reach anyone's hand.

While examining the amulet, Valerian's gaze turns to meet mine and I feel my heart stop for a moment, not in a good way at all. He definitely doesn't know it's mine. Act neutral.

Before I could maintain the uncaring expression, Valerian looks away. I follow silently as he drags the demon into the courtroom without uttering another word and tucks in the amulet into his pocket.

Every minister present inside the vast space with high ceiling and a single throne over the raised podium, stand up from their own seats rowed in front of the throne and bow in acknowledgement as their king makes his way in.

I can see the conflicted look they try to conceal as Valerian pulls the coachman onto his full height and looks straight into his eyes,

"Who are you working for?" He asks in a calm tone.

The calm before the storm kind of calm.

The coachman lets out a bitter laugh, "You think I'll tell you so easily?"

Valerian tilts his head to the side, "No, I don't think that you will. I know you will."

Just then, the king shuts his eyes and when he opens them back again, they aren't green anymore. They're white, completely white. Through my hazy mind, I feel like I've seen his eyes turn misty before too but I can't pin-point exactly when.

A loud scream snaps my attention back to the owner of the sound. The coachman holds his head in a brutally painful grip as he falls to his knees screaming on top of his lungs. Valerian just stands there looking at the man wallow in pain with a blank look on his face.

It is this moment, I truly understand why he's called cruel. But what does he exactly do to them?!

"They'll kill you." Valerian states in a monotonic tone.

"They'll kill me!" The coachman says all of a sudden out of nowhere taking his hands off his head as if the pain vanished, "But I worked for them."

Valerian's lips pulls into a wicked smirk as he pulls the coachman back to his feet and stares into his eyes, "Yes, you can't trust them. They'll turn their back on you. Now tell me who they are so that I can help."

The coachman as if on a sudden state of trance, nods his head obediently.

"Who is it?" Valerian asks again in an oddly deep and creepy voice.

"It's not one person," The coachman begins. There's a chillness to his tone, very unlike his own voice. It sounds almost. . .robotic.

"So there's another person helping?" Valerian keeps his voice calm as the man nods.

"Not just one another person. But three of them." The coachman replies still speaking mechanically, "They're all higher ups."

"Tell me their names."

"I. . .I don't know." The man quivers, it's as of he's fighting against his inner mind despite the trance-like state he seems to be in.

"Tell me." Valerian's voice takes in that chilly tone again and the demon acts as if he's hypnotized.