The Queen of the Empire

1:

It was a pitch black night. The trees groaned and croaked as the wind rushed through them. Other than the whooshing of the wind and the occasional hoot of the owls , the forest remained silent. A group of people, perhaps six of them in total were silently making their way through the forest on horseback. With the only light source being a single lantern. Maybe they were being extra cautious because of the wild animals.

"Hurry up your pace. Something feels off around here." , one of the riders remarked in a hushed voice. This person seemed like the leader of their little entourage.

As one each of the six riders picked up their pace and they continued making their way through the forest silently.

Unknown and several paces behind them , two more riders followed them. Both of them covered head to toe in black cloaks and riding atop black horses. They seemed to fade in the night itself. How they could see and guide their horses in the night without any light was beyond what one could think of.

The two riders exchanged glances. And as if seemingly coming to a silent understanding one of the riders vanished into the tress.

Not a minute later a wolf call sounded from up away the path where the six riders were. And suddenly the silent forest was filled with the shouts of the riders. The sound of a sword being unsheathed followed soon after. The riders didn't get much of a chance to retaliate as a single black rider killed all of them sooner than they could understand what had happened. The second black rider still waited several paces behind. The first rider got off his horse and started looting the corpses. But as if he was unhappy with what he found he threw all that back into the ground, got on his horse and came back to his companion.

"Did they not have it as well?" , the second rider asked.

"Yes they didn't. Somebody is giving wrong information on purpose in the reports." , the first one answered.

"It seems the traitors have spread in the North. We can't trust the eagles anymore."

"What about the situation then? Could they be luring us into a trap?"

"Most likely."

"Then you know what to do."

"Long may the true Lord reign." , with this the second rider turned in the opposite direction and left.

The first rider watched the second one as long as he could and after he vanished from his sight, he turned around and left as well.

The kingdom of Arelia:

In a dark alleyway during broad daylight, a man held up a knife to a woman's throat. But before he could even speak a word , a dagger came flying for his throat. He fell to the ground , his knife scuttling away down the alley. The woman saw his blood pool around him and crying , she ran away. A figure leaped down from the rooftop and picked the dagger embedded in the man's throat. Another figure rounded the alleyway.

"Was the hysterical woman your doing? , the second figure approached.

"I'm not evil. Did you finish your task already?" , the first figure questioned.

"Yes. I came to look for you on Master's orders. All the guild members are being summoned."

"What for?" , the first figured climbed up the drainage pipe to get on the rooftop once again.

The second figure followed , "I don't know. I received the message from one of the lackeys."

Both of them quickly made their way from rooftop to rooftop until they stopped in the nicer part of the district in front of a mansion.

The mansion was stately. The front garden well maintained and everything else ornately perfect. A mansion perfect for high nobility and power hungry aristocrats alike. No one could have guessed that this was the sought after headquarter of the Assassins's guild.

Both the figures made their way down to the mansion.

The first figure removed her cloak. Olive skin with black locks of hair and green eyes met the sight in front of her. It was a massacre.

Her guild master- the king of assassins lay dead in front of her.