Allies of the Sun

Chapter 4 (Aspen)

      Aspen was thrilled that they had told her their name. "Does this mean we're friends?" Aspen asked excitedly. Jay didn't respond, but she took their silence as a yes anyway. She turned her head and noticed Gabe staring at Jay again. She motioned for him to come over, but as soon as he started walking towards them, Jay gave him a death stare.
Aspen wondered what was wrong but didn't think it was appropriate to ask. When Gabe got closer Jay started to walk away. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Aspen called, thinking she had upset them by inviting someone else over to the conversation.
"Come back!" Jay just kept walking. Gabe seemed confused. "What's her problem?" Gabe asked, unaware that Jay obviously didn't like him. "I don't know, they didn't really talk to me. They just ignored me mostly... they only said their name," Aspen said.
Gabe looked at her weirdly. "You know her name? What is it?" Gabe asked. I guess that means that they don't know each other. "Well, clearly they don't like you that much... what happened?" Gabe then recounted to her what had happened only moments before.
Aspen looked at Gabe, perturbed, "Uh... I think I see why they punched you then..." Gabe seemed confused again. Even Aspen knew that was wrong, not to mention weird. And the fact that Gabe didn't know that was very concerning.
Aspen looked around to see where Jay went, but she couldn't find them anywhere. "You should go find them and apologize." Gabe gave her a blank stare and said, "Why?" She tried to think of an easy way to explain that asking if someone was single was creepy. "You know, it's very weird to act like that to somebody you don't know or just met. And nobody likes some random guy coming up and asking that."
It looked like Gabe still didn't understand, so she gave up trying to explain it. "Just apologize!" Aspen exclaimed. Gabe left Aspen and started looking around the room for Jay. He came back around fifteen minutes later. "I can't find her," Gabe said in a whiney voice. "I don't see them either," Aspen said, starting to worry.
Aspen looked around some more and spotted her sister. She was talking to someone, but her view of them was blocked. She could see the look on her sister's face though and knew what was happening. Alina was seducing some poor soul.
Gabe followed her gaze and saw Alina. He stared at her for a minute before saying, "Woah, she's kinda hot." He bit his bottom lip and stared at her sister with a wistful expression. Aspen stared at him, her mouth agape.
Aspen looked from Gabe to her sister and was stunned. She gave him a sharp look. "What?" Gabe asked her, "Do you seriously not know...?" She asked. "Know what?" Gabe asked. "That's my sister."
"And?" Gabe was starting to annoy her but she had to give him a chance since it wasn't like she had people lined up to be her friend. "You can't just say that, especially since she's next in line to become queen," Aspen said calmly. "But it's true!" he said. She gave up on him and they continued to watch Alina.
Aspen couldn't see who she was talking to because she had 'em pinned against the pillar. She tried to listen to what they were saying but they were too far away. "Let's get closer," Aspen whispered, dragging Gabe to a better spot and saw that Alina was talking to Jay!
She found a hiding place a few feet away and was close enough to hear their conversation. Alina seemed pretty mad. "Are you rejecting me because I'm ugly?" Alina said, trying to gaslight them. "Yeah, that's one of the reasons," Jay replied, which made Alina absolutely livid.
Aspen was trying desperately not to burst out laughing. "Just get the stupid job done!" Alina said fuming. She held her head high and sashayed away.
Aspen let out her contained laughter until she couldn't breathe. Jay noticed them and Aspen went over to them. "Why did you call her ugly!?" Gabe said. Before Jay could respond Gabe started to speak again, "And I thought Alina was straight." Then an angry voice came from behind them, "I am!"
Gabe looked at Alina and then at Jay. "I thought you were a girl." Aspen and Jay gave him a death stare. "I thought you were a boy," Alina said looking at Jay. Jay tried to leave again but Aspen grabbed their arm and pulled them back into the conversation.
"I've never seen a boy that beautiful," Gabe said "And I've never seen a girl that flat!" They both ignored the fact that Jay was right there. "I have!" Gabe said. "Stop talking about their chest size!" Aspen said to both of them. They both stopped arguing and noticed that Jay was still there.
"I forgot you were there, sorry," Gabe said, but he didn't sound that sorry. Everyone felt awkward. "Uhm... what were you guys talking about earlier? Something about a job?" Aspen asked. "You need to learn to stop eavesdropping on people," Alina said before walking away. A moment of silence passed by. "I'll tell you later." Jay finally said.
She couldn't help but be curious about what job Alina gave them but decided to wait for them to tell her.
"So how old are you?" Gabe asked. "Seventeen," they replied. Gabes' face lit up. "Yay! You're the same age as me!"
"Isn't that a little too young to have a job?" Aspen asked. "What do you mean?" Jay replied. "Well, usually the heir to a kingdom doesn't ask a seventeen-year-old to do something for them."
"No fair!" Gabe grumbled. "How do you get a job in general? How did you get a job from HER?" Gabe asked so many questions that she couldn't keep up, but she waited patiently for Jay to reply. "Family business, I started when I was eight," Jay replied, "EIGHT!?" they both said in a very surprised tone. "Yeah...?"
"That is not the normal age to get a job," Aspen said. "Well I mean, unless you're royalty." Jay seemed confused. "How did you get a job at EIGHT YEARS OLD!?" Gabe asked loudly. Aspen wondered the same thing. Jay shrugged.
Aspen didn't know what to say. Then from the corner of her eye, she saw a couple arguing, they looked familiar but she couldn't place from where. Oh well...
Gabe started ranting again, but Aspen ignored him and asked, "Can you please just tell us what your job is." Jay paused for a moment before asking, "Why?" At first Aspen thought Jay was joking, but they were actually waiting for an answer.
"Because I want to know?" she said, uncertainly. "Fair enough," Jay responded. "I'm an assassin."

Uploaded: August 8, 2021
Updated: October 17, 2023