A Sprinkle of Stardust

Chapter 3 - Mission

Lyrani froze. She must have misheard Lord Dundor. He can't have said that he wanted her to kill Elvenland's king.

Even Trelle was shocked into silence beside her, staring at the director of ECISI in disbelief.

"Actually, that's not quite true," said Lord Dundor. "King Nash is causing chaos and conflict across the realm. Everyone wants him dead."

Lyrani blinked. So, she had heard correctly.

When she first joined ECISI as a new recruit, dreaming of protecting the realm and defending her people from threats they couldn't even know about, she never imagined there would come a day when she sat across from the director of ECISI while they planned the elf king's assassination, yet here they were.

"But...the curse...what if we can break it?" Lyrani's fingers fidgeted in her lap.

She may be an assassin, but to her, killing was a last resort, a weapon used only when the situation became too dire and the criminal couldn't be defeated any other way.

The spells in stories could always be undone, usually by something as simple as true love's kiss, never by anything as messy as murder. Surely there was another way to fight the curse that plagued the king.

"It's not a curse. It's a madness." Lord Dundor shook his head. "Every day, King Nash drives us closer to war with the other clans. Nothing he does makes sense, and he listens to no one. We must stop him before he overthrows the balance in the realm."

"This isn't—"

"Lyrani, the only thing keeping the fairies away from our throats right now is our assurance that we are handling the situation. He is our king and our responsibility. This is the only way."

Lyrani sat back in her chair.

That couldn't be true. There was never only one way, just many that Lord Dundor wasn't seeing.

Or didn't want to see. The thought sent a shudder through Lyrani.

Trelle leaned forward. "What makes you think our mission will be more successful than the previous ones?"

Previous ones? Lyrani frowned. Trelle spoke of other attempts on the king's life as if they were common knowledge, but it was the first Lyrani was hearing of them.

Secret agents were excellent at keeping secrets, even from each other.

Lyrani's eyes flitted between the other two elves. "What is she talking about?"

Lord Dundor shifted in his chair. "Over the last year, Rosel and Keehege secret intelligence services have both attempted this mission."

"And?" Lyrani didn't like the heaviness in his gaze that rested on the table, the implication behind his silence.

"Both failed."

Lyrani's eyes widened.

Rosel and Keehege were equally matched with Irylen in resources and skill of their secret agents. If they couldn't remove the king, that didn't bid well for ECISI.

"Now, it's Irylen's turn," said Lord Dundor.

"Won't they be expecting us?" Lyrani's mouth went dry. Her mysterious mission was taking shape in her mind, and she didn't like the look of it. "If Rosel and Keehege were caught, surely the palace will be on their guard against anyone from Irylen."

That's what Lyrani would do if she was King Nash.

She would run background checks on everyone she let into her palace and search their luggage for weapons. She'd keep a special eye on every guest from Irylen, the only elf state that had yet to send their finest assassin her way.