His Gold Assassin

Part 4

Once I had arrived back on Aurum I wanted nothing more than to shower though I doubted I would get the chance anytime soon. And just as I suspected I was taken into the large central government building to unload the batteries and deliver a report on the events of my mission. My recordings were submitted to my generals and I proceeded to write up a detailed report that coincided with the videos. The young gold-skinned Aurum at my side was a young apprentice, and she said very little to me as she lead me around the building. Even when they were young the Aurum children knew that they were above my species, the ones that worked at the bottom of society regardless of the fact that I could kill her in a matter of seconds. I could tell she wished to be anywhere but near me at that moment, like most of her kind.

She left me outside of the general's hall where I knew the familiar gold tinted faces that would await me. I pushed the large doors open and walked to the center of the room while keeping my head down as a sign of respect. Inside were nine seats raised high with the center seat and the most extravagant one for our queen who was more than not absent for these small, less important events. I walked to the center of the room and bowed deeply before them, planting one knee directly on the cold golden ground. They allowed me to remain there for a few more moments as their murmurs and conversations about trivial and meaningless things died out. It was the queen who spoke first, surprising me with her presence.

"You may rise, 868." I rose to my feet but kept my head lowered. "You have done your duty by bringing back our stolen property and showing no mercy to those who would dare to take them and kill two precious Aurum citizens in the process." I nodded, knowing to not speak out of turn. "General, Kiotis, do you have anything to add?" My eyes drifted slightly to stare upon the general that had been in charge of me as soon as I had graduated from the academy. He determined who went where for whatever missions Aurum saw fit. For the most part he was a tolerant man.

"I expected nothing but perfection from you. You have done a great service by acquiring such a valuable asset to our kingdom and in turn a gift of two days rest is bestowed upon you."

"Return to your quarters and rest now. Your break will pass quickly," the queen commanded.

"Yes, my queen. Thank you for your presence." I bowed again before nodding to my general and turning from the room. After a long walk back towards the military base in the city, I entered one of the few government ran buildings that wasn't coated in silver and gold, created specifically to house graduates from the academy such as myself. I made my way to the top floor where only six of us resided, the highest ranking. As I placed my hand on the panel next to my door a familiar voice spoke from the doorway next to mine.

"How did it go?" Hermiel's voice called softly to me from where he leaned against his doorframe, his approach as quiet as a spy.

"You know it went well, 945. I would be receiving my punishment if it had not." I shivered thinking about the last punishment I had been apart of, though it was not my own. Sometimes we were called to witness the punishment of other spies - a reminder of what would happen if we failed. It was never pleasant.

"Why do you ask every time when the answer is obvious?" I turned slightly to look at the black haired man. Hermiel, or 945, and I had grown close together during training at the academy since we had both always been at the top of our classes and survived the process. Hermiel also looked very similar to myself, both of us sharing straight black hair, olive toned skin, and brown eyes. We were both tall, quick, smart and similar in the way that we spoke very little. He was very tolerable in that way.

"You never tell me when you're injured, Eight," Hermiel countered, using the number as a nickname. Though he wasn't calling me by my mission name I still felt worry in the back of my mind that my friend might get in trouble if anyone heard the him. But he was as smart and capable as the next spy on this floor and my worry died as quickly as it had risen. "I know the missions go well when you return," he explained. "I want to know if you've suffered much."

"I am fine," I finally say because what else do I say to something like that? Even if I was injured in some form I would have taken care of it as we had been trained to. And if I suffered mentally... well neither of us had received training on that. For all of the years we spent training no once had anyone told us how to deal with that inner turmoil. I looked back at my gray door, a subtle reminder that I was not an Aurum citizen.

"Okay," Hermiel said before entering his own room and leaving me alone in the hall. I couldn't tell if I wanted Hermiel to ask more or not. What would I even say? How could he even respond? We were the same and neither of us could help one another.

I entered my room and went to lay down on my stiff bed before I wandered back to the yellow eyed aliens I had seen on the Huskilarian war ship. In particular my mind had been drifting occasionally to the Huskilarian with the short black hair and scar running down the left side of his face. And his eyes, which were almost beautiful in the way that they haunted my thoughts so well.

I would make sure that I processed the Huskilarian language before I left Aurum, just in case I ran into any of them again and didn't have my helmet with me, though the chances of that happening were unlikely. It was a painful procedure but it was fast and fairly effective.

As I laid on my bed I wondered if those five men could tell if I was a female despite my mask transcribing my words into their language using a sexless voice. Could they see past the constriction of my suit and see that I had two mounds on my chest which my suit automatically squeezed harder to make them less of a target? Or that my hips jutted out from my waist? I couldn't help but feel a small flame ignite deep within me as I thought again of the Huskilarian with the scar running down his face-his corded muscles that bulged even under his black clothing reminding me of his pure strength. They looked similar yet so different from the Aurum natives that I had known all of my life. I rolled over on the stone of a bed and eventually let my mind fill with emotions as I drifted off into a particularly interesting dream with that yellow eyed beast.