aru shah fan fiction

assassins au: eighteen

a i d e n

"It's in and out, is that clear?"

Aiden nodded. It had been smooth sailing so far–hopefully the waves continued to stay back.

"There are guards on each side," Jenny poked her head above their bushy hiding spot and pointed at the two men standing on opposite sides of the grain cart, each armed with gnarly swords of steel. "Aiden, you take out both of them. Maybe hide the bodies somewhere after, too. Ethan and I will start hauling the cart out of town and into the cargo carriage. Be as quick and discreet as possible. Queen's orders."

Aiden nodded in unison with Ethan. Jenny had been elected Team Strategist on these mini missions after her boyfriend nearly got the three of them electrocuted (long story) and she ended up chest-deep in quicksand after following a piece of Aiden's directions (another long story). Fortunately things had been working out successfully in the past week with the fervent girl as their unofficial leader.

Aiden tightened his grasp on his scimitar, darting underneath the right line of bushes–he needed to get behind the cart to go unseen. Lowering into an even deeper crouch, he scurried until the only thing in sight was the butt of the cargo vehicle and the balding backs of the guards' heads. He slowly crept out of the cover of the bushes, breaths steady, hand never straying from the blade at his hip. He dashed, feet lighter than feathers, to the first guard on the left, clenching his hands around his neck in a tight squeeze. Aiden felt the guard go rigid under the sudden loss of oxygen, but it didn't take long for his muscles to relax as he slumped down to the floor.

"Dareth?" the second guard grumbled. "Everything alright–"

THWACK. Aiden grinned down at the fallen forms, catching his scimitar after deftly tossing it into the air. Two down. Now to just hide the bodies. He took both unconscious men by the legs, dragging them against the supporting back column of a nearby building. Aiden raised an arm halfway into the air, signaling the okay for Jenny and Ethan to proceed.

The cart was piled mountain-high with beige sacks of grain, each one tied off with a thick circle of rope. This was the most crucial part of the mission–loading the cart out of the town and into the carriage before eyes caught on to what they were doing.

Aiden rushed to the front, gripping the cart with hands behind his back, and pushed forward. The cart was not easily moved–he could feel the strain on his triceps, but the combined strength of Jenny and Ethan following him eased the burden. The walk back to the disguised Adadhan carriage couldn't have lasted longer than five minutes, but it still gave Aiden too much time to think. These days, thoughts of a girl with dark chocolate skin and a braid twisting her even darker hair couldn't seem to leave his mind. Frankly she was being ill-mannered, parading around in his brain without his permission, but civility had never been Aru's field of expertise.

It's amusing to note that Aru Shah was not Aiden's first kiss. He wasn't even sure if Aru's small peck qualified for a kiss, but he preferred to think of it as one. He'd been six years old on that fateful day, a small, inexperienced boy in the Raven Division, when someone (other than his mother) pressed their foreign lips to his face. Aiden still remembered her name, Poppy Lopez. She had also been six years old, an age of laughable mistakes. He didn't remember much about her, just her ocean blue eyes and less than agreeable personality. On a dare, she'd been forced to kiss Aiden for five seconds, something he definitely hadn't consented to.

He hadn't seen Aru in two weeks, yet her kiss still felt as raw and fresh as if it had happened only the previous second. Not only was Aiden driving himself mad trying to determine whether her actions had been romantic or not, he was also ridden with anxiety over her safety. He knew there were risks and dangers in every mission but it was a hard reality to accept, especially when his friends were involved. Aru was skilled enough to defend herself, but what if something especially terrible had happened? Two weeks was plenty of time for something to go awry, and Aiden had been hoping that Aru would have found a way to return by now, but she hadn't. Was she even still alive? Or had her act been enough for someone even as devious as the Sleeper? He was so desperate to organize his thoughts, he'd even asked Brynne for advice, but the only thing she had to offer was, "This is why I like food more than feelings." Fortunately, Aiden did have one small relief from his spiral of conflicting feelings–Queen Aaleahya's mini missions. Every other day, Her Majesty sent out small groups–including Aiden, Ethan and Jenny–to Tavasthan villages to execute minor raids. These were the distractions to take the Sleeper's attention off of Aru, to protect her 'loving daughter' act as much as possible. Today's raid was especially important, for they'd been tasked to eliminate a major and heavily-relied upon delivery of food.