The Tale of Tara and Emiko

XVI. Emiko

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom ruled by a wise, old king. The king had a daughter, whom he loved dearly. He also had two younger sons who he might have loved just as equally...if they just weren't so loud and rambunctious and annoying.

Of course, my father probably doesn't feel that way, but it's my story so whatever I say goes.

Also, I don't think he would love me as much if he knew how much of a hand I'd lent as Eon in the assassination two years ago of his longtime rival in war, trade, and croquet. I didn't kill the man, that's not what I'm supposed to do, but I helped out with everything else.

I'm trained in all things royal, from curtsying to not tripping over the incredibly long names of stuffy foreign nobles to knowing what fork to use. (Spoiler alert: I don't.) And the stuff I don't know-I'll just pretend I do!

I'm much more talented with bounty hunter knowledge, though. Hiding fingerprints, sprinting across rooftops and power lines, knowing the different types of poison and venom and what will kill and what will sedate.

Footsteps came tromping heavily in the hall outside my bedroom, accompanied by a lot of screaming. "KYLE!!! Don't you DARE touch my books!!"

I had to laugh. While my brothers may be crazy and always fighting, I still love them. Milo's the bookworm, and claimed half of our library for himself two years ago at the mere age of 10. Mainly the fiction/fantasy/sci-fi section, but he's got a bit of psychology owned to compensate for the romance he excluded. Kyle is much more active, he's on like 3 or 4 different sports teams. Oh, and he bakes. Why baking, I don't know, but he's the reason why our pastry chef retired. He's 14 now, and wants to go to culinary school when he's older.

There was a sound of scuffling, a few made-up curse words they created when they were 6 and 8, and then Milo burst through my door without knocking. He's breathing hard, a book clutched to his chest.

"Em," he mutters, "you've got to help me! Kyle's been reading my books!"

"Why is that a problem?" I asked. I wasn't in the mood for a chase today. Besides, action was Eon's thing.

"He dog-ears them!" Milo cried. "And he licks his finger whenever he turns the page!"

"Okay, that's a problem. The chase is on." Fishing around for a moment, I found the snap in the back of my skirt, clicking the miniscule lever and throwing the poofy mess on my bed. Thank god for leggings.

Milo and I ran off into the halls in search of the dog-earing Kyle. We caught him hiding in a tree.

"Ha-ha, betcha can't get me up here! Losers," he taunted. Then he stiffened, eyes wide, as a rope looped itself around his torso and yanked him out of the tree, sending him flying into a nearby leaf pile for a soft landing.

I was holding the other end of the rope. Milo politely clapped. I was afraid I'd gone a little too far into Eon's skillset on castle grounds until Kyle sat up, smiling from ear to ear and laughing hysterically.

"That was great! I had no idea you could do that! I don't even know what that was, actually, but it was awesome!" Kyle cried. "Also, there's a slug stuck to my hand."

"Please don't show us," I quickly replied.

"Also stop dog-earing my books!" Milo shouted. "You hurt them!"

"Books feel pain?" Kyle asked innocently.

"They don't, but their owner does, and so will you if you won't be nice to them!" Milo raised a garden rake, prepared to bonk Kyle over the head with it. Hey, where did he get that?

I grabbed the handle of the rake, swinging it around and twisting it out of Milo's grip as I tossed it into the shed. "No maiming."

Kyle cheered, throwing his arms-and the slug-up in the air. Great.

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, a text in the Hunters' group chat. A new mission!

"Clean up the yard, I've got important work to do," I shouted at my brothers as I sprinted back to the castle to change, hearing their collective groans of annoyance. I'm the oldest, though, so whatever I say goes until our father comes back from whatever business trip he's on right now in the Bahamas. Yeah, that's totally a business trip and in no way a desperate escape from the responsibilities of ruling an entire kingdom.

Ten minutes later, I was ready. My hair was tied back in a comfy bun, and I was wearing an all-black outfit with pockets everywhere. Never know what you might have to hold or hide! My usually amber eyes were now a pretty emerald green, courtesy of colored contacts. I wasn't Emiko anymore. I was Eon, and I had a target to catch and a paycheck to earn.

So I took the first subway out of town I could find. All it took was a quick flash of my hunter's badge and I was in. Most of the workers know me well enough to not kick me off, and those who didn't would learn sooner or later.

Us bounty hunters primarily work in the Underground. Not underground. The Underground, and based on the photo I've been sent, I was chasing one of my kind. The "gone rogue" stereotype. Third time this month.

Luckily, he left his phone location on, the absolute idiot. Second time this month. I tracked him down to a shady back alley, probably selling drugs or illegal firearms like most of us do. While it seems like a cliche place to do work, there are so many of them the royal guards are bound to miss a few.

When I arrived at the alley, however, it was empty. A thick layer of dust covered every surface, with the exception of a few footprints. They stopped abruptly, though, as if the owner had jumped and never landed.

A trap. Shoot.

I felt a needle stab itself into the side of my neck, then the sound of an automatic plunger being depressed. I ripped out the dart, but the damage had already been done. I felt drowsy.

"A tranq dart? Really? That's the best you got, you fricking...cowards..." My body hit the ground with a thump, but I barely felt it.

Darkness closed its jaws around my mind.