Scars of Blades

9

The palace is huge and to no surprise the inside is furnished and painted in all white inside as well.

Not that I'm on the inside anyway.

With Conrad above me we scale the outside shingling effortlessly up to the Kings balcony. Every once in a whale I'm able to glance into a window seeing the inside.

Up here the wind is ruthless.

My shoulder aching in a way I've told myself is pleasant, the poison and weapons strapped to me aren't helping.

I reach up for a white shingle of the castle,but to my shock it comes off. The wind takes away all sound of my scream as I lose both my grip and my footing falling backwards.

In the split second before falling I force myself to stay calm positioning my body so when I fall I scrape against the siding. I dig into the building with my fingernails forcing myself not to feel the pain in several of them cracking down the middle and one even coming off.

"There's no time to catch your breath."

I look up to see Conrad hasn't even bothered looking down to see if I'm alright.

Not letting myself ponder this I force myself to begin moving up the side once more.

I've never gone on a mission during the middle hours of early morning and I feel with every movement that a crossbow arrow is going to find its way through my tight armor even though I know that all of the guards have been apprehended, I don't bother to think how.

After what feels like forever we reach the balcony to the kings chambers, blood trickles down my arm from my cracked nails.

Conrad takes his lovely time climbing over and my arms I have to take deep breaths from carrying both Conrad and my own weapons.

Conrad doesn't reach an arm down for me so using pure will power I muscle my way up.

My breath comes out in short ragged gasps.

"You're getting clumsy, once I take the throne I don't believe you will be resizing my star spot anymore."

I purse my lips knowing he doesn't want a response.

He looks at me over,"maybe I will consider you once you lose a little weight, you're getting fat, Jax might lose his interest as well."

At this moment I'd gladly let Jax put an arrow through this man's heart.

It takes everything in me not to try to kill him right there.

This time when I speak my words aren't ragged because I'm out of breath,"I don't believe this is time for this conversation."

"I've learned to enjoy killing. Maybe this will help you. Prolonging the anticipation."

All I let myself do is nod and think about how in a few hours all that this man has ever worked for will die,"you're probably right."

"Correction, I am right."

Not meeting his eyes I simply nod.

There's a moment of silence. I feel his eyes burning into me before I finally meet his gaze. He gives me a smirking smile as he leans back against the balcony looking at the door to the Kings bedchamber.

He prolongs the moment before giving me the signal.

I pull my hood over my face and silently move to the doors.

Predictably the doors are locked.

"Open the door for me once inside." Conrad says leaning against the balcony edge.

Instead of picking the lock like an amateur I haul myself up to the small ledge above the door where a small window is unlocked I push it down more slipping into the large dark room filled with the sound of breathing.

Still perched on the small ledge inside of the room I look down at the couple sleeping in the bed.

Despite hearing about him for years and visiting his house regularly I've never acutely seen the King up close before.

He's a rather fat man the same age as Conrad but not even close to as handsome, with his gray hair full of bald splotches, and wrinkled skin.

The woman next to him however looks at least ten years younger, with a ripe complexion and long golden hair twisted in the man's fingers.

The King's first wife who gave birth to Tay, died eight years ago after the King had her killed so he could blame it on Conrad. The fact that it enabled him to be with a much younger woman, who he never bothered marrying, didn't hurt either..

Slipping down from my perch I walk to the bed. I know Conrad is waiting for me to open the door for him but I know if I do he'll have me kill this innocent woman as well.

Just like I did with Tay I take out my small pill of nightlock, breaking it and feeding her just enough to put her out for a few hours.

After the nightlock is in her system I do the same to the King, screw what Conrad will say.

Using all of my strength I haul her body off of the bed trying to be as silent as possible as I stuff her in their large closet.

Finally, finally with the King drugged and asleep I open the door for Conrad.

He struts in as though this is his own bedchamber and I've been using it for a little too long.

"I got stuck on the ledge." I lie, seeing he's about to ask why I took ages.

His face contorts,"Lose weight and you won't get stuck anymore."

Don't hurt him, Isha.

Don't.

Conrad takes a deep breath,"This is what power smells like, breathe it in."

I hold my breath.

With controlled movements I follow Conrad to loom above the drugged sleeping man.

"What would you like to use?" I ask him, motioning to the weapons on my back while simultaneously ignoring the deep pit in my stomach.

For the briefest of moments something flashes in Conrad's eyes that I've never seen on his face before, it looks like...Fear.

He's afraid of actually doing dirty work himself.

He's a coward.

That's all you are Conrad, I think, a coward and a bully.

"I am going to watch." He says replacing fear with malice.

I don't bother to argue, but I also don't bother to argue with the fear and guilt I feel every time before a kill.

"Wait," Conrad commands quietly,"wake him first."

I know for a fact that with the nightlock in his veins he won't wake up.

But I can't let Conrad know this.

So before Conrad can somehow wake him and bully him into a fearful, painful death, I stab the blades deep into his breathing chest.

Conrad goes dead quite as I pull my blades out of his chest.

For some reason I'm not afraid of the misery I'm about to deal with from Conrad. There's an odd sort of fredom I feel at disobeying Conrad for the first time.

Not everybody can walk through hell and survive. But I'm not everybody so I'm going to do it with a smile.

Sometimes quiet is more dangerous than yelling.
Anticipation for what Conrads going to do to me after disobeying him follows me back down the edge of the building.

I'm still waiting as Conrad tells all of the remaining troops to attack Castle just after we get the news of the King's death, then everybody will be weak and it will be easy to take control.

After everybody's sitting back waiting Conrad tells me to come see him deeper in the woods.

Without words I follow.