An Assassins Crown

Chapter 27- Katara

I walked out of the tent still holding the ear muffs that had ended up on my head. No doubt Veary put them there. I had gotten out of there as soon as possible, trying to leave him before I wanted to stay longer than I already did.

I find my way back to my bed roll, weaving my way through the tired bodies of the waking up soldiers. Some already walk around the camp packing up. I lean down in front of my bed roll and pack it up, stuffing the ear muffs in there too.

Hopefully Verian doesn't miss those.

I gather the bed roll in my arms and walk through the crowded space covered in Linury and human soldiers. My eyes dart around looking for the familiar blue or purple of either Fern or Roy. My eyes snag on Roy's unmistakable dark purple hair. I walk over placing a hand on his shoulder causing him to turn around.

"Where's Fern?" I ask.

"Right here!" Fern's bubbly voice floats through the air as she pops out from behind him.

At a second's notice my wrists snap together behind my back, before my bed roll can completely drop to the ground I kick it back up with my knee and catch one of the strings in my mouth. I taste dirt from the ground.

A guard pushes forward and I'm stumbling into a carriage behind Fern. I'm shoved into a corner seat which in my opinion is one of the better places to be. You can rest your head on the wall and you've got a little bit more space. I drop the bed roll from my mouth letting it fall from my mouth. Fern and Roy sit on either side of me.

Her sweet face seems to have fallen which only makes my heart ache. Roy's eyes find mine, I keep my eyes on his face as he looks at my bandaged and bruised body. "What happened?" His voice was full of confusion and concern.

"A.." I pause for a moment not looking at him as I stare daggers to the floor boards beneath us, "A poor choice". His confusion is evident but he concludes not to press any further.

For hours I stare straight ahead to the ground, my gaze murderous. I sit there in silence except for my quiet breathing. Small chatter floats around me, the only thing pulling me out of my trance-like state is Fern's head on my shoulder. My head snaps to Fern where my gaze is filled with her shimmering blue hair. My heart seems to soften at the sight of such an innocent soul.

She closes her eyes for a moment relaxing on my shoulder before opening them again and sitting back up to meet my eyes. "See, she look less murderous now" Fern looks at Roy.

He nods, "Yeah. I guess your plan worked", they had been talking? How did I not realise?

I look between them several times, my eyes cold but welcoming at the same time. I lean back in my seat again looking up at the roof my body groaning from how uncomfortable this is. My arms are falling asleep and so are my legs I think. But I wouldn't know, they're numb.

The carriage rolled to a stop, I dragged my head back to stare straight ahead.

"Get moving" one of the guards says in a less than pleasant tone. I close my teeth around a strap on my bed roll and try to stand but my legs wobble and I fall back down on my ass. A groan of pain comes from me once I land on the wooden bench I was sitting on.

A guard comes to me and yells in my face something inaudible. I look at him with cold eyes almost daring him to go on.

Once I finished bouncing my legs that I had been doing for several minutes, they regained life. The deadness was reduced to a dull pins and needles. As the guard gets closer to my face almost spitting at me I wrap my legs around his knees and pull them forward causing him to fall forward.

Before he can fall on me I move to the side and stand up behind him. I kick him in the back causing another cry on pain from him. Hurrying myself out of the carriage I accidentally drop my bedroll. "Shit" I curse.

Raising my foot I kick it out of the carriage but it stops when it meets a foot. My eyes travel up the leg to meet one of the most intimidating men I had ever seen.

The soldier was still groan in pain, a bloodied and most likely broken nose from when he hit his face on the wood. I look back at the towering male figure.

Of course I'm not afraid. That would be stupid. But, being cautious isn't wrong.

So, to say I was cautious of this man would be an understatement.

"I come ahead of the King, and the first thing I see is a little girl getting the best of a soldier" his voice booms around me.

I scowl at his words, "I am not a little girl".

He yanks my hair causing my head to fall back "Then who are you?"

I look him dead in the eyes, my voice so quiet but so powerful "I am Katara Loro, Daughter of Maissa and Jone Loro. The most lethal assassin in all of Krilya". Through years of torturous training I earned my title. It was said when I was younger that I was a very powerful magic user. So powerful that I could invade minds and crush them, so powerful, that I could potentially bring the deceased back to life.

I am everything that a Linury would want. They want power and I have it. But I have always lacked one thing, the ability to hold back.

So, I sweep my leg behind the man still holding my hair and send him sprawling onto the ground. When I try to run out of the carriage he grabs my ankle causing me to fall and roll to dull the pain of my drop. He steps out of the carriage stopping in front of me, I stand back up raising my chin. Other soldiers get the comrade out of the carriage. I keep my eyes levelled with his despite the height difference.

People surround us, Linury and soldiers alike. "You insolent child" he tries to punch me but I easily dodge it by ducking. He pushes me on my chest, I choose not to block it as I'm sent back into a set of familiar arms. "Control your dog" the man practically growls.

Undeniable anger ripples through me, "I am not a-"

Verians hand over my mouth silences me "She is not a dog. And you would best treat her with the same respect you would give the king." I'm transferred to Milo's arms.

My head drowns out the rest of their conversation as I look at Milo "I do not need to be coddled".

"I know" he says lowly. "You need to be controlled. All you magical beings do".

His words send new waves of anger through me. "Linury" I correct him through clenched teeth. I kick at his shins but he easily blocks my attempt at an attack. He grabs my elbow and pulls me away from the forming crowd to the side of the gravel road near the trees lining the path. "What?" I hissed.

"You need to calm down Katara. You are being emotional" I raise my head my gaze laser focused on the planes of his face. He was right, I was being emotional. But after a lifetime of being told to feel nothing a person starts to break. Cracks in the soul that was created. "Better" Milo says after a while of my stoney silence. I didn't like this version of Milo. The version that seemed so cruel. But I guess people change themselves pretty often.

He continues to lead me away to where a different group of Linury and soldiers are, they sit on the ground mostly eating their lunch.