In The Mist of Shadows

Chpt. 1

The air turned cold. The way it always does when another life falls. Maybe she was the only one who could feel it but it was definitely there. The chill. 

Her hands were soaked as his warm blood spilled on them. It was the only warm thing about this man. He had a triple ranking, stole money from innocents, forced females to sleep with him, got into multiple brawls where he clearly knew he was going to win but showed them the full force of his strength anyways. But did he deserve to die?

Of course he did. 

But formally, being brought to justice for his crimes. Not from some assassin who was given a sack of gold for his name to be crossed off the list. But she forced herself to meet the females he forced, how they were forever scarred. Some of them were so fear-ridden that they refused to leave their homes. And it was their faces and tears that got her through it. Now, how was she going to dispose of the body? How was she going to get the blood stain off her skin? It always stayed for a day or so. It made her own blood curdle.

She looked each way of the alleyway and decided on the river. It was a fast moving river that flowed through the forgotten forests. Surely the animals will leave him unrecognizable. But even if someone found him before hand, no one dared cross paths with Ells most feared assassin. She saw it in there faces as she knocked on the doors to their homes. Their fear was originally because of her.

It took her roughly an hour to drag his body to the river side and far enough in that it began to flow along with it. She thought about how she loved rivers for that reason, they're always flowing. And you can never be in the same water twice. So she let the man and his death flow along the river, to be forever forgotten.... 

Until she fell asleep. They always came to her in her sleep, sometimes she would skip sleep entirely because of it.

She walked back to her kingdoms castle, slowly. There was no rush to be honest, the second the sack of gold hit her palms she would feel immense guilt. She always felt it, in her chest, in her bones, in her soul. It stained her soul. Forever. She gave most of the money she got for her killings to others who were so poor they lived in the streets of skeezy places no one dared to go. This time she would probably do the same. But tomorrow. Tonight, tonight she was so exhausted, and not just from the fight he gave. But because the nights leading up to their deaths always haunted her. She knew they were going to die, knew they were going to die because of her. And here they were thinking they had all the time in the world. 

When she got to the castle grounds none of the guards stopped her as she walked up to the stairs. They didn't even flinch at the blood that covered her hands, arms, and splattered on her face. But when she met the stairs leading up the castle she saw him. His face was hidden in shadow from the moonlight being behind him but she knew his body, the way he stood. They have been friends since they were teenagers, she knew everything about him. She took a moment to take a deep breath before walking up the stairs, counting them as she went up and when she reached him, the captain of her father's guards, she again took another breath.

"He's waiting for you in his private wing." Roen spoke.

"Can't this wait until tomorrow?" She pushed past him and started towards her room. But his hand caught her arm, not flinching at the blood that was now in his own hands. 

"No." The simple word gave her a whole new wave of exhaustion but she nodded and followed him.

His privet wing. It was bigger than any townhouse in his kingdom. He kept to this side of the castle most of the times. Doing what? Adela didn't know. She didn't want to know. She stopped taking any interest in him after that night.

It was cold, winter in full affect. Her mother was brushing her hair, her fingers surely cramping from old age. But every time Adela told her she was fine with brushing her own hair because of that fact she insisted to do it. In this time she would sing, songs she never heard before in Ells. They were songs of strong warriors, winged like her and her mother. The songs were of battle, family that was deeper connected than blood.