The Assassin Of Lore

VII

Mitchell Harmon lead me through a series of winding corridors. I ignored the pain surging through my torso as I walked, trying to show that I wasn't as weak as they thought I was. The rooms and corridors we passed were similar to those of The Fellenhoods keep, but lacked the sense of home and familiarity that I'd once felt. Instead, the air around me seemed colder and crueller, matching the assassins that lived there. We passed many gawking faces - not many people were seen walking around with their guildmaster, so it seemed from the looks they gave me. Jealousy, anger, and plain curiosity mixed into one. The white-haired stranger, Artemis, was no where to be seen.

Harmon led me outside the doors of the mansion and around the back to a stable. Separated by stable pens, three black horses, one brown one and two white horses chewed on hay and stomped their feet every so often. As we walked closer, the stench of horse droppings became apparent. Nevertheless, I followed the guildmaster even as he walked up to the only door that was completely shut, the one at the end. He smacked on the door. A moment later, a small blonde-haired boy opened the door, poking only his head out for a moment.

"Aurour,"-he looked down to the small boy-"Meet Ollie."

The boy, whose name I now knew was Ollie, poked his hand out of the gap in the door, waved awkwardly at me, and I gave a short wave back.

"You'll be working with Ollie here," Harmon carried on explaining. "Every morning, at dawn, you'll come down to the stable-"

"I'm sorry," I laughed. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I must have misheard you. I thought you said I'd be working here, with Ollie, in the stables."

"I did say that." Harmon replied, clearly not as amused as Ollie seemed to be, from the small giggles that came out of the little stable boy's mouth.. "Go on, then. I was going to show you where your room is, but I suppose we'll just have to wait now."

"Do I at least get to train in the training rooms and grounds?" I asked.

"No," the guildmaster replied. "Not yet. You have to prove yourself worthy, first. You'll do this by making a good effort with Ollie."

'Unbelievable.' I thought. 'Even after that damn injury that silver-haired Artemis guy gave me, he can't give me a little bit of lee way.'

The young stable boy trotted over to me, holding a bucket in his muddied hands. "Here," He looked down at the floor, as if he were too shy to look at my face. Had he done this before, and had that person lashed out at him? "The white horses need washing. Fill it with water, and I'll give you a brush."

I looked around the stables, finding nothing but horse muck and extra buckets. I sighed. There was nothing that looked even remotely like it was going to let me pour water from it. The ground itself had no grass on it, so there would be no liquid - it was paved with cobblestones and dirt as dry as the Cursed Wastes of the South. I'd never visited the Wastes before, but from what I had heard about it, the only things that could live there were ghosts of the town that once thrived in the south country. 

Bored of searching for a well, tap or pump, I decided to accept defeat and ask the stable boy for help. "Ollie," I asked him. He looked up at me with eyes that were so large they could have been mistaken for a baby's - they seemed somewhat fearful, yet curious. He couldn't have been much older than thirteen years old - just how exactly did he end up in this mess with The Bloodbrands? I had no clue how a child would have joined such a hideous group of people. I pushed those questions out of my mind for now, and instead focused on asking the more important, current question. "Where exactly am I meant to fill this up from?"

Ollie's features set into what seemed like relief. He let out a heavy sigh before replying to me. "There's a pump around the back of the stable," He gave a half smile, as if he expected me to ask a worse question. "I'll show you how to use it, it's a little bit stiff."