The Assassin and the King

Chapter 1

Laurel Renier smirked to herself as she strode silently through the woods, her long, dark cloak billowing behind her. That was the third corrupt Lord she had assassinated this week, and she was happily anticipating the next morning when his servants found his headless body still laying in the sheets.

Although that sounds grim, Laurel never minded bringing tokens back to her employers. The blood was never a problem for her, of course, although summers were rough if she had to travel a long way, since the heat increased the potent stench of decay.

What she did mind was assassinating the innocent. She never took jobs that involved the assassination of children, and always pushed for a solid reason as to why the victim was soiling this land. Lords were high on her list, given the fact that they were all no good Bardolphus-lovers. Anyone with any sanity knew that the king was a villainous tyrant, ruling over people who were lucky if they had a good meal once a week. Like the king would care. All he ever did was collect more slaves, buy more land and send for innocent lives to be taken.

And that was exactly why he was Laurel's main target. Yes, it would take work, and maybe a few years, but she wasn't known as the most notorious assassin in all of Erilan for no reason. What amused her most was that most people didn't realize that she was only eighteen, but was still the best of the best. Oh, wouldn't it be great to get her hands on the king, and show him who she really was. But that would have to wait.

Laurel's keen ears picked up on a snap of a twig, and she silently stepped into the shadows, her hand resting on one of the hidden blades.

She could tell that the twig wasn't snapped by a deer or small animal. It was definitely a human. Likely female, but she wasn't ruling out a small male.

And that's when she found herself face to face with an arrow.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were large game. I didn't know anyone else went this deep into the woods this early."

The girl in front of Laurel lowered her bow, and Laurel loosened her stance, but didn't take her hand off of the concealed blade.

"That makes two of us." Laurel said casually, stepping around the girl to slip away before she noticed any of the weapons she carried. If only she had been more discreet about it! But no, she just had to go for the gold encrusted knives this time.

"I'm Oletha, by the way. Oletha Linnet. Do you want to hunt with me? I don't usually take a partner, but game seems scarce today, and if we work together we can find food more easily. I know you might not want to share the rations, but I won't bother you. I just have to get something home to my mother and sister. I have to do all the hunting now, since my father died, and my sister is too young. She's fourteen. But she can learn soon. I'll teach her. She might not be too good, though. She prefers working with herbs and things. I think she'll be a healer when she's older."

Geez, this girl talked a lot. And she wouldn't leave Laurel alone. All she wanted to do was get out of here, and get back to the Assassin's Keep.

Laurel sighed, and pulled her hood off, hoping that loosening the slack in her cloak would hide the knives better.

"Ooh, I love your hair! I've been trying to find a braid that would keep my hair out of my face better when I'm hunting. Do you think you can teach me how to do that? Wait, I didn't ask you your name. I'm sorry." Oletha exclaimed. The girl was shorter than Laurel by a few inches, and she looked younger. Maybe sixteen. Laurel could easily take her if she had to, except this girl did nothing but talk too much. Laurel silently cursed her moral code.

"That's okay." She said, not giving anything away.

"So, what's your name?" Oletha asked.

"Corliss Delaenia." Laurel lied, using one of her fake aliases.

"Alright, Corliss. We should get to the hunting part. We're wasting time." Oletha said.

Laurel rolled her eyes, but pulled out her bow anyway.

Oletha's eyes bulged at the sleek black bow, and the silver tipped arrows, and Laurel realized that she really needed to get out of here.

"Whoa! I didn't realize you had that kind of money! I mean, I saw your cloak, which looks pretty expensive, but you can't possibly live near here with that money."

Laurel cleared her throat.

"They were gifts." She said. It wasn't a lie. The King of Assassins, who trained her since she was a child, gave her both the cloak and the bow.

"From a client?" Oletha asked quietly.

"What?" Laurel asked.

"Is your clientele the Lords and wealthy merchants? They have to be. Your madam must be proud of you." Oletha said.

Laurel raised her eyebrows in surprise. This girl thought she was a courtesan! Sure, courtesans roamed the Keep along with the other assassins, and they weren't the cheep kind either, but Laurel never liked them. They always thought they were better than Laurel, especially Linden, who was a favorite of the Madam who was friends with the King of Assassins. The term "friends" is used quite lightly here.

Long story short, Linden was constantly vying for the attention of Laurel's fellow assassin and occasional partner, Spencer. For reasons Laurel wouldn't admit, this did not put Linden in good terms with her. Especially since it was very clearly on purpose.

"I am not a courtesan." Laurel snapped at the girl.

"Oh. Well, whoever gave that to you must really like you." Oletha said.

That's for sure. The best got treated generously by the King of Assassins.

"I hear something." Laurel breathed, drawing her bowstring.

Oletha did the same, and soon, two does and a buck emerged from the brush.

The bowstrings snapped at the same time, and soon there were two deer laying dead with arrows through the heart. The other doe tried to run away, but Oletha got her moments later.

"This is amazing!" Oletha beamed. "I have never been this lucky with game! You must come home with me. My mother makes amazing stew out of venison, and we would be happy to have you eat with us."

"Uh, that's really nice, but I really have to get back to-"

"Please? Just for a while? You need to teach me that braid." Oletha pleaded.

Laurel sighed.

"Alright, fine. I'll come for just a while."