The Assassin and the King

Chapter 9

The guards who were loyal to the king formed a circle around the captive assassin who took part in the murder of their king. These guards were intelligent and meticulous, and they knew just the right places to cut without letting him bleed to death. They wanted his actions to be thoroughly punished before he was killed.

The assassin's two companions were both female. The one who appeared to be the leader had been captured by the King of Assassins himself, which meant she would be going through more punishment than the boy was. These guards trusted the King of Assassins, because he had been friends with their king. He would take care of the girl's treason. The other girl had run, and no one seemed to catch a glimpse of her, but they knew they would find her eventually. Especially with this boy in their control. He was the one they were sure they had right, because the King of Assassins confirmed his identity.

The guards had their specific orders. They were to cut the fatal slice at midnight exactly. Why this was, they weren't sure, but they never questioned orders.

What they weren't accounting for was the arrival of Queen Isabelle, and her surprising orders for them to stop.

"As the single ruling monarch in this building, I command you to stop!" She announced, stepping through the doors into the throne room. Her husband's body still lay limp on the floor, and the assassin lay nearby, still conscious, but unable to move due to the wounds.

The guards were pleased by this. He had screamed at first, but eventually, they had gotten him to just give up. He would just lay there and let them cut him, because he knew the end was inevitable.

"Milady, we have strict orders that we are not to disobey." The guard who had seemed to taken up the position of head guard said, bowing to her.

"From whom may I ask?" She asked. Her posh manner still stood, even in her commanding state.

"The king, Milady." The guard said.

"The king is dead. His power has been revoked." The queen said.

"I'm sorry Milady, but we must continue." The guard said, looking at the clock tower out the window.

He reached for the knife on the table once again, but soon found a knife pinning his own hand to the table. He gave a yelp of terror and pain.

"I'm sorry, but I thought I gave you an order." The queen said, false innocence dripping in her elegant voice.

She turned to the other guards, her red velvet cloak shifting to reveal that she had a long line of jewel encrusted daggers on her bandolier. She drew two of them, making the other guards look nervous, making them step back a bit.

"Would anyone like to question my authority?" The queen asked.

Nobody said anything.

"How lovely!" She said. "Oh, it's midnight. I do believe that there was something you were supposed to do by then, correct? Well, I do hope that goes well for you."

She ripped her dagger out of the head guard's hand, wiped the blood off on his shirt, tucked it back into her bandolier, and gave them the queen's wave as she exited the throne room.

Just as Laurel appeared, angrier than ever.

The guards didn't stand a chance.

The guard who was still whimpering over his hand was beheaded in one swift swipe of a blade. Another was stabbed through the gut, and two others found themselves with throwing knives directly in their hearts, and another smack dab in the middle of his eyes.

A dozen dead guards later, Laurel was kneeling at Spencer's side. There wasn't a piece of his body that wasn't bloody, mangled, or raw. The only thing they seem to have left unscathed was his face.

Laurel pulled of her tunic, and started ripping it to shreds. She carefully pulled Spencer's head onto her lap, and started wrapping the strips around every part of him she possibly could.

He was looking up at her with a defeated look in his eyes, and she hadn't even realized she was crying until she was bawling. Then she was screaming for help, and begging him to stay with her through the hot tears, and his eyes were loosing focus.

"Laurel!" Oletha rushed into the room, stopping abruptly at the sight. There was blood everywhere.

"I need a healer! Now!" Laurel croaked.

"What should I do?" Oletha asked.

"Get Gabriel." Laurel said, making up her mind. "Have him get a healer, and then come back here."

"I don't know if Gabriel is on our side!" Oletha fretted.

"Oletha, go get Gabriel now. He will help us. He's my brother." Laurel said. "Go, now."

Oletha looked shocked, took a few steps back, and then ran out of there as fast as she could.

Laurel felt like she waited for years, decades, centuries. Just sitting there with Spencer, who kept dipping in and out of consciousness.

Laurel somehow found herself sitting limply on the bloodstained tiles, being held by Gabirel. She vaguely remembered fighting to stay at Spencer's side before Gabriel pulled her away from him.

Oletha was nervously helping the blonde healer, Ellette, and Laurel was reminded of Oletha's blonde little sister, who Oletha had said wanted to be a healer.

Laurel heard Ellette tell Oletha that they were going to have to move Spencer to the Healers' Ward, but they had to be careful so as to not cause internal bleeding. Laurel wanted to scream no. She didn't want them to move him; she wanted them to fix him right now, and not cause any problems. But she couldn't seem to speak, and her focus was off, as if she were drifting off into sleep.