Assassin [#ProjectWomanUp]

Chapter Ten: Slave Again

"So, Analise agreed to it?"

"Well, yeah, but she's a little... broken."

"What do you mean... broken?"

Eliza sighed. "She grew up a slave, May. That's probably why you saw her as so perfect for the role."

May nodded. "The poor girl. She probably wasn't so happy about the assigment."

"She vowed to never return."

"Ah... that would definitely complicate things."

Eliza sighed. "I don't want to do this to her."

"It needs to be done. And besides, she'll have her weapons–"

"You didn't say anything about that!"

"I thought it was a given!"

"May, weapons could give away her identity, and hers aren't quite so easy to hide. If Asterodea discovers them, Analise could be interrogated and killed."

May pursed her lips. "Yeah, that could complicate things."

"This isn't a joke!"

"All right, all right."

Eliza put her hands over her face. "I'm terrified."

"It'll be all–"

"No, May. Consider everything that could go wrong. Analise could make a false move. H–Asterodea might discover her." I might call her Holly. She might see through my disguise. Of course, she didn't say the last part out loud. Hollene and Eliza's connection must remain secret, lest she jeopardize the mission.

Eliza shook her head. "I'm sorry. I need to blow off some steam."

May smirked. "And by that do you mean reducing all the training dummies to splinters?"

Eliza smiled faintly in return. "You know me too well."

~~~

Eliza tossed her last knife at the last remaining dummy. "Holly, Holly, Holly! Why?"

She couldn't hold back any longer. She fell to the ground and let the tears flow. "Holly, why? Why did you do this?" she sobbed.

Slowly, her despair turned to rage, which led to another destroyed training dummy.

"I'll have to leave a note for Grace," she muttered. Rage coursed through her veins. She could feel the power, the fire. She felt that she could do anything.

Killing Hollene included.

~~~

"Are you ready?"

Analise was readying herself for the mission. Currently she was staring blankly at the wall.

"Lisa?"

Analise brought herself back to reality. "Sorry."

Eliza watched her, empathy in her eyes. "I can't imagine what you're going through right now. But it needs to be done. Here." Eliza grabbed a knife from her collection. Its sheath was peculiar; it looked as if it could be strapped to one's forearm.

"I'm not a Scout," Analise said.

"You don't need to be. Scouts spend their whole training learning to wield them — that's why we're the rarest. But one does not need to be skilled with a knife to merely defend themself. It's simple, see? If you can't kill, aim for the fleshy parts of the arms and legs. It's really painful."