Valkyrie's Judgment

Chapter 9

To her surprise Shaw hadn’t thrown her out as soon as she was able to get up. Instead he had let her stay in the inn room, while she recovered.

He was gone most of the time. Where, she didn’t know, and didn’t dare ask. She had a feeling she wouldn’t like the answer.

But he checked in on her every day. He brought her food, changed her bandages and cleaned her wounds. In the beginning he didn’t talk to her much, but as the days went by, he began to start small conversations every time he visited her.

It was never anything important. Just simple things as how her recovery was going and trivial small talk. But it made Aeliss feel at ease. It was hard to think about the fact that this man murdered people for a living, when he acted so normally around her.

Almost two weeks had gone by now and most of her injuries were gone. Her ribs were still sore, and it hurt when she breathed too deeply, but she was slowly starting to recover fully.

She was standing looking out the window, when Shaw entered the room.

“Hey there, girl.” He said, as he walked into the room and put down the plates with food he had brought. Even though Aeliss had long since told him her name, he still insisted on calling her ‘girl’.

“Come and eat something. You’re almost nothing but skin and bones, you know.”

Aeliss complied, even though she didn’t feel like eating. She had something she wanted to ask him, but she didn’t know how to bring it up.

Luckily she didn’t have to. They sat eating in silence for a while, before Shaw brought it up himself.

“You’re almost healed.” He said simply. Aeliss nodded mutely. She knew what was coming. Soon she would be on her own again. She had nowhere to go from here.

“What are you going to do now?” He asked. He was looking at her intensely, and Aeliss got the feeling that he looked right through her.

“I don’t know.” She said. It was the truth. The months before she had been saved by Shaw, she had just wandered from place to place. She had worked different jobs to get by, but she would never stay in one place long enough to actually create a life.

“No home to return to?” Shaw asked. He took a swig of something she was pretty sure wasn’t water. He acted so indifferent that they might as well have been talking about the weather.

She thought about the Wryngarde mansion. The place where she had grown up with her brother. The place where she had seen the bodies of her parents after they had been murdered…

No. That place hadn’t been home in a long time.

“No.” She said. “Nowhere to return to.”

Shaw watched her thoughtfully. She prepared herself for the question about why she couldn’t go back home, but it didn’t come. Instead he surprised her with the next words that left his mouth.

“I have been looking for an apprentice.”

‘What?’ Was the only thought that crossed her mind. Was he implying what she thought he was?

“Close your mouth, girl. You’re catching flies.” Shaw said, as if he hadn’t just given her such an offer. Aeliss just stared at him mutely.

“You know what I am, don’t you?” He asked. This was the first time he had ever brought up his profession. What he really was asking was: You know I’m a murderer, right?

She considered lying. If he thought that she didn’t know about what he did, he might let her leave. But as she looked into his eyes, she knew she couldn’t. He would look right through her.

“Yes.” She answered his question simply. She looked him in the eye, stubbornly refusing to blink.

He held her eyes. “I’m the best at what I do. You should consider it an honor to be offered an apprenticeship by me.”

‘Not really the profession I thought I would be in…’ She thought to herself. “Why me?” She asked out loud. “I’m just a girl. And I got no fighting training. I’m not suited.”

“I decide who’s suited or not.” Shaw said, leaving no room to argue. “And do you really think physical strength is what it takes to become an assassin?”

It was the first time he had said it out loud. Assassin.

Aeliss didn’t answer. She drew a deep breath, before saying something that might get her killed. “I’m not a murderer.”

To her surprise, Shaw let out a deep chuckle. “Murderer? You believe an assassin is a murderer?” He asked her. She looked at him in confusion.

“If a man with a sword kills another man, was it the sword or the man behind it that killed?”He asked, watching her intently.

“We merely do the deed.” He continued. “The murderers are the ones that hire us. To an assassin, it’s just a job.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. Deep down she saw his logic, but she couldn’t bring herself to condone what he did. It just wasn’t right…

She felt Shaw’s eyes boring into her. She knew he was expecting something from her, but she didn’t know what.

“Do you want to be a victim for the rest of your life?” He asked her. “There won’t be anyone to save you next time. The only one you can rely on to save you is yourself.”

She heard the truth in his words. She had thought she was done being terrorized by others when she left her old life, but the truth was that even though her life had changed, she hadn’t. She had not been able to defend herself against those thugs, just as she hadn’t been able to stand up against her grandfather.

She ran a hand through her short hair. Hadn’t she cut it because she wanted to change?

“I can give you the strength you need.” Shaw said.

Aeliss looked up at him. He was offering her exactly what she wanted. A change to leave her old self behind. But could she accept the price?

She would become an assassin. A murderer…

Something flashed through her mind. The cold look on her grandfather’s face as she lay battered on the floor. The surge of hatred coursing through her veins. And the desire to kill him…

Shaw was right. She didn’t want to be a victim ever again.

Making her decision, she looked him right in the eye.

“I accept.”