Bloodied Lilies

Chapter 11

Adelia pulled her blade out of the assassin's stomach. She had spilled a touch too much blood tonight. There had been three of them, all with a decent amount of skill, and it had taken her longer than anticipated to take them all out.

More and more were appearing each night. Adelia was relieved Wildflower hadn't shown up yet. All of the lesser assassins could be picked off if she had enough time but Wildflower knew all the tricks of the trade. She was also someone from Blood Moon so she knew what Adelia's style of killing was like.

Adelia had lured them into the woods surrounding the manor to help hide the evidence. Blood was easier to deal with on soil than on stone. She wiped her blade with one of the assassins' cloaks and wrapped it back in its silk. She'd clean it properly later.

A rustle in the leaves had her spinning towards the sound, her blade poised as its silk wrap fluttered to the ground. The darkness shivered in the dim moonlight and the leafy trees looked menacing with their jagged bark and clawed branches. A mass of black emerged from the bushes, tinged with golden emblems. Two bright eyes of different colours peered out of the dark. Fae.

He stood as still as a statue when he saw her. They both stared at each other, unblinking.

"I smelt blood," Fae eventually explained. He looked down at the bodies. "Who?"

"Assassins."

"After Leo?"

"Yes."

Fae moved his gaze back to Adelia. "I'll help."

"Help?"

"Cleaning up."

"Ah. Thank you." She would need it with three kills, otherwise she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

Fae was stronger than Adelia so the process went quickly and they dug a deep grave to dump the three of them in. The Arethan forest was fast becoming a burial ground for assassins. She wondered what would happen if anyone were to dig up the grounds later on. It was good fertiliser at least.

They parted with wordless nods and both headed into the manor. Fae took a window on the ground floor – which was probably his room – and Adelia had to scale the wall back to her own room. She wouldn't disturb anyone if she used her balcony as her exit and entrance.

In the morning, everyone moved about like Viscount Royce's visit two days ago never happened. No one mentioned him and the parlourmaid had taken the week off, but it was more likely she would never return.

Adelia was making her way to the library after breakfast when she overheard two people speaking around the corner.

"But the master will be mad," said Reeves' nervous voice.

"How many times have you done this before?" That firmer tone Adelia recognised as Alcoy.

"Twenty-seven."

"See, you're still alive. That means you're not going to die this time."

"But it's been twenty-seven times. It's already so much. He had someone killed the other day because he bothered him too much."

She heard Alcoy sigh. "The master likes you – that's why you're serving here. You'll be okay."

Adelia turned the corner to see Alcoy ruffle Reeves' hair fondly. She finally figured out why his hair was always so unruly.

"Milady!" they both yelped in unison upon seeing her, jumping away from each other.

"We weren't slacking off," Reeves said quickly.