Crowns and Shadows

Chapter 2

The sun is slowly descending in the horizon, painting the world in various shades of orange, pink and purple. Siege is filled with music and colors for the celebration of Summer Night, a festival to welcome summer. People dancing, singing and drinking filled the square while streamers above them dance gently with the wind. It is a night for festivities, celebration, and drunken happiness but to Asteria, it is different.

She sat on top of a redwood branch hundred feet in the air with her bow made of Dragonscale in her hand, a rare metal that is light but durable, clad in black leather to keep her warm against the night breeze and a mask on her face that hid her honey-colored eyes with a thin veil on the eye holes. Finally, the carriage she's been waiting for appeared in the darkness, using the dirt road in the middle of the woods. With only one shot of her arrow, the driver dropped dead and the carriage stopped.

Francisco Camilo went out of the carriage and shook in fear upon seeing the fate of his driver. A smirk formed in Asteria's lips as the man quivered in fear and decided to play with him instead of letting the arrows do the deed. With a soft thud, she landed on the ground perfectly and soundlessly walked towards him, her dagger in her hand.

"Looking for me?" Asteria asked, playing with the dagger in her hand. He turned around, a sword in his shaky hands, eyes wide in fear. Asteria's eyebrows shot up in amusement and chuckled.
"W-Who are you?"
"I'm no one." With one swift move, she threw the dagger at him and it dug in his shoulder, red blood staining the navy blue coat he's wearing. "I actually think you're smart. Wanna know why?" She walked achingly  slow to his kneeling body and pulled his hair, giving her a closer look at him. "Because you left when everyone else is busy." Another dagger in his body, this time on his side, he cried out for her to stop but she did not. She just pushed the dagger deeper, eyes devoid of emotions. Looking into her eyes, Francisco felt like he's peering into the gates of hell, fire swirled steadily in her eyes but somehow as cold as ice.
"W-What do you want?" he asked between his ragged breaths, clearly struggling and Asteria smiled even though she knew he couldn't see it. "I-I will pay you!!"
"Too bad. Your wife paid me handsomely," she replied, shrugging nonchalantly. When realization hit him,  that is when the dagger slit his throat, blood spraying on Asteria's face but she didn't flinch and just let his body drop on the ground and walked to the carriage.

Asteria pulled the door forcefully and immediately stabbed the woman inside on her neck. Her necklace caught her attention so she took it, along with the books lying in the carriage and the gold in her pockets. Asteria went back to Francisco's body and took anything valuable from him, his bloody pocket watch, his rings, his money,  cuffs, and pin before walking away, into the forest.

The key around her neck made the guards and the man behind the counter look away from her when she emerged from one of the hidden passages. She made her way up to the second floor, the guards ignoring her and knocked on a door. With one swift movement, the door opened and she let herself in. Brigand is standing by the window, his hands folded behind him.

"Asteria," he said and his eyes moved to the sack in her hands and back to her blood-splattered face. "Enjoyed it?" the assassin just shrugged and pulled out Francisco's pocketwatch, pins, cuffs and the woman's necklace, all of it a proof of the deed and placed it on his table. Lastly, she pulled out his severed hand and let the head remain in the sack. Her hands are already full.
"Didn't really enjoyed it. He reeked of fear," she said and looked at the rings, each one cost a hundred gold coins at the least.
"Your payment will be in your bank before dawn." she nodded and put the hand back inside the sack. "I have another mission for you and I think tonight's celebration would be the perfect chance to do it," Brigand said and placed a small piece of paper on the table, which Asteria grabbed.
"Consider it done," she replied and left the room. A servant is waiting by the door when she went outside and she threw the sack at him before leaving the mansion through the secret passages.

She emerged on the riverbank where with  a flick of her hand, she washed her face and went to the main road, back to her house.

It is a two-storey house made of stone with ivy creeping up on it's walls. Two large mahogany doors lead inside, the staircase in the middle of the first floor, the kitchen on the right and the den on the left. The floors and walls are made of matching hardwood, the floor boards alternating from dark to darker, giving the home a warm ambiance atmosphere. Paintings hang on the wall, mostly just landscapes of lakes and the forest. A simple chandelier from the high ceiling, casting the foyer with warm light. The second floor consisted of three rooms on the west wing and the study, the east wing has three rooms and a storage room, just after climbing the last step of the stairs is the den, and facing it is the balcony.

As expected, the kitchen is empty. Her mother would probably be in the square for Summer Night to which Asteria is thankful for because if her mother is here, she will be forcing the dress on her bed on her, an argument that's getting really old. Asteria pushed the full-length mirror and revealed a shelf stacked with glass jars of different sizes, liquids--poison to be more accurate inside them, labels are pasted on them, Wailing Lion, Creeping Vine, Bella, Juno, Wraith, Titan's Tears and many other poisons sat there, some crafted by her own hands.

Fingers touched each jar until she found what she's looking for, the Unmaker, a colorless, odorless and tasteless poison that can be mixed in any liquid that even someone so good with poison won't be able to detect, except her because she made it. With careful hands and a dropper, she transferred a small amount of the poison into a tiny vial and mixed it with another poison that can paralyze anyone if touched, a vial fashioned to be disguised as a charm of a bracelet. Before leaving, she didn't forget to pull the mirror back into it's place.

They only have three hours to prepare for the ball and thankfully, Erwan's trusted servant, Mareena is much more than happy to help them. After an hour of sitting in front of the vanity while Mareena does some miracle to her, Asteria stood in front of the full-length mirror and her jaw fell on the floor. She wore an ice-blue gown with the neckline not too low but not too modest either, exposing her neck and shoulders, the bodice encrusted with tiny light blue crystals arranged in a way to look like it is dripping from her neck to her waist, the skirt fanned out beneath her, tiny crystals scattered on it. The gown was too white for Summer Night ball in the palace but it's beauty took her breath away.

"A shame that you have to put a mask on that beautiful face," Mareena said, a white mask in her hands. For years, she hasn't bothered to look at her reflection in mirrors, only a few seconds but she indulged herself. The girl staring back at her has her midnight black hair pulled up into an updo, razor sharp pins with crystals on its head embedded on her hair, her slightly upturned and intimidating  honey-colored eyes stood out, her cheekbones weren't as sharp as knives but still noticeable and her soft mouth, a mockery of all her sharp features are painted in pale pink, her father's mouth. It seemed like the years of hunger and poverty made a permanent impact on her body.

With a smile she went out of the room and went to the staircase, on its bottom Erwan is waiting, wearing a white jacket with silver embroidery from his neck to the hem of his jacket, a pair of gray pants and black knee-high boots. With his black hair combed to perfection and his elegant clothes, he could easily be the prince's rival. There, he looked so beautiful and elegant and regal. His sapphire blue eyes gleamed, far from being bored or emotionless.

Among the three of them, Erwan has always been the one formal one,  being born and raised as one of the nobility, he's expected to act as one, unlike Asteria who, as a child defied rules.

Erwan smiled at her after his eyes took in all of her.

"You look radiant," he stated, the damned smile that he rarely shows anyone is plastered in his face.  It was a smile that doesn't show all of his perfect white teeth, it isn't that big of a smile either but it somehow lights up his face and reached his eyes,  it is the smile that makes him painfully handsome.
"And you could be mistaken as the prince," she smirked and both of them laughed. She placed her hand on the arm he offered, feeling the muscles underneath his clothes and they walked to the back where their carriage is waiting.