The Assassin and Her Prince

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter thirteen

Claudia had heard Rayla sneak inside the quiet sanctuary of the library and, for the last minute or so, has been trying to ignore the quiet sniffles, but guilt bubbles in the pit of her stomach and it's eating away at her. Sighing, she sets her book down on the table and peers around the bookshelf into the secluded alcove, where the elf sits, lost in thought, staring at the diamond ring on her finger and wiping a stray tear with her free hand.

"Callum is one of the kindest people I know," she says gently. "You're lucky it's him."

Startled, Rayla looks up, instantly recognising the mage that had once threatened to kill her. "You think I don't know?" She questions a little tersely, but immediately regrets it; the human was evidently trying to be civil. "I love him," she tells her candidly, her bloodshot eyes meet Claudia's and despite her shame at being caught looking so weak, she does not avert her eyes.

"Did he do something to you?" she asks, disbelieving.

She shakes her head weakly. "It's not that..." she hiccups. "He loves me too," she blushes scarlet red. "But..." she starts before finding she neither has words nor the will to continue.

"I know you don't think I'd make a good confidant, but I've known Cal for years so maybe..." she places a reassuring hand on Rayla's shoulder and helps her to stand, "...I can help?"

Her rigorous training regime meant that she'd never had time to make any close girl friends, but Claudia's ability to forget the past and move on allows Rayla to be willing to make amends, drawn to her glowing personality, she briefly smiles warmly at the other girl.

"Trust me to fall for a human," she starts, grimacing at her words.

"I don't follow," Claudia admits, confused.

"Humans have such short life expectancies!" she cries, distraught. "He told me he wanted to grow old together, but it doesn't work that way," Rayla can't hide the pain in her voice. "If I could give him half of my life, I would," she says feebly. "I just can't... I can't live without him."

She's unable to form another word before she dissolves into tears.

Suddenly, inspiration strikes Claudia, but she isn't ready to give her new friend false hope, in case she's mistaken. Trying to disguise her burning need to raid the library's collection of Xadian textbooks she rushes a farewell. "Do you hear that? I think Soren's calling me..." hoping she doesn't sound rude, she pulls Rayla into an apologetic hug. "I'm sure it'll work out... eventually."

And just like that, she hastily dashes out of sight.

Either Rayla's going deaf, or Claudia is lying to her because Soren hadn't called for her. She doesn't know Claudia well, but this kind of behaviour can only mean one thing; Claudia's hiding something. Something to do with her curse of longevity, so naturally, Rayla decides to find out what. After all, she has a right to know.

Putting her abilities to good use, she scales the tall bookshelves and surreptitiously follows Claudia through the maze of bookshelves. She peruses the volumes for a few minutes before pausing on a section labelled Xadian Magic.

Now I wonder what you want with those, thinks Rayla, settling down for what would prove to be an incredibly boring stakeout.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter and if you did, don't be a silent reader! Thanks to my beta midnightpansy! Congrats to snuelam for correctly guessing what I had in mind!

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