The Forgotten Crown (2019) Book 1 of The Broken Crown Series

6. Wolves

Dirk paced his small room relentlessly. The warmth of the fire did nothing to cheer his insides. Dirk was having a crisis of conscience.

Gathering his cloak, he set off to the Boar for a pint. He was under no delusions that he was a saint of any form, but neither was he a murderer. He cared not one whit who the girl's parents were, it did not earn her a dagger in the back, not by his hand at least. When the order for her death had come to him, he had reminded his employer most forcefully that he was not a mercenary.

The remark had earned him a frosty glare and the threat of a dagger in his own back if he did not comply. He had empathy for the girl, truly he did. She had caused no one harm, yet politics being as they were, if it was not his it would be someone else's dagger or noose that found its way around her pretty little neck. He would do his best to make it as quick and painless as possible.

Following her from Duath to the stream had been difficult. The girl had more shadows watching her every move than the King had consorts, not all of them human. He had set this in motion and he would be the one to finish it. Dirk was doing her a favor really; at least that's what he kept telling himself. When she had fallen asleep he had crept closer and sat by her awhile, watching over her. He could feel the presence of others all around him, watching them like vultures. As long as he stayed by her side they did not approach. Even the eyes of the small creatures watched them, their beady little eyes gleaming in the growing dark.

Her beauty was astonishing, even in rags and garish collar. Peace radiated from her face in sleep, an emotion he had never seen in her waking hours. The longer he sat, the more he realized he could not be the one to end her life. Brushing a lock of hair away from her face, he watched as a wistful expression found its way into her features. He would hate himself for the rest of his life for the decision he was about to make. "Would that you had stayed unknown."

Slowly he stood and bid her silent farewell. Turning his back, Dirk could feel a coldness envelop his soul that had nothing to do with the weather. He was as good as murdering the girl. Coward. The shadows in the trees quivered in excitement as he entered their midst and then the wolves descended.