Lady Of Charms

Chapter 4

When dawn broke, Kalena was already up. Another sleepless night was not an excuse to miss her morning training.

She woke up to an empty bed. Aden was nowhere to be seen. And she was okay with that, it's not like he had to sleep in her bed.

Maybe he saw that she wasn't here last night and walked back to his room. All she knew was that last night, when she stalked back to her room, the bed was cold and empty. And, with more important things on her mind, she really didn't have the strength to think about Aden.

Half asleep, she dragged herself to the bathroom and got ready for the day. Sleep would have to wait.

After a run in the back garden of the mansion, she spent another hour training with Conor. If anyone deserved the title of the silent assassin, it was Conor. Or maybe just the silent, since he was quiet most of the time. He spoke mostly with his fists. And Kalena heard him loud and clear. She was still recovering from their last training.

Although he sometimes left her covered in bruises, Kalena liked training with Conor. He never teased her about being the youngest or being the only women in Salem's troupe. And Kalena thanked him by not beating him too hard.

On a good day, she could beat all of them. Especially when Aden came to watch their training. He was her biggest support and greatest admirer. And she liked being admired. She would try extremely hard every time Aden was there and that resulted in her winning every fight.

Each of them was a skilled fighter. Yet there was always something to improve, so they trained. Every day.

Her muscles were often sore, but she never complained. She was too proud to admit something was too hard for her, so she kept going. Even when she was on the verge of exhaustion. She would never hear the end of it, from Salem and other assassins, if she ever admitted she was too drained to continue.

Kalena was aimlessly charging at Conor, completely lost in her thoughts, when someone called her name. She slightly turned her head to see Regan running towards her. Conor used this opportunity to sweep her left foot and send her tumbling down to the ground.

Regan burst into laughter as Kalena quickly got up and brushed the dirt off her black pants. Luckily, Salem wasn't here today to watch their training, otherwise he would have already been yelling at her for losing focus.

"Seems like you slackened since the last time I saw you, Len," Regan said as a form of greeting.

"Come and I'll show you who slackened," Kalena retorted teasingly.

Two years older than her, Regan was the second youngest of Salem's assassins. The two of them grew up together and, while others already worked as assassins, they still played with wooden swords. As the years passed by, they remained friends. There were not many others of their age with the same occupation, so they got used to being just the two of them.

"When did you come back?" she asked cheerfully.

"Last night. I came to your room to say hello, but you weren't there."

"I had some matters to attend to."

"Always so secretive," Regan mused.

They strolled through the garden and Conor continued practicing on his own. If he was annoyed by Kalena's sudden loss of interest in training, he didn't show it.

Kalena thought it was more important to catch up with Regan, she hadn't seen her friend in two months. Besides, Salem wasn't here so she could take a little break.