The King's Assassins

Chapter 3

"Why do you want to know?" She asked with a hint of coldness. Ivy shrugged.
"I was just wondering," she answered. Willow faced forward again and continued walking.
"Well, you can stop wondering," she said stiffly. "I don't want to talk about it." Ivy hurried to catch up.
"OK, if you dont want to talk that's fine," she said. Willow sighed.
"Look, it doesn't matter where I come from because I'm not going back," she said. "I left for reasons I do not wish to discuss, so please stop asking."
"OK," Ivy said, slightly dissapointed. Ivy glanced at Willow. Her pure, ice-blue eyes looked sad, as if she were remembering something that happened long ago.
"Someone did something to me long ago," Willow said quietly. "It left a deep scar and a desire for revenge." Ivy looked at Willow, surprised. Willow went on, half to herself. "He will pay someday. I promise. And when that day comes, I will be the one to kill him. Fortunately, I don't have long to wait." Ivy stopped walking, not knowing what to say. Her mouth hung open as Willow continued walking and entered the dining hall. "It appears the kind princess has a dark secret" Ivy thought. She shook herself, then followed Willow into the dinning hall. She sat down by the king to give her daily report.
"We did archery and dagger throwing today," Ivy reported as she spooned boiled carrots onto her plate. The king nodded. "I tried to ask her about where she came from today, too,"Ivy added. The king looked at her. "She wouldn't tell me. She did say something about a 'desire for revenge', though."
The king nodded.
"She has said something once or twice about 'revenge'" he said, "but she wouldn't ever say for who
or what she was seeking revenge."
"Interesting," Ivy said thoughtfully. She was beginning to think there might be more to her
assassanation companion than meets the eye.

...

Ivy put the saddle bag on her black gelding, Shadowfoot. She looked over at Willow as she put her saddle and saddle bag on her dappled gray mare, Gypsy. Over the past couple of days, Willow had grown from being okay at everything, to being brilliant. She had finally mastered the sickle, which was something she had had lots of trouble with at first, although she preferred archery, swordfighting, and dart-throwing. 

She carried her sword now in a sheath at her waist, along with a quiver of arrows strapped to her back and a bow strung over her left shoulder, as well as a small pouch with several darts in it. Ivy carried only her trademark knife in the sheath at her waist, as well as her favorite obsidian edged sword, the one that Willow had so admired.
Ivy had not asked Willow about her origins again, although she had wanted to many times. She knew that she would get the same answer as before. Ivy finished tying on the saddle bag and then followed Willow out of the barn. As they walked side-by-side, Ivy glanced at Willow, trying to discern her feelings. Willow walked with her gaze fixed on the back of the castle, where the king, queen, and Princess Rose were waiting to send them off. Her expression was unreadable. Her mouth was set in a line, her chocolate-brown eyes serious and without the laughter that usually filled them. 

"How are you feeling?" Ivy asked her. Willow swung her head around to stare at Ivy. Her eyes snapped with a fire Ivy had never seen before. Ivy took a step back, almost afraid of Willow. Then, the fire died. Willow shrugged and started walking again. Ivy waited a second before following. She may not  have been very close to Willow, but something was wrong with her, Ivy knew it. Willow had hardly spoken at all since Ivy had inquired about her past, except to ask the occasional question in the training sessions. She had trained with a new kind of fire inside her that Ivy had never seen there before. Ivy couldn't help but think that Willow felt that she had given away too much that day and was afraid to say anything else on accident. 

Ivy stared at Willow's back as she walked a few paces ahead of her. Her shoulders were tensed and as she walked one could tell she was agitated just by the pace she was going. Finally, she reached the king, queen and princess. She curtsied, then her and Princess
Rose walked a few paces away and started talking quietly with their heads together. Ivy reached the king and queen a moment later. She bowed.
"Are you sure Willow is ready for this?" The king asked in concern. "She is like a daughter to me. I
do not wish to see her hurt. Protect her, Ivy, please." Ivy bowed her head.
"She is ready, Your Majesty," she said. "I will protect her with my life if necessary." The king
gave a small nod.
"Thank you," he said. Ivy turned to Willow.
"Are you ready to go?" She asked. Willow looked at her, then nodded. She gave Rose a hug, then
curtsied to the king and queen. As she turned to walk away, Ivy bowed to the king and queen, then followed. As they walked into the barn, Shadowfoot and Gypsy whinnied. Ivy went to Shadowfoot and stroked his head. Then, after untying him, she swung into the saddle just as Willow swung into her saddle. They headed out of the barn together.
"You do know how to get to Stoneyard Castle, don't you?" Willow asked Ivy as they left the grounds
of the castle.
"No idea," Ivy said. "But I know someone who does." She turned onto a trail that led into the
forest. They walked for several miles until coming to rest at a small cottage. Ivy slid off of
Shadowfoot and led him over to a post by the door, where she tied him up. Willow followed suit. Ivy
went over to the door and knocked.
"This is Mosswood Cottage," she explained to Willow, "owned by Terryn the Wise. Terryn knows
everyone and everything. He knows all of the roads to everywhere and he can lend us a map. Just be
careful of Asher."
"Asher?" Willow said in confusion.
"Yes, Asher," Ivy confirmed. "He is Terryn's four-year-old son and seems to think that it is his
duty to jump on everyone." She knocked again. Suddenly, a sun-darkened face with a wide smile, brown
hair, and gray-green eyes opened the door. When he saw Ivy, he threw the door open wide with his arms
outstretched.
"Ivy!" He exclaimed. Ivy threw herself into his arms and hugged him tight with her arms around his
neck. Then, she let go and they kissed. Suddenly, a small boy with black hair and large green eyes
hurled himself around the corner.
"Mama!" Asher cried. Ivy scooped him into her arms and smothered his face with kisses.
"I didn't think you were gonna come back until next week," he said, holding his mother's face in his
hands.
"Well I have to leave again soon," Ivy told him, "but Willow and I will stay the night here
tonight." Asher nodded, seemingly satisfied. Willow broke in just then.
"Wait, wait , wait," she said, "so Terryn the Wise is your husband?" Ivy nodded. "And Asher is your
son?" Again, Ivy nodded. "Unbelievable," Willow said, throwing her hands up in the air. "And here you
had me thinking you were some grouchy person who never married and never would." Ivy laughed.
"That's how I come across to most people," she said. "But actually, once you get to know me, I'm
rather nice. Or at least, so Terryn tells me."
"She really is," Terryn put in as he handed them all tin mugs of steaming tea. "She's the best woman
I know. Well, besides my mother." Willow and Ivy laughed. Ivy took a sip of her tea and looked around.
'It's good to be home,' she thought, 'even if it's only for a day.' Ivy missed her husband and son
while she was away, but, being a professional assassin and hired by the king, she had to be away for
days at a time.
"So, if you're employed by the king," Willow began a moment later, "why don't you just live at the
castle or something?" Ivy and Terryn exchanged a glance.
"The king offered to let us live in the castle," Terryn answered, "but Ivy and I declined because
we would've rather had our own place. And when Asher was born, we were even happier with our
decision."
"Why?" Willow asked.
"Because we wanted our son to grow up the same way we grew up," Ivy responded as she stood up and
took everyone's mugs and set them on the stove. "If Asher had grown up in the castle, he would have
never have known work. He would have lived like a prince, never doing anything for himself, with
everything he wanted right at his side in an instant. He would have been very spoiled."
"No I wouldn't!" Asher said indignantly from where he sat beside his father. Willow, Ivy, and Terryn
chuckled.
"The point is," Ivy concluded as she sat down on the other side of Asher. "we wanted Asher to be
able to do things for himself, instead of just having everything done for him." Willow nodded. She
stood up.
"Excuse me," she said, "I have to get something from my saddle bag." She walked out of the house,
with Asher close behind. Ivy leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. Terryn leaned his head down on
hers.
"Where'd you meet Willow?" Terryn asked.
"She lives at the castle," Ivy answered. "She has lived there for seven years."
"Really?" Terryn said in surprise. "Why? She's not a princess."
"I'm not entirely sure," Ivy responded confusedly. "The king went hunting one day and found her
wandering around in the woods and took her in. She is very close to the royal family. The king told me
that she was like a daughter to him and that she is Princess Rose's best friend. She acts like a
princess, though. She curtsies instead of bowing as I would do. She has a politness that not many
people have. She moves and eats like a princess. Sure, you would say that seven years of practically
being the king's daughter would give you that, but I think it's more. I think that before that she
was already acting this way. I think she might be the daughter of a king."