The Nameless Queen

"No."

A laugh escaped my lips, flowing over the boundaries of my mouth and fill the room unquestionable demonic joy. The laugh echoed and bounced off the walls. It washed away the stench of death and replaced it with the Devil.

"What the hell?!" Zyemma cringed walking into the room seconds later. "I thought you were interrogating his, not stabbing the living daylights out of him."

My laughter came to an abrupt halt. "I didn't do it."

"Then why are you laughing?" She asked.

I continued to laugh before answering, "Because whoever did is a freaking genius."

"Or a freaking lunatic," muttered Zyemma pointing at the window. I followed her finger and slowly my eyes adjusted to the black of night and to the human-shaped figure sitting on the sill.

"You know," the figure spoke. "I was rather under overwhelmed that the prison witch saw me first. I've been waiting here the whole time." The man swung down off the sill and into the room, land with an unsteady thump next the blood eaten body of the King. He stepped into the light and his eyes glowed with the same greed and lust as someone I could put my finger on. The light of the eyes stared into my mind with the intent to kill.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint." I could feel Zyemma twitch beside me.

The man spoke, "Does this help to convince you?"

"Convince me of what exactly?"

"Convince you to help us and our cause."

I shook my head, "And you cause is...?"

The man let out a laugh, "So you really don't recognise me? Well, I'll give you a hint, bar."

"Bar...bar...bar...BAR." I thought to myself. "The creepy recruiting fat guy from the tavern!" I mentally shouted to myself. He looked so different.

His entire body shape had changed. For one he was no longer fat but well built, tanned, with muscles packed heavily on his arms and chest. From another, his hair was no longer a greasy brown but a well-kept beach blonde that was layered with small plaits down his back and flowed out his back. In short, he looked like a completely different person and the only reason I recognised him was because of his badly hidden accent. Definitely a foreigner. Definitely trained. "Oh, you're the old fat guy from the tavern. What happened to your fat guy disguise? I think I liked him better."

"Of course you did, he wasn't a threat," he said with a laugh that should have been illegal. "You know for someone who makes a living off killing people, you sure are a coward."

"Well I prefer the term overdosed on natural instincts but, coward works just fine either way."

"Well if that makes you feel better then I shall remember to use it in the future," mocked my competitor, with a smile that flared confidence.

"Thank you, that would be much appreciated."

"Ok, then." The echo of silence slipped across the room, daring someone to defy Its infinite rule. Our eyes battled for dominance of the encounter.

"So....," Zyemma draw out with a nervous hum. "What now?"

"That, my dear friend," answer male's lulled voice. "Is a grand question. What will you do now my assassin queen now that your throne is broken? Now that your burden has been lifted?"

To my mind, the answer was no. short, simple and uncomplicated. But to my heart the answer was different. Had suffered and struggle my way through life as a child all because of the King's rule. What was left of my heart demanded that I helped? Told me that It would be a mercy to so many If I could just kill the King. If I could justs stop thinking about me and my terrible life and try to stop that fate bestowing itself upon others.

But my mind was stronger more determined that my shattered heart. It willed me to go home and forget about the struggle of thousands. To go home and eat my nice food to sleep in my warm room, to dress in my flamboyant clothes and forget. Forget the pain, forget the suffering, forget that the world wasn't perfect. But I already knew that I knew that I was broken and cracked and that I was an imperfection. I knew that. And there was no going back.

So when my mouth opened to answer, the gods took control and made my heart bleed. "No," I answered, It was the answer that tore me apart. "Go help yourself."My body screamed as my face played a fake smile. "I don't kill for free and I have work to do. And thanks for killing my only lead."

The man's face struggled to keep it's flaking mask intact. "Oh, well I can't say I'm not disappointed," the smile wavered. "If you change your mind I'll be waiting under the bridge in five days."

He turned his shoulder to leave but only to toss me something to me. A key. The key. The key to the princess's tower. "By the way," he called. "The princess crossed the border to The Avgant Empire later today. She is supposed to be marrying that child-King. It's funny though because of this inevitable war nobody from either court has ever seen the other's."

I stared in shock, the princess wasn't even here. After everything I had gone through to get here all for her to be in my empire all along. This was infuriating.

The man hopped over the window sill, and paused to call out, "And good luck killing her."