Reach for the Sun

Chapter 2- His Royal Majesty

I sighed.

"Going after him, right?" Theo asked.

The black cloaked intruder was, admirably, stealthy. I watched them kill the guard and then crawl back up onto the roof tiles. They were quick and only seemed to attack when necessary. 

I sighed again.

"Don't pretend your not excited," Theo scoffed. "It's been a while since you've fought anyone. I bet your itching for action." He glanced down at me, resting his arm on my shoulder. "Just be careful, alright. I know you're good and all, but I'll still worry."

I smirked up at him. "Careful? When am I not careful. Don't answer that." I popped the window sill again. "Go get what's his name."

"Kalen?"

"Sure."

I was out the window and up on the roof in a flash. Luckily, the courtyard was rectangular, so making my way from one side of the roofing to the other would be easy. Unluckily, there was nothing to hide behind. It would be hard to keep the element of surprise. 

I followed them closely, deeper into the palace from a safe distance. I guess the intruder wasn't all too worried about a stealth master such as myself following them.

Deeper into the palace, the intruder must have finally spotted their target or at least their path, because they were inside all too quickly. 

I peered inside, watching the scene unfold.

The intruder, completely clothed in black, held a dagger in the direction of a curiously unworried, unarmed man. 

"Oh joy," he sighed, "another assassin." Wow, a man after my own heart. "Let me guess. Someone sent you to kill me because, I don't know, tyranny? The end of royalty?"

Oh so this ever-so-sarcastic man was the king. 

What was his name?

Andrew? Anthony? A-something.

"Do you not see the position you're in, little king?" The assassin, now very clearly a woman, growled. "This here is the end of the line for the last of the royal family. Any last words?"

"Yeah, why do all assassins sound the same? I mean, insult, proclamation, death threat..." He looked so unamused by what was happening. "Look, I'll tell you what. In a minute, because you'll still be talking, some is going to rush through that door right there," he said motioning behind her, "and shoot you in the back with an arrow. You see, this is pretty routine. So how about you just crawl back out of the little window you came in through and carry on with your life, okay?"

The woman growled and lunged. 

Guess that was my que.

I vaulted through the window, falling a story on her and probably breaking a bone or two. We rolled, she coughed, I ended up in the back with my knee in her spine and a knife against the back of her neck.

There was silence.

"Well then," I said looking up a the shocked king. "My name's Lena, but you can call me Shadow, if you want. It's nice to meet you, your Majesty."

The prince sheathed the dagger he had drawn under his gaudy sleeve. Quicker than I'd thought, and trained. That explain at least half of the confidence.

He turned his head, thinking, and then looked back at me with a small smile. "That was... unexpected, Lena. And you may call me Aaron, if you like. You are Lena the criminal, correct?"

I smiled at him, knee still buried in the dazed assassin's back. "The one and only."

The door burst open behind us to a small army of guards, a worried Kalen, and a slightly irritated Pooh Bear.