"Care to tell me about that last mission now?"
"Yes, I suppose it is time."
He had been with the Crows since he was young, and had learned from the beginning that feelings and emotions needed to be cut off from the jobs he would perform. It was easier to go into them cold, heartless, as most outcomes were not pleasant and always lead to death. The first few missions he completed had been difficult, but over time he mastered not only his skills, but the walls around his heart.
When a new elven recruit joined their ranks, those walls came tumbling down with no warning. Forbidden relations within the ranks of the Crows made their budding relationship even that more exciting, and before he knew what had happened, the woman had his heart and soul. There would be no other, he was convinced, that could ever make him feel as alive and free as she did.
"She was…a marvel. Tough, smooth, wicked. Eyes that gleamed like justice. Everything I thought I desired."
"And you fell in love," the Warden questioned.
"Rinna was special. I had closed off my heart, I thought, but she touched something within me. It frightened me." His eyes grew quiet, their usual light dimming as he relived that painful night.
Taliesen came to his room, silently shutting the door behind him. "My friend, we need to talk."
He looked up from sharpening his blade, disturbed by this disruption in his pre-assassination ritual. He needed to clear his mind of unwanted thoughts and focus strictly on the task at hand. Anything else could prove deadly to him and his team. "Is now such a good time? We must head out in a few minutes when the merchant leaves his store."
It's about Rinna," Taliesen began cautiously, attempting to catch a glimpse of feeling in the assassin's eyes.
"Oh?" He did his best to remain stoic and non expressive, his relationship with Rinna thought to be unknown by the Crows.
Taliesen stood before him and gave him the news as direct as any Crow would. "She accepted a bribe from the merchant we were contracted to kill. Told him of our plan. He will be expecting us this evening."
He behaved as if this news were nothing to him, though his heart began to race and pound heavily within his chest. "If you are certain, she must pay the price then. Bring her here."
Taliesen nodded, standing up and exiting the room, taking one final glance to see if he would make further comment.
He didn't.
"Rinna begged me not to kill her. On her knees, with tears in her eyes, she told me that she loved me and had not betrayed us. I laughed in her face and said that even if it were true, I didn't care."
"But that wasn't true," the Warden knew by the tone of his voice.
"I convinced myself it was," he said solemnly. "Taliesen cut her throat and I watched her bleed as she stared up at me. I spat on her for betraying the Crows."
The merchant walked the streets of Antiva with some foolish notion that he was untouchable. His numerous guards surrounded him as he moved towards the alley, already knowing what was about to take place. He had been tipped off by a member of the Crows, knew of the impending assassination attempt, and had walked arrogantly into the trap.
No amount of planning could have prepared the merchant for what was to come however. His death was swift, his guards killed quickly by the two skilled Crows sent to honor a contract. The sound of steel tearing flesh echoed in the alley swallowed by screams and then silence.
"When Taliesen and I finally assassinated the merchant we found the true source of his information. Rinna had not betrayed us after all." He swallowed hard, lump forming in his throat as the words came. "I…wanted to tell the Crows what we had done, our mistake. Taliesen convinced me not to. He said it would be a foolish waste. So we reported that Rinna had died in the attempt."
"Do you take me for a fool," the guild master had stated, glaring down at his subordinate. "You must, thinking I knew nothing of your relationship with the girl and now coming to me with such lies."
"I…"
"Silence!" The master walked closer to him, the human towering over the elf, and stared at him with cold eyes. "We knew all about you and the girl. And we knew you had killed her under false pretenses. We allowed this to happen you see. And one day, your turn will come. Your arrogance and cockiness killed that girl; let that be your lesson."
"I felt empty. I felt as if I was nothing. I felt as if she had been nothing." He looked towards the ground, watching a tear fall from his face and become absorbed within the dirt at his feet. "You once asked why I wanted to leave the Crows. In truth, what I wanted was to die."
"And now?" the Warden dared to ask. "Do you still want to die?"
He turned to the Warden, light returning to sad eyes, and smiled. "What I want is to begin again. With you, if you'll have me."