Takumi is the Captain of the Guard of Terasan. Age 21
Misaki is the world's most notorious assassin. Age 20
Terasan and Eyllwe are provinces/states in Farthen. There is no King for Farthen but King for Terasan and Eyllwe.
Misaki was Farthen's most notorious assassin and is known everywhere.
After a year and three months of slavery in Terasan's salt mines, Misaki was escorted to, Misaki's surprise, someone from the palace. She was escorted by three guards, her lack of food and water made her weak so it didn't need to be 6 guards escorting her.
Shackles were bound to her wrists and the guards were walking briskly. When she failed to keep up with leading guard, she received a hard shove for the other two. They walked through the halls and down the stairs which are heavily guarded. Her mind wondered who came to meet with her from the royal palace, the guards gave her no information about the person except that is was a male and he is important. She immediately thought it was the prince or the King but why would they visit her.
The guards and shackled bound Misaki finally reached a grand room in which she had never been before. It is lined with three iron chandeliers; the room was filled with light. As the door opened the light blinded Misaki, Misaki turns her head to block it and she is rewarded with not only eyes shielded but also a jab from one of the guards in the middle of her back. She flashed a death glare to the guard and turned around to face the right as soon as her eyes adjusted to the light. In the middle of the room there was a man with blonde hair talking to the man who is charge of the salt mine, who Misaki hadn't bothered to find the name of.
The guard stomp their spears in greeting to the men. Misaki had a whole bunch of questions running through her head: what are they going to her? Execution? From a royal? Was she going to be hanged? But why bring her to this fancy room? Was she going to be wiped?
The man with the blonde hair turned and jerks his chin to the guards, totally disregarding Misaki. She recognized his face he is the Captain of the guards, Usui Takumi. He walked towards her; she eyed every feature of him, making sure that she had his face memorized so if he did do anything to her, she knew how he looked like.
"You are a long way from Leona (the capital of Terasan), Captain" the Captain would be an interesting opponent for her
"Just like you are" he had a hand on the pommel of his sword and took her elbow in the other and led her through a bunch of wooden doors with the other three guards trailing being her.
"Where are we going again?" she said, trying to be nice
When he didn't reply she clenched her jaw
They walked to another room which was smaller but still fancier than the rotting mess the salt mines are. They all entered and Takumi nodded to the guards who stomped the spears and left the room, closing the door behind them.
Takumi hadn't let go of Misaki's elbow, once the other left, the grip on her elbow tightened. He jerked her elbow so now they were facing each other
"Misaki Ayuzawa, I am Usui Takumi and I am speaking on behalf of the King."
"If you are going to behead me or hang me, at least take of these shackles" she shook the shackles so they made some noise. He looked at them and smiled.
"I am not here to behead or hang you"
There was something beautiful in his eyes, striking green—the color of the waters of the Southern countries—and the way they complimented his golden hair that made her pause. He was subtly handsome and couldn't have been older than her.
"So why am I here?" she tried to wiggle her arm out of his grip. He saw her attempt and jerked his hand off.
"To give you options, you can stay in the salt mines and die or you can come to the castle of become the Terasan's assassin"
If she become the royal assassin she would never be free, which is the thing she hoped for.
"What if I choose to stay here?"
"You will be here until you die."
"What about the other option"
"You will work for the King and assassinated whoever he tells you to" he cringed while telling her.
"What is in it for me?"
"Freedom" he solemnly said
"After how many years?"
"Five years, so are you going to take the offer?"
"Of course I'm going to take to offer," she snapped. Her wrists chafed against her shackles badly enough that her eyes watered. "I'll be his absurd assassin if you or whoever agreed to free me in three years, not five."
"Four"
"Fine, your offer seems fair enough" she said.
"So you are going to just make me your official Assassin, just like that. Don't you like I will try to escape?"
"There will be a competition, the king thought to have a bit of fun. He's hosting a competition. He invited twenty-three of his council to each sponsor a would-be Champion to train in the castle and ultimately compete in a duel. Were you to win," he said with a half smile, "you'd officially be Terasan's Assassin"
she didn't return his smile. "Who, exactly, are my competitors?"
Seeing her expression, Takumi's smile faded. "Thieves and assassins and warriors from across Farthen." she opened her mouth, but he cut her off.
"If you win and prove yourself both skilled and trustworthy, the king has sworn to grant you your freedom."
"What other assassins" she demanded.
None that I've heard of. None as famous as you. And that reminds me- you won't be competing as Misaki Ayuzawa."
"What?"
"You'll compete under an alias. I don't suppose you heard about what happened after your trial."
"News is rather to come by when you're slaving in a mine" she snapped. His grip tightened.
"No one knows that Misaki Ayuzawa is just a young woman- they all thought you were far older.
"What?" she asked again, her face flushing. "How is that possible?"
"You kept your identity a secret all the years you were running around killing everyone. After your trial, the king thought it would be... Wise not to inform Farthen who you are. He wants to keep it that way, what would the enemies of Terasan say if they knew we'd all been petrified of a girl?"
She snorted "so I'm slaving in this miserable place for a name and title that don't even belong to me?"
"Yes, just because you were an assassin doesn't mean it will guarantee your victory"
She looked away and through the window to meadows.
"You've been in the salt mines for more than a year. Who knows what you're still capable of?"
She clenched her fist and Takumi could feel what is left of her muscles.
"I'm capable of quite a lot, thank you" she said
He smiled faintly and said, "I will tell you the details of the competition when we arrive in Leona."
Misaki didn't say anything. She just stood there staring at Takumi.
"I have heard about one of your escapes, how many time have you tried in total?"
A slow, wicked smile spread across her lips. "Once."
"The chief informed me this afternoon that one incident. Three months-"
"Four months," she interrupted.
"Four months," Takumi said "after you arrived, you attempted to flee"
She waited for the rest of the story, but he was clearly finished. "That's not even the best part!"
Takumi glared at her before speaking "There's no hope of escaping the salt mines. The King made sure that each of the mines' sentries could shoot a squirrel from twenty feet away. To attempt to flee is suicide."
"But I am still alive"
"I know you killed your guard and twenty-three sentries before they caught you. You were a finger's tip from the wall before the guards knocked you unconscious, which is impressive"
She smiled and Takumi said "we are going back to your rooms and cleaned up. We depart for Leona (capital of Terasan) in the morning"
Misaki smile at the hope of freedom that she was longing for a very long time. She didn't notice when Takumi led her away from the room they talked in, nor did she notice when they down hall after hall. She was too busy imaging a glimpse of freedom.