It was easy to accept the job.

The reward was more than handsome, and Burrows promised complete immunity on the off-chance they should be discovered. It should have been easy. It shouldn't have mattered.

In the weeks leading up to the assassination, Daud refused to think about what had transpired between them what seemed to be a lifetime ago. They were naught to each other. Despite his efforts, his mind often drifted toward the girl. It was the month of Earth now; she was yet to celebrate her tenth birthday. Daud's thoughts had not often dwelled on his daughter these past ten years. Why should they do so now?

Because you're going to kill her mother, a voice inside him whispered when his thoughts lingered too long. Because you're going to take away everything she holds dear.

It shouldn't have mattered.

The Rat Plague was burning through the city. He needed all the money he could get to keep his Whalers safe. This was no different. This was business.

Only when it was too late did Daud begin to doubt.

He remembered a time, long ago, when he thought he could never harm her.

Now, older, stronger, wiser, he knew that every life had its price. Even that of Jessamine Kaldwin, Empress of the Isles and mother to his child.

He watched from afar as his Whalers battled the Lord Protector, bristling with every men the bodyguard's blade felled. This was no good. He would have to do it himself.

"Come on, Billie, let's go," he said to the young woman at his side. She nodded, and they both blinked to the gazebo, his second-in-command immediately neutralizing the Lord Protector with her Pull power as he stalked closer to the Empress, extending a hand toward Emily.

"Get away from her!" Jessamine cried, placing herself between him and the girl. Their eyes met, and he saw a spark of recognition in her eyes. He had changed since they had last seen each other, and so had she, but he knew she would not have forgotten him so easily. He saw his name bloom on her lips, but he could not allow her to speak, lest he lose all his resolve. He backhanded her, and she spun away with a gasp, her back colliding roughly with the stone balustrade of the gazebo. She looked up at him as he bore down upon her, his hand pressing harshly into her shoulder to keep her still.

"Mommy!"

Why?Asked her eyes. Why? Why why why why why why why –

No. Not the eyes,was all he thought as he raised his blade. Don't look at me. Not the eyes.

He was almost relieved when his sword pierced her and her eyes slammed shut, the wet sound of tearing flesh so loud he could hear nothing else for a split second.

He saw Billie grabbing Emily, but already the Void was engulfing everything. He knew the Outsider had been watching.

There was a hole in the world, but for once the Void was not the cause.

"Oh, Daud," the Outsider said, appearing in a flourish of dust and smoke that smelled of old bones and seawater. "I'll be honest with you: I never would have thought you would do it."

The Outsider closed his eyes and laughed. It reminded the assassin of nails raking against steel and birds dying in the woods.

"After all these years, you've got my interest again. Killing the Empress, the mother of your child, and kidnapping your daughter to deliver her into the hands of those who would do her nothing but harm? A most intriguing choice, Daud. Because you did have a choice, oh, indeed. I saw you warning the Empress of the plot against her, and I can tell you that she would have believed and rewarded you. How different the world would have been. But you have chosen a different path, the only path you know how to take, I believe."

The smirk on the Outsider's lips seemed more sinister than ever.

"Entertain me, Daud."

And suddenly he was back at the tower, with his blade still slick with the Empress' blood, blinking away from the still corpse that had been Jessamine Kaldwin with their daughter in his arms, their daughter who was fighting, biting, kicking, but not crying, not yet, no, looking up at him with eyes as black and hard as two chips of dark stone and oh so like his, full of rage and hatred and sadness.

Something inside Daud cracked apart, and for the first time in twenty years he felt his heart bleed true.

That was fun to write. I hope you enjoyed it as well. Feel free to leave a note telling me what you liked and what you didn't like! It helps a lot.