Chapter Four

"Leave me alone!" Yelena shouted at Walnut, one of her many cousins. Walnut believed that women were silly, weak people that should be submissive to men. Many of the clan members, including his own parents, had tried to change his perspective, but gave up after years of failed attempts. Usually, Yelena had ignored him but this time he had gone too far by suggesting she shouldn't learn how to fight with her bow andd tried to take it away.

Yelena took a few deep breaths and shut her eyes. She really needed something to calm her down. Nutty seemed to be reading her mind and dropped in a few minutes later, silently handing her a stiffly pressed and pristine envelope. Frowning, she read the address and saw that it came from Ixia. That didn't make sense at all, since V. had told her he would stop writing. Maybe her response had been so unexpected and provoking that he felt the need to write back. She smiled. Maybe Nutty's mistake wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Opening it, she read it carefully once, twice and then folded it again. She bit her lip to stop from laughing. V. who had sounded so arrogant and cocky in his first letter was capable of making very human mistakes! She was touched that he would reciprocate and write about a personal experience to her as well, which prompted her to whip out some parchment her father had made from dried liannas and a quill. He deserved a quick response.

V.

I'm glad I was able to relieve your tedium at your meeting. You've also cheered me up since my cousin just tried to steal my favourite bow.

Yelena stopped and thought about what to write, tapping her quill against her chin. Why not ask about his family? That would be a safe topic.

Do you happen to have any annoying mysoginistic cousins that seem to be on a mission to destroy everything you own? I know you're male, but just imagine that you're female and chastised for learning how to fight. I first started learning when I was five and gradually practised throughout the years to reach my standards today. Do Ixians start fighting as soon as they learn to walk, as rumoured?

I feel so alone here, even with many relatives surrounding me each minute of the day. They don't understand how much I want to travel and see the world. They don't know how much I want to be free. Anyways, you probably don't want to hear me ramble on about my troubles. Tell me about your family...what are they like? I hope you don't have relatives that try to take away your favourite weapons.

Y.

Yelena hesitated before writing more. How had she gotten from such a safe subject into her personal thoughts? Letter writing was proving to be a dangerous action.

P.S. I am a Sitian woman.

Her quill was poised to scratch out the last line but she stopped herself. What was the harm in him knowing? Anyways, it made her feel strange to think that he thought she was a man. Which she was definitely not. Stuffing it in an envelope and running downstairs, Yelena caught the same mail cart that had delivered her the letter before it left. She stood at the base of the tree, watching it gradually take her words to Ixia.

Valek sighed. It had been a long day. The Commander had gotten the idea that he should take on a second again and had produced a list of suitable candidates. He had then ordered Valek to go and test all of them for potential.

Being loyal to the Commander, Valek couldn't really refuse to do it. But he could be unpleasant about it. He had scared off at least half the potential seconds and the other half were taking care of their bruises after he fought them with a weapon of their choice. The Commander was not very pleased.

"Valek, this is what you need. You barely have time to train anymore and you know as well as I do that this is a top priority for an assassin." The Commander leaned back in his chair and glanced at him in that infuriatingly calm way.

"Sir..." Valek couldn't deny that he had little time for training but what was he to do? Taking a lousy second was not an option. "I will double my efforts in searching for one, but no guarantees."

The Commander harrumphed. "Another thing I needed to tell you is that we will be going to Sitia in six months time. This will be the perfect oppurtunity for you to bring two candidates with you and observe them in a diplomatic setting to see if they are suitable."

"Very well," Valek sighed even though he already knew none of them would match up to his standards. As if his standards hadn't already been lowered enough...

"Well, we'll talk more on this at a later date. A letter came for you." The Commander pulled it out of a drawer next to his desk. "The messenger mistakenly delivered it to me instead of you."

As he took the letter, Valek felt a strange sense of happiness. He had been half afraid that his correspondent would be put off by his personal story and stop writing. Although he would never admit that to himself.

Hurrying to the privacy of his suite, he grabbed a small dagger off a side table and slit open the envelope. Scanning it over, he placed it carefully on the table and sat with this elbows on his knees, head in his hands. There was so much he could say in response to this. There was so much that he could agree with. And therein lied the problem. Valek was not used to talking about himself. His thoughts and feelings were his own and he wanted to keep it that way.

And yet, Valek needed someone to talk to. He hadn't had a confidante ever since he became an assassin. A cold, aloof assassin that nobody truly knew. There were no people he could trust in his line of work. But he was anonymous in this letter-writing scheme. This woman had no idea she was conversing with Valek of all people. As long as he didn't reveal any important information, it couldn't hurt...

Dear Y.

No, I don't have any mysoginistic relatives, although I am frequently surrounded by some soldiers that think like that. They haven't gotten over the fact that after the takeover, the women of Ixia can also fight and take up military positions. It's ironic how some of these women can fight two of these men at a time and still win without breaking a sweat. We Ixians generally only start training when we join the military. Training as a child would be cruel. Personally, I started training when I was thirteen, but that was only because I had the motivation to do so.

My family is non-existant. They were killed during the King's regime.

However, I do understand how you feel. Sometimes being lonely when surrounded by large groups of people is the worse loneliness of all. I also wish I could leave, but I have too many responsibilities that tie me here. I'm tired of doing what I have to do.

V.

Valek challenged himself to send it. All his private thoughts that he had mulled over for years. His internal battle between morality and loyalty. The loss of the people he had loved.

He slipped it into the envelope and quickly sealed it before he could change his mind. Picking it up, he placed it into the mail cart outside his suite.