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Chapter 8
Valek POV:
She was still mad after two weeks. I know that what I had done was necessary, but I was beginning to regret it, just a little bit now. She wouldn't talk unless it was absolutely needed, just nodding when I told her to decode a message or copy a document. Yes, I could now trust her, but I would never be able to think about that without thinking of the price of that trust. I also thought about the fact that I had asked a four year old for love advice. I merely shook my head on that thought.
Today, I had a lot of work for her. There was a large pile of messages, as my spies in Sitia had somehow managed to send their findings to me and have them all arrive on the same day. She had no comment for the huge pile, she just pulled over the book of codes that were invented by an Ixian strategist long ago and started working.
Usually, when she worked, I would either go and train, or do some more paperwork of my own. Yes, even with a secretary, there was still enough work to keep me busy. Today, I sat at my desk and pretended to read a book, as I thought about her.
The few days following the test, I could tell that she was very angry with me. I had caught her clenching her fists now and then when she thought that nobody was looking. I had waited until she cooled down some more before offering her the position of my second, which the Commander had insisted on. To my relief, she refused right away and went back to work without offering any explanation. I had reported to the Commander that evening and told him the news. As I expected, he was not pleased.
"Valek, you need her," the Commander had said firmly. "If she refuses, then the decision no longer rests with her. I will order her to take the job. If she chooses to leave the castle rather than take the post, we will have to concoct some reason for her to stay."
I groaned out loud. Yelena looked up curiously and I stared hard at the book again. As a way of appeasing the Commander, I had agreed to take care of it, even though I still didn't know what to do now. Perhaps I was hoping for a miracle to happen and have Yelena change her mind and agree. I wondered what it would be like to have her for a second. Of course, I had never had a second before, as nobody in the castle had beat me besides the Commander, but I had a feeling that it would be similar to me interacting with my corps, only on a more frequent basis. I would see and talk and plan with her everyday as well as go on missions with her. My mood lifted slightly at the thought of being around her all the time, then plummeted again as I remembered that she refused and showed no sign of changing her mind.
What could I do to persuade her? The Commander was not going to let up about this; he had been hounding me on getting a second for years, so he was definitely not going to give up when a suitable candidate shows up. If I wasn't able to convince her...I shuddered slightly at the thought of what the Commander would do. It's not that he's a cruel man, but he realises what Ixia needs and so is willing to sacrifice the rights of one person to benefit the whole.
Maybe if I told her how much she would earn each month, compared to now, she would accept. She had refused so adamantly before. After questioning her for an hour due to her annoying stubbornness, I found out she was working because her adoptive mother, Mirela, of MD 4 needed somebody to support her. I had pointed out that basic neccesities like food and clothing were provided, but Yelena had told me that Mirela needed money for medicine. Apparently, they lived in a remote area with no healers, so they needed to buy medicines at the local market. As for where she gained her fighting skills, it was Mirela that had taught her. I had a keen interest in this Mirela now, since my own teacher was also a woman. And in my experiences, there were no such things as coincidences. I had sent one of my corps to ferret out where she lived a week ago but the man had not returned to tell me yet.
"Yelena." She looked up at me questioningly, her face expressionless.
"When I asked you if you would like the job as my second, you refused. Is your answer still the same?"
She nodded slowly, wariness seeping into her eyes.
"What if I told you that your salary would be five times as much as it is now?"
She gaped, then snapped her jaw shut once she realised what she was doing. I paused and gave her some time to think it over. I could sense her inner turmoil. Mirela or having to work with the sadistic assassin all the time?
"Take your time." I pushed my chair away from the desk and strode to the door. At least she was considering the idea. There was no reason why I couldn't train some more as she thought.
Yelena POV:
Five times more than I earned now! I had to do the math on paper to know what that would be. Even so, I knew that it would be a lot of money. With this money, Mirela would even be able to hire someone to look after her and do the chores. She would no longer have to get by by herself and I wouldn't have to worry about something happening to her. But on the other hand, having to be around Valek all the time? The man that had me kidnapped and threatened? I knew that my anger was petty and that he had to test me thoroughly to make sure whose side I was on, but I couldn't help feeling that way.
To avoid hurting my head trying to decide, I turned my attention to work. Being an assassin's secretary was actually quite an interesting job after I stopped copying all those books. The messages had come from Sitia and the spies were basically reporting every single detail that had captured their attentions as well as every other detail that was not interesting at all. One of them stood out from the rest. It was sent by a spy from the Zaltana clan's territory, the Illias Jungle. The spy reported that one of the Zaltana women, by the name of Perl Liana Zaltana, had extracted a substance from a plant that could paralyse a person as well as take away their magical ability, leaving them virtually defenseless. It was called Curare.
I shuddered at the thought. This Curare drug did not discriminate, it would be able to paralyse both magicians and non magicians. If it got into the wrong hands...I refused to think about what would happen. That was for Valek and his people to figure out. Then I realised that I would become one of his "people" if I accepted his offer. I was never going to get any work done unless I took some time to decide. It should be easy, I mean, all I had to do was to decide what was more important: Mirela or my happiness and safety. But once I put it that way, I knew that I would pick Mirela. After all, she probably sacrificed some of her happiness and some of her safety to look after me.
When he got back from training, I would tell him I accepted. But would that make me seem too eager? I fought the indecision once again by finishing translating everything. He came back late this time, just before dinnertime. He asked me the question again and I told him that I would tell him tomorrow, with a haughty expression of course.
As I went towards the kitchen, I was stopped by Ari and Janco.
"Why didn't you come train before dinner?" Ari asked. They fell in step with me.
"I had extra work to do today." I made a face to show my irritation.
"So, how's life as Valek's secretary? You two have been spending a lot of time together, haven't you?" Janco teased. He would never get it out of his head that Valek and I were an item, even though it was a totally ridiculous concept.
He stopped laughing when I glared at him. "No, we haven't been, Janco. He's been going to training basically everyday, while I translate documents."
Ari pushed us into the hallway leading to Dilana's workroom. "I want to go and see her before dinner."
I sighed. Ari was heads over heels for Dilana, I had discerned from my three weeks or so at the castle. Dilana herself was undecided. She didn't know whether to be with Rand or Ari. I just wished that she would hurry up, so that either Ari could finally be content or so that Ari would get over her.
"I'm hungry," Janco complained in a whiny voice. Ari elbowed him in the ribs, preventing him from saying anything more.
When we reached the workroom, we saw that Dilana was alone, sewing in a sunny corner and humming a cheerful tune. Her face brightened as she spotted us. "You came to visit!"
Ari grinned back at her. "Of course, what else would we want to be doing?"
"Eating dinner," Janco blurted, before Ari shoved both Janco and I out the door.
As soon as we were out, Janco said that he needed to do something before dinner and disappeared. I headed alone, once again to the kitchen. Only to be interrupted again.
I gasped when I saw who stopped me in the hall and I threw my arms up in a defensive position, ready to fight. It was the tall man that had threatened me in that storeroom! He touched my arm to make me calm down. I flinched then I lowered my arms slowly, relaxing as I remembered that Valek had hired him to kidnap me, and that it had been just a ruse.
"I'm James," he smiled warmly and reassuringly at me. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything. You know now that it was a test, don't you? Anyways, I want to apologise for treating you and scaring you like that even though Valek assigned me."
I smiled cautiously back. It was nice of him to apologise even though he had no choice about it. Unlike Valek, who didn't say anything nice at all about it. He was just his own brusque self.
"I was thinking, I want to do something to make up for what Pilos and I did to you. We went a bit overboard. Valek yelled at us about it." He grinned ruefully.
"Oh, no, it's really alright. You were assigned by Valek."
"No, let me make it up to you. Why don't we go to dinner at the Monkey's Fist Tavern at Castletown the day after tomorrow? That way, we can erase any bad memories you might have of Pilos and I."
He was a true gentleman. Unlike Valek. What would Valek do when he found out that I went to dinner with somebody? Nothing, I supposed, but that thought irked me. On the other hand, what if James was trying to get me to run blindly into a trap? Then I'd truly be in trouble then. But I had never been to Castletown before and eventually my curiousity won over.
"I'd love to come," I replied after a moment of thought.
"Great! I'll meet you by the east gate of the castle wall before dinnertime the day after tomorrow then."
He waved and disappeared down a corridor. I shook my head. The whole encounter had happened so fast that I barely processed what had happened. When it hit me that I was going to dinner with somebody, I raced back to my room. I knew little of these things, but I knew that I should dress up. The Commander didn't allow anybody to be out of uniform and no excuses were accepted. So, I would have to fix up my uniform to make it look nicer. Luckily, my uniform came with an option of pants or a skirt, so I would be able to wear the skirt to dinner. My top would have to be the same, but I could perhaps get Dilana to make some alterations to it to make it look more attractive. My mind made up, I raced to the kitchen once more to get my late dinner. Nobody better interrupt me this time.
Dinner date!
I know this chapter was uneventful, but something will happen next chapter...I think
-YelenaZ
