"The little woman finds another so much like she; and yet so different."

Different

Julia's heart seizes up as Daud spoke those words, her brain racing to try and form the words that would be suitable, and yet failing miserably. Her whole body shakes like a leaf in the autumn breeze. "What do you mean?"

A look of regret spreads across the old man's face as he turns away slightly, instead looking over at Thomas; who is ready to leave the manor. He doesn't speak but moves towards his successor, leaning closer to him. "This is your chance to prove yourself Thomas," he whispers. "Will you take it?"

"Yes Master Daud," Thomas agrees quickly, his shoulders tense and ready for what lies ahead. "I am the leader now..."

Julia watches the conversation with bated breath, when she suddenly speaks up. "What about me?"

The two men turn to her direction and stare, Thomas wringing his wrists and Daud merely thinking. "No," he finally says. "You will have to stay here."

"But-"

Thomas moves forward with a large stride, appearing by her side with a look of authority. "Stay Julia."

Eyes look up at him with a shocked expression; the pupils shrinking slowly and then eyelids close, as she turns her head away and mutters underneath her breath. "Fine. I will stay here."

With a softened expression and a small nod of the head, Thomas leaves the conversation there and turns back to Daud, both men exiting the room with quickened paces. She doesn't watch them leave and covers her mouth with her hand, a thoughtful look glistening in her eyes as if they were windows, and everything she is feeling is clear. The deadly silence is the only comfort for her; as no sound of black magic could be heard or seen.

She paces back and forth beside her large chair, her hand trailing over the soft velvet of the back. The smell of smoke is all but distant now as she tries to push her thoughts from the emergency, but they resist against her and squirms into her mind, becoming the only thing she could think of. Her fingertips fall victim to her teeth as she gnaws at the skin, peeling the first layer off in desperation to turn her thoughts over to something else.

The visit of the Empress three weeks ago was the only time she spoke with Emily, and that wasn't the best circumstances for a conversation. Julia could tell that the woman before her was just like her; both with their past and with their emotions. They both lost their mothers when just a child, they had someone by them after that ordeal, and they were both powerful women. However, Emily was just as different as Julia as she was similar. She was fair to her people and wise as well as kind, no amount of wishing would make Julia come even close.

She is not fair or kind or wise, she is cruel to those who deserve it yes, but those who don't never get so much as her attention; she does not care about them, only her family is allowed through the fortress that she built around her heart.

The flames of the fireplace uproars for a second; the swishing of the flames turning chaotic and wild before dying back down. She hasn't noticed this and carries on her worrying, her grip on the back of the large chair tightens as she forces herself to calm down, that Daud and Thomas would keep the Empress safe from harm.

Footsteps appear outside the door and then stop; the hairs on the back of her neck straighten as she watches the double doors warily, her hands moving in front of her for protection. Creaking open, a Whaler walks in with his hands behind his back. "I was just checking to see if your still here."

Raising an eyebrow, she lowers her hands slightly. "Of course I am still here, where else would I be?"

"With us." A deep voice whispers in her ear, rough hands grabbing her and engulfing her in a hug before she could even react. Her body squirms and twists in an attempt to buck the man off her, screams being cut short with a dirty cloth being tied around her mouth. Her eyes widen in fear and she feels her heart speed up, beating against her ribcage and threatening to burst out. Shadows creep up in her vision as her breathing quickens through her nose, consuming the corners before growing and growing; finally it all turns black and she can feel herself falling into the Void.

Voices could be heard but not recognized, distorted and strangulated to form something inhumane. "Dammit! Is she dead?!"

"No," another replied coolly. "She's very much alive. She is an ill woman though; we need to be careful that we don't kill her."

The last thing she can register is the feeling of being absorbed by the world, the sound of wind surprisingly loud in her ears.

-f-

Coming around after a fit is a frightful experience for Julia, the grogginess of her head and the soreness in her neck is completely normal but the feeling of rope around her wrists is certainly not normal, the chafing of it against her skin makes her eyes open wide and her senses heighten. Her head lifts up and then she winces in pain, her head pounding and feeling like it could split open like a ripened fruit.

Plop

Plop

Plop

The dripping of water could be heard clearly now, the sound coming from behind her and could be heard constantly. She shifts uncomfortably on what she could make out as her bed; or a very poor excuse for one. A pile of blankets tossed onto a sheet of wood is all it is, and the aching in her back is alarming. Slowly due to the pain, Julia sits up and tries to look around but the room proves too dark to see more than a few feet in front of her, a slit in the wall acting as her source of light and rays of sunlight beams through.

She swallows dryly and then calls out. "Thomas? Daud? Where am I?"

Suddenly the room turns silent. Even the dripping of the water stops as soon as the words leave her lips, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up even higher than before. Her mouth dries and she darts her tongue across the chapped surface of her lips. A panicked glaze smoulders her eyes as she tenses up; pushing herself up against the cold stone wall that acted as protection from any attacks from behind.

The thuds of heavy boots could be heard, growing closer and closer to the cell Julia found herself trapped within, causing fear to gnaw at her heart. The sunlight does very little to actually show the man, but from what she could see and the memory of what happened; she realizes that the man before her is Jenkins.

She tries to push herself further away as he leans against the bars. "Go away," she spits. "You monster, get away from me!"

A growl rumbles from within his chest as Jenkins' glares at her, his face free of his mask and the troubles he faced are clear. Scars are scattered across his face and a long thin one runs across the bridge of his nose. His chin remains unshaved and his shadow is clear in the small sunlight, his lips pull down in a frown. "What makes me a monster?"

"Excuse me?" Julia replies, taken back by the question.

Jenkins grips the bars with a tight grip. "What makes me a monster?"

A scoff moves past Julia's lips before she could stop it, her face contorted from fear to anger. "You killed my aunt and sent the other fleeing to Serkonos fearing for her life, you tried to kill me twice and then murdered one of your own."

"So I'm a murderer," he interrupts coldly. "So are Thomas and Daud and everyone you know."

Julia shakes her head and laughs a bitter laugh. "No," she sneers, her white teeth shining from amidst the darkness. "Empress Emily isn't a murderer, neither is her Protector."

The laugh from the assassin makes her feel uneasy as she watches, the sound echoing throughout the room and carries on down the hallway, long after Jenkins finishes his little outburst. "You know nothing then."

"Oh?" she retorts, moving closer to the bars. "Tell me then. Tell me something wrong about the wise Empress or her loyal bodyguard, at least they know loyalty unlike you!"

Slamming of fists against the metal bars causes her to jump back in fright, her eyes widen again and her hands twist at the rope binding them together. Jenkins controls his anger and his face returns to his normal cold expression. "Loyalty? You won't preach about that to me once you learn this."

Looking up with interested eyes, Julia tucks her legs into herself and speaks. "Well speak then, stop talking in riddles!"

"Years ago, the Royal Spymaster plotted against the Empress for the right to rule Dunwall and bring it out of the plague, and so hired our dear 'Master' Daud to carry out an assassination on her along with the abduction of her daughter; Emily Kaldwin," he pauses and watches Julia's expression change with glee shining in his eyes. "We succeeded. The young girl was hidden away and her mother dead, Burrows became Lord Regent and set his sights on cleaning the city. But he needed money and so got himself a little banker. Your mother."

"You're lying!" Julia snaps at him, his hands gripping onto the rope whilst her knuckles turn bone-white. "She would never-!"

"Never betray the Empire?" Jenkins interrupts her again. "She did, and she was also screwing the horrid man."

Chest heaving and eyes tearing up, she turns her head away from the assassin and glares at the wall. "My mother was a good woman! She was unjustifiably murdered!"

Jenkins lifts himself from the bars and moves slightly, his image in the corner of her vision. "She was murdered yes, but it wasn't unjustified. She betrayed the Empress and her daughter, she was funding the man responsible for the plague in the first place!"

Memories pour into her mind as she shakes her head; memories of how she was introduced to Hiram Burrows for the first time, of how her mother would drink and cry during the night when no one could see her, and of Esma and her sisters argued about the act when Julia was taken away for lessons. "Shut up," she growls. "I don't believe you."

A cold glare from Jenkins sends shivers down her spine as she shivers. "Of course you don't, why would I believe that you would?" he scoffs. "But the person who murdered your mother was in your presence weeks ago, and you didn't even know it."

With a heavy heart, she looks over at him with a look that pleaded him to stop but to also hurry up and tell her, making him chuckle darkly and lean his face in closer. "None other than the Lord Protector; Corvo Attano."

He quickly turns and leaves the room, listening to Julia's wails of despair and agony with a grin on his face. He could sense the fabrics of her sanity unravelling within the dark void of her mind, and that would make Thomas suffer even more when he does find her. A novice appears out of the shadows and greets the leader. "Master Jenkins, what is the next step of the plan?"

With a pleased look on his face, he places his hands behind his back and stares at the young novice. "We wait. Soon enough, Thomas will return and find his love gone. Then he will pay."