Teehee, it seems EVERYBODY wanted a sequel anyway! Everybody who, like, has read The Assignment orders me to write one so I've written one! Are you happy?? I AM!!!
If you are really really really nice to me, I'll even try for longer chapters.
If this goes super well maybe I'll even write a – dun dun dun DUN – third book! Yowser!
Disclaimer: How many times must we go through this? I actually own quite a lot of characters in this fic, fictional of course, but, sadly, the ones that matter belong to the great and powerful Mistress of Fantasy, Lady Tamora of Pierce ::bows to the queen of books::
And I swear, I'll try to make this one more K/J! Wait…that'll be kind of hard since Joren is kinda kidnapped. Hmm…maybe this will have to be a trilogy. Hmm…
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Silver moonlight cast ghostly shadows on the palace grounds, and those who returned late from a bar or inn hurried quickly into the palace. Every child and man and woman feared one of those ethereal specters drifted toward them with a deadly intent.
Only one of those nightly people did not flinch or jump or whimper or run from a rampant imagination. She was not even scared. She walked these grounds, a specter herself, a symbol of the fear and pain those in her business bestow upon unworthy citizens.
Dressed as she was, her blue and gray House colors draped over her like shimmering night air, she appeared an emotionless ghost. It was a wrong assumption – she was as alive as any other, with feelings locked behind a blank face. She was Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan, eighteen-year-old assassin-spy of Tortall. She was also a lost eighteen-year-old assassin-spy of Tortall.
Where am I? If I could find the stupid Gardens I'll be okay…My window is the third window above them. Or is it the fourth? Ah, who cares, I'll find it.
A frown tugged at the corner of her mouth as she halted, her finger tapping her chin thoughtfully. She had tried looking for the door, and had spent the better of two hours going in circles and no closer than she had been before. Perhaps it would have been easier for her two months ago to find it, but she had been over in Tyra on an assignment to kill a man who had a strange obsession with murdering blue-eyed children. One mother, who had heard of the great woman, had come to Tortall specifically to ask her for this favor. All her children were blue-eyed and she lived in constant fear.
But now all the blue eyes were safe, and Kel had returned, without any idea where her rooms were.
Oh, come on, I haven't been gone that long. I know they're around here somewhere…hello! Found them.
Even in the gray darkness the many colorfully vivid flowers growing in their large garden were obvious. Now all the knight had to do was figure out which window was who's. Hands on her hips, she stared up the window-sprinkled wall. Surely she would recognize one of the windows as a friend's, at least, and be able to go from there.
That one!
Neal's had been right across from hers, and she established it by the crack in it from where he had tripped a couple months ago and busted his head up against the glass. So if that one's his…
Then that one's mine.
Feeling incredibly smug, Kel put one foot on a window ledge and hoisted herself up. She grappled for a hold for a minute, and found a small indention in the stone where she could hook her fingernails. It was right above her now. Balancing carefully on the tips of her toes, she reached up and grasped the sill tightly. She counted to three and pulled herself up to there. Her feet pushed against the wall frantically as she leaned heavily on her elbows and slipped her fingers under the crack in the window, pulling upward. It opened enough for her to slip through, and she tumbled inside.
"Ow," she yelped.
"What the…? Who the hell is in my room?"
The voice was familiar, but muddled as she was she could not place the drawling tone to a face.
"I repeat, who the hell is in my room?"
The bed springs creaked as the moving figure on her bed lit a candle. The light reflected off a sharp-boned face lit with irritated emerald eyes and mussed brown hair.
"Neal!"
Nealan of Queenscove blinked sleepily, rubbing his eyes and squinting at her. After a moment's shocked a grin took over his face and he leaped out of bed, swinging her up into a tight hug.
"Kel, when did you get back?"
"Just now. Um, Neal—"
"Where were you? You left without a trace."
"I was over in Tyra. Listen—"
"Doing what?"
"An assignment. Er—"
"What was the a—"
"NEAL!"
"What?!"
From her neck to the roots of her hair she was an uncontrollable crimson, her eyes darting around the dark room to everywhere but him.
"Kel? What's wrong?"
She cleared her throat and delicately jabbed her fingers downward. Confused, he looked down and a rosy color stole up his face. He swiftly pulled a blanket off the bed and swathed himself in it to cover his nudity.
"You never saw that."
She smiled embarrassedly. "Of course not."
He arched an eyebrow quizzically. "Might I ask why you are in my rooms, by the way?"
Kel sighed. "I had these rooms two months ago. I figured I still had them."
"I switched, because that crack in the window was drafty."
"Is Alanna here?"
"Yes, a couple doors down, where she was before you left. Why?"
"Because I'll bunk with her."
Neal frowned. "You can bunk with me."
"Indeed. And what will everybody think about me then?"
He shrugged. "You shouldn't care. You never did before."
"Neal, before I did not have to balance both knight business and assassin business. I do not openly express my hit-man job, but people nevertheless know about it. Right now I'm dealing with a lot of shunning for both being an assassin and a knight. All I need now is for even more people to think I'm a slut."
Neal stared at her, a wry smile touching his lips as both brows lifted. "Quaint speech, love." He clapped primly. "Huzzah, I say, huzzah!"
She rolled her eyes, brushing a loose strand of hair away as she opened the door to go out into the corridor. "You haven't changed much, you overdramatic boy."
He drew himself up importantly. "I'll have you know, I am a ma—"
The door shut on his words as Kel, laughing softly, closed it. She knew where her idol's rooms are; she often visited them for advice or just to chat.
Weak light emitted from the slightly ajar door, and Kel quietly poked her head in. A woman whose violent red curls were lightly sprinkled with gray was at her desk, working diligently at some kind of paperwork.
"Alanna?"
Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau started faintly at the word and turned around, a grim smile plastered on her face.
"Keladry, it's good to see you," she greeted. "An assignment?"
Kel nodded and stepped in. "Neal has taken over my rooms, I'm afraid. Would it be a bother if I stayed here?"
"Not at all," the violet-eyed woman said graciously, waving to the bed. "You must be tired. I know when you get an assignment you never stop."
The second lady knight shrugged carelessly, plopping herself down on the bed with a yawn. "Sorry if I take my job seriously."
"Where're your bags?"
"I left them with Hoshi in her stall. Jump's in there too. He's going to guard them."
"I see."
Moments ticked by, and Kel lay back to rest for bit. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she drifted off to the lullaby of quill against parchment.
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Hmm…Not a lot of action. Don't worry though: I'll spice it up. I had to have Kel's little introduction first. I've heard people say it's going to be hard to write Kel as an assassin.
That's an understatement.
So if Kel gets a little OOC, bear with me. I'm going to do the best I can, ok?
Thanks to Kassi, Mustang Gal, and PsychoLioness13 for reviewing. ::huggles::