A/N Thanks to all who reviewed.
Great Merciful Goddess- Thank you for telling me. I needed to make sure for future chapters.
Buccaneerbabe14- The thing in the first chapter when she healed. To explain that, when I first started writing the story, I was going to have it where she used her magic by singing, but that didn't work out. So for all purposes, let us just say, she healed herself.
Yamani- they will eventually know who she really is, but tell close to the end.
angel-on-earth- you are quite welcome.
Chapter six: Decisions
She needed time to think, so she led her companions to the temple district. She had found this place when she was fourteen. The sound of a fountain had drawn her. Climbing over the wall, she had found a small garden filled with exotic flowers she had never imagined could exist.She came her when she needed to think, and at the moment there was much to think about. More then she would have anticipated. Thoughts swirled in her head, but there were to many to deal with. She had to be in the courtyard before she even began to acknowledge them.
Getting her companions over the wall was very tricky. She couldn't find any physically possible way of getting Polly over, and Bennie was a lost cause. He couldn't get it through his head that he had to push up from the ground with his legs, and then pull himself the rest of the way over.
It ended up that she left them on the other side to sit in peace on her side. The fountain called to her so she walked to it. The water bubbled up and trickled down. It reminded her so much of her home, that she wanted to weep. She and her brother had often spent time at their palace garden, sitting at the fountain in the silence of thoughts, or wrapped in conversation.
If someone were to happen upon her, they would see her face without its mask. Her features were carved in an expression of sadness and her eyes made one want to weep. They were deep pools of gray sadness.
Today, she needed the silence. She knew what she had to do for Jaymie, but it would be so hard. She had never killed anyone with out getting paid. In a twisted since of morals, she felt it was wrong to kill the man.
When she killed for money, she felt it was decent, if not right, because she was simply carrying out orders. But to act on her own sent chills down her spine. This was a free willed murder, this was her decision. And it was a big decision to make.
She could hire some one else to kill the man who wanted to kill Jaymie. But whom could she trust with the information that could be found? No one. She could trust no one but herself.
She would do it, and she would pay the consequences and live with the guilt. It was the only way, if not the best, or the safest. But it was what had to be done.
It could have been the place, or it simply could have been that she could no longer suppress the thoughts, but she was soon thinking about the night before. And what she thought puzzled her.
She respected them, even though she didn't particularly like them, but she respected them. And it was puzzling. When the mage had been hurting her, she had seen pain in his eyes. Pain for her. He had been pained that he was causing her pain.
And that made her think.
Maybe there was a way to use them. They would know what happened ten years ago in Seridna. They would be able to tell her. But she would have to do something to make them trust her. She had to do something to make them give her information.
Hours she sat thinking, while her companions waited endlessly for her, but she came up with a plan. Jaymie would come first. He was her priority and when she had fixed that problem, then she would put her plan into motion. Until then, it would have to wait.
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Burdock entered the meeting room and took a seat next to Alanna. He nodded to George, noticing that his arm crept protectively around her shoulders. Taking it as a warning, he turned to Numair, and smiled. He had brought along his darling wife, Daine.
He glanced around room taking notice of everyone who was there. He wasn't surprised when he saw Stefan from the stables seated next to Daine. He had had a run in with his little Novellee Shadow, as had the horse that was sitting on Stefan's right, nudging his shoulder.
Novellee, as they had discovered this morning that her name was indeed Novellee, had taken a horse. Every one had been surprised when the horse had been returned in mint condition, a little tired, but not harmed in any way.
He also noticed that a man he had never seen was here. He looked old, but the look in his eyes said he was young in the spirit and the mind. He had to have a purpose for being here and he couldn't wait to find out what. That he was sitting next to George didn't give him any hints, but they chatted quietly together, signaling they were old friends.
The king entered the room and the conversation stopped. He took a seat at the head of the circular table, clearing his throat. He looked around the room to make sure that everyone was paying attention to what was going on.
"We're here to discuss the young Seridian assassin who goes by the name Novellee Shadow. Burdock of Gantor, please give your accounting of what happened that night she escaped."
Burdock nodded then launched into the retelling of the events. He kept it light and impersonal, as he had been taught to do when he had been a page and a squire.
"And what are your opinions on her?" the king asked when Burdock had finished.
"She's rude, obnoxious, bitchy, pushy, and she's very skilled at what she does. Even though she's only nineteen, she could be very useful if we take her into our services."
The king nodded. He proceeded to ask everyone his or her opinion of the girl. Everyone seemed to think that she was deadly in her skills, but it would be in their best interest to take her into their services.
The last person he turned to was the mysterious man that was sitting beside George. The king turned to him and asked, "Will she be willingly to work with us Jaymie?"
He looked at them for a long time, staring at each of them, as if trying to see into their souls. He gave an encouraging smile, and began laughing like a loon. His cackling only stopped when he could no longer catch his breath.
"You want to take Novellee into your services?" he asked, trying desperately not to laugh. "Want her to be a killer for you? Are you dumb? She'd never work for you! Never!"
They stared at him bewildered. Finally Alanna sputtered, "Why not?"
"She hates Tortallan's. Hate's 'em, despises 'em, can't stand breathing the same air as 'em. She wouldn't work for you if her life depended on it. She'd rather die then sink to the level of working for a Tortallan like you."
They watched him with baffled expressions. "But she's an assassin, she has to have worked for someone in the past. And the only people here are Tortallan's," Alanna protested.
"Oh, yes, she's worked for people. But not one of them was a noble or a knight. She can stomach working with a regular commoner, and if the price is right, a low ranking noble. But she'll never work for you."
"But why does she hate us?" Daine demanded, lost as to why anyone could hate Tortallan nobles and knights that much.
"Because you damn well deserve it. You did something to deserve it, but she hasn't told any one. Even I don't know. But she won't work for you, so you can forget about it. If you'll excuse me, I have to return to my court."
The remaining people sat breathless at the table after the King of Thieves swept from the room. Burdock was breathless with shock. He had thought the hate he had seen in Novellee's eyes had simply been there because they were torturing her.
But it seemed she had a history of hate for the Tortallan's. The mysterious assassin became even more so. He was more determined then ever to find her.
The thought gave him a pause. Until now he hadn't realized that he had even been thinking about finding her. Now that it came to mind, it didn't seem so outrageous that he wanted to find her. She did, after all, owe him for that needle she had stuck in his neck.
Alanna's shout of indignation brought him out of his reverie. He looked at her as she shouted, "We can't just give up without a fight. Who knows, she might have a change of heart and decide to work for us."
Burdock wanted to speak out, but he knew that his opinions were not welcome yet. He was new to the whole system, having been introduced to the King's council party a few months ago.
As if reading his thoughts, the king turned to him. "What's your opinion?"
"I think we should talk to her about it. Let her think about it and decide on her own," he said it without even thinking. There were a hundred things that could go wrong or she could do to hurt the kingdom by using them. But they had to try.
The king continued to discuss it with the rest of the council. They all seemed to think that they needed to give it a try. But he had to make sure they were in a unanimous decision.
"All in favor of approaching Novellee and asking her about the job raise your hand," all hands rose into the air. He nodded as he turned to Burdock. "I'm putting you in charge of finding the girl and talking to her. You have two months to come back with your answer."
Burdock nodded, his face composed. Inside he was bubbling with joy at the prospect of seeing her again.
A/N Review please.
