I nearly choked when the words sunk in.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"The assassin who is to kill you." The lady answered coolly.
"You're a lady assassin?" I screeched, astonished.
"You sound like you've never heard of them before," She drawled.
"I… haven't…"
"Never mind." My future killer shook her head in pity. She then took a step closer and I got a better look at her. But I took a step back, just incase.
"Who sent you to kill me?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Lady Desdemona Snow." She looked at me blankly, her brown eyes showing no emotion. Jet- black hair, like mine flowed gracefully over her shoulders. Her magenta color lips smirked arrogantly as she stepped closer and closer again.
I hate Desdemona.
"What's your name?" I asked, trying to stall. It worked.
"Terencia," She replied slowly, pronouncing her name like Tear-En-Shee-Ah. "Terencia Loverin."
"Loverin? That's not a common name around here," I cocked my head to the side. "What language is it from?" I smiled gently. Easy does it…
"It's… a rare breed of unicorn" Terencia replied. "Why do you want to know?"
I was stuck for a moment. "Well why not?" I covered, lamely.
Terencia shrugged, and her short, elegant frame walked over to her horse and tied its reins to the nearest tree.
I did the same with my horse, and I laid out my coat to sit on. I motioned for her to sit beside me.
Suspicious of me, she took the seat and I offered her a bowl berries that I hbegun tot eat from..
Thankfully, she took it. I breathed a sigh of relief. She dug in, filling her hunger.
The girl suddenly lunged out and attacked me. Faster and faster, the assassin ceased to stop punching me, as if punching me would only benefit for her, which I'm pretty sure, did.
Terencia and I struggled against each other to fight for our own lives. I tried to be careful and tried not to die, but I didn't want to hurt Terencia too much, because I knew that if assassins didn't kill their target, they would lose their life.
Terencia lunged towards me in a crazed way, tripping on the hems of her dark cloak.
She scratched her nails against my cheek, giving me the beginning of an artfully placed welt.
I gave her one too, across her nose.
She reared her head back in fleeting pain, but then snapped forward again, as fierce as ever.
Gasping, I tried to get away, but Terencia kicked me down again and knocked the wind out of me. Quickly, she whipped out her dagger and pressed it to my throat. I could hear her muttering under her breath.
"The only person who is nice to me, and I have to kill you! Kill you, and you're the, you're…" She became louder with every second.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me, I'm sorry! The only person, the only, you're the only person… who is nice … to me… and I have to kill… I have to…" Terencia broke out in hysterics and collapsed on the ground, sobbing.
I was genuinely surprised.
"Terencia? Terencia… you don't have to kill me! We'll I don't know... we'll find an animal, and we'll cut it's heart out. Okay? And then you can show it to Desi. Come on. You'll be alright." I tried to console her, somewhat awkwardly.
I patted Terencia on the arm reassuringly.
"So, where are you from?" I asked amicably, but scared, changing the subject bluntly. "Not Tantua, are you?"
"Uh, I'm… I'm from Timido." Terencia said, stammering. Oh, so she was from a city of giants?
"Really, wow! So what are you doing all the way in Ralene?" I asked, trying to keep calm. This girl was emotionally unstable. She must have the mood- switching sickness. Or something like that
"Well Lady Desdemona Snow sent me to kill you. She told me you would be here, but why does she want to kill you anyways?" Terencia said, confused. She picked up a blueberry from the abandoned bowl and smudged some berry juice on her well- tanned face.
"And… well I was banned from Timido because of the assassins. That's why they call me Tantua's deadliest assassin. I work directly for the court. The only person I could not kill… was you." She sighed miserably.
I couldn't say anything to that. But my face must have shown all the confusion and awkwardness plastered onto my face.
"I don't know why it's just, all my life, all I could remember was the orphanage. And since there were so many of us, there was no time for love, or kindness, everything was bleak." Terencia clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
Even I was a little freaked out by now. Tantua's deadliest assassin couldn't kill me? This girl must really have issues, to be an assassin and have emotional breakdowns on the people she's supposed to kill.
"Uh… well Desdemona wanted to kill me, because I uh…" I trailed off, trying to change the subject yet again. I took my eyes off of Terencia and stared down at my faded blue dress, specked with mud and grass stains. I smoothed out a non- existent wrinkle.
"Yes?" Terencia's interest sparkled up a notch. Her eyes turned from a dark brown to a lighter shade. Or maybe it was just the light. The cloud moved, and though still filtered by the dense foliage, I could now see Terencia properly from the sun's luminosity.
I could see now that she was wearing men's clothes, with light, green, leather slippers and a pair of trousers that looked free to run in.
"Yeah, I think she wants to kill me because I'm prettier than her." I answered truthfully.
The assassin blinked and then wrinkled her nose. "That's stupid," She spat.
I became nervous at her words. "What?" I asked.
"The Lady Desdemona." She said, rather impatiently. "Then again, she isn't the prettiest spring chicken around, no offense."
I laughed. "How is that offensive? I hate that wench!"
"Do you always talk like that about your mother?" Terencia tucked a strand of hair behind her head and plucked a crimson berry from the bowl that I had offered to her earlier.
"She is not my mother!" I growled. Terencia was surprised, and almost choked on the raspberry. Quickly, I scrambled to my carpetbag, and snatched the small, framed portrait of my mother. (A/N: Thank you for pointing out that they had no cameras in those days, her mother's picture has been changed to the small, framed portrait.)
I held the picture in her face. "This is my mother." I snapped.
How dare she say that Desdemona was my mother? I thought.
Terencia studied the picture. "You look much alike. Both beautiful." She said, calmly and collectively.
My anger subsided. "I better go to Ralene now. You're…not going to kill me, are you?" I asked. Making sure.
"No… I think I'll find an animal and cut its heart out." She replied nonchalantly. It was then, that I told her of my adventure from Tantua.
I told her of mother and Desdemona, I told her of prince Chenate, his betrothed and Cerdames, while Terencia listened raptly, greedily soaking in every word. Much different from the assassin exterior I had made her out to be, at first.
"Yeah… uh… right then. I wish you the best of luck!" I called, untying and mounting my horse and packing up my food, and retying my cloak.
"Thank you, uh… Annabelle was it?" She asked.
"Yeah. Annabelle Snow. But call me Snow White." I coughed.
"Snow White? But isn't that a fairy tale?"
"Yes." I smiled gently. This girl isn't so bad after all. Maybe, on these lonely days I have finally found a friend.
"Okay. You had better flee from here before Lady Desdemona becomes any the wiser." She accepted and smiled back.
I started to ride away, and she led her shadowy, black horse down the opposite direction of the path.
"JdFfooli!" I bid farewell to her in Abdegi, the language of giants, the native language of the city she grew up in, though she wasn't a giant herself. Well, I tried at least. My awful pronunciation did me no good.
My farewell sounded like: Judeff-ooly.
"JdFfooli!" Laughing, she waved back, smiling at her first real friend.
And we parted ways.
***
Shortly after, I reached Ralene. The scintillating sun was already starting to descend and it was starting to get cold, giving my arms goose bumps all over my pale arms.
I decided it was best to sleep inside, so I wandered around the town of Ralene, trying to find a relatively inexpensive inn.
I finally reached one called Verdanina Inn. The place was nice, and not too grand. It was Perfect.
***
Shivering slightly, I tied the horse's well- used rein to a rotting stake in the wooden fence and stepped inside.
The blast of warm air hit me, colliding into me, filling and spreading me with merry warmth. I sauntered up to the reception desk, spotting a young lady who seemed to be having trouble with her customer's reservations. She was probably only a year or two older than me, which made her about eighteen or nineteen years old.
"Excuse me, uh… miss," I said carefully in English.
The girl looked up from her mountains of papers. "Yes?" She said, irritably. "If you're looking for Darren, he's not here!" Her dark, brown/black eyes tried their best to roll without my noticing.
Oh, I noticed all right.
"I would like to stay in a room for a weekend…" I said slowly, and confusedly. "Who's Darren?"
The girl's expression suddenly changed from annoyed to humble. "Um… my older brother. He's in the back. He's also always stalked by girls who claim to love him." She laughed dryly and handed me the key to a room, while I passed her three pieces of silver as payment.
"Thanks" I muttered, heading to my room as fast as possible. That girl gave off bad vibes. I found it weird how even though her eyes were black in color, her hair was very blonde.
Her nose was very pointed and straight, and her ears were uncannily small. Her mouth was normal- looking, but seemingly always molded into a conniving smirk.
But I liked the way she talked. She had an elfish accent, and reminded me of the wonderful hospitality in Penepia.
***
I found my room without any problems, and I settled in with ease. The room was simple, but very beautiful.
The walls were painted a faded gold, and there were a couple plants dotting the spacious atmosphere.
There were a couple paintings throughout the bathroom, adjoining living room and the soft, but welcoming bedroom.
The bedroom had three doorways; one that entered into the bathroom, one that entered into the living room, and a small balcony that faced the sunrise, connected to my room through glass doors.
This could be my sanctuary.
~*~*~
A/N: Happy birthday to me…!