Bet with Destiny

Summary: Kel is adopted into the Rogue after being separated from her family as a small child. Now, she is a renowned assassin who knows what she needs to do and does it well. However, with betrayal, plots and confused loyalties afoot, can Kel truly keep both her head and her name? Unrealistic!Kel/Roald

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When Dashiel Binder, king of the lower city, went for a walk in the dark of the night, he expected an assassination attempt, or a rich merchant to steal from. What he did not expect was for a three-year-old girl to literally drop out of the sky and fall into his arms. As luck would have it, that was exactly what happened.

Getting over the surprise, he gently put the girl on the ground and steadied her until she stood on her own two feet. Then he looked her up and down, his caution overcome by a sense of curiosity.

Shestood at two and a half feet, tall for her age.Determination was etched into her fair-skinned face, even as more tears rolled from her hazel eyes down her soot-covered cheeks. Brown hair framed her face messily. The young girl was dressed in riding boots and skirts, a short-sleeved blouse and a long-sleeved overcoat. They were also torn beyond recognition, but it was obvious they were well made. The girl was either a noble, or the daughter of a very rich merchant.

It was then that he noticed the girl's hands were bound behind her back with rope. He turned her around and unsheathed his dagger, using it to cut through her bindings. Her wrists were rubbed raw, which explainedthe continuing crying.Dashiel looked up as a thought occurred to him. Sure enough, he was standing next to a four-story building.

He cursed softly to himself; anyone could have been up there. He didn't need to ask what they were trying to do, dropping a girl from that building. Dropping babies from roofs wasn't beneath a lot of people, especially those who found that their prey was not worth as much as it should have been.

He turned back to the girl, studying her one more time. He could find some guards, give her in, and perhaps get her a home. Of course, he had also heard about the way Corus guards sometimes treated orphans, especially at this time of the night. Dashiel couldn't let himself leave the girl there. Given his line of work, instinctand past experiences both screamed that guards were not to be trusted. The girl stared at him with wide hazel eyes, a warrior spirit shining out of them, scared but determined.

"What's your name?" He finally asked her.

"Ke-" She struggled to speak, coughing from a throat caked with dust. "Keladry." Her voice was a mere croak.

"Keladry," he repeated the name, looking her in the eye. "Do you know where your mother is?"

She shook her head. "Mama said to wait for her outside. Then...then..." Either she couldn't find the words she wanted to say, or she couldn't manage to say them.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday. Then I couldn't see, then my wrists hurt, so I cried. Then I didn't have anything to eat. Then someone took me. I think I fell from somewhere." Her words were muddled and unclear, but well said for a three year old.

Dashiel nodded. "Keladry, do you know who you are?"

She looked at him oddly. "Keladry. But Mama and Papa and Anders call me Kel."

"Kel, are you a noble?"

The child obviously did not understand this question. Seeing the confusion on her face, Dashiel sighed. "I'm Dashiel. Do you want to come with me? I'll fix you up."

She nodded, trust slowly filling her eyes. With a smile, the king of thieves took that orphan girl home.

He'd originally had the intention to keep her for only a few days, until he could free himself or someone he trusted to help find her family.But - as most peoplehave experienced themselves - the Gods had a funny way of doing things, and nothing ever turned out the way one would expect it to.This particular time, a problem arose within the Rogue, and Dashiel had to deal with that before all else. By the time he was finally able to look for Kel's family, Kel herself had forgotten most of her past and was no help at all in the search.

As aforementioned and as Dashiel was about to experience over and over again, the Gods were very good at playing games with humans. Only a week after Kel had landed herself in his custody, posters were put up all over the city, inviting information on a missing girl with short brown hair and hazel eyes, who was presumed to have been kidnapped by some member of the rogue. Dashiel knew without having to try that there was no way to take the girl back now, not when she knew where he was and could tell the guards that this was the king of thieves they'd been looking for. It was obvious now that she was the daughter of someone very influential - a powerful merchant, maybe even a noble. He knew what would come of those presumed to have 'kidnapped' her and could he really trust a three-year-old to keep such a secret?

Days became months, and months became years. Dashiel, seeing the warrior in the little girl, raised her like his own and taught her the ways of the rogue. With him at her back, Kel was accepted into the court of the Rogue and knew her share of fighting. People who have dealt with three-year-oldsknow already how easily they forgetimportant things but hang onto small details; eventually, Kel forgot everything about her past and became one of the ladies of the rogue. On some level, even Dashiel forgot about her past and accepted her for the warrior lady and rogue she was turning out so quickly to be.