A/N:

Hey guys

After many requests for me to hurry it up with the uploads, I am releasing this new chapter.

I will be trying to get them out as frequent as possible but at the moment I am working on two stories at once as well as tons of other stuff so I have to effectively decide how much time I can put into this in the grand scheme of things.

But for now here is the latest installment of The Disgraced Assassin story

Eddie POV

We reached the castle in under a second and immediately walked to the door. Spence lead the way. The guards halted us as soon as we got within a metre of the city gates.

"Stop right there. The city is in lock down by order of Jarl Ayerf," One of the guards said. Spence stepped forward a step.
"My name is Spencer Jareau. I'm here to investigate the death of Jarl Okki," He said to the guard who had addressed them. The guard asked us to wait a moment and sent the other guard up to the castle to consolidate Spence's claim. It took about 10 minutes for the guard to go up to the castle but he came back and whispered something in the other guard's ear.

"The Jarl will see you now," The guard who had spoken to them before said. They were ushered into the city and were lead up to the castle. We entered and I was taken aback by the beautiful architecture. It closely rivalled some of the architecture on Chaos base. Pillars lined the walkway that we now stood on that seemed to reach into oblivion. The floor tiling seemed to move like grass waving in a cool summer breeze. The ceiling was painted to look like the sky and the clouds seemed to move across it. The throne that sat at the other end of the room was crafted with gold and if their weren't blood stains on the upholstery I would have called Chaos right then and there and demanded that Chaos have one in my room by the time I got back to base. However I would be asking Chaos for one when I got back. Ayerf walked out of a small side door behind one of the pillars near the throne and looked at Spence. She walked forward and embraced him, letting a few tears fall from her eyes.

"Leave us," She called to her guards. They left the room and we were ushered up into the door that she had just exited and up a large flight of stairs. We entered a large room and sat down on some lounge chairs.

"Why are you here Spencer? Your organisation sent my husband to his death and now you come hear saying you are investigating the circumstances of his death. I'm sure your assassins make reports and if you want to know what happened you can just read that," She cried, her voice breaking apart with every word. Thalia put her hands on Ayerf.

"Ayerf. The man who killed your husband had no affiliations to our organisation. No one was sent to kill your husband. Chaos valued the friendship that he shared with your husband," Thalia said, clutching Ayerf's hand in her own. Ayerf looked into her eyes and I saw her look over Thalia, noting her pregnant stomach. Spence and I exchanged a glance and we both knew that it was a good idea bringing Thalia with us on this endeavour.

"Would we be able to talk to your son," I asked. Ayerf looked at me and then at Thalia. Thalia simply nodded at her.

"Ok," Ayerf replied. She pointed to one of the rooms that branched off of the living area and Spence and I stood up and entered. The room was simply decorated with a large bed in the centre and a few chairs scattered around. Their were maps of the kingdom all over the walls and there were some fake swords and shields scatted around. On the bed sat the Jarl's young son. Spence walked straight over to him and knelt in front of him.

"Roth, remember me?" He asked the young boy. Roth's eyes raised and he looked into Spence's eyes. Tears started streaming down his face and Spence did the best to soothe him.

"Roth, we are deeply sorry for your loss. But need to know what happened so we can find the man who killed your father," I said from across the room. He looked at me and then back at Spence. Roth nodded and Spence put his hands on Roth's temples. I sat down and my vision blurred. I saw life through the boy's eyes. His inner thoughts swam in my head. He was standing in the kitchen as his mother made dinner.

"Go get Daddy. Tell him its time for dinner," Ayerf said.

"Okay Mum," Roth replied before running out the door of the apartment and down the stairs that lead to the throne room. When he reached the bottom he opened the door a fraction and peered out. His father was sitting on his throne, deep in conversation with his advisor. Roth wasn't rude and he sensed that the conversation was nearing an end so he decided he would just wait. Then he heard it. At first it seemed to be just his imagination. But then he heard it again. If you asked me to explain what the sound was, I wouldn't know where to start. It sounded like a combination of wind rushing and the sounds commonly associated with night; crickets chirping, the creaking of floorboards, the squeaking of doors on their hinges. Roth felt slightly on edge as the sound began to swell and swim through his ears. It filled the air as if the noises were emanating from somewhere only metres from where he stood. Suddenly there was what seemed to be a large explosion and Roth saw large shards of wood littering the ground. Suddenly the royal advisor screamed loudly and dissipated into ash that mixed with the air and sent him in every direction. Roth saw the Battlemaster exit one of the doors on the other side of the throne room and he almost wanted to yell at him to get back. But he couldn't even get a word out. He was paralysed, left to simply watch this horrifying ordeal that he knew would only escalate further. He watched the Battlemaster evaporate as he ran forward. Roth looked towards his father and saw a man addressing him. He couldn't hear the conversation but he took in every detail of the man. He wore a long red coat with a simple black shirt underneath and had grey combat boots on his feet. His skin was tanned and his eyes looked like they were drenched in blood that now swirled around his pupils. His brown hair was fashioned into a small mohawk that was only about 10 centimetres tall. His eyes glowed a brighter red and a knife flew out of its holster on the mans waist. It hit the Jarl in the chest and he flew back into his chair. He lay dead still and I could feel the tears that streamed down Roth's face at the sight of his father's murder. The man looked straight at Roth before evaporating into darkness and shooting towards the main entrance. The noises that Roth had heard before his father's murder slowly faded into the background and everything went dark. My eyes opened and I saw Roth crouched in the corner of the room, his eyes drowning in his own tears. Spence looked at him sadly and we left the boy to mourn.

Thalia's POV

The boys got up and went into the young boy's room while I sat with Ayerf. I kept my hand on hers and she didn't show any signs of pulling away.

"How far along are you," She asked looking at my stomach. I smiled looking down. I still couldn't believe it. Sure there was the morning sickness, the cramps and the cravings but everyone was being so supportive and the thought of raising a child with Eddie whisked me away into my own imagination. I quickly regained my composure before I slipped into an almost inescapable daydream.

"Six months," I replied, looking into her eyes. I saw so much emotion. Eddie had taught me years ago to read someone's emotion in the most subtle things; the eyes, the expression, the body language. I saw grief, sadness, turmoil, depression and maybe, just maybe a dull glint of hope.

"I wish you all the best," Ayerf replied. We sat in silence for what felt like hours, but in reality was a matter of minutes. I heard the door open and turned around to see Spence and Eddie walk out of the room. Ayerf looked at them hopefully.

"He is suffering from a lot of shock. He doesn't know how to feel anymore. He is completely lost," Spence said to her. Silence covered the room for only a minute but I could hear Roth in the other room crying his eyes out.

"What's going to happen to him," Ayerf asked, nearly in tears herself at the apparent destruction of her son.

"He needs to recover. And that is going to take a lot of time. He watched his own father die. That night was his crucible. In it, Roth changed and turned into something else. He needs to find out what that is. That might take a few days, a few months, a few years or even a few decades but he will find himself," Eddie replied. Ayerf looked at Eddie and saw the truth in the words Eddie spoke.

"What was your crucible," Ayerf asked. She obviously wanted to know how Eddie had gotten through his crucible.

"My crucible was the death of my mother at the hands of my father. He killed her right in front of me," Eddie said, his eyes darkening at the memory of his father and they began to well up at the memory of his mother. All I wanted to do was hold him and remind him that I am here and I love him but I knew that I needed to maintain my reassuring gesture towards Ayerf. I looked at her and she looked horrified that such an act happened.

"How ever did you get over such a thing," Ayerf asked. Eddie looked straight at me. I felt my cheeks getting very warm. Ayerf looked at me and back and Eddie and I saw a sad smile hit her features.

"I don't know what to think about all of this," Ayerf said, "Who would want to kill my husband?"

"Someone who wanted to usurp his throne, one of his enemies who wanted him gone or someone else entirely," Eddie said, looking out the window at the kingdom.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter

I recently became addicted to Criminal Minds and this investigation theme will be something I will be continuing with over this story and most likely future stories.

I'll talk to you guys later

-Dalek