The pale girl crept through the streets of Doranelle. She looked up at the moon, a feisty look coming across her peculiar eyes.
Ashryver Eyes, they had once called them. Eyes that were the treasure of a powerful Fae bloodline from centuries and centuries ago. Whoever bore them made them heir to the Ashryver fortune. Currently, those were two people. The girl and her cousin. The cousin's eyes were darker, the gold less defined against the turquoise. More smudgy and fuzzed. He was still a descendant. The girl's, however, had a shining gold that stood out against the piercing blue, and at night one could swear they glowed.
This was why she wore contact lenses. Plain brown contacts for midnight outings as such.
She was dressed all in black, the leather standing out against her impressively pale skin. Her hair was pulled back into a tight braid one again. She padded through the main streets, quiet as a ghost. She could hear the loud bass from the music playing at full volume in the clubs that lined the streets, could hear the shouts and hollers of the youth inside them. A lot of them were her age. She was only eighteen but with her maturity and stealth, she could pass for at least twenty, considering she wasn't even that tall.
She jogged noiselessly down the street, savoring the feeling of the night wind beating against her face.
This was why she didn't commit. Why she moved from Keep to Keep. Assassin's Keep was a nation-wide organization, with starting roots in what was once the great country of Terrassen and one in Adarlan. They were regular houses, or shacks, or abandoned lands with makeshift cabins. They were all different. Except the logo. The elegant and golden AK on every onyx black door. She'd been to the one in Varese, the capital of Wendlyn. She'd left just days after, the sweltering heat and taste of teggya and eating nothing but the typical flatbread and wine made her sick.
There'd even been one in Mistward, the fortress just south of Doranelle. In one of the rooms, deep down in the corners, only to be found if you knew, or if you're an extremely devoted explorer. The room led to chambers upon chambers, dormitories for up to twenty members of the guild.
As she padded stealthily down the street, she looked up at the stars again and spotted the Stag quickly, the brightest star on its horns were told in myths to point the way to Terrasen. That's the stuff of legends. But there were one or two Keep safe-houses in Terrasen… maybe she should pay her homeland a visit. But not tonight. Tonight, she couldn't afford to dream of places too far out of her delicate hands.
She turned down the rendezvous lane, and as she approached the dead end brick wall, she saw him, perfectly camouflaged despite his big figure.
"This is Falcon." She said, standing a few yards away from the man, using the code name the Assassin's Guild had assigned her when she first became a member. "Are you Sparrow?" She'd been instructed to meet Sparrow on this lane. She didn't know anything about him. To her, he was just another assassin. And probably she the same to him.
"This is Sparrow." He said in a low, soft voice. It contrasted perfectly with her medium pitched, clear and strong one.
"Rendezvous number?" She asked, reciting from the flash cards she'd used on her first rendezvous, which was years ago.
"Seven-oh-three." He said, the syllables seemed to glide out of his mouth like skates on ice. After the number, she dared approach closer. He could be trusted. He was of the Guild.
"Whats your name?" He asked suddenly.
"You're to call me Falcon," she responded, surprised.
"You know I won't." he said, a slight chuckle to his voice.
She sighed in defeat. "Aelin Sardothien, rank ten." The ranks for the Guild were given out of thirteen.
"Rowan Whitethorn," he told her. "Rank twelve." He smirked. Even though it was dark, Aelin could hear it in his voice.
She hated meeting fellow Guild members higher ranked than her. It made her feel vulnerable, like they'd command her to kill herself right there and then. They had perfect authority to, and she couldn't deny without the Guild charging her for disobeying –which could end in execution. Aelin still hadn't decided which was best, to be forced to suicide by some jackass or die a humiliating death at execution by the Guild.
She hoped the day would never come when that decision would have to be made.
"We have to discuss the Havilliard arrival in Doranelle." She said, cutting back to business.
"Yes, I was told you had information." Rowan said.
"I do," Aelin declared. "We were told there was just one coming, Dorian Havilliard, with his… friend Chaol Westfall. But earlier today I saw Dorian yes, but it wasn't Chaol with him." She lowered her volume for an effect of drama. Oh, how she loved this! "He's with Roland." She hissed. "As in Havilliard, the brother."
Rowan grunted in annoyance. "That bastard again? We had enough of his trouble-making three years ago."
"What happened three years ago?" Aelin asked. Rowan cocked his head.
"You don't know, and you're rank ten?" He snorted.
"I'm… a traveler." She felt heat rush to her cheeks, and was thankful for the cover of night to hide it. "Three years ago at this time… I'd say I was at the Keep in the cabins in the forest just west of here. Halopath, I believe it's called?"
"Arobynn must really like you for you to be able to jump from Keeps and your rank remains the same." Rowan said.
"Arobynn and I go way back," Aelin smirked. "Anyways, three years ago–" she began.
"Ah right. You're going to like this story if you're the kind of person I think you are." Rowan stated. He cleared his throat.
"Roland Havilliard came here on his graduation trip with some friends three years ago. They stayed at the Three Sisters Hotel. I don't know where he and his brother are staying today. In the middle of the night, Roland knocked his two friends unconscious and snuck out to the Keep a few blocks down, Harksword." Rowan stopped when he saw Aelin's eyes widen at the mention of Harksword.
"That's the Keep I'm staying in, right now." She said slowly.
"Danger may come to Harksword's Guardian. Now let me finish." Aelin nodded, and Rowan went on. "He crept in; no one knows how he got past the two sentries. He took all the weapons, every dagger, every sword, knife, arrow, anything sharp. He then jammed all the long swords through every door, so the sharp end was pointing into the room. A groggy person waking up in the morning could not see the blade and get stabbed.
"He took all the daggers and hunting knives and crawled under the Guardian's bed and pushed them all blade-up through the mattress, perfectly outlining his sleeping body. If he so much as shifted, he'd prick himself. He'd wake up, and by moving would later sever other body parts. The boy was genius. And then with the arrows he went and killed the three best, highest ranking Guild members other than the Guardian. And with the last knife he had left, he carved his name on the wall. He left the maces at the bottom of every staircase." Rowan concluded. "Only the Guardian, the three assassins and two idiots who stepped on maces died from his prank. The sentries went missing the next morning. This guy killed six highly trained assassins. Finner Keep, my Keep, is starting to suspect the man's descendant of the Fae. Stealthy, eerie quiet but fast, perfect aim with a strange ease." Rowan explained.
The words did a ricochet inside of Aelin's head. Stealthy, quiet, fast, aim, ease. They described her perfectly. She was not the stuff of legends. Aelin was real, and human. Fully. She assured herself.
Then her mind darted to Harksword, and how nice and welcoming everyone was there. Nice and welcoming on assassin standards. The Havilliard boy, he would come again. He'd kill again. And a nagging voice in the pale girl's head told her that he wouldn't just carve onto some drywall, or break down some doors and cause accidental deaths. This time, it would be on purpose. The thoughts spilled out of her lips in a smooth string of six words.
"We need to get to Harksword."
Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed chapter 3! I'm really excited about these AUs, I'm sure I'll be doing more in the future. If you want to request a prompt for a fanfic, feel free to go on my tumblr [terrasenh] and send me an ask with the prompt, and ship (if any) and any other details.
Once again, this community is so supportive! Thank you all so much! Also, on an unrelated note, would you be interested if I wrote a story that was kind of like Gossip Girl (the show) except with different problems & characters? It wouldn't be a cheap rip off, I hate those. If you would like to see that leave it in your review! THANK YOU
lots of love,
-reya