A/N: So this is where we get to meet Asgeir's grandfather, Norik. I think that what makes the Assassin's Creed series so great is how it talks about the heritage of the war. I often think of Asgeir and his ancestors like Connor if Haytham had stayed an Assassin and raised him to be one.

A couple of things to address: the thing on Shay's hallucinations. Yes, it is somewhat inspired by Arkham Knight, but I had actually written down this idea before the game released. We all know that feeling where we come out with an idea and someone comes up with it and tells people about it before we do. My way is just a different kind of way of bringing Shay into the story aside from flashbacks because he's dead at this point.

Also, truth be told, I sympathize with Zelena in a way like how Asgeir did. Not anymore, but I felt sorry for her when Glinda and the other witches pushed her aside to make room for Dorothy. And as you will see in this chapter, even I don't think that Cora deserved what the asshole Jonathan did to her. I personally think that she loved him, and that she would have married him for him as well as his money if he had been a prince. But he accused her of being a gold digger, which again, was not true from what I saw out of her, and what Norik saw. Every sign points to her being just that, but I can't truly see it for some reason. I hope some of you agree with me as you read this next chapter.

One more thing is this being a sort of disclaimer. Neither of these chapters serve much of a real connection to Asgeir's part in it, but they both can be viewed as more of separate stories that connect Assassin's Creed with the Enchanted Forest.

Chapter 21: Past- The Heartless Queen

We never truly know our forefathers and mothers, no matter what is left behind by them. I only got to know my grandfather Norik through his journals, and even then there wasn't much I could pick up on. He was the last Mentor of Arendelle that kept the branch in a well kept home. A noble Assassin that kept the Creed close at heart, and he was a loving husband to his wife, my grandmother Varina Vinter-Swortssen. They were married when they were both young, and my father told me that they both died peacefully of old age. I may never know for sure if he was lying to me or not, because he had lied to me about a lot of other things. But what Cora had showed me? It showed me a side of my grandfather that witnessed horrible things. Injustice, above all else. Cora was right when she showed me those things. I had no right to judge, because I hadn't seen the whole picture.

Norik POV

I often wonder why I didn't kill my friend sooner. If I hadn't earlier, who knows how many wouldn't have suffered at her hands? I have faced a sad truth that too many shield their eyes from, yet one I never acted upon: when one harms many others, no matter who they are, they must be put down. Even if that person is someone who you once cared for.

Back then, people knew me as Norik Swortssen. Master Assassin of Arendelle. Not yet the Mentor of the branch, but I would be one day. I had heard that some of my own forefathers had been Mentors before. More than just a dedicated Assassin, I was a very driven young man, determined to build a solid foundation for my brothers and my love, Varina. She was almost all I lived for, since her father Winch was another Assassin brother of mine. He was a good friend, but after I became engaged to Varina, her happiness with me and her father didn't last. Winch was slaughtered by sellswords on the orders of King Xavier, currently the most powerful Templar Grand Master in the realm. Winch was a man who had retired as an Assassin recently, procured a noble name along with a homestead and well paid friends to help him maintain it, and Xavier saw this as a threat to his Order. Varina received the horrible news by raven when she was staying in the town of Yurness, a small Assassin settlement in the far north of Arendelle. I often consoled her, asking what I could do to help her, but it didn't do much good. She barely spoke in her time of grieving, and when she did it was while she sobbed, repeating the same words over and over.

"He never hurt him…He never hurt him."

As Assassins, most of us look towards the Creed for hope when we suffer a loss like this. But Varina never became one, for her father forbade it. So all she truly had was me and her father. After she and I became engaged, Winch pulled me aside and warned me not to let Varina take the hood. Everyone knew Wentworth as "Winch" for his choice of using ropes as his main weapons against Templars instead of his blades. Someone once said to him that he was a regular hangman, but he replied by saying that was more like a human anchor winch. It stuck.

"You must swear to me that whatever happens, Norik, Varina does not take the hood. I won't let her have the life that the rest of us had. It's too painful."

"Aye." I replied. "You have my word."

I stared at the bottom of my foam covered, empty horn of ale as I thought of this. It had been two months since Winch had been murdered by those sellswords. He was to be my father-in-law, but we both looked at each other more like brothers. While I had managed to find three of the nine cutthroats I had heard were the ones that attacked his housekeepers burned down his land and cut him in half, I knew the real culprit was Xavier and all the other Templar shites in his kingdom. What haunted me with every one of the sellswords that I found and killed, I became less sure that I would be killing Xavier for justice, and more for my personal vendetta against him. I only hoped that my love would not be stained with blood when I would see her again. That was what I was absolutely sure with at the time.

It was late into the night at the tavern. I had been visiting it regularly for the last year, so I had known plenty of the people that worked there. I knew the tavern girl that was working here right now quite well, as I had met her many times before already: Cora.

She was an optimistic younger woman. Always striving to be someone more than she already was. It impressed me as someone who spent most of his time killing nobles that she was one I could truly understand. While I sat at my table to the far side, she came over to refill my horn.

"Glad to see you again, Norik." She said, smiling.

"To you as well, Cora. But what are you still doing here? You've worked past the end of your shift."

"I'm getting by, and I don't mind. You need not worry."

I smirked as she got back to work and I looked down at the letters I had been receiving through my contacts for the past few months. All the letters showed were the speculations of what Xavier was doing and the allies he was reaching out to. I wasn't sure how I would get to him, but I could feel that I would soon enough. I would make sure he knew whom I was and that I knew Winch, and then give him what awaited every Templar.

I glimpsed up for a moment as I saw Cora suddenly fall as she was pushing away another drunken patron attempting a move on her. She fell on the lap of a man I heard was called Jonathan. He was nicely dressed considering where he was, but then again, people often say that Assassins have overly formal attire with their hoods as well.

Cora sat down with him and I saw them talk for a bit before going back to the letters. One was an intercepted scouting report sent from the Southern Isles meant for Xavier. It was quite cryptic with it's words, so I couldn't tell if it was a report on a possible invasion or truce with King Viktor, the current king of the Southern Isles. These scouts loved their code words, and currently the encryption didn't mean anything.

When I looked up at Cora next, I couldn't help but smile as Jonathan slipped a ring made of a straw onto her finger. It wasn't real, but I could see that it meant everything to her.

He got down on his knee as he proposed, and I became so distracted I felt I had to put down the letter and watch as she accepted.

"Oh, you make me so happy!" Jonathan said as he kissed her hand. "Ah, but these next two weeks are going to be torture. Meet me at the crossroads so we don't waste any time."

Cora nodded. "I'll be there." She replied. "When do you have to leave?"

"Very early tomorrow, I'm afraid." Jonathan replied, somewhat sadly.

Cora was dismayed. "The tavern closes soon." She realized.

Jonathan glanced down at his hands, disappointed that he wouldn't have much more time to spend with his fiancé. "Well, then." He said.

Cora then smiled with an idea. "But seeing as how we are essentially…married…" She began. "Perhaps I could keep you company in your room?"

I smirked as I saw the newly weds got up. Before they got to their room, I approached.

"I couldn't help but overhear." I said. "Please accept my congrats."

Cora smiled. "You're a good friend, Norik. Have a good night."

"You as well." I replied as the two lovebirds headed upstairs for their room. As he climbed the stairs, I noticed that the one thing that stood out with Jonathan's fine clothes was his belt. Scratched and beaten as though one of his ancestors had worn it. I figured that he must have been wearing it for sentimental value. After all, why would a prince of his privilege wear such a worn out belt than that?

Every night that I spent in the tavern for two whole weeks, Cora talked constantly about how she was excited to see Jonathan again. I find it strange but mature of her that not once did she ever mention that she was also looking forward to moving up in the world and being named Princess Cora when he returned. She explained to me that Jonathan was actually the Prince of the kingdom and that he had wanted her to know him as a man before a Prince and love him for him, not his money. Every night she waited eagerly as she worked, and every night I watched on, as we both grew closer as friends. A few days before Jonathan was to return, I realized that Cora could help me get closer to Xavier by telling me where he was.

However, I knew that what I was doing had to be kept secret. Every one of my forefathers in the lineage of Assassins did their absolute hardest to stay as true to the Creed as possible. I wasn't about to break the chain just yet. As much as Cora and I were becoming friends, she couldn't be trusted with such sensitive information. But what she told me one day made me think that I didn't have to.

"When I ascend to royalty, Norik. I won't forget you. Should you ever need anything or any help from me, I will do everything in my power to help you. I want to be as good a princess as I can, if people are to accept me as a noblewoman."

I smirked as I raised my mug of ale. "I'll drink to that."

He never came. Cora went out to the crossroads and spent the whole day waiting for him in the rain. When she had returned the innkeeper was furious that she hadn't given him any notice on what she was planning to do. When he was finished chewing her out, she sat down with me.

"I just don't understand it." She said. "He said two weeks. You don't think that he had gotten lost do you? Or, gods forbid-"

I slapped Cora on the hand, lightly. "It won't do you any good to think like that. You just need to keep a positive outlook on this. I'll tell you what, I can do some searching and I bet I can find this Jonathan. Give me some time and I should be able to track him down and find out what's keeping him."

Cora smiled. "Thank you, Norik. It means the world to me that you are there for me."

The way she smiled at me somewhat alarmed me, but I only needed to remind myself that she was already married to know that whatever she was showing, she did not actually feel it.

My son, Daniel became a much better tracker than I when I was that age. Every day for two months I searched for Jonathan alongside the sellswords and Xavier. I knew that the king was in another kingdom, but it was well known in the criminal underworld of Assassins that he liked to travel to visit and discuss treaties with all his neighboring monarchs. He had the goal of uniting the five kingdoms surrounding his own with him so he could crush the Assassins with ease.

I was able to track down two more of the remaining sellswords and kill them. Before they died, they explained that it was Xavier's personal order to kill Winch, and not one of his generals making the decision. It only made me madder seeing what kind of man Xavier was and what Winch was compared to him. The man who wishes death on another must reap their soul himself. Winch was a good man, and he deserved to look that bastard in the eyes before he died.

The truth of the Assassins is that there is no real hiding from them. The Templars can try to protect themselves with their stonewalls and their loyal guards, and the pond scum of criminals can run as much as they like. Eventually, we find them all and do what must be done.

I had seen him a few days ago. When I went back into the tavern to tell Cora, I sat down in silence at my usual table towards the back of the place. Cora had seen me as I went in, and came with a horn of ale.

"Well?" She asked hopefully. "Did you find him?"

I looked back at her, trying hard to think of how I could say it to her without breaking her spirit. "Cora…"

Her smile started to fall. "What is it, Norik? Did you find Jonathan?"

I nodded slowly. "You should see him for yourself. You will find him in the gardens tomorrow afternoon. I'm… I'm so sorry."

And I really meant it. What kind of man would do something like this to her? This one small action that the bastard treated as nothing dire meant thousands of people's deaths and an Evil Queen to go with it.

A gardener. All this time he was a gardener. Now I understood why he wore such a worn-out belt, as he could not even afford one. I still cannot fathom why he deceived her even after all these years. Why would he hurt Cora, who had done nothing to provoke his actions? I could possibly understand had Cora been a noble lady that treated him like the scum that I now knew he was, but not a Miller's Daughter.

I watched from far away as Cora begged Jonathan to still marry her because he had left her with a child in her, and she could not support it. But he only laughed and walked away as she screamed for help that I didn't see coming. As Jonathan walked in my direction, I jumped out of the bushes. I wasn't wearing my Assassin hood, but I didn't think I had a reason to until now. I would have killed Jonathan right there where he stood if I could.

"How dare you!" I snapped as he smirked at me. "What had Cora done to you to deserve such a deception?! A hoodwink!"

"Nothing in particular. But she forced her virtue into my hands like a harlot after I 'revealed' that I was a prince. Harlots are harlots, and she is worth nothing at all. She should consider herself lucky I left that child in her."

Jonathan kept walking as I turned, the fury boiling my head. I had no weapon on me, but I wanted nothing more than to lash out and snap his neck right there. Maybe if I had acted sooner, I could have saved all those people.

When Cora and I met again, she was even happier. At first I was confused, but then she explained what had happened.

"The real prince, Leopold found me. He took pity on me and we seem to have connected. He broke off his engagement to the Princess Ava that he was supposed to marry so that he could take me in himself."

I was surprised. "His father just let him do that?"

"Not entirely. But Leopold pointed out to his father that there really is no point in being a future king if he can't make his own choices. Haven't you taught me something like that since we've been friends, Norik?"

I smirked. "Aye. You understand what my ideology of anarchy means. Not that chaos rules and everyone dies, but that everyone be free to follow their own paths. If you ever get the chance, I would very much like to meet this Leopold. He and I might have a thing or two to discuss."

Establishing an alliance in the Enchanted Forest. Heaven forbid, ever since our jurisdiction was pushed back into Arendelle when my grandfather, Asgeir the Second dared to eliminate the Templars from this realm. He was killed in action, but the alliance between the King, Stephan and the Assassins remained intact, as it had been for many generations.

There was no point in bringing my hopes up. When I came to the castle to meet with Cora, dressed nicely in her gown and furs, the scoundrel Jonathan approached as I was walking up towards the gazebo. I ducked under the edge of the gazebo, and then climbed up quietly onto the top.

"Well, lo and behold." He exclaimed as he grabbed Cora's hand. "It turned into gold after all."

Cora was not taking this shit from him anymore anymore. "How dare you!" She sneered. "You must have the brain the size of a pixie to show your face in this kingdom."

As she spoke I drew my blade out. I wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily this time.

"Well, I had to see for myself if the commoner," He spat the word with loathing. "Who said yes to Prince Leopold was the same one who said it to me…several times…in one night. It was quite impressive."

I growled. That meant nothing to him, so it shouldn't mean anything to her either.

"In two days," Cora replied, with confident anger in her voice. "I will be a princess, and you will bow down and count yourself lucky to pull the weeds at my feet."

I smirked, very impressed. Jonathan only scoffed with false cowardice. "Been practicing in front of the mirror, I see. You're as much of a fraud as I ever was."

Cora angrily scowled at him. "My love for Prince Leopold is true." Then she smiled at herself. "As if his for me."

Jonathan slowly sat down beside her. "But does he know just how much of you there is to love?" He asked. "Or were you hoping to keep our baby a secret?"

Cora flinched angrily, realizing what he was doing. "What is it you want?" She sneered. "Gold? Jewels?"

"Mm. Yes" He replied, laughing. "Whatever you can get. Enough for me to live happily for the rest of my days, just like you wanted from me."

The difference there was that Cora had a baby to support. Him? He wouldn't live long enough to spend a single shilling. I'd make sure of that.

"Bring it here tomorrow night, and your secret shall remain just that."

Cora glared angrily at him, clearly thinking her decision over before making it. "It will be done." She hissed. "Now leave! Before someone sees you."

But the damage had been done. As Jonathan got up and walked away to resume his yard work, I heard a small voice beside the gazebo.

A young girl in a ballgown and tiara was hiding behind the wall of the gazebo. I knew instantly who she was and what she was doing, but was more concerned that she didn't spot me above the gazebo than tattling on Cora. I didn't get the chance to try and stop her as both she and Cora left at the same time in opposite directions.

My dearest Varina.

Not a moment goes by that I don't mourn for your father and you. I have been in The Enchanted Forest for over a year now, searching for the rest of the sellswords and Xavier, but I know I cannot return to Yurness until I ensure it's future is protected from him. Who is to say that he doesn't know about the Assassin settlement so far north?

But the rot of corruption doesn't just touch Assassins. It's touched a friend that I have made here on my journey. Cora, a Miller's Daughter. She's been through too much pain anyone of her class should have, and has just been through something even worse. She was set to marry the Prince Leopold this week and rise up in the world, but another Princess that wanted to marry him unearthed a secret she was keeping, and now she is back to being a Miller's Daughter, disgraced as a victim of circumstance. This world is cruel, and I now see that there can't be mercy for the Templars and scoundrels that live in this world. Not now. Maybe one day when a new Mentor that will come after my time restores the Assassins to their former glory, maybe then we can finally be the symbol of hope that we haven't been able to be for so long.

I will return soon enough, and not a day will go by that I won't think of you and how I miss you dearly until then.

Forever yours, Norik

There is no room for scoundrels in this wretched Earth. At least, that's firmly what I believe. Templars are a filth that can't be allowed, but bastards like Jonathan are worth less than nothing.

It had been four months since Cora had been exposed for her pregnancy and the engagement broken off. I kept waiting for Jonathan to also be charged for his part to play, but it never came. I figured soon enough that it was my duty to be judge jury and… well, whom he should have faced a long time ago.

I was shaking with fury as I saw him walk about the castle grounds with his tools in his barrow. I was far away from him, watching him through my spyglass in the trees. A group of noble ladies and princesses walked past him as he wheeled his barrow to a freshly dug flowerbed. I spotted Princess Ava among them, laughing and gossiping with them. I had something different in mind for her than what I planned to do to the Gardener. He was attending a flowerbed and placing new roses in them when he really should have been digging a hole. A large hole, six feet deep with a stone on the end.

As he attended the bed, I noticed Jonathan get that feeling. The feelings that many cursed souls get around this time: The feeling of being watched. He looked over his shoulder many times as he worked on the bed, and when he finished, he got up, turned around and looked all around the gardens. He breathed heavily several times, as if he were about to call out for me, but every time, he decided against it. There would be no way anyone would be watching him, he was thinking. The ladies at court all spoke of his former lover with blood and venom in their voices. It would mean nothing to them if they knew that the gardener that no one really cared for was the one who fucked her and left the baby in her belly. But Jonathan should have realized that this "harlot" had friends that didn't care about getting their hands dirty. Or bloody.

As the day dragged on, and the sun started to set, Jonathan packed up his tools into the shed, took his pack, and set off for home, the horizon now a deep red from the sun just now settling underneath the trees.

It had rained the other night, and the forests were still wet from it. Jonathan shivered as he trudged on, at one point having to walk right through a muddy puddle that slowed him down somewhat. I could see how uncomfortable he was with only his peasant clothing on, and I still was ripe with fury at how it wasn't enough. He could have been suffering from whatever sick parasites the worst small folk suffered from and cancer, and it still wouldn't have been enough. Nothing would be except what someone with my name could give him.

Varina was the only one I told about what I did to Jonathan when I returned to Yurness. She asked me then if I truly thought that this man deserved it. I told her that while Cora had her flaws and ambitions, she was no whore. I could see that she truly did love Jonathan, and not because of his "wealth". She didn't deserve what that bastard did to her. Nor what the bitch, Ava did either. Not then, I mean. Cora would eventually do the deeds and take the vows that would make her deserve everything that she got, and place her on the last place I wanted her: The List.

When Jonathan arrived at his pathetic, rundown, shitstained hovel of a home, he looked over his shoulder and waited a few minutes before going inside. He knew that I was following him, and he still didn't know where I was, who I was, what I aimed to do to him, or why.

The thing that some people fail to really think is that smallfolk are sometimes safer than lords and kings. Sure, they don't have locks or bars or other ways of keeping people out of their homes, but when was the last time you ever saw something worth looking at a second time in a peasant's house? Kings and queens, they have the gold. They have the jewels. And even with their high walls and bolted doors, everyone wants what they have. It gives off a kind of funny irony on who is really the safer one in this situation. Because it's mostly our possessions that attract the rats into stealing from us.

I wasn't after any money or jewels however. Because I knew this craven had nothing more than a few coins to rub together since Cora was discovered and he never got his gold. His lack of a supper was evident by that when I saw him simply slump into a splintered easy chair, and desperately try and get warm by the pit of embers in his hearth instead of starting his supper.

It was too easy. His window was hanging off its frame all crooked like, leaving me an easy space. I reached into my satchel and pulled out what would do the job: a sleep grenade. It was barely even a challenging task of getting to the area under the windowsill and slipping it through the broken window into the hut. I heard Jonathan yell out before his cries cut off, and I heard the slam of his unconscious body hit the floor.

When the gas was cleared out, I kicked the door down and grabbed him by the collar. I forced him into the chair, then pulled Winch's rope out and tied it tightly around him. As I did so, I heard a noise coming from the corner of the room.

I looked down in the damp darkness as the moon was rising to see a large rat gnawing on a piece of wood. Despite his size, I could just tell how starving it was by how it was chewing on that thing.

I spotted a bucket of water nearby, and saw that Jonathan still had his belt on. I managed to pull it off his pants and set up what I needed. The horrible Assassin would be taking his justice from the law abiding gardener soon enough.

"Ughhh. What's going on?"

I smirked as I held my back faced at Jonathan. "Good." I said. "You're awake. Well past time we talked."

Jonathan was now fully awake. As I turned towards him, hiding my face in the darkness of the room and under my hood, he screamed loudly.

I socked him in the face. "Be quiet." I ordered. "No one is around for a whole league, Jonathan."

"What do you want?!" He cried out. "I could feel you watch me all day and follow me home! Who sent you?! I've done nothing wrong."

"OY!" I snarled, snapping my finger in his ears. "Are those ears on your head just for decoration, or do you have any fucking idea how to use them?! I said. Be. Quiet!"

Jonathan was showing a side of him I never saw when he was in front of Cora. He was only a coward when there was a potential for death around him. All the rest he could stand up to.

"Now." I began. "Do you know who I am?"

Jonathan strained against Winch's ropes as he tried looking under my hood. But then he noticed the symbol on my hood.

"No!" He gasped. "You're the W-"

I smacked him and grabbed his mouth shut. "I asked you if you knew who I was. I didn't tell you to say the name."

I then reached over to another chair in the hut and pulled it over. I sat down in it, facing him with the chair facing away from him. I crossed my arms over the backrest.

"We are going to discuss things, scoundrel. First you will confess to me your crimes. And then I will punish you for them. How much pain you go through all depends on how long it takes you to confess."

Jonathan looked somewhat confused, but through his tears, he tried to think. Then his eyes lit up. He knew exactly what it was that he had done wrong.

"When I was fifteen I stole a sack of-"

PAFF! "Try again." I said, rubbing my fist after I had punched him.

Jonathan sniffed, now starting to look afraid again. He tried regaining his composure from that hit. "I don't know what-"

PAFF! "You know exactly what I mean! Confess to me your crimes and then I will kill you. Refuse, and I will still kill you. Although much worse than you would think."

"I have done nothing that would upset any nobles." He protested. "I have always been a good worker for the King! Why would he send you after me?!"

"I'm sorry, but what made you think that I was sent by that miserable bastard?" I sneered.

"Wha-?"

"Is it my reputation? The nobles and royals whispering my title in fear for killing 'their kind'? People thinking that I won't kill anyone without a payment from a high monarch? I don't do it for money. I do it because it pleases me to know that the wretched nobles that walk this Earth suffer at the hands of people like me. And you, you quivering little twat. You are just as bad as them because of what you did to my friend."

I knelt down in front of him, and then lowered my hood. "Look me in the eyes, and then tell me if you remember me."

Jonathan stared, trying to process and put my face to his memories. Then he recovered his math skills and put two and two together.

"You were with Cora that night in the tavern. You know that harlot."

I head butted him as hard as I could. "Keep talking and this will end worse for you than it already was going to, ten minutes ago."

"The girl practically forced her virtue into my hands. I fucked her good and hard that night because she wanted me to." He sneered. "After all, we were married! You hear me?! I FUCKED HER! "

I punched him with a flurry of fists so hard that several of his teeth fell out. When he barely cried and didn't do what I wanted him to, I gave up and walked over to the device. "You like rats, Jonathan?" I said, picking it up. "You might feel right at home living with them. Disgusting creatures that spend their time rooting around in filth and taking things that aren't theirs."

I held up the device. At first glance it looked exactly what it normally would be: a bucket with the rat inside, and a belt. I walked over and placed the bucket directly on Jonathan's chest, the rim fitting perfectly on his torso. Then I strapped the belt on tightly to secure the bucket in place.

"What are you doing?!" He cried.

"I want to hear you confess your crimes. Admit that what you did ruined Cora's life. That little bitch, Princess Ava heard your little rendezvous with Cora, and she gossiped it to the whole court. Now Cora's back to being just a Miller's Daughter."

"Good riddance! She was a harlot! And she still will be for the rest of her life!"

Jonathan disgusted me. I heard the rat pattering around in the bucket on his chest, and decided to up the ante. He wasn't going to live, so what could it hurt to show him a modern convenience. I grabbed my book of matches and lit one. Then, as Jonathan gazed in wonder at the little stick that had lit up like that, I grabbed a thick log by the fire, tied some cloth to it, and lit it up. I held it up to the bucket.

"Confess, scoundrel."

"Confess what?! That I regret what I did? I almost had secured a future for myself if Cora hadn't gotten herself caught!"

I smirked as the rat started to move around in the bucket. It was feeling the heat.

"You want to rethink you're words? I think your little friend is feeling a little hot right now."

Jonathan looked defiantly at me, but it didn't last. Every minute that I held the torch up to the bucket, the rat was starting to claw and try to get away from the heat. It started to find it's way through Jonathan's shirt judging by what he said.

"Alright now. Heh. You can stop." He said, nervously. "It's all funny, but this rat-ow! It bit me! Stop! I need to-augh! Stop this! It's hurting me! It's-augh! AUGH! AAAAH! YOU HAVE DONE ENOUGH! ENOUGH, I SAY! I ORDER YOU TO STOP! AAAAAAAHHHH! OKAY! I CONFESS!"

I raised the torch. "Go on."

"I took her virtue!" He said. "I deceived her for nothing more than to amuse me and hurt her! I had no right!"

I nodded. "There. Not so hard." I got up.

"I did as you asked! Aren't you going to let me go, now?"

I looked down on him. "I never said anything of the sort. See, you hurt someone that had done nothing to provoke such an act, and that is a crime that I don't let out of my grasp. You're not a Templar, but you're someone just as bad. I can't let you live. More importantly, I don't want to let you live."

I had what I needed in my satchel. A metal torch holder that came in two separate pieces. After I put it together I placed it under the bucket, then went over to the sofa to finally get some sleep.

I don't know if it's true what they say about how a tree falling in a forest with no one around makes no sound. But I can say for certain that no one else heard, knew, nor cared that night that this pathetic excuse for a man was screaming his last words.

"PLEASE! GODS HAVE MERCY! MERCY ON ME! I MEANT NO HARM! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH…"

The local constables found Jonathan's body a few days later, bloody, bruised and naked, hanging from a nearby windmill's tower. Neither the drunken Miller nor his daughter could explain how the body ended up on their tower, or why. What none of the guards could understand as well was the massive hole where the bastard's sternum was, nor the message that they found written on his body in blood.

All over his face and chest was scrawled the word "Scoundrel". Over and over again it said on his face, and no one could tell why. Not many of the townsfolk knew of him, but a few mentioned that the Miller's daughter had known him and spent the night with him. She was brought in for questioning, but they somewhat doubted that she did it, especially since she had been on bed rest for weeks with her child on the way and her feeling quite ill.

Even the nobles in the castle paid no mind to Jonathan's unfortunate death. They had plenty other gardeners; so one death meant nothing to them.

They ruled out Jonathan's death as an accident eventually, but they couldn't figure out how. The crows had been picking him apart for days by the time his body was found, but even that didn't add up. In short, they gave up.

It really was a shame that he had died. But sometimes, these accidents just happen.

Dear Cora.

There are things that I know you deserve to know about what happened to Jonathan. I want to keep it as simple as I can because you really shouldn't know about this.

It was indeed I who killed Jonathan. It goes against what I stand for, but I did it because you at least deserve some retribution for everything that has happened. You having to abandon your firstborn daughter, and that little brat Ava stealing the good life you could have had. Jonathan was responsible for this just as much as she was, and he deserved it.

At this point in the letter you're thinking that my next action would be to kill Ava as well. Every aching bone in my body wants me to, but that is something I cannot. I have something in mind that might help the people, but not help you. It wouldn't be worth it to kill her just to satisfy the need for your vengeance, but it would be well worth it to do more to help the collective of the kingdom through justice. The girl needs to see that her actions have dire consequences and she must face them. I will show her them without slashing her neck on the scythe of the Reaper.

However, I want to at least offer some more retribution for you as well. You've been through enough pain, and the injustice here must be answered with justice. Justice that I hope you can carry out if you let me teach you.

You see, I come from a guild of people. A brotherhood of sorts. A family. One that spends their efforts trying to end the oppression of tyrants that rule with a steel fist. Cora, everything you think you know about history is wrong. There has been a secret war raging on since the beginning of written history between my side, the freedom fighting Assassins, and the side of evil bastards like King Xavier, the Templars. They seek to control all of humanity and make it their "perfect" world. I know that there can't be any peace with control freaks in a position of power, and that is why I will admit this: I see potential with you. You're my friend and I don't want to lose you. Some of us spend our whole lives trying to take down the corruption that lives in the rich and powerful that it's not until the pit of vengeance has swallowed us whole when we realize that it was fruitless all along. To make us out to be anarchist vigilantes who oppose the Templars for their crimes is a mistake. Vigilantes can be destroyed, broken, and killed. But we do something much more than fight. There are some among us that rise from the pit of vengeance and inspire the weak and the helpless to stand for themselves and choose their own paths. They become symbols, they become legends, but most importantly, they become true Assassins. I can see the fire of vengeance smear your vision and think that taking Ava and all the rest of them will bring peace. It won't if you do it alone. Find me, and if you are truly ready to play your part in the war, then we can bring justice for all.

Sincerely, Norik.

Almost six months passed after that. I never heard from Cora after she had her child, a baby girl. I spent the rest of my efforts tracking down the few remaining sellswords responsible for Winch's death. Soon enough they all were gone. And most of them begged for mercy. To that I replied with the same response.

"I am giving you mercy." I said each time. "The same mercy you showed my brother."

About a month after I killed the last one, I received a message from the Mentor, Gared. He begged me to return as soon as I could as Varina was now becoming convinced that she would lose me any day now. But he did say that there was a chance that Xavier would be visiting the nearby town, and it might be my last chance.

"At least remember the Creed, Norik." He said at the end of the message. "Do as you are asked and kill the Templar king, Xavier. Don't do as you please and kill the murderer of Winch, Xavier."

I arrived at the castle town under the burlap hood of a beggar. As I walked around, begging for money from people at random, I saw him. Potbellied, with black hair and a smug face. Who should be with him but the bratty Princess, Ava? I assumed correctly that the man beside Xavier must have been his son, Henry. I angrily stalked among the crowd, following their movement.

I knew better than to kill Xavier right there in the castle town square, but it was hard. This man had Winch killed for no real reason, and I was trying hard not to be consumed by the dying thirst for revenge for him. A man who believed as the worst Templars did: that because of theirs crowns and their jewels and their gold that this made them better than everyone else. And everyone below him was weaker than him.

"Oh, you, stupid, foolish girl!"

I suddenly noticed that Ava had tripped a woman carrying a heavy sack of flour. As she turned towards her on the ground, I realized that it was Cora. She looked up at Ava, with flames in her eyes.

"What happened here?" Xavier asked the Princess as she smirked down at Cora.

"Oh, the peasant fell." She replied, trying not to laugh. "As they do."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Cora snapped.

Xavier looked down on her. "Not you." He sneered. "Ava? Are you alright Ava?"

"Well, she ruined my slippers." She replied.

Oh no! Gods forbid she had faced enough pain this week! After all the suffering she had been put through! Only yesterday she found a pimple on her face and a broken nail! Whatever would she do!

Henry however, was kinder. "I don't think the girl meant any harm." He said.

Xavier looked back at Cora. "You shall receive no money for the flour, and you will apologize to Ava."

Cora was appalled. "Apologize? The wench tripped me!"

"Curb your tongue." He trilled. "This is Princess Ava from the Northern Kingdom. Our honored guest. She's a very important woman."

Bugger that. I heard of her Kingdom. Their "Northern Kingdom" was nothing compared to the real Northern beauty of Arendelle. As an Assassin from there I showed pride in living in Yurness. It was a true gem of a settlement in Arendelle's far North. But what makes a kingdom like Arendelle better was how we knew what winters really were; they were always harsh but beautiful.

"She's a girl." Cora spat back.

"And who are you, Miller's Daughter?" He replied.

A future Assassin with every reason to kill you right then and there, I hoped.

"What's your name?"

"Cora."

Xavier smirked, and crossed his arms. "Then kneel, Cora."

Cora glared angrily at all three of them, but hesitantly did as she was told, her ragged clothes among the flour.

"Now apologize. Apologize or this will be the last bit of flour we'll take from you. There are other millers out there."

Cora gritted her teeth. "I beg your pardon, Princess Ava."

The child grinned. It was clear to me, and to Cora that she remembered her from a year ago. Soon enough I'd invert that smile and make her beg for mercy.

"Stay down until we have passed." Xavier ordered. "You are where you belong."

He and his son turned, Ava following around. She looked back at Cora, smiling malevolently, clearly proud of herself.

When they were gone, I approached Cora with my hood still up.

"You alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine, I-" Cora looked up. "Norik?!" She whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping an eye on you. And looking for that bastard." I pointed where Xavier had left her. I took Cora's hand and pulled her up. "I just love it when those I'm chasing come right to me in a bow."

Cora looked uneasily at me. "Norik. I received your message. What did you do to Jonathan?"

"I did to him what I will do to Xavier, and get justice for my fiancé. Jonathan was a rat, and could not continue to torment others like he did to you. You can't tell me you miss him?"

Cora beckoned for me to walk with her as she went back to her barrow to take back to the mill.

"The world is a better place without him. But it would be even more if the wench were killed as well. Why won't you do it?"

"Because in my eyes, and the eyes of my Mentors, Ava is ultimately innocent. She must not die unless if Xavier corrupts her the way he has corrupted many others."

"He is a cruel man just as much as the girl, Norik. You must not hesitate the next chance you get."

"I won't hesitate on my behalf for Xavier. The girl is another story." I replied. "But he's very well protected. I fear I'm not as skilled an Assassin to take him when he's still protected by his guards."

Cora was visibly upset as I admitted this. It hurt me to see her so consumed with the thought of vengeance; I knew something as she looked at me. An idea that suddenly came to mind as I remembered the offer I had given her in the letter.

"It isn't fair, Norik." Cora growled. "We do all the work and it's people like them that are at the top. How can this be?"

"It's how the Templars work. But you mustn't despair, Cora. Keep hope alive."

She looked at me doubtfully, but I smiled.

"Have you ever heard of Arendelle?" I asked. Cora shook her head. "It's a kingdom far away from here. About a month's journey away on the other side of the kingdom and across the sea, and it's where I am from. It's a place where the Assassins are safe and protected by the King, who is a much kinder man than that shite. If you want a second chance at life, and really make a difference better than a princess ever could, then you stick close to me for the next few weeks. When I return to Arendelle, you're very welcome to come and join me. The town I live in brings new definition to 'community'. We take care of our own, just as all our forefathers did. Assassins, nobles, and smallfolk alike. You don't even need to take your drunken father with you. Clean slate."

Cora agreed. "I cannot take it here anymore, Norik. If you take me with you, I'll work hard to earn my place in this town."

I smiled at her. "You won't need to, but I know my brothers will welcome you with open arms. After I'm done here. Just you wait. Until then…" I reached into my satchel and pulled out a small bag of gold coins and placed it into her hands. "At least take this. You need to eat this week."

Gared had contacts in the Enchanted Forest that could help me, but the most that he was able to do to help me get closer to Xavier was have them forge me an invitation to the masquerade ball that celebrated Ava's visit. A chance to scope out the castle and find its weaknesses in its defenses.

I walked in with my mask on. I had been put down as a guest on behalf of King Olaf, the Lord Jacob Kenway. Of course, no one paid me any notice, as all eyes were on the beautiful princess.

I weaved in and out of the crowd, noting as much as I could for what I could see of the castle in the courtyard. I was right in the middle of trying to determine the best spot on the walls to start climbing when Xavier stopped the music with his order.

"My loyal subjects! We have a very special personage with us." He called, grabbing the arm of one of the ladies in a red dress. I cursed as I realized that it was Cora.

"I told you to wait!" I whispered to myself.

Xavier pulled Cora up onto the stairs of the ballroom.

"This woman tells me that she can spin straw into gold!" He called out.

Obviously, everyone laughed at this while I flinched in shock. This power that Cora had just bluffed that she could do was straight out of a fairy tale that I had read as a younger boy. I also noticed that she must have gotten the idea from the deception that Jonathan had pulled on her so long ago. I knew this world was set in the fairy tale world. But I always doubted that I would witness one in person.

"And she is going to demonstrate it for us!" Xavier continued, laughing along. He pointed to a guard. "Fetch a spinning wheel!"

Cora tried to do something to stop this, so she tried hiding one lie with another. "It takes…time to gather my thoughts." She said.

"Oh!" Xavier sniffed. "I tell you what, my dear. Spend the night here, locked in a tower full of straw. Spin it into gold tomorrow, and you may marry the Prince."

I shook my head at myself as the crowd murmured. Princes seemed to be landing on her lap, as this was the second one that she would have a chance to marry within the year. I wondered if Ava would ruin this one, too?

"Fail, and you die." Xavier finished.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." I whispered to myself.

The next morning, the guards found Cora in the tower cell with all the straw replaced by gold. Xavier was furious when she gathered on the steps that morning in front of the whole court, and handed him a long strand of the gold.

"How can you prove that you did it?!" He hissed.

Cora only smiled, maintaining her ground. "Bring me the wheel and more straw, and I will do it again."

Xavier glared at her, then dropped the strands of gold and snapped for his guards to do as she asked. They brought her a whole bale of straw, and a much nicer wheel than the one that she had been given the night before.

Cora sat down, putting the straw into the spindle. She started pulling it through the wheel, and the nobles and I watched in amazement as she pulled strands of gold right out of the wheel. When she was done, she took them and handed them to Xavier.

"Here." She snarked. "Here's your gold."

Xavier was still in disbelief as he eyed the strand. "Is this-? Did you really do it?!"

I smirked as Cora beamed. "You saw it with your own eyes." She replied.

"But you're just a Miller's Daughter." He said.

"I am so much more."

I couldn't help but notice Ava eye Cora like a snake, green with envy at how she had stolen away the attention she had been given last night.

"You've…earned him." Xavier said, shifting nervously. He had been played right into a trap and made a fool in front of his subjects. Justice, but only a taste of what would come.

On cue, Prince Henry kneeled down at Cora's feet, and took her hand. "Cora. If you will do me the honor of accepting my hand in marriage."

Cora nodded, smiling. "Yes."

As Henry kissed her hand, I smiled. I started to clap slowly on my own, but soon everyone else followed suit, and the whole crowd cheered for Cora. I almost thought she spotted me in the crowd as she smirked, her dream finally realized. Cora might not be able to go with me to Arendelle unless she asked me to, but with her in the right position, she would be able to get me close enough to Xavier to send him straight to the red gates.

A few days later, Cora was taking a walk in the village. She had two guards with her, but when she spotted me a ways down the street she told them off.

"Well done, Cora." I said. "Managed to shove the bastard's foot into his mouth."

"It wasn't without some help from you, Norik." She said. "You made me realize that I needed to show them that I'm not a woman to be taken lightly."

"Does that mean you might still consider going to Arendelle with me? You'd have a real family instead of every single one of those royal pricks teaching you how to curtsy and dance and all the other useless skills."

"Henry is a handsome man, but dumber than a mule. I don't want to marry him. I don't want any of this if I'm only fifth in line to be Queen.

I want to see Xavier kneel before me and beg for mercy before I watch him die."

How she was speaking threw me off. I wanted to kill Xavier and make him pay for what he had done as well, but the manner in which Cora was making it sound; it was as if something had happened last night with her. Like she had some life-changing encounter.

"Cora." I began. "How did you come to learn how to spin the straw into gold?" I asked.

"Some strange man appeared in my cell last night. He had a warty face and called himself-"

I knew it. "Rumplestiltskin?!" I gasped.

Cora looked surprised. "Why, yes. That's his name."

Not exactly a Templar, but possibly even more dangerous, Rumplestiltskin was a monster that I had hoped I would never encounter in my life at any point. I grabbed Cora by the shoulders and firmly grasped them.

"Cora… Rumplestiltskin is the Devil in the form of a man. Many Assassins over the last centuries are now dead or worse because they underestimated him. You can't trust him or think that he will befriend you. He's only out to better himself and kill anyone that might oppose him. He's worse than Xavier."

Cora shook her head, somewhat annoyed. "Well, I think I've had enough preaching. You tell me all these stories about Templars and Assassins, Norik. But Rumplestiltskin told me the truth. I want to make them all consider themselves lucky that they are kneeling before me and not rotting in the ground. I hoped that you would understand, but he warned me about you and it turns out he was right. He told me everything about you. That you wouldn't kill Ava, and so you won't kill Xavier. You'd show him the mercy that he doesn't deserve."

"What?!" I snapped. "The fucker had my brother killed! Why would I ever spare him?"

"Because you wasted your time and effort on Jonathan when you should have killed Ava before she exposed my secret! If you spared her, then what's stopping you from sparing another that hurt someone you care for?"

I looked at Cora in shock. I realized that I should have taken her out of that tower the first chance I got as I asked this. "Do you love the Imp?"

Cora turned without an answer, but as she walked away she glanced back at me.

"I expect you to bow to me, now that I will be Princess."

I only stood back in shock at who I saw walking away from me. I reminded myself that she was still the person she once was, but she was starting down a dark path. One I hoped didn't end with a red cross.

I spent my nights in the castle town sleeping in the woods. Xavier might have not known I was there, but I still couldn't risk him finding out about me. The tree I slept in had a history of being one of the oldest oaks of the realm.

One night a few weeks later, when I was sleeping I heard a voice.

"Norik!"

As I woke, I jumped down. Cora was dressed like a real Princess with a tiara on her head, standing tall and proud. I still wore my torn up burlap hood, but was now wise enough to keep a sword hidden in it.

"Your Highness." I said, half mockingly, half respectfully. I bowed, twirling my hand in her direction. "This couldn't wait until morning?"

"I just had to make sure you hadn't left for Arendelle just yet."

A spark of hope hit me when she said this. "Well, Xavier is still alive, last time I checked. So no. What's the matter? The Imp talked you out of killing him?"

"No." Cora replied, unsmiling. "I chose not to kill him. There are things I learned from him, and things I learned from you. You taught me that life is cruel and I need to use any opportunity I can to destroy those that oppose me. Those that humiliate me."

"Exactly. Xavier is the enemy here, Cora. You can help me with that problem. If you help me infiltrate his castle and kill him, I can take you to Arendelle. Yurness will be a safe place for you. You can finally have a fresh start better than this pathetic life of a lazy noblewoman."

"But then in the last few weeks, Xavier showed me the real truth." Cora said, as though I hadn't said anything. "I don't just want to make the nobles bow to me and kiss my feet. I want them all to do it. Every person that looks at me, I want them all to strain their necks and look up at me as someone more than them all."

My mouth hung open at what she was saying. It was as if I was seeing a demon in her form. This was not the Cora that I had befriended. Something was now different about her. I suddenly felt compelled to check something that I felt. I focused hard and felt the Sight bring my eyes towards her heart. Assassins with the Sight can see others hearts and how much darkness affects them. But I was horrified at what I actually saw: nothing. Cora's chest was completely empty.

"Cora." I said, realizing what else had happened. "Please. I can help you. I am not the enemy here. Rumplestiltskin and Xavier are. They're the ones that hurt you, not me!"

She sneered. "Says the man who spared the child even after everything that she had done to me. Call yourself my friend. Hah! You and the Assassins are weak, Norik. You treat souls that don't deserve it with love and compassion, killing the rest that question and oppose you. Xavier showed me the truth when he brought me into his fold. Love is weakness, and the Father of Understanding showed me that."

Cora pulled her hand out of her glove, a silver ring on her middle finger bearing the Red Cross of the Templars.

"Harlot!" I snarled. "You will regret this!"

I drew my sword and swung it at Cora. Astonishingly, she held her hand up in the air and I felt something pulling me back before throwing me to the ground.

"I only regret that I didn't take my own heart out earlier and have you killed earlier. Luckily I have a title and power now to have someone else do it for me. Guards!"

I picked up my sword as four guards appeared from behind the trees. Two of them grabbed me from behind while the others got their own weapons out.

"He just confessed his intentions to kill King Xavier. Deal with him and bring me his head when you are through." Cora said. "I will be back at the castle."

She smiled at me. The last time I ever saw any trace of my friend left. "Love is weakness, my dear Norik. Remember that when you die, knowing that your fiancé will have to learn that the hard way when she's mourning for you as well as her father. What did Xavier say to me? Oh yes. He said that Winch begged for mercy before the sellswords took his life. Begged like a dog."

She walked off into the darkness.

When she was gone, I easily fended off the four guards and cut them all down. I hid their bodies and flew off into the darkness, now more lost than ever.

Cora was now dead to me. Tearing out her own heart to further herself up the ladder of power. What kind of devil would do such a thing? Something told me as well that she left the guards to kill me because she knew that they couldn't do it. I was too skilled. She chose to leave me alive so that one day, when I was higher up as a Master, and she a Master Templar, we would face each other again someday. I kept running and running as fast as I could as dawn approached. When the sun was peeking over the mountains, and the mist of the morning surrounded me, I stopped and sat down, unsure of how I could get to Xavier now. Cora no doubt would have told Xavier about me, and he rewarded her by inviting her into the Templars. And whatever Rumplestiltskin said to her and taught her in that night in the tower, she now knew very powerful magic. She would now be one of Xavier's new followers protecting him; gods knew why after all he had done to her. Now I was back to square one with no way of getting in. No one on the inside to help me.

But then, I remembered that I had a chance to ally myself with someone on the inside instead. She had been long gone from the kingdom by now, but I now knew I had someone else who could get me to Xavier. And since he had given me yet another reason to slice him in half, I was all the more determined to do it: because he corrupted someone I cared for.

The young princess lay sleeping before me, alone. Her husband was on a diplomatic mission to the Eastern Valleys. She would look stunningly pretty if I didn't know of the rotten, envious beast that hid behind her face. I looked down at the sword on my belt. I could slit her throat while she slept, but that was the coward's way. I could wake her and kill her then, but that was the savage's way. She deserved to die in the eyes of some, and in the eyes of a part of me. But she was ultimately innocent. Nothing she had done made her deserve death. And she was my last chance to get to Xavier.

But it was because of her actions that Cora became the bitter person that she now was. Now being mentored by the man that ordered the death of Winch, and she turning her back on me. If it hadn't been for the jealousy of this girl, Cora might have found the right path one day.

I raised my hood a little higher over my head to hide it better, and then leapt over and covered Ava's mouth with my blade to her throat.

She woke up instantly, her blue eyes filled with terror as she screamed through my hand.

"Be quiet." I whispered. "You and I have business to discuss, Your Highness. I will pull my mouth away, but if you scream you lose your throat. And by default, your life."

Ava looked pleadingly at me, but nodded.

I pulled my hand away and retracted my blade as I turned my face away from her so she couldn't see me.

"What do you want with me?"

"Justice." I replied. "I don't think you realize what chaos your actions will have brought upon this realm."

"I'm the Princess." She replied. "I can do what I want. What happens as a result of that is not my concern."

I held my fist up and my blade shot out of it's bracer, the shadow of it casting down on her face. "You seem to be abusing the use of your tongue considering you're still speaking like that. Would you like me to liberate you of that burden?"

She somewhat whimpered, so I took that as her answer.

"The girl you tripped a few months back. Cora. Even you remember that she was the same one with child that tried to take your future husband for herself. You're no better than her by causing chaos at every turn whenever you please. Since she's made her way up as Princess, Cora's now joined the inner circle of tyrants known as the Templars. People will burn for it."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"It has everything to do with you. Did you ever once pause to consider your actions at all? It's a simple case of the Butterfly Effect. You just had to have the idiot Prince Leopold, and now people will burn because you infuriated the wrong girl and she had herself be taught by the Devil himself."

"If you are here to lecture me, please make it brief. I need to sleep."

I tossed a knife right into the headboard beside her. "I have a better idea. I'm going to kill King Xavier, and you will help me do it. You will give me information I seek. Names, contacts, places, his tactics, his guard patrols, so I can find a way to get to him, and then I will bring death upon him as he ordered to do so on my brother at arms."

Ava breathed fast from the terror of the knife in the headboard. "How do you propose I do that?"

"I will leave you with what you need to contact me and you will obtain the information I seek."

"Should I refuse?" She said with what little defiance she could muster towards me.

I turned to face her directly, my face hidden underneath the shadow of my hood. "You know exactly what will happen to you should you fail me. I really think that you will do what is right, because I'd hate to have to kill someone I really don't feel like killing."

I opened the balcony doors of her room, rushed for the edge and jumped off, the sound of a night eagle screeching loudly. I already knew that Ava was pulling out the knife from her headboard, the info she needed from me tied to the handle.

I had given Ava a list of what I needed, the means of contacting me, and another good threat just to ensure she didn't get any bright ideas and tattle on her idiot prince. Luckily she came through and sent a raven to me.

"You ordered me to arrange a meeting with me if I obtained the means to infiltrate Xavier's castle. Meet me at the highest tower of the castle at two in the night."

I stood with my back towards Ava as she explained. Getting inside her castle was once again, no real challenge.

"I hold the plans to his castle through a scouting report. Xavier has been a friend with my family for some time now so it wasn't hard to find them. I also was able to obtain guard shifts and postings and names of his most trusted guards."

Something told me that one of the names on this list was a high-ranking Templar. Another target for another time.

"Do they suspect that I am coming for them?" I asked in a deep voice.

"Y-yes." Ava shivered. "Princess Cora told him everything. I thought you were a friend of hers since I saw you in the town that day when I tripped her. Hiding under that hood."

I turned and glared at her from under my hood. "She was my friend." I replied. "And you speak of tripping her like it was some kind of accomplishment in her life. Like she should be grateful she breathed the same air you did."

"I remembered who she was." Ava replied, now not as afraid as I had her a week ago. "She was the same wench that lied to my darling Leopold and said that she wasn't with another man's child. Who was the man? Another drunken Miller?"

"No." I replied. "Your old gardener. The one I had a rat eat a hole through."

Ava flinched. "The one that went missing. So you kill anyone that you please these days? You plan on killing me when this is over, right?"

I looked back at her, but as I saw the look in her eyes, something seemed to change. Here I was, threatening an innocent to get to King Xavier, who I was solely targeting for his orders to have Winch killed a year and a half ago. Slowly, I lowered my hood and lowered my voice.

"No." I said. "I won't kill you. As much bad that you've done to Cora, she has now done something much worse to me. She's joined the Templars and learned freakish magic from the Imp, Rumplestiltskin. Now that she's in a position of power and working with the individuals that aim for control over all mankind, I can't spare her. She was my friend, but she made her choice, and wanted to rip her own heart out so that she could further herself."

Ava looked uncertainly at me. "She's learned the secrets of magic? Does that mean that she will kill me if you don't act soon enough?"

I shook my head. "You haven't given her a reason to spare you ever since you met her. It's not my responsibility to protect only you from her, but it is to protect everyone from her. If you wish to suppress her wrath on you, I would first give her a reason to like you instead of trying to ruin her life at every turn."

Ava stared at me. "I loved him." She said. "Leopold. I really did love him, and I thought that she didn't. I still love him, now that we are married. It's not that I didn't mean any harm to her. I just thought that it really could make any difference to me. She was a Miller's Daughter only months ago."

"And now she's a Heartless Queen." I replied. "I would expect her to be coming after you soon enough if you don't try to correct your mistake."

Ava nodded as she handed me the papers. "You seem familiar to me. Are you the one that the people speak of in fears whispers?"

That name. I never liked it in all my life. It only suggested that everyone I faced would die. However, I only chuckled at that to myself.

"Yes, I suppose I am that monster. Underwhelmed?" I said, flipping through the papers.

"You surely live up to the name halfway with the white hood. But no. You seem more like a man just trying to look out for whom he cares for. Saving those he cares for."

I looked up from the papers. "I do have people I care for. People that Xavier hurt, or worse. If you knew him better than when he is at his royal gatherings, you'd see a man who paid nine sellswords fortunes for killing my fiancé's father, and runs hundreds of slave mines in the eastern borders. You look at him, Your Highness, but you don't see him for what he really is."

"How can this world be that cruel?"

"It's easy for you to say. You think that there isn't a dark side of this world? You don't know what it's like to be desperate. You don't know what it's like to be cold, starving, alone, or helpless. Try living among the smallfolk for most of your life and then tell me that you understand. I might believe you then."

I started for the balcony, pulling up my hood. "I will return to you when the deed is done, Princess. I think you and I have some things to discuss soon enough."

The plans were useful in every shape and form. The guards were told many times each day I went on scouting that they were to keep an eye out for "the Assassin", mentioning me by my nickname as well. It was no use for them, as it was not my first time infiltrating a Templar's castle. They can mount their spikes on the walls and their guards on the turrets. But there was no stopping an Assassin as skilled in climbing as I was.

The bastard sat at his desk close to the center of a large balconied room. The room itself was a massive dome with vaulted ceilings and four balconied pathways leading into the center, each looking down on the room a good hundred feet below. The room below was also showcased by a large stained glass window on the floor in the direct center of the room bearing the Templar Cross. There were two guards to each entrance of the room, but not to the transoms above. Edging past the rafters was easy, as well as jumping downwards right on his desk.

Xavier got up with a jump, but he did not show fear as he looked at me. The guards noticed me and yelled out as they ran over, but Xavier held his hand up.

"Cora told me everything about you, Assassin. You come from Arendelle, seeking my death."

I glared at him from under my hood as I jumped down in front of him. "You show no fear to me, Your Majesty. Why not?" I said, extending my blade on my left wrist.

"You think you're the first Assassin who's tried to kill me? That older one, Wentworth tried to kill me many times before. I'm just glad I got to him before he could."

I narrowed my eyes as I lowered my hood. "You didn't kill him. You did what all Templars do. You sat back as cutthroats with your gold did the deed for you. You owed it to Winch to look him in the eyes and kill him yourself. Every soul who wishes death on another does."

"Hah! You call him 'Winch' like that of an anchor's? What a name! So now you think that wreaking your vengeance on me will bring everything right back into this world? You going to avenge your brother?"

I flicked my right wrist, my other blade extending. "No. No, I am going to kill you because you're a Templar that has corrupted their last soul." I tossed my dagger to the ground in front of him. "Pick up that knife and fight me. Fight me so I can make sure that this was worth my effort."

Xavier laughed as he got out of his bed. "I suppose I should at least give you that. Doesn't change the fact that all you Assassins are deluded fools."

He pulled the knife out and jumped for me. For a potbellied old man, he was surprisingly quick. He lunged for me and swiped rapidly, laughing with pride as I dodged each of his attacks.

"I desire to even the odds. Guards!"

I cursed as they all charged for me. Jumping up, I kicked two of them out of the way, falling off the balconies to their deaths. I drew my sword as two others attacked me at once. I grabbed the guard on the left side's arm and forced his sword into his comrade's face, then slashed his throat open with my hidden blade as blood spurted out. Four remained, but one of them held his hands up, surrendering. I grabbed his shirt collar and headbutted him to knock him out. I then pulled out three throwing knifes and tossed them at the remaining guards. The first two hit them both in the eyes and they fell to the ground, already on their way to the Reaper. The third was hit in the chest but was gone by the time I had my sword to him.

I saw after I finished with him that Xavier was trying to escape through one of the narrow walkways. I grabbed him and threw him back towards the center of the room.

"You're all the same to me, Assassin. It's always 'kill, kill, kill' with you."

I kicked him onto the railing before the stained glass window. "And with you it's always 'enslave, humiliate, and corrupt.'"

Xavier tried hitting me back, but I was too quick for him. I grabbed him by the waist and tossed him onto the window, his weight cracking it.

In my satchel I had what I planned to use on him all this time. Winch's rope, with a grappling hook attached. I hooked it to the railing and then jumped onto the window, Xavier trying to crawl away.

"No more running, fucker." I said.

Xavier suddenly got back up and hit me right in the nose. The two of us suddenly forgot about our weapons and started punching like a couple of boys in the dirt. But he was so stubborn that he would never admit he was too old and weak for me. I had him down on his knees, the window barely supporting us any longer.

"I'm here to kill you for all you did to Winch, Cora, and everyone else you've killed, enslaved, or corrupted. But the truth is that even I think that no one deserves to truly know your fate. You must die and Winch gave me the way to do it."

I held the rope up, demonstrating the fate that was awaiting Xavier, but his lack of respect for his enemies and his stubbornness only made him laugh weakly, coughing up blood.

"You would say that I had no reason to kill him. That he was no threat to me. All Assassins are threats to the legacy that I have worked so hard to build for the Templars."

"Aye. And I'm the one who may have just taken the last piece out to make it all come crashing down. Who will lead the Templars now that you are dead?"

"Cora had potential. And she still does. Under the guidance of my other brothers, she will learn to lead the Templars, and then the realm."

I got down close to him. "Not if I have a say in it."

The rope was right around Xavier's neck, but he was just barely conscious enough to see it. I'm personally glad that I killed him; because I could tolerate the stubborn lack of respect he had for his enemies. Anyone else like Cora might have only showed him the disrespect someone as heartless would give him.

"Hvil I Fred, you bastard." I said as I stood above him, bringing my sword down on the glass.

With a shattering crash, the window fell through. I grabbed onto the rope and watched as Xavier's face turned red from his last desperate attempts at a breath. Sliding down, I stopped at his body, twenty feet above the ground, and grabbed his Templar ring after noticing it on his finger.

"A souvenir, I think." I said as I heard the guards running into the room above.

I cut the rope and sent the both of us falling down onto the ground, then picked up his body and slung him over my shoulder. I knew exactly where to put him.

The line between justice and revenge is a strange one. Some among us say that they are both very different things. While the fools among us will say that they are exactly the same and there is no real difference. But there is some truth between both these statements. The truth is that justice and revenge are only what we believe them to be. The act can be seen as one, the other, or both., depending on who it is that sees the act. It is that they are all ideals, not acts. I know now what it truly means between the two. I could have killed Xavier while thinking that I was doing it because it was what he deserved after what he did to Winch. Instead, all I could think about was how many lives I had saved from his tyranny and madness as I brought the blade into his throat. I brought death upon him not because he deserved it, but because the world would be better off without him and the corruption that he brought. Without him, the Templars would be running scared for the foreseeable future, and I would be able to rest easy knowing that I had put a Templar Grand Master where he belonged.

I dropped Xavier's body onto the pine needle littered ground. It was cold and damp that morning in the forest, but knowing where we were, that was something that was just what I had learned to live with, having lived close by for a part of my life.

"Only the worst criminals in this war of ours get banished here, Your Majesty." I said, starting to dig the hole for him. "This place is one where we have executed or buried the worst Templars and Rogues because of their extreme violations and perversions to our beliefs. You should know that I was given permission to dump your body here because you broke the worst of our beliefs: the one who wishes death on another must do the deed themselves. I would have understood you to killing Winch if you had done it yourself. But none of us can forgive you for not doing it yourself. That's why you're going to be left here to rot. Instead of having all your Templar brothers and your newly corrupted protégé Cora there to mourn you, the only creatures that will take notice of your body are the crows that will pick the skin off your bones, and the maggots that will eat what remains. That's the fate that awaits any soul that is banished to The Gates. To be left here is to be branded a real traitor to the Creed, and the Assassins."

After burying Xavier in the other realm, I sent Ava a raven telling her I wouldn't be back for a few months. I would keep in contact with her until then.

The first snows of the winter were falling as I walked up the frozen dirt path into the village. Yurness. It was very good to be home. The only place I knew where citizens, smallfolk, and Assassins could live safely together. Where everyone knew everyone.

"Norik has returned!" Someone called out as I walked up the hill towards my little cottage.

Several of my Assassin friends noticed me as they walked in the other direction.

"Norik!" I heard the younger boy, Maunu call out. "You've been gone a long time! Some of us believed you were dead!"

"Not yet. I am very much alive!" I stopped walking as they did. "Is Karina still here?"

"She is, Norik. But it's been very long. None of us have heard her speak since you left."

I nodded solemnly. "She has every reason to feel her pain. I only hope that she will remember why I left and what it meant."

I resumed walking and headed up the steps to my front porch. I opened the door to my cabin and closed it behind me.

She sat there in front of the fire, huddled up in her cloak, shivering. Her shiny brown hair over her right shoulder, and her eyes as perfect as I remembered them. The deepest shade of green, like the most precious pair of emeralds.

She didn't look up or flinch when I closed the door, nor did she speak. I walked over to her very slowly; hoping that nothing that had happened while I was gone had scared her too much. I knelt down in front of the chair and took her hands. She looked at me with genuine surprise.

"Varina…" I said.

She kept her eyes locked on me, still not speaking.

"I thought of you every day while I was gone, my beloved. All the gold and all the jewels meant nothing to me. And every soul I saved gave me joy nowhere close to the joy I felt when you were in my dreams. Please, Varina."

She still didn't speak, only looking at me.

"Xavier is dead, my love. But it wasn't until I did it that I realized what was keeping me from coming back here all this time. It was shame towards you and Winch. The shame of having to face you if I let his killers run loose in this world. Revenge drove me, but justice was what I ended with. And now I can't think of doing anything more than putting down my sword for the foreseeable future and spending the rest of my days with you."

No response.

"My love! Please" I started tearing up. "It would mean nothing to me to have killed a devil like Xavier if I'm not forgiven. I can't face you, and I spent a whole year trying to work up the courage to do so!"

I put my face in my hands, as Varina still looked at me. I was feeling my heart truly break until I heard what I hoped for: The most beautiful sound in the realm.

"You didn't need my forgiveness, Norik. You only needed yours."

I looked up from my hands. She was smiling through her tears.

"Why would you even need my forgiveness? If I am yours and you are mine, I would hope that there doesn't need to be forgiveness. There need be only love. And I love you with all my heart."

I embraced her, taking in her sweet smell. Varina always loved wearing the scent of lilacs.

"And I love you, my beloved." I replied.

Asgeir POV

Day 679 of exile

The nightmares last night had led me to a corner of the forests that I hadn't been to. At the bottom of a steep ravine made of giant boulders, I had found a stream with crystal clear water and had ended up waking in it. I marked the location of it on my map because the water was the freshest I had ever drank before. I filled my canteen up with it before heading on my way back.

When I reached the top of the ravine, the grove I was in was very mossy and overgrown, even by the standards of the Northwest's rainforests. Many trees had fallen down in that area, rotted, and let more grow where they had once stood tall and proud. I was climbing over the top of a fallen tree's trunk, when I slipped on the moistened moss and fell onto the ground below it.

Something somewhat sharp jabbed into my back when I fell.

"Ah!" I groaned, getting up. "What the hell...?"

I looked down and picked up what I fell on, thinking it was a rock. I got a surprise instead.

"Bones." I said to myself. I brushed some of the leaves aside seeing that I had fallen right on someone's grave. The skull had shattered when I landed on it, and a good piece of it had jabbed right into my back. Who it belonged to, I would not get the answer for several more years. I gathered up the bones and placed them carefully under a pile of sticks and stones. The Assassin that buried this person may not have had much respect for him for dumping his body here, but I felt like I should have owed a bit to him.