Chapter 10: On Thin Ice
"Wonderful. The Sinister Blade graces us with her presence," sneered Renekton as Katarina moved to take her place on the summoning platform with a scowl.
"Can it, Scale Face," she replied as she moved to stand between Talon and Draven.
"Good luck," said Talon as she stepped past him.
"Don't need it," she muttered in reply as the summoning magic took hold of her team, pulling them all to the Fields of Justice.
Welcome to Summoner's Rift! declared the announcer, who they all ignored.
Talon nodded in Katarina's direction. "I'll keep watch on your lane," he said to the assassin, who fixed him with a look that could melt lead.
"Keep watch on Scale Face's lane," she retorted, making sure Renekton could hear her, "I'm sure he'll need the babysitting." The crocodile bared his teeth at her, but said nothing as he departed for his lane. Immediately after, Katarina followed suit.
Shall I trust that you've slept well this time? Raina's voice echoed in her head, causing the woman to groan inwardly. Whatever lingering hope she had that the summoner would leave her be for this match quickly dissipated.
Stay out of my head and out of my way, she ordered. To her surprise, the girl actually seemed to agree with her.
You're the boss, she replied as the link between their minds faded.
Katarina had little time to wonder at the girl's behavior before a wall of solid ice suddenly jutted out from the ground directly in front of her. Startled, she took a step backwards only to realize the ground beneath her feet was also frozen solid. Anivia emerged from the trees, her wings beating furious glacial winds in her wake.
Quickly, the ice dissipated and Katarina was able to strike her with a blade. The Cryophoenix took the hit without falter, shooting another wave of ice at the assassin, which she dodged with a tight roll across the cold ground.
"Let's soar," said Anivia, hovering just above the ground and nodding in Katarina's direction as the minions began to appear.
The Cryphoenix proved to be a powerful and challenging opponent. Her height advantage made it difficult for Katarina to land hits, though she still managed to strike the bird's underbelly as she coated the ground below with ice sheets. More than once, the assassin found herself slipping across the ice, a development that Anivia always watched for and took full advantage of.
The battle between them was long and vicious, dragging on before Katarina finally lost her tower under the pressure of the Cryophoenix's rapidly approaching minions.
Everything alright?
Katarina flinched instinctively at the question before she realized that it had been Talon, not Raina, who was addressing her from his position in the nearby jungle.
Fine. She's left and I can take down her tower now. Go back to Scale Face.
I actually could use your help. Take the tower and join me.
Katarina shot down a group of advancing enemy minions, allowing her own to advance to the base of Anivia's tower. What's going on?
Bottom lane is having difficulties. The Frost Archer is taking too many kills.
Katarina swore under her breath and melded into the jungle, meeting Talon at the riverbank. He stepped aside and allowed her to lead the way towards the bottom lane. Soon, the enemy tower came into view over the tree line, and Draven's distinct voice drifted into the jungle.
"Whoa there honey, no need to be so cold."
Katarina frowned as she settled into the tall grass. He's getting his ass kicked, isn't he?
That's a bit of an understatement, replied Talon as the two watched the advancing Frost Archer take out another line of his minions.
Wait until she's a few more steps closer and cut her off, ordered Katarina, watching the woman's movements very closely. She took another step towards the Noxian tower, then another. Katarina tensed, ready to strike.
At that exact moment, the archer turned towards the trees and shot a crystal hawk directly over the concealed assassins' heads.
"Fuck. Move, now!" ordered Katarina, and the two lurched out of the grass and gave chase just as Ashe began retreating, firing a line of icy arrows as she hastily backed up to her tower. Talon's blades raked across her skin, which combined with Katarina's knife to nearly cut her down. Still she retreated, almost to the safety of her tower, before Katarina pulled out another blade and aimed it right between the woman's shoulders in what would surely be a deadly blow.
The knife sailed just over Ashe's shoulder and she ran away, unharmed.
"Fuck!" shouted Katarina again, balling her hands into fists. Behind her, Draven erupted into laughter, and she shoved the man to the ground with disgust. "And how many times has she killed you, fuckface?" she asked, effectively silencing him before she angrily returned to her team's fountain.
The match continued to wear on, dragging far beyond the typical time slot, and all of the champions were beginning to feel the fatigue. After a failed battle, the five members of the Noxian team gathered at the edge of their base.
"If we can just get them all together, we can kill them in a group," reasoned Draven. Beside him, Blitzcrank beeped in agreement.
"We need information on their location," interjected Talon, scanning the trees ahead. "They're most likely in our jungle, or by the river. They've invaded our side fairly often this match."
Katarina nodded in agreement and moved to the edge of the trees, but Renekton called after her angrily, "Hey! Sinister Blade! Don't go wandering off, you'll get yourself killed."
The woman glowered at him. "Then get your asses over here!"
"Lead the way, but be careful," warned Talon, falling into step behind her.
Slowly, the five champions moved through the jungle, searching for any signs of the enemy team and making sure to keep to the tall grass to avoid being seen.
"Any sign of them?" whispered Draven, peering around at his surroundings uneasily.
In response, a huge crystal arrow flew out of the trees and slammed into Blitzcrank, sending the golem back against the ground, his limbs flying in all different directions.
"Found them!" roared Renekton, surging forward as the enemy team did and meeting Tryndamere's blade with his own.
The fight passed quickly in a whirlwind, and Katarina was barely aware of who she was attacking. She noticed Anivia plummeting out of the air with one of Draven's axes buried into her wing, then spun around on her heel to strike down Volibear as he viciously sunk his teeth into Talon's throat. Renekton had abandoned his fight with Tryndamere in order to lop off Nunu's head as he passed, but Tryndamere made him pay for his lapse in concentration, striking the crocodile down, then spinning his hulking blade to finish Draven. Katarina ducked out of the way as the sword swung back around in her direction, narrowly avoiding a crippling blow. She dodged several more of the barbarian's wild swings before lunging, swiping her knife across his chest in a vicious slash. His blade caught her in the air, digging a deep gash into her leg. She stumbled and fell to the ground, and he lifted his blade over his shoulder and aimed directly at her head, rage filling his eyes.
Immediately, the assassin rolled, narrowly keeping her head. She used what little strength she had to teleport behind him before he could stand up, thrusting her knife into the back of his neck and severing his spine.
She felt a rush of fear when she realized that he hadn't fallen dead yet. He was still moving into a standing position, reaching around to grab her, hands closing around her neck even as she wrenched the blade that was still lodged inside of his, sending a cascade of blood to the ground as his grip finally went slack.
She stood up off of his body and stared down at him for a moment, waiting for the announcer to declare her ace. It did not come.
"Fuck!" she roared, aiming a hard kick directly at the barbarian's face that cracked what little was left of his neck and sent his head rolling. She watched its progression for only a moment before her leg started throbbing in protest and she suddenly realized that she needed to move.
She dashed through the trees as quickly as she could given her injury, leaving a trail of blood in her wake – only half of it hers. Her left leg was mangled, bordering on useless, but she still found the energy to move as the long, deep gash began to heal. Her mind raced as she travelled, trying to take stock of all of the bodies. Who was left alive? She didn't have time to double check. She had thought the other nine champions were all dead, but the announcer hadn't declared the ace when Tryndamere had fallen. An enemy was still nearby.
Despite the injury, she still managed to devise a strategy – one that unfortunately did not involve returning to the fountain immediately. Both nexuses were completely exposed, and she was roughly at the halfway point between hers and that of her enemy. She had to make a choice, and quickly. She doubted she had the strength to end it on the spot. What if her enemy was thinking along the same lines and went for her own? If they were in any better condition than her, that would be a fatal mistake –
A piercing screech sounded over the tree line, and Katarina flinched instinctively at the sound before her eyes locked on to the crystal hawk that circled overhead. As soon as it saw her, it swooped into a dive, landing in a nearby grove of trees on the opposing team's side.
Ashe was nearby. What's more, she was nearby and retreating. That was all the information the assassin needed to make a decision.
She felt a renewing energy course through her body, and was unable to distinguish the source of the sensation – summoning magic and her body's own natural responses seemed almost one and the same. The pain in her leg faded to a dull throb as she doubled her speed, shooting through the enemy jungle in the direction of the shimmering hawk. As she drew closer, she could hear the sounds of something crashing through the trees ahead of her, moving away. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she chased her prey, summoning the power within her own body and releasing it, instantly appearing behind her target.
Her strong arms stopped the fleeing woman in her tracks, and cold steel found its way to Ashe's throat. The archer stood rigid in Katarina's grasp, as if her body was quite suddenly encased in ice. The assassin could feel the woman's fear, hanging thick in the air between them. Her own heart hammered after the way she'd just exerted herself, pounding in her ears as her grip on the Freljordian tightened unnecessarily, her body pressed up against Ashe's back as the tip of the knife rested in the hollow of her throat.
Suddenly, her mind went completely blank. Everything faded in an instant. Her surroundings had vanished, as had the crowd of people watching her, the knife in her hand…gone, all gone. What was left was only tactile sensation, the feeling of frozen skin turning rigid under her touch.
The pause took all of two seconds, but Katarina felt as if she'd been standing in that position for hours, lost to everything but the cold radiating off of the other woman.
Unconsciously, her grip loosened, lowering the blade just slightly. Her awareness returned to her suddenly when she heard Ashe inhale sharply, but the next instant, she was gone as well in a flash of white light.
The Noxian only had time to lower her arm and raise her head in confusion before her mind caught up with her. She was staring down the tip of a gleaming, ice-covered arrow, aimed directly at her heart.
Move, she thought to herself, but nothing would respond. Another second passed before the bow released and she fell into a dark, cold pit.
Life returned to Katarina in a sudden rush, and her eyes snapped open as a sudden gasp escaped her lips. For the second time that day, she found herself waking on a cold stone platform, completely disoriented. A voice was calling her, growling at her to stand up, reminiscent of her morning. However, this time, the voice was accompanied by a rough hand that nearly dragged her into a standing position.
"Your incompetence continues to amaze me, Sinister Blade." Renekton's voice had a vicious snarl to it that called Katarina into a state of alertness as her surroundings finally registered with her. She was not on the team's fountain, where she had expected to be. She was standing on the summoning platform, staring out a crowd full of bewildered spectators, and nearly all eyes were on her.
She turned to glance at her teammates and saw them wearing the same expression. It took another second for the answer to dawn on her.
Ashe…
Her head snapped to the opposite side of the platform, where the disheveled Frost Archer was standing, taking great care to not look at her. The expression on her face was colder than the ice she commanded.
"What. Happened?" demanded a voice behind her, and she turned to meet Raina's furious gaze.
At first, no answer came to her, and she stared at the summoner with a blank expression before her mind caught up with her, her temper returning with an exaggerated flare. "If you had any sense, you'd shut that damn mouth of yours."
"You had all the time in the world to finish it!" exclaimed Raina, throwing her hands into the air.
The Noxian narrowed her eyes at the summoner and took a threatening step forward. "Do not question my ability, or else," she warned.
To her amazement, the small girl actually held her murderous eyes. "Or else what?"
There was a tense moment of silence as the two regarded each other.
"Raina, don't provoke her," warned one of her fellow summoners, stepping forward to rest his hand on her shoulder, which Raina quickly shook off.
"Go," demanded Katarina, her gaze turning red.
After another tense moment, the girl finally turned away from the Sinister Blade, who filled with a powerful rage – at herself, at Raina, at Ashe, at her own incompetence.
What happened?
The question echoed in her mind, freezing her limbs with remembrance of the way her body had stilled at the last possible instant.
"You failed." The voice echoed her thoughts, but it was not her own. She turned to look at Renekton, who stood at his full height, smirking down at her condescendingly.
The world fell away again, fading from her awareness until the two of them were the only ones remaining. The smoldering anger rose in Katarina, spreading heat throughout her limbs. Deep within her, the delicate restraint she depended on snapped.
She wasn't even aware that she had moved. It wasn't until she felt warm liquid splash against her face that she gained any semblance of self-awareness. Her enraged cry echoed off the walls as her knife moved at blinding speed, driving into the flesh between scales wherever she could reach. The huge crocodile roared in agony and tried with desperation to pull the woman off of him, but her fingers dug in, one hand tightening around the hilt of the blade that protruded from his back. Blood poured down to the stone platform as one of his huge hands closed around her wrist. She heard bone snap, but felt nothing.
More hands were on her now, gripping her clothes and pulling roughly. Men were shouting in anger or fear, but she could make out no words. She was aware of a distant, cold sensation on her shoulder; a desperate, pleading voice.
Finally, the hands tore her from her iron grip and Katarina slipped to the floor, landing on her back. She could still see the blade that she had left in the crocodile's flesh. She turned away from it as a swarm of summoners closed in on her, pinning her limbs to the floor. More shouting reached her ears.
Between their bodies, she could just make out Ashe's face. The woman was looking at her with an expression that could only be described as deep concern. That was all she saw before the summoners closed in like an oppressive wall, holding her to the ground with their combined strength. Someone was screaming in her face, but she barely heard it. Someone else adjusted her where she lay, and she felt cold metal encircle her wrists. Before she could comprehend a standing motion, she was already on her feet and being lead away.
"We have these rules for a reason, Sinister Blade."
Katarina looked up from the chair that she was currently chained to and observed the panel of white robes. The summoners all stared down at her with stone-faced expressions.
"You are certainly no stranger to the regulations prohibiting violence."
She couldn't help the gentle smirk that came to her lips.
"There are some among us who question your stability, and your ability to serve your city-state in a dignified manner."
She snorted at his words. As if she could uphold her dignity while chained to a chair.
"You should consider yourself extremely lucky that Renekton's exterior prevented lethal damage."
Lucky? What a concept, she thought bitterly.
"Speak in your defense," commanded the man who stood at the center of the panel.
Katarina sat in silence. The moments leading up to her attack were hazy and difficult to recall. What she did remember, however, was the lingering anger from the match, the battle-haze that always descended on her brain. Finally, she spoke.
"You expect me to kill for you viciously one moment and shake my opponent's hand the next," she stated.
She watched as the summoners glanced among each other with confused expressions. She gave them a moment to mumble to themselves before addressing her again. "You are a veteran of the League. We do expect you to issue the proper self-restraint at the appropriate times. We expect this of all of our champions, save the few that we restrain." His last words hung heavily in the room, and Katarina caught the implication. She shifted in her chair, rattling the chains that bound her. One hand fiddled with her left wrist, bandaged and broken.
As the noise faded, the man continued. "Your talents are revered here. However, your lapses in judgment cannot be tolerated. You're suspended from the Fields of Justice until further notice," here, Katarina felt her stomach lurch, "and in addition, you will be required to give your time to the Institute in other ways."
"How dare you!" she snapped, glaring at each member of the panel with narrowed eyes.
"You aren't helping your case, Sinister Blade. Besides, you are currently injured. This suspension is temporary, and relies heavily on your good behavior."
Katarina opened her mouth to speak, but another voice cut her off. "It's also conditional. All of this is reliant on your continued membership."
All eyes fell on the man sitting at one of the ends of the panel, who, upon realizing that he commanded the attention in the room, stood up and regarded Katarina with an utterly blank expression. The Noxian found herself struck by his distinctly Freljordian features, but his words were of more concern.
"What do you mean?" she demanded.
"Exactly as I said. While you are in service to the Institute, these are the terms for your continued presence within the League."
Katarina stared the man for a long, tense moment. "Are you saying I should leave?"
"No. You alone can make that decision."
Then man in the center of the panel suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Summoner Grímnir –"
The man – Grímnir – cut him off. "The Sinister Blade should be reminded of her options." To Katarina, he said: "I urge you to consider your place here."
She held his stoic gaze for a moment before responding. "I remain in the League."
Grímnir showed no emotion as he took his seat once again. The man at the center of the panel looked somewhat relieved.
"You understand the terms, then?"
Katarina scowled but nodded her head, rubbing her broken wrist once again.
"Good. In the future, please try to remember that violence – in all forms – is prohibited off the Fields of Justice."
In all forms…
Before she could stop herself, Katarina was speaking again. "You say that as if it doesn't happen right under your nose."
The man looked taken aback by her remark. "Excuse me?"
The Noxian shook her head bitterly, her disgust rising.
Tell them, argued one voice in her head.
Why do I even care? asked another.
Her mind filled with the image of Ashe, lying broken and bleeding on the steps of the Institute, and the words tumbled from her lips before she could stop them.
"Tryndamere beats Ashe."
The room fell completely and utterly silent as the summoners stared at Katarina, dumbfounded. "What…are you basing this claim on?" asked the man in the center once he had finally recovered.
"Eyewitness," she replied. "I saw it myself. More than once."
Once again, Grímnir rose. Instead of his previous stoicism, he seemed to be struggling, waging an internal battle with himself. "What does a Noxian know of the Freljordian queen?" he finally asked, fixing her with a hard stare.
Katarina shifted, uncomfortable. "I'm only telling you what I've observed."
"And why should we believe you?" he replied. "You have great reason to hate the barbarians. This could be a ruse."
Katarina glowered at him. "Believe me, or not."
Silence. Grímnir stared down at the Noxian for several moments before he finally stepped forward. "Let me observe her mind."
The assassin tensed at the prospect and bit back a curse. I should have kept my mouth shut.
The man at the center of the panel was still in a state of shock, but he nodded slowly, allowing it. No sooner had he inclined his head then Katarina felt another presence in her mind, sifting through her memories with ease.
"Stay out of there!" she barked.
Grímnir fixed her with another stare. "Then show me what it is I need to see."
The Noxian sighed, sliding her eyes shut. She again felt Grímnir's mind meld with her own. Slowly, she recalled the memories – the night behind the bar, the bruises, Tryndamere's interruption at the training room, the way he touched her, the way she flinched…Katarina tried to present these images with as little context of herself as possible, focusing solely on the sight before her, but she felt Grímnir wrestle with the memories, trying to pull more detail from them. As time went on, she could feel his rage escalating.
Finally, she opened her eyes to meet his. He looked almost frightened, shock clearly evident on his face. Unconsciously, he took a step away from the Noxian and struggled to find his voice.
"It…it is true."
The panel dissolved into a flurry of activity, but Grímnir never moved, his eyes fixed on the assassin.
"We have to act immediately," said one man.
"How?" asked another.
"Let me help," called Katarina, her voice cutting through the room and drawing the focus back to her.
"You are on probation," said the man at the center.
Before Katarina could respond, Grímnir was already speaking. "She comes with us. Unchain her."
The other summoners stared at him uneasily.
"Now!" he commanded.
The man at the center bowed his head and stepped forward, pulling the chains off of the Noxian while Katarina contemplated the bizarre shift of power. Once the chains clattered to the floor she flexed her arms, shaking away the stiffness before rubbing a hand over her broken wrist. Satisfied with the bandage and with her freedom, she turned back to the summoners, her thoughts shifting immediately to Ashe.
They were preparing now, and several were assembling a few guards who were posted nearby and informing them of the situation. Throughout the whole process, Grímnir continued to stare openly at the Noxian. Katarina assumed that the man was lost in concern for his queen, but he surprised her when he leaned forward and whispered to her, so softly that she almost didn't hear him.
"You're on thin ice."
She blinked and thought of asking him what he meant, but he was already gone, joining the group of guards and summoners who were gathering. One of them waved her over and she quickly followed, her gut twisting as she did so.
Katarina crouched at the base of the grand white door, her fingers tracing over the golden patterns as she listened carefully for the signs of life within. So far, all she had managed to detect was a pair of light footfalls.
Another minute passed before she heard a second set of footsteps, heavier than the first, followed by muffled voices. She waited until the heavier set moved away before giving a very quiet knock.
A moment passed before the door slowly opened to reveal Ashe's pale cheek, as well as one lone blue eye. "Katarina?" she whispered in surprise.
The Noxian motioned for her to come out of her room, and after a glance over her shoulder, the archer stepped into the hallway and silently closed the door behind her. Katarina took half a moment to observe her, taking in the lowered cowl and the mostly-healed scratch on her cheek.
"Come with me," she whispered, leading Ashe down the hallway.
"What's going on?" asked the archer, glancing nervously over her shoulder. "I shouldn't be leaving…"
"Don't worry," said Katarina. As they rounded the corner, she could hear the sounds of the others closing in on the other side of the hallway.
The next corner they came to brought them face-to-face with Grímnir, who watched the two of them approach with an expression that was almost painful.
"Grímnir?" Ashe looked at the man in confusion. The look on his face must have alerted her, for she quickly adopted her formal tone. "What is it?"
"My queen…" he trailed off, staring at the cut on Ashe's cheek before dropping into a low bow. "Please…permit me to help you."
"Help me?" she stared down at him before turning back to Katarina. "What is he talking about?"
"ARRRGGHHH!"
Tryndamere's roar echoed off the walls, followed quickly by shouts and the sound of clashing steal. Ashe's eyes widened, and before Katarina could stop her, she had bolted down the hallway without a word. The assassin followed, hot on her heels.
When they rounded the corner, they could see the barbarian throwing the summoners who were attempting to restrain him. The guards already lay in heaps on the floor, save for one, who was clutching his ankle in agony.
"Tryndamere, stop!" yelled Ashe, rushing to try and calm him, but he threw out his hand and shoved her away. Katarina felt her body coil into a spring and she launched herself at him, throwing the big man back against the wall. Behind her, Ashe was yelling, but she couldn't make out what the other woman was saying.
He struggled to free his hand enough to throw a punch, which she nimbly dodged. She let his momentum bring him forward, then caught him around the neck, swinging so that she was angled just behind him, a blade aimed at his throat.
"Move and you die," she hissed in his ear, but he was already moving to pull the knife away.
No you don't. Reacting quickly, she instead thrust her knee upwards, slamming directly into his groin. The man paused in his attempts to grab her and exhaled sharply, wincing tightly in pain. By then, Grímnir was ready with a pair of heavy cuffs that he quickly slid around the man's wrists.
"Barbarian Tryndamere, you are being detained for displaying violence off the Fields of Justice."
At the declaration, Ashe's face grew even paler. "No…"
The man had recovered enough to glare up at Grímnir with rage. "You can't do this to me," he growled. "I'm your KING!"
"And I am your senior summoner," the man replied.
The barbarian turned his gaze on Ashe. "You did this!"
The woman shook her head roughly. "No…" she repeated softly, suddenly turning to Grímnir. "Let him go."
The summoner looked uncomfortable as he hid his surprise. "I…am sorry, my queen. I cannot."
"I command you to release him!" she said, her voice ringing with authority.
Grímnir bowed his head deeply as he explained. "I am under an oath to uphold the laws established by the League, my queen. I cannot break that oath for anyone."
The queen took a moment before responding. "What are your orders?"
Grímnir came out of his bow as he answered. "To detain the barbarian, Tryndamere, and escort him to a hearing. To secure you and bring you to a separate hearing for evaluation."
Ashe clenched her jaw at his words. "Evaluation?"
"Please, my queen. Let us help you," he repeated his plea from before, but the archer had already turned away from him.
Her eyes fell to Katarina. In their depths, the assassin saw murder. The deep, smoldering anger was rising, resting just beneath the surface. For a moment, the Noxian found herself wondering if the royal woman would snap and attack her. They stood with locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity before Grímnir gently lay a hand on her arm, intending to lead her away. The sudden contact startled her and she ripped her hand away from him.
"Do not touch me," she commanded, still with the same authority as before.
"My apologies," replied Grímnir. "But I still need you to come with me. Immediately." Around him, the guards and summoners that had been knocked down in the fray were starting to rise with mild groans of protest. "Some of us may require medical attention."
Ashe turned back to the assassin, and it was to her that she addressed her words. "I'll go willingly. But only under the condition that she remains here."
Katarina flinched inwardly at the ice in her tone and pulled her gaze away from that of the other woman. Grímnir caught her eye, a grim expression on his face.
You are on thin ice.
"The Sinister Blade will be escorted back to her room, where she will await further instruction." He spoke to another summoner who had just stood up and was currently rubbing his head where he had presumably been struck. Still, he nodded in understanding and looked to Katarina, who, after a tense moment, nodded as well as she allowed the man to lead her away, clenching a fist tightly at her side to disguise the fact that she was trembling.
Back in the darkness of her bedroom, Katarina sat on the bed and stared at the Noxian crest above her headboard. An hour passed before the woman finally found the energy to remove the wrapping from her injured wrist. The adrenaline from the evening had kept her mostly unaware of the pain, but now the limb throbbed in protest after the abuse she'd put it through. After inspecting the damage, she decided that it needed ice.
She thought of leaving to get some from the dining hall, but the task seemed to daunting. Her day had been long enough. Another idea occurred to her as her eyes fell to the locked drawer by her bedside.
After a moment of internal deliberation, she unlocked it, and then carefully pulled out the still-frozen crystal arrow from its depths, gently pressing the flat of the arrowhead against the skin of her wrist and hissing gently at the contact.
A noise at her window startled her, drawing her eyes to the figure of Beatrice. The raven stood with one leg outstretched, as usual. After uttering a soft curse, the assassin moved to the windowsill and carefully pulled the roll of paper from the bird's claw. Though she flapped with discomfort, she did not fly away.
Carefully, the assassin unrolled the note, scanning it quickly. She sighed softly and set it aside after reading it, her eyes drawn back to the hanging above her wall.
Several minutes passed before Beatrice gave a loud squawk, hurrying her along, and after snapping angrily at the bird, Katarina turned over the note and began to scribble out her reply.