In his fifteen years alive, Ashen had never felt so much fear as he did at that moment, facing not only the vengeful highborn woman, but also the terrifying Black Guards. His heart beat so hard that he could feel it pounding against his ribs, yet at the same time, his entire body was paralyzed.
The woman took a menacing step toward him, the sharp click of her heels on the concrete floor sounding like funeral dirge bells. He wanted to run from her, but his body refused to obey his commands and simply stood there as she advanced until she loomed over him.
He gulped nervously.
Up close, the woman seemed almost divine in her beauty, towering above him like a goddess. But Ashen could tell it wasn't natural beauty, it was obvious she used her magic to sculpt her curves and to tint her eyes a vivid lilac. At first glance, she didn't seem threatening, but only made her more dangerous as to have complete control over her body and magic meant she was skilled and powerful. She was like a leopard with beautiful spots, hiding lethal power beneath elegance.
The black guards stood silently behind her, watching and waiting. One seemed to carry a sword hidden under his dark gothic coat, but it was the other who frightened Ashen more. The second man carried no visible weapon, which meant he relied on magic alone, making him even more dangerous. There was no way Ashen could escape, he concluded.
'Where is it?' The woman demanded.
It had to be the orb she wanted, not the money. Her dress alone could fetch enough gold to keep the orphanage running for months. Was the orb truly so valuable? His first instinct was to lie and pretend he didn't know what she was talking about. But then he saw the black guard with the sword touch its hilt, almost as if preparing to draw it.
'I have it.' He tried to sound brave and strong, but his voice quivered with fear, something the woman immediately noticed.
'Give it to me.' She demanded again, her voice cold and commanding.
'No.' He spoke after a long silence that shocked everyone in the room, including the matron.
'Ashen, give the woman her orb and be done with it,' the matron said through gritted teeth. Like anyone else, she wanted the highborn and her guards gone as quickly as possible. He wanted that too, but he knew it wasn't as simple as just handing it over and them leaving.
'It's not as simple as giving her the orb.'
He felt murderous eyes boring into him, but he ignored them, lifted his chin, and took a step closer to the woman.
'Why would a highborn go through all this trouble for a simple orb?' He asked, the question pointing to something as obvious as daylight.
'This is not the time for your games. Give the woman her orb, now!' The matron shouted at him, her fear and anger already clouding her judgment.
'Mother, don't you get it? Think.' He almost shouted back at the woman who had raised him, frustration boiling over. Luckily, she fell silent and hesitated, thinking. That gave him time to turn back to the highborn.
The woman's fists were clenched, a blue vein pulsing at the center of her perfect forehead.
'This is no ordinary orb. Why else would you go through all that trouble of tracking me down?' He asked rhetorically.
But the woman answered. 'It is an important family heirloom.' Her voice, though calm, vibrated with hidden rage.
'If it was merely a family heirloom, you would have come alone.' He gestured at the black guards. 'It's more than that. I'd bet it's a dark relic, one you don't want anyone knowing about.'
Dark relics were powerful and ancient magical objects from the dark age and were forbidden by law. Still, the highborn were known to hoard and secretly use them. If caught, it could give rival houses the perfect excuse to attack, often resulting in loss of power, or even the destruction of the entire house.
The woman fell silent. Ashen could see in her eyes that he was right. At the same time, the matron gasped and took two steps back, finally understanding what Ashen meant.
'You'll kill me for knowing about it, won't you?' He asked, a smirk spreading across his face. He realized he finally had leverage. 'But if you kill only me, you'll leave behind people who know your secret.'
He pointed at some of the orphans who had woken up and were watching from the doorway. Ashen hated that he had dragged them into his mess, but he knew he had to protect them.
The atmosphere in the cold dining room grew even tenser, as though the mist drifting around them was responding to the woman's emotions. She kept a smirk on her face, but Ashen could read people well, an essential skill for a good pickpocket, and he saw through her facade. She was worried. This wasn't going the way she'd planned.
'There are hundreds of houses.' She tried to argue, looking for a flaw in his logic.
'There's only one House Draemos.' He hit back, watching her lips tighten.
'How did you know that?' She demanded, shocked that he'd figured it out.
He pointed at the necklace around her neck, bearing the sigil of House Draemos. Did she really think lowborn were so ignorant that they wouldn't recognize the lion's face with two crossed swords, the unmistakable mark of the House of War?
The woman inhaled sharply, and for the first time, her perfect composure cracked, revealing her frustration.
This is good, Ashen thought, as she slammed her fist against the table next to her.
'It's obvious you intended to kill everyone, not just me. That's why you brought them,' he said, gesturing at the black guards as casually as he could. 'Dead men tell no tales.'
There were gasps from the watching orphans. One of the little children even started crying, and Ashen's heart twisted with guilt. This was all because of him.
'Hmm.' The woman finally spoke after a moment of silence, her composure returning. 'I didn't expect a lowborn rat to be so clever.'
He knew she was trying to provoke him into slipping up.
'I am no ordinary rat.' He replied, the two of them now locked in a dangerous verbal duel.
'But still a rat. I could decide to kill all of you and forget about the orb,' she said so casually it sent shivers through Ashen's veins.
He glanced at the matron, who was trembling in fear. What have I done? What am I doing? Then he looked at the orphans and saw Sith among them, horrified and clutching his little sister. This was why he was doing this. He had to save them.
'Children, please return to bed. There's nothing to see here.' The matron finally declared, her voice trembling as she tried to sound firm. She began to walk toward the children, her legs shaking.
'But she'll kill us…' One of the children said innocently. 'They'll kill Ashen.'
The words tightened Ashen's chest with fear.
'GO!' The matron screamed, her voice cracking. If she'd had the strength, she might have picked up one of the benches to drive them away. The children panicked and turned to flee. The matron struggled to lock the door behind them, her hands shaking violently. When she finished, she turned around, a tear rolling down her cheek.
'What happens now, Ashen?' The woman asked, using his name like a weapon. 'You not only know my house, but so does everyone in this orphanage. My best option is to kill you all, every sad little orphan in this filthy place.'
'But what about the orb?' Ashen demanded. Even though he was composed, deep down, he was freaking out.
'I could cut my losses, let it go.' She started pacing, a cruel smile stretching across her face.
'No, you can't.' He replied, though his half-boy, half-man voice wavered, not nearly as strong as he wanted it to sound.
'Why not?'
'Dark relics are rare. Losing this one would weaken your house's power, which is something you can't afford, not with the power struggle between the highborn going on and other houses circling like vultures.'
When she gave a small nod of agreement, he felt the first flicker of hope. Maybe he could still get out of the disaster he'd created by stealing from her.
'It sounds like you have a proposal. Let's hear it.'
'You don't kill me, or any of the orphans here…' He trailed off as she chuckled, almost impressed by his audacity. Even though his confidence wavered, he pressed on. 'I'll not only give you the orb, but I'll come and work for you, for House Draemos.'
The woman stopped pacing, eyes widening as though she couldn't believe what she'd heard. Then she burst into laughter, and Ashen felt his insides turn cold, bracing for the worst.
'Considering how bad this day has been, I needed that laugh,' she said as the laughter faded. 'Why would the great House Draemos want anything from you?'
Despite her mockery, he forced himself to continue. 'I… I have so much to offer.'
She approached him, still chuckling. 'Like what?'
'I stole from you.' That made her stop. For an instant, Ashen feared he had angered her.
'I have to admit, there aren't many people who would dare say that to my face,' she said, smiling faintly. Ashen managed a nervous smile of his own. But the woman leaned in closer, her expression turning predatory. 'That's because I kill everyone who steals from me.'
Ashen began trembling uncontrollably. For the first time since this encounter began, pure terror threatened to break him. He knew a true threat when he heard it, and if he died, so would everyone else in the room.
Meanwhile, the two black guards stood silently, waiting for her command to slaughter them all. But then the woman laughed again, confusing everyone in the room.
'I can hear your heart beating from here,' she said, gesturing to her ears as if that explained everything. 'I've been tracking your pulse this entire time, and I have learned quite a lot about you.'
She tilted her head, evaluating him. 'I do need someone with your skills. But if I agreed, what about the orphans? They already know.'
'They won't say anything if they know you could kill them,' Ashen said quickly.
'P… Plus, am sure most of them have no clue what is going. I will also make sure they say nothing.' The matron finally spoke out.
This seemed to satisfy the woman. She sat on one of the benches, resting her chin on her hand as she appeared to consider it.
'Well… I came here ready to kill all of you. But if you can assure me they'll stay silent, then we have a deal.'
Relief surged through Ashen's entire body. He exhaled shakily, letting go of all the tension and fear that had been coiling inside him like a snake. Even though he hated the highborn, if working for them meant saving his life, and everyone else's in the orphanage, then he would do it.
'Now, all I need is the orb. Then you can come with me,' the woman said, her voice smooth and calm.
Ashen, overwhelmed by the rush of saving everyone, turned toward the dorm. "Let me go get it."
But before his brain caught up with his body, it was already too late. He glanced back, and saw the woman's smile twist into something cruel.No, he wasn't supposed to reveal he has it. In fact, he had planned to use the dark relic to keep her at bay, and when he had found a solution, or maybe he had confirmed she wouldn't kill him and the orphans, then she would give him the orb. And yet, his excitement had made him blurt out his only advantage.
'So… it is here?' She asked, taking slow, deliberate steps toward him. The hope and relief he'd felt moments earlier vanished like smoke into the mist. His heart began pounding wildly again.
'N… No. I mean, I'll go to the safe place where I've hidden it.' He stammered, trying to stay calm as he lied.
'Ashen, you're a good liar,' she said, leaning close to whisper in his ear, 'but your heart betrays you.' She tapped her ear again.
'I'm not lying!' He cried out, but it was too late. He thought he'd outsmarted her, but it was he who had been fooled.
The woman turned to the black guards.
'Kill them all. We'll find the orb later, once they're dead.'
Without hesitation, the guards moved. Mist began swirling around them, ready to be shaped into deadly magic.
The matron screamed and ran for the door. But before she could reach it, a cloud of mist materialized beside her, and the guard with the sword stepped out of it.
In one clean slash, her head was severed.
Ashen watched in horror as the matron's head tumbled through the air and rolled across the floor, coming to a stop with dead eyes staring straight at him.
No!
A storm of emotion gripped him. Shock. Fear. Rage. Despair. Guilt. Sorrow. He tried to move his body, but his mind was too crowded, too frozen. He wanted to scream, but no sound would come out.
This was all because of him.
'You think I, Laenara of house Draemond would let a rat work for my house?' Sneered the woman, finally giving out her name. She stalked toward him, mist coiling around her hands as she prepared to unleash her magic.
Her laughter was sharp and taunting, wiping away all emotions but one: rage.
'The other houses would mock us. They'd laugh at us. And you thought we'd take you in? Die knowing your place, rat!' Laenara spoke with so much venom and hatred that it scared him for a moment.
It was the sound of screaming children that yanked Ashen out of his frozen shock. Not them. 'Not the children. Kill me, but not them!' He begged, eyes brimming with tears.
But she only laughed. 'They all die, all because of you!'
Rage erupted in Ashen's chest like wildfire. He did the only thing he could. He reached for the mist, ready to unleash every shred of magic he possessed.
'I will kill you!' He screamed, as he prepared to launch his attack.