Chapter 6

Amara was right.

“Erkar says you’re allowed to leave the inn,” Triesa said to her the next morning. “I disagree, but on this mission, what he says goes. You’re not allowed to go out by yourself, though. You have to stay right by my side.”

“I’m not some kind of prisoner!” Amara blurted, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

Triesa’s eyes darkened. “No one said you were, princess. You’re just not trustworthy,” she said in a cold tone. “Bet you never had that problem before, right? No one trusting you?”

Amara didn’t respond, and was unable to even look at Triesa’s face.  Triesa sat back with a slight sigh. “Alright. You lead the way, princess.”

She felt as though Triesa was practically breathing down her neck, even though she had distanced herself to be only about two feet away. But Amara could just feel Triesa’s eyes locked on her, ready for her to make any sudden moves. It made Amara nervous.

They were by the Kingdom’s marketplace, which was much similar to the one in Agraud. Several stands were set up – a produce stand, selling oranges and figs, another with jewelry, and a third stand that caught Amara’s eye – one selling flowers. She felt hesitant to approach it though. After last night’s incident of being mistaken for a mage, she was worried her talking to a plant might scare people. She had decided that communicating with plants wasn’t normal after all.

“What, you need to buy something?” asked Triesa as she came over, raising an eyebrow.

Amara shrugged. “Maybe.”

Triesa scoffed. “I wouldn’t waste your pieces. You may be used to getting whatever you’d like, but here—”

“I have plenty,” said Amara in retort, keeping her voice calm despite Triesa’s cold remarks. “Back home I bought goods just like any other person would.”

Triesa muttered under her breath, “of course you did, not like you ever ran out of money”.  She looked at Amara, who eventually turned away as she found herself unable to hold her gaze any longer.

She examined the stands once more and approached the one with jewelry. Not necessarily to buy, but she did like to look at the jewels.

There were rings and necklaces, all looking to be made out of silver. They contained different jewels in each – some with amethysts, others having emeralds, and a few with what Amara recognized to be onyxes.

“Typical princess,” Amara heard Triesa mutter under her breath, “attracted to jewelry…”

"You looking to buy, my lady?” asked a woman behind the stands. She had dark hair pulled back and an orange dress on, a tired expression on her face.

“Just admiring for now. They’re all so pretty,” said Amara in wonder.

The woman gave a smile. “Indeed. They were forged by my husband. He’s good at his work.”

“Forgery is quite interesting,” Amara nodded. She could recall watching the blacksmith when she was younger – probably about age six – and seeing the different things he would craft. She hadn’t quite understood how it all worked though. All she knew was everything came out looking great.

She hadn’t watched for long though, because then Kara had insisted something about having places to be. Her homesickness began to rise in her again, and Amara had to force it back down, looking back up at the woman behind the stand and giving a smile.

She picked up an emerald ring. It made her think of Tyra, the comment she had made on Amara’s eye color – how they looked like emeralds. Why does everything remind me of home? thought Amara in frustration.

Then Triesa came up to stand by Amara. “Look, are you going to buy something or not? We’re supposed to be being productive, anyway,” she added, giving Amara an “in other words, make up your mind” look.

Amara shifted nervously. “Perhaps—”

Just then, someone ran up to Amara, moving so fast she barely had time to comprehend what was going on – but whoever they were, they came by, snatched the ring, and took off.

“HEY!” yelled the woman from behind the stands. Amara looked to see the person – a thief, she now realized – continuing to run, pushing through the market crowd.

“I’ll get them,” said Triesa with a scowl, taking off. Amara quickly scampered after in hopes that she’d be able to help.

The thief kept at it, shoving people out of their path and darting down the street. Triesa was running up behind them, but she didn’t seem to be able to close the distance between her and the thief. And Amara wasn’t doing much better, especially considering she was running in a dress.

But that certainly didn’t stop Triesa or Amara. They kept following the thief, who obviously knew they were being followed, as they seemed to be taking ridiculous turns into alleys, jumping over barrels and knocking over a few. One of the barrels busted open upon falling, potatoes spilling out from it as it did. Triesa jumped right over the barrel and kept going, but Amara slowed down as she went to evade the obstacle.

Now they were at the docks. They can’t keep going much longer, Amara told herself. She glanced around – there were three large ships at the dock, which was filled with people, all who turned and watched Triesa and Amara chase the thief down. 

Looking ahead, Amara noticed the thief was running onto one of the ships. What is their plan? Amara asked herself in confusion. She tried thinking like a thief, trying to figure out what she would do once on a ship, but her mind produced nothing. Perhaps the thief was just getting desperate.

Triesa followed them right on board, and Amara ran on as well. She was getting tired, pain jabbing at her ribs, feeling reluctant to keep going. She looked at Triesa, to see if she might be feeling the same way, but Triesa seemed unaffected.

They were on the ship, and Amara could see the people on board looking at them in confusion. Triesa was gaining on the thief, and Amara could see the determination in her gaze as she did.

But then as the thief ran by one of the sailors, the sailor reached his arm out and grabbed the thief, bringing them to a sudden halt. The sailor jerked the thief to face him, and Amara stopped in her tracks to see what was going on.

The sailor was tall and muscular. He had messy dark brown hair, as if he hadn’t combed it in days, and dirty skin as well. Bags under his eyes, but his gaze was cold as he looked at the thief in front of him before lifting his chin to look at Triesa. “Is this yours?” he asked, his voice deep and scratchy.

Something wavered in Triesa’s face, and Amara couldn’t quite place what was going through her head, but it seemed to be along the line of annoyance. “Yes,” she said, walking forward.

The thief had on a hood and mask so his identity was hidden. As Triesa approached she took off the hood, revealing a man Amara didn’t recognize, who had long brown hair and stubble on his face.

“Oh. It’s Adrius,” said the sailor with an angered look, as if he recognized the man. He snatched the ring out of the thief – Adrius’s – hand, examining it before holding it out to Triesa. “Your ring.”

Triesa gave him an annoyed look. “That’s not mine. She had it,” she said, pointing to Amara.

The sailor glanced at Amara before tossing her the ring, and Amara only just managed to catch it. “Adrius here has been stealing things for weeks. No surprise he took that,” said the sailor.

“Well…thank you,” said Triesa, sounding reluctant to say the words. She then grabbed Adrius by the arm and twisted it behind his back. “I got him.”

“You sure?” the sailor asked, giving Triesa an unimpressed look.

Anger flashed on Triesa’s face. “If he tries to run from me, he won’t make it three feet,” she retorted.

The sailor gave a loose shrug. “If you say so,” he muttered, before walking away across the deck of the ship.

As soon as he did, Adrius wriggled in Triesa’s grap, as if trying to break free, but Triesa quickly took out a dagger, and brought Adrius’s head towards her, putting the dagger up to his throat. “Keep trying there,” she said in a threatening tone before looking at Amara. “You return that ring. I’ll take care of this Adrius fellow.”

The woman behind the stand seemed very happy to have her ring back. Feeling a bit bad for the lady, she bought the emerald ring and slipped it on the ring finger of her right hand.

After all that action, the rest of the day in comparison was rather boring. Around dinnertime Triesa insisted on going back to the inn, and after seeing Triesa’s fight with the man from the inn and her chasing the thief Adrius, Amara knew not to argue.

Once again the Black Sheep Inn was packed and loud. When Triesa and Amara arrived, Triesa immediately walked off into the crowd, leaving Amara by herself at the entrance. She hesitated before walking into the crowd as well and then taking a seat at a table with only two chairs by it.

She sat in silence but not much longer later Ellius came by with fish head stew. “I uh, saw you come in. I know you like these stews.”

“Oh. Thank you,” said Amara. She hadn’t been entirely hungry, but she certainly appreciated it. “Well…here, let me pay—”

“Oh, no. Uh, you can have it,” Ellius insisted in a flustered manner.

Amara looked down at the stew before looking back up at Ellius. “Thank you,” she repeated.

“It’s no problem, really. I mean, I do make the food. Partially, anyway,” Ellius said. “Tygris does too, sometimes, but…anyway. I saw you were with that girl…Triesa, is that her name?”

Amara nodded, wondering what he was going to ask. Ellius continued, “what were you two up to?”

She hesitated before replying, “it’s…a long story.”

“I’d be careful, if I were you,” said Ellius. “I hear a lot of stories around this inn. One of the ones I heard recently is that Triesa is…well, no…saint.”

“I…figured,” said Amara. “She’s not very kind.”

“Not exactly what I meant,” Ellius said, looking at Amara. “Triesa…I’ve overheard someone saying she was…part of the Clan.”

Amara frowned. “Excuse me?”

“The Clan. The…Larsanic Clan. Haven’t you heard of them?” Ellius asked, giving Amara a look.

“Um…no, I haven’t,” said Amara, “Should I?”

“Yes!” Ellius exclaimed. “Everyone’s scared of them, they’re the deadliest assassin group in Acirewiel! They’re the reason that the Empire is hanging on a thread. They killed the Emperor.”

Amara’s mouth dropped slightly. “I mean, my parents…told me the Emperor was killed by an assassin, but they never said…”

“That it was the Clan? Yeah. Well, Triesa was a part of them. You saw how she fought that guy last night, right? That style was part of her training,” said Ellius.

Amara looked down at her stew, trying to take it all in. That was why Triesa was such a good fighter, why she was so fierce. She had been an assassin. She was easily able to back up all her threats.

“And look, I’m not trying to scare you. I’m trying to warn you. You…seem to be a decent person. If that Triesa girl loses her temper at you, or is still part of the Larsanics, or whatever, I don’t want…you to get hurt. Okay?”

A bit absentmindedly, Amara nodded. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ellius nod back. “Alright. Um…enjoy your stew then. And stay wary.”

Ellius then left, and Amara managed to find Triesa in the room, sitting by Erkar, leaned back in a chair with her arms crossed as Erkar talked to her, but she didn’t seem to be listening, a rather annoyed expression on her face. A Larsanic assassin, Amara thought to herself. Not once had her parents ever mentioned a Larsanic Clan, nor had she ever come across the name in any of her readings. Why hadn’t she, if they were responsible for the killing of the Emperor himself?

         

A while later Amara had finished her stew and was now at her table. She had a journal in her hand, deciding to start writing in it.

Taken to Foreviel by these “Silent Ones” – a group of mages. Members are Tallius Argulus, a “former assassin” (<- possibly) named Triesa, a girl named Margo, Erkar, and an old lady named Arla.

No harm brought to me yet. They believe I’m a “Powered One” that can control plants. Ridiculous but it’s slowly making sense. Apparently only I can talk to plants, and the other day I healed a plant. Nearly cost me my life after a man yelled about me being a mage.

Scared and unsure of what to do, but I will get home to Agraud. Not sure how though. Do I sneak out? Try the offensive? I am at a loss.

“What are you writing?” said a voice. Amara glanced up to see Margo was there, a slight smile formed onto her face.

“Oh, nothing,” said Amara, closing the journal and placing it onto her lap.

“I heard you and Triesa stopped a thief. Adrius, was that his name?” Margo asked.

Amara nodded. “Yeah. Some sailor stopped him in his tracks which made things a lot easier for us.”

“Ah. Triesa probably had no trouble getting him to some guards, right?” said Margo with a slight chuckle.

Amara nodded once again. “But…why is she such a good fighter?” she asked. She was mainly hoping the Larsanic Clan thing Ellius talked about was just rumor.

Margo shifted uncomfortably. “She’s been training to fight for most of her life.”

Amara tilted her head. “But…who trained her?”

“Someone…an old friend of hers.”

She wasn’t telling the whole truth – probably trying to keep Amara from getting scared that she had been going around with an assassin. “I heard from someone…that she was a part of an assassin group. The Larsanic Clan.”

A look of alarm came over Margo’s face. “The…you…who told you?”

“Not important,” said Amara, shaking her head. “But is it true?”

Margo hesitated before replying. “…Yes. Triesa…was a Larsanic assassin.”

Ellius was right, Amara thought to herself. She was unsure how to feel about it – dread? Satisfaction from getting her answer?

Margo spoke again before Amara could make up her mind about it. “But you have nothing to be scared of. Triesa left them for good, and she doesn’t kill anymore.”

"But she seems…so violent,” Amara said with a frown.

Margo sighed. “Listen, Triesa would kick my arse for revealing so much about her, so don’t go around repeating anything. But Triesa…she was raised by assassins since she was little. That’s why she’s such an excellent fighter. However, she…um, left the Clan. And the Silent Ones took her in. Honestly, Amara, you have nothing to fear. I mean, she may be from the country’s deadliest assassin group, but like I said. She will not kill you or anyone. Unless of course, uh, they deserve it.”

Amara looked down at the wooden table in thought. “I’ve actually never heard of the Larsanic Clan. Until today. Who…are they, exactly?”

Margo shifted. “I mean, uh, I’m not the best at explanations. If you really want to know stuff…you go to Erkar. But…the Larsanic Clan, like I said, they’re very deadly, very high-trained assassins. The best of the best. So I…guess it is a bit surprising you’ve never heard of them.”

“I now know they’re responsible for the death of the Emperor,” said Amara. “I mean, I knew assassins killed him. I just never knew it was the Larsanic Clan.”

“Yeah…the Clan is responsible for a lot of royals’ deaths. Because no one else can get the job done.”

It suddenly made sense. If the Clan was known for killing royals, no wonder her parents never mentioned them – it’d be just like her mother and father to do that to try and not scare her. She knew people like Kara would probably be angry about their parents keeping things from them. Maybe because they wouldn’t like the idea of their parents hiding the truth, or maybe because they wouldn’t like their parents thinking there was something they couldn’t handle.

Amara, however, was able to be grateful. And there was no way she could be angry at her parents, since all she could think about when they came to her mind was how much she missed them.

- - -

Author's Note: This site is so behind on chapters...I'm in the middle of chapter 11 and they're already at the next Kingdom over lol. 

But yeah, I hope you all are doing good! I just started spring break and a friend and I are gonna go see Batman vs Superman on Monday. I'm so excited, Batman's totally gonna win. 

Hope you liked the chapter!