i watched her from a distance as she crawled out from her waterfall hide away, would she really kill Malcom? i hoped she would. she didn't remember me and that was fine...but i really wish that she did, Arya was special to me in ways she would never understand.
"you gave her the shade poison?...why? i thought you said we needed her azuné" i rolled my eyes in sheer annoyance as i sat on the cliff above the falls. the most annoying creature that could possibly exist had partnered with me on this mission. The sanctum wanted to be sure that i was not just recruiting for personal gain. "yeah, and?" i said, my tone of voice was snarky and self assured as i turned to look at her. the woman who accompanied me was a female shade she had red hair and grey eyes but for me wasn't exactly the most attractive despite her doll like features.
"oh? really so you would not care if that poor girl dropped dead? come on my love, just.."she had placed her hand on my shoulder which i immediately shook off of me. " how many times do i have to tell you, i am not your love aisha. i put it on the clothing i gave her because if she dies she wasn't meant to be one of us. and if she kills Malcom and fails this task at least the death will be painless. you and i both have the immunity, if she doesn't then this was all for nothing, she never needed to be in there!" i snapped at her barking my last statement. it was true, i may have had many years on her but i started in the shadow syndicate at 5 years old. i could still remember her face as a baby..."now shut up and fucking wait." i said getting up off the edge and trudging in to the forest.
"and just where are you going?" isla asked, i didnt need to turn around to know her hip was swung out and her arms were crossed over her chest. i didnt like having company on missions like this, but i understood the reasons why, god why had i ever accepted. it could have been anyone i would not have cared, but my personal connection with arya would help in her training if she was successful. the first trial of shades poison was the nightmares...he hated putting her through it but seeing her walk out alive told me she passed if any of her darkest fears had captured her she would have died. they called it initiation but it was more like a feel of how much pain and terror one could endure, had she failed all together she would not have had nightmares...she would have died upon putting the clothes on and letting it touch her skin. she had potential. "well?" finally i stopped walking pulling out of my own thoughts. i turned to her with a grin "to take a piss. want to hold it and help me aim too?" her face twisted in response to my retort. i chuckled under my breath as i walked further in to the forest. now all i had to do was wait.
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oh my god, had i really done it! had i put an end to malcom? i had hoped that the venom was completely absorbed in to his skin before giving the coins to joffery as he wasn't my target. he was cruel as well but he didnt deserve this half as much as malcom. i decided to lay on the mat soaking in the vibrancy of the fire from the hearth. the wood crackled and protested wheezing as the flames ate through it, it oddly soothed me back to sleep.
in my dreams i wasnt greeted with the nightmarish creatures from before this time. i was greeted with the same blackness, though for some reason or another it did not change. i felt alone and cold, what was this? small blurry images flashed all around me from a time i could no longer recall. i could not make them out or who was in them. the only thing i could make out was a familiar voice...but where had i heard it? " arya, please...stay here one day ill come back for you but for now this is where you need to be" where i need to be? what the hell was that supposed to mean? i paid no mind.. the dream was disrupted at once by shrill crys of terror ringing through the brothel.
"hes dead! malcom's dead! how could this happen!!" i smiled to my slef as i lay there pretending to be asleep. i could hear the armored gaurds of white vally flood the brothel heating of a murder taking place. deciding i had no choice i sat up and curled my knees to my chest on my mat.
heavy footsteps across the floor heading to the stairs made my spine crawl. had they come for me? did they know it was me who killed him? had i failed azuné...the thundering sounds got closer as a gaurd emerged at the doorway. "i got another one down here" he said as he approached me gripping my arm and yanking me up to my feet at once. his grip was tight stinging as the gauntlets he wore pinched my skin between his fingers. "um ow? what is going on?" i said frantically trying to pull away. the gaurd backhanded me across my mouth busting my lip making blood spill down my chin " shut it whore, you dont question a man." my insides cringed at what he called me as he drug me to the main floor.
many of the girls stared at me and shook their heads at the gaurds as they watched them shove me to my knees beside the others. one woman whose name was all i knew of her spoke up for me as soon as i was planted in the line "she isnt one of us, all of us had a reason to want malcom dead but not her, shes an orphan malcom lets her stay-"before she could finish what she was saying a heavy armored hand flew across her face knocking her to the floor. he looked up at him her brown eyes filled with terror. i tried to crawl to her side and help but was yanked back by my hair "no! let let me help nemyah" i squealed as i gripped at the hands holding my hair.
"gentleman!" joffery yelled seeing the sight infront of him as he approached the scene. he was tall, built, and handsome. he walked with his head held high like a man of true born nobility " my lord" the gaurd said as he dropped my hair. i crashed to the ground with a thud a tear fell from my eye as i gritted my teeth as i fell upon the injured knee. i tried to catch my breath which seemed impossible with my ribs burning with pain.
joffery nodded and held up a gloved hand "i do not own that child, she is eleven. you will not treat her with such brutality. if the king saw that you struck a child whether one from the widows gutter or the vally itself he would be rather displeased dont you think?" joffery said calmly, he barely glanced at me but it was enough to tell me he was trying to protect us.
"but my lord, she could have killed sir malcom?"
joffery raised a brow " really? a girl like her killing a full grown man like malcom? hardly, besides he gives her a home out of the rain and cold and asks only for three coppers for her to stay a week. she is protected her belly full and no harm comes to her. can you tell me what reason she would have to harm a man that has shown her such kindness? on top of that, have you looked at her? she is incapable of harming anyone let alone a friend"
what was he doing? he knew damn good an well malcom was never that kind to me what is his reason for lying? he didnt like me in the slightest, if i were him id toss the outsider under the bus.
"well i suppose she will have to find a new place to stay then, should i inquire with the king my lord?"
joffery shook his head " no need, she is welcome to stay if she chooses too. it seems the call of murder came to fast my friends. malcom could be a foolish man, it seems he touched something containing manticore venom. now, whores don't make enough to afford a poison like that let alone an orphan. it was malcoms foolishness that killed him not my lady's i am sorry for the waste of your time.
the gaurds seemed satisfied with this answer as they tended to avoid looking in to situations like this in widows gutter. they left without another word, they would not argue with joffery he was a noble they were below him.
"back to work ladies." joffery said turning to return to his chambers as he usually did. i finally let out a breath of relief, why was my adrenaline up? why did i feel happy to have gotten away with murder...there was something seriously wrong with me. i stood up pain radiating through my entire body now. i could barely see straight, what has happening to me...my body felt heavy as lead. i wobbled before my body completely gave out plummeting on to the floor.
before i could fall i felt a pair of hands catch me...but i was still falling down in to the deep darkness. i could still feel my body but it was as if there was no up or down no feeling no sound. i felt as if i was floating adrift in a sea of blackness.
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joffery held arya in his arms and smacked her face a bit with the tips of his fingers "ari...come on arya wake up!" he said frantically. when her eyes finally opened they glowed with an ethereal white light, the veins in her face began to turn black as they crept over her face. her hair turned white as her eyes as she stared up at joffery and gripped his face.
"on the darkest sunrise, the dream shared will restore balance and harmony ringing in the time for rebirth and the second coming of dragons and riders.." aryas voice was not her own it sounded gutteral and dark.
this was a prophecy, joffery had no idea she could do things like this. when her eyes closed again her breathing stopped he held her frail body in his arms holding her close he felt her neck and checked for a pulse but there came no sign of life "fuck...FUCK!" he screamed. one of the girls came to his side in his anguish "my lord? is she..."
joffery glared at her his face stained with tears "estella, i was always so cruel to her because of malcom i hoped this would be a chance to change that. i raised this girl, she was brought to me when she was four and i put her in the care of malcom. i trusted him with her and now we are all going to die."
"you love her?...wait why are we going to die?"
joffery shook his head "like a estranged uncle perhaps, yes i fear that will be the case. i bullied her and abused her and let her down. she had grown strong over the years and yet i feared for her survival...this wasnt supposed to happen to her she was supposed to lead a normal life and now she is dead and the shadow syndicate will want our heads." he said sniffling a bit, he truly did regret all the years of being cruel to this girl and it wasn't her fault.
the girl shifted a little next to him, her breathing was elevated with panic "we should tell the king!" she said trying to offer an option.
joffery almost laughed at the thought "the king? whats he going to do? exacute them? he would have to find them first they would burn white valley to the ground before we ever had the chance. These people are not people they are shades they of the finest order they are better then even the best trained assassins. They are deadly and by the time you have caught on to their actions your already dead or dying. These people don't mess around, Arya is a child of the shadows."
Estella looked at him a bit confused by all this new information "I thought she was an orphan?"
Joffery nodded "she is, most of them are too. I don't know where she came from or who her parents are. A hooded boy brought her to me when she was barely four, I knew what he was from the seal on the back of his cloak. These people are special, they have a gift for killing, but most importantly they have abilities we normal folk cannot comprehend. If one is worthy they pass the tests of the shades, if not they die. A child like Arya was born to people like this that is a rare event, the shades they avoid any interactions that may weaken them. love is a weakness, if another were to want them they would kill the spouse without thought putting their partner in a place.of vulnerability. They don't like that, so when it does happen and a child is blessed to them the parents must sacrifice. To make the child strong to give no chance of weakness, no ambition to protect anyone but themselves, The parents are out to death. "
Estella's hand flew to her mouth in shock " oh my god's they just murder these children's parents? " Her voice trembled with fear.
"Not always, but most of the time. It isn't murder, the parents know what the price is to have a child within the syndicate. It's more like atonement I suppose, either way i have failed to keep this child alive and as rare as she is they will not be forgiving about it."
" You were ordered to keep her alive or was she given to you? I am so confused"
Joffery laid Arya's body down and moved the hair from her face" get me a wash cloth, and a bowl of warm water." He said to a servant girl who nodded and scurried off " the syndicate doesn't give. They brought me the girl, the point was to keep her alive until the right moment when they came for her"
"And now...oh no...this is bad. So they will kill all of us because of one child?"
Joffery nodded as he took the bowl from the servant girl with the cloth and began to clean the blood from Arya's face. " Maybe, sometimes no. It depends on how the child died, for all I know this could have been their doing."
"They would kill a child of their own dark family? "
Joffery stayed to his work wringing out the cloth as he worked across Arya's face " no child under the age of 10. Arya just turned eleven a few months ago, I gave her the gold necklace she's wearing. When a child of the syndicate goes through initiation it's without their knowledge if they live or die that's up to them their body and soul decides if they are worthy of the no faced god."
Estella moved to help him clean her seeing the bruises all over her body. "Oh my, what happened to her out there?"
Joffery shrugged " I have not the slightest idea, she never really talked much, Not to me any how. Perhaps she got stuck under something getting that damned gold peice for Malcom. If he was making her pay so much I don't know why she wouldn't come to me and let me know. She was supposed to find two coppers and instead he had her looking for three silver. This was likely his fault, which would be why the shadows came after him."
Estella's eyes widened in shock as he lips parted slightly " what! How do you know?"
Joffery raised a brow as he glanced up to meet her piercing brown gaze. " Manticore venom has lasting effects, he could have shook hands with someone or even grabbed a pitcher at the tavern that had the venom on the handle it would have killed him in an hour or so either way. My opinion, they found out he was mistreating Arya, so they eliminated the threat."
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I could feel the warmth of something wet as it touched my skin fallowed by the coldness that was left behind was I being bathed? What was going on I could hear my heart rate sickeningly slow maybe beating once every couple of minutes. I could hear the voices speaking around me but my attention lingered ahead.
Ahead of me was a table I approached with caution not kning what this table contained until I got closer. Once I stood there I could see five brass bowls before me, on had burning coals another was filled with the turquoise water of the summer stone isle another was filled with dirt and moss and next.to that was one that contained a black goo...it looked rather intriguing to me. As i looked into the black goo I placed my hand above it, the goo shot straight up in a spike scaring the daylights out of me as my hand snapped back out of it's range. What the hell was that? Did that goo just try to stab me?
"Choose. Your choice here will determine your fate so choose wisely child" a booming voice said from every direction...it would determine my fate? What fate? Was I dying???
"Choose!" The voice thundered once more my silent heart slowly beating only making the fear creep further in to my body. What was I going to do? What would my choice be and if I made it would I die anyway?
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