Page 5 of Shadows of the Crown

I inwardly cringe at my words. I was struggling to talk on his level, so I’m not sure if he’ll understand what I’m truly saying. But after a few moments, he grins widely and nods.

“That’s a good idea. I want to be able to use any weapon, just like you.” He reaches down and picks the blade back up. He’s stillbattling his fingers to hold it properly, but there’s a determined look on his features now. I definitely underestimated him.

I stand fully, continuing to show him and Julia the different ways to grasp their weapons. I make minor adjustments in their grips, demonstrating why certain ones could be harmful if used.

Isaiah sits against the wall, watching us. He wastoo tiredafter our run to help me with them physically, but insisted he could still use his voice, which earned him a big eye roll.

“Doing good work, Ari!” I suck on my teeth and slowly turn my gaze toward him, narrowing my eyes. He bursts out laughing as he shoves another grape into his mouth. “What? I’m just complimenting you!”

“You could help instead.”

One side of his mouth crooks up, and I know he’s about to say something annoying. “And interrupt your perfect teaching? No thanks. I’m happy to sit here and make sure you keep doing good.” His amusement doesn’t earn him a pass, so I grab a blade by the sharp end and twist my body to fling it at him. He has no time to register what's happening before it’s embedded in the wall next to his head, so close that it presses against the skin of his ear.

He jerks away a second too late, his mouth dropping open as he looks at me. I blink, daring him to take the bait.

“Oh, okay…you want to challenge me? All right, let’s go,” He chuckles playfully, stalking toward me. If he weren’t my best friend, I could see myself being attracted to him. He’s muscular and toned, with smooth, honey skin, and sharp facial features. But I could never ruin what we have for a good fuck—because that’s all it could be.

The only person I’m willing to commit to is myself.

I laugh at his exaggerated movements and attempt to speak, but the door opening snags my attention toward Marek and Velora walking in. Is and I share a confused look before turning to focus on our mentors. Marek never enters the student training room, so this is strange. Especially with the hard look on his face.

“Julia. Noah. You’re dismissed for the day,” Marek says to them. Noah jumps in the air before remembering he’s holding a sharp weapon, and carefully walks over to the wall to place it back on its mount. Julia waves goodbye to me before skipping her way out of the room.

“What’s going on?” Isaiah questions when no one speaks. He has never appreciated the power of silence like I do.

“Could you both follow us down to the briefing room?” Velora remarks sharply. She’s not pleased about whatever has happened. We follow, walking down a set of stairs just off the common area to a dimly lit hallway underground. There are several rooms down here used for information that is to not leave the ears of the guild. We enter the briefing room, where a large, round table sits. It holds sixteen chairs, though we no longer use them all. Not since Mikah was killed during an assignment and her sister, Mabel, ran from the guild, convinced it was her fault.

I don’t know where she went, though I do wonder if she's still alive. She and Mikah were always kind to me, even though I can be a complete bitch sometimes—well, most of the time. It devastated the entire guild when we learned what happened that day.

Isaiah and I sit next to each other, across from a sneering Isolde, while the others file into the room. There’s eleven assassins along with our mentors, and then Jaxon. Jaxon is our strategist; he creates the plans that are given to us for each assignment. While we do our own research at times, Jaxon seems to know everything about everyone. He knows where they frequent, who their close circle is, and where they’ll be in a few days time. He uses this information to map out where the kill should take place, and how it should be done. While everyone in the Eldorian Kingdom knows the guilds aren’t just for educating orphaned children, we still try to make things as clean as possible. Sometimes they look like accidents, or just petty theft with a side of murder. Jaxon changes our methods frequently, ensuring that a kill couldn’t be pinned on the guild in the event someone jumps on a power trip and attempts to take us down.

Once we’re all sat, Marek sets a piece of thick paper down on the table. It looks like the type that’s used for announcements around the city—the ones that hang inside different businesses to garner attention for something. Marek folds his hands in front of him and meets each of our eyes before speaking.

“King Thalion has sent out a proclamation to all the guilds in the kingdom; even the one in Grenport. It states the castle will hold a…competition, of sorts.” My forehead creases as I contemplate what this has to do with us, and wait for the old man to make his damn point. “This competition will be for members of the guilds. And while it’s not stated directly on the announcement, it’s implied that the king expects each guild to offer three assassins for this competition.”

None of us speak. What the fuck? Why would there be a competition for assassins?

“Now,” Marek continues, “clearly Thalion is just bored and looking for a good show from those of you trained to fight. But to the public, he will most likely make it benefit his reputation. Either way, this is something we cannot refuse.”

“We brought you all down here to first ask if anyone would like to volunteer.” Velora’s demanding voice takes up every available space in the room. “Before you decide, you should know that you will be required to live at the castle during the competition. Also, the winner will be given some kind of reward. That is as much information as we have—anything else will be told to you upon arrival for the competition.” She leans back in her chair, her stern face watching each of ours carefully. She wears her dark hair short, cropped nearly flush with her scalp. She’s a tall, severe woman, and has never really liked me. I’m sure it’s just because Marek chose me as his, while she mentors the rest of the students. Despitethat, she tries to demand things from me, though I consistently remind her that I do not answer to her requests. I take great pleasure in watching her skin flush a deep red each time she becomes angry with me.

But I have no desire to bother her right now, as I am nearly trembling at the opportunity that has presented itself to me. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get inside the castle for years…just to get close enough to that smug bastard. I wonder if the Angel does listen to prayers? Certainly someone in the Aether realm heard me, if not the Angel, because there’s no way this gets handed to me the day I visit the castle for the first time since I was six.

I know Marek will insist on me going whether or not I volunteer—I have a good chance at winning against the seventeen others, and it will be expected for the capital’s guild to take the crown in this competition.

“I will go,” I speak up before the others get a chance. They would most likely wait for my comment first, anyway.

Marek looks at me, approval in his gaze, and nods to confirm the decision with the rest of the group. “Who els—” he begins, but Isaiah quickly interrupts.

“I will, too,” Marek shoots him a glare, and his eyes widen before adding, “Sir.” If I didn’t insist on keeping my features blank around everyone in attendance, I would’ve laughed so hard at his face right now. He looks like he justmet a griffin.

My mentor glances at me, and I give him a barely perceptible nod, indicating that I’m okay with Isaiah joining. There’s no reason for him not to; and it will be nice to have him there. I likely will not be leaving the castle alive, because I refuse to waste this opportunity, but he will be okay without me. At least I’ll have the opportunity to say goodbye before I’m executed or imprisoned for the rest of my life.

“Okay, Isaiah,” Marek says before turning to the others. They discuss who else should join Is and me. Isolde, of course, creates a big scene about being the final one to go. But much to my, and everyone else’s amusement, Velora shut down that idea quickly. Isolde would certainly embarrass the guild, using the competition as an excuse to try besting me in the war she seems to think isbetween us.

After a few minutes, it’s decided that Raine will join as the final member. Raine is tall and slender, and one of the quickest people we have in the guild. His speed could be very useful in the competition—though if just for him, or all of us, I’m uncertain.

It’s disappointing that there were no extra details given in the proclamation. Would the guilds be working in teams? Is this an individual competition? Will we be competing physically against each other, or some other way? How long is it expected to take? All of this information would have been useful in determining who to send, as we could choose those of us with the needed strengths. Though that is certainly why there wasn’t any other information…now that I think of it, Marek mentioned that the king didn’t ask for us directly, so how is he sure we’re the ones needed?

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