A Gentle Blade Part 18
In case anyone was curious what the queen went to do when she left Sir Guard, here you are.
Leera stopped her fighting with her chains very seldomly after Sir Guard was taken. That idiot! she screamed mentally as she jerked a shoulder in frustration. Why, in anyone's name, would he stick his bloody finger in his mouth?
The assassin had nearly tackled Rennera for bringing the metal tin of liquid death to her cell. It was the reason she was chained to a wall now. Leera never even noticed the metal ring in the concrete before. The one on the floor, she'd quietly observed, but not the one on the wall. She stood now, wrists shackled behind her, and a length of clangy metal levitating as she strained it as far out as it could go. Her eyes were focused on the door in front of her.
Sir Guard was somewhere beyond that door. Leera didn't know where, but he was somewhere in the palace. That's what the queen said at least. The assassin didn't know where. Was there a hospital wing? And if there was, was Sir Guard allowed in it? Sure, he was the future king, but if what he said earlier was true then he was more prisoner than fiance. He would receive the barest care, only enough to keep him alive. Wherever he was, Leera needed to help him. He was living, but was he capable of doing anything on his own? The poison acted quickly. What if they didn't stop its spread? He could be paralyzed.
On another note, Leera thought of her lips. They still hurt, but not nearly as much as before. It was true that the liquid was brought to stop infection. It burned like hell, but that was the point, to kill off any infection in the cuts. That wasn't to say it was meant to be consumed. That's when it became deadly, and that's why Leera felt so, so ruffled when Sir Guard decided to place it on his tongue after seeing what happened with her lips.
Thinking of her lips still, she thought, I wonder if her name really was carved. Even if it was, it wouldn't show. If they'd carved a word or name into, say, Leera's arm, the scars would heal up nicely, would say exactly what was originally carved. Lips were different, though the assassin didn't think it was Rennera's intention to have her name well known on her lips anyways. The queen said what the purpose was. She didn't want Leera speaking during the dinner.
Dinner is today. Another rare occasion arose where Leera stopped her struggles against the chains. Maybe that's where he is. Sir Guard must have been forced to prepare something for the dinner. Perhaps the queen was having him dressed. He was the future king. He needed to look like it.
Leera almost laughed, thinking of how un-kingly Sir Guard was. He was a prisoner, wasn't he? He'd been wearing the same old clothes since the assassin came to meet him in the woods. They weren't poor clothes, but they certainly didn't belong to a nobleman, or a prince.
Sir Guard probably hadn't bathed at all either. He never mentioned being able to when the queen took him out or anything. Maybe Leera should have known if he bathed. Surely the assassin could have smelled it, but she couldn't. After the queen forced her into a coffin with a dead man...well, she supposed that sense made itself forgotten.
The swing of a door sounded. Leera's attention snapped up and she snarled as the queen stepped in. She was thankful her lips were feeling better. They were far from healed, but they were better.
"-ere is he!" Leera yanked on her chains, causing herself to jerk as she was at her end. She would throw her shoulders out of place if she continued, but she didn't care.
Before the assassin had time to take in the movement, the guard in her cell launched at her, squeezing her cheeks together and causing a new pain to rise in her lips. Almost immediately, she melted at his silent command, letting her chain slacken to the floor. The guard followed her back until she met the wall.
He smiled. "You'll treat Her Majesty with respect. If you are to speak at all, you will address her, not talk to her like she's some commoner on the streets." The guard squeezed her face in one quick motion, then threw her head to the side.
"I don't need your interference," the queen said. "Get out."
"I know what she is. I captured her, didn't I? My dinner is tonight, and I want her to be ready. You won't be by her side while we eat, so why should you be here now? Go watch my future king. Out."
The guard nodded once, darting passed the queen without another word. Leera felt relieved of any fear, but she still felt an anger rising in her. Now that the guard was gone, she didn't feel like holding back anymore. Yelling was the least she could do. If Rennera came closer, Leera would...what could she do?
Chains would be helpful if they were in front of the assassin, but they were behind her, unfortunately. There were the ones on her legs. If Leera managed to knock the queen down, maybe she could throw her legs on either side of the queen's neck. The chain would nearly strangle her. Leera could demand her answers.
"Leera!" The shout was gentle, more of a panicked whisper. Rennera was a head away from the assassin.
She looked at the queen's feet, not so far away from her own at all. Leera took in the short chain between her ankles. It would do the trick. Falling was quick, so if she knocked Rennera down then she would have to act fast. There was no way to knock her down with her head facing Leera though, not with as short of a chain as she had, and not without her hands. It was a faulty plan.
"I need you to listen to me, Leera." It was now that the assassin realized the queen called her by her name. That never happened. Leera was always 'my dearest assassin'.
Leera waited. What was she supposed to say to the newest change? It was larger than abnormal. Sometimes the assassin forgot she even had a name. It wasn't until Sir Guard used it last night and the night before that she remembered. It was bittersweet. In some aspect, it was nice to be reminded that she was human, that she was something other than a doll to scratch up and throw around. On another, it reminded Leera of her one and only mistake; sharing her name. She was an assassin. Names were supposed to be hidden. Being nameless was the greatest security you could have as a well trained assassin. She gave that up to Sir Guard and when he shared it, it put her in utmost danger
Leera's calm and cool fell away from her like a light cloak. "I -on't oo anything until yoo-" She took a deep breath. Her mouth stretched too much with some of the letters. For the most part, Leera could avoid moving her lips. Thankfully, the queen decided not to cut out her tongue all those days ago. "-ere. Iss. He."
"I am trying to help you. If you would just let me spe-"
"Helpuh?" Leera shook her head. Then, without thinking, she threw her shoulder into the queen's, knocking her back.
Rennera's jaw fell as she regarded the assassin. She took several cautious steps back. "Walk towards me," she demanded.
"Scared?" One side of Leera's mouth quirked up, and she didn't care that it hurt. Maybe if it began to bleed then the queen would bring more of the poisoned liquid. If the assassin was calculated enough, she could kick the tin, splashing some of it onto Rennera's tongue.
"Not scared," the queen said coolly.
Leera didn't believe that. Rennera wanted her to step forward to lengthen the chain as far as possible so she knew she couldn't be hurt.
"Intelligently cautious. You are an assassin. I was stupid to think I could come so close to you without you acting out."
"Assassins aren't an-ani-muh-mals." She hated not being able to say the most common of words. She worked them out through gasps and pain. "Though -efore I nuh-aim was released, they called ee Cat." It was impossible to sound intimidating with all of the half words and quick breaths between struggled speech. "Kiet, kick, and deadly. Ne'er saw ee, only the oudies I le-lefft."
The queen ignored the assassin's broken speech. She'd only understood bits and pieces anyways. Something about a cat. Quiet, quick, and deadly. Bodies. It was sad how little Leera could say without effort.
Rennera asked, "Will you let me help you?"
"Ridiculous? That's what you call kindness? Leera-"
"Duh-on't use m-aye namme."
The queen bit her lip. She threw a hand towards the cell door, which was left open. Rennera didn't have the key on her. "I am not sure what connection you and my future king made down here, but it needs to end. For both of your sakes." Her hand fell to her side again.
"You d-don't care," Leera took a ragged breath. "You don't care ab-bout him. Or me."
If Leera's lips weren't so obviously maimed, people would have thought she was crying. It's what it sounded like by the way she was talking. The assassin would never speak like this in front of anyone, but Rennera...Leera needed to find out from the royal woman where Sir Guard was, if he was- or would be- okay.
"Maybe I don't care personally, but I do..." Rennera's lips disappeared between her teeth. She released them with a breath. "I don't know you or my future king. I have no idea about your past stories, and I do not care to know them. But," She said this with certainty, "I care that you are taken care of. I- I shouldn't be telling you this. Why am I doing this?" The queen began to pace. Then, "One moment!" She lifted her dress and took off out of the cell.
Leera could hear her running up the stairs, but before she had any time to think, the queen was coming down again.
"If you mutter a single word of what I say now at dinner in a little bit, I will have to take action in front of anyone. As great as it would be for my image, I don't want to do that."
The assassin squinted at her, but she continued. "I don't like to hurt you and I don't- no, I do want that." Rennera shook her head. "I'm selfish," she said.
A mellowness settled into Leera's bones. She listened. Of course, this was all so much and she was confused, but she listened without anger.
"I torment you because I'm afraid if I don't then someone will hurt me." Her hands turned inward on herself. "Leera, you killed my husband and I don't mind that you did. A part of me is saddened because I hoped he would change so that didn't happen, but he...he wasn't capable of that change." The queen swallowed, taking the time to think of what to say next. Leera believed she was also trying to hold back her emotions. "I wanted to apologize to you for- for everything that I have done or have had done to you. You did what the people asked of you, and even if I don't agree with killing, I also don't agree with what I've put you through."
Not knowing what to think, Leera silently nodded. She wasn't quite sure she believed the queen. Everything she said was so...contradictory of everything else. Rennera said she didn't mind that Leera killed her husband, but then she had put the assassin in a dungeon and tortured her until she gave a 'real apology' to that very king. Then she said she didn't like torture, but Leera couldn't get a full sentence out because of the pain in her lips. Leera was lost.
"I know it sounds like...I might be releasing you. I'm not, and I am sorry for that, too."
"Wuh-aye are you saying this?"
"Because I feel badly that there's no other way. I have to hurt you, Leera, and I wanted you to know why."
"You'd get," The assassin very lightly licked her lips. They were chapping, and for some reason she didn't want them to bleed anymore, didn't want to carry out her plan from earlier. Her tongue dragged across slowly, sometimes sticking to spots. When Leera was done, she continued. "You'd get muh-ore support iff you let Suh-er Guard and I go. The people-"
"It is not the people that matter. Or maybe they do. I don't know. Loel always- nevermind. It means nothing."
Leera squinted. "Loel? Was that the king's name?" The question was slow, not because it was a question meriting caution, but because the assassin was still trying to ease herself into normal speech. She only wanted it so she could talk to Sir Guard.
The assassin nodded. "So the king is the reason you do what you do?"
"He was cruel and so I have to be."
Sliding down the wall to sit, Leera began to tell the queen that she didn't have to be her late husband, didn't have to fill those shoes, but Rennera was already stopping her from sitting. The assassin figured they'd be leaving soon.
"I'm going to give you the same choices that I gave my future king," the queen said. Her voice was cold again, no longer any inch of caring. "You can come peacefully to the dinner table, just you and I, or I can be a little more forceful. I can leave you down here until I retrieve my other guard."
Leera took a deep breath, considering her options. "Do I get to negotiate?"
"I want to sit next to Sir Guard."
Rennera burst out in cheerful laughter. The assassin had referred to her future king as that before, but she didn't quite process that was who she was talking about. She supposed her two prisoners did grow at least somewhat fond of one another if Leera had a pet name for him.
Out of morbid curiosity, and because she truly didn't know, Rennera asked, "Do you know his name? The bounty hunter's?"
Bounty hunter. Leera forgot that's what Sir Guard claimed to be to the queen. How long ago was it that he'd found the assassin in the woods and brought her back? She remembered it all in mental images shot from a play. The assassin thought of these moments often, the journey she had with Sir Guard. It seemed so far away that he took the job of guarding Leera. Somehow it seemed even longer ago that he told her he was actually a prince.
It was easier to forget he was ever a bounty hunter than it was that he was a prince. Leera knew it made sense. Being a prince was huge under an enemy queen's roof. It was a dangerous secret to have, and that's why she wished she could forget.
"You're not answering. It makes me think you do know."
Leera shook her head. "I don't."
The queen hummed, and Leera swore it echoed. "You don't." It wasn't a question. It wasn't a statement. What it was was a prompt.
"Are we negotiating or not?"
Rennera's brows rose. "You tell me his name and I'll let you sit next to him at this dinner."
"I. Don't. Know." As many times as Leera asked Sir Guard, he would never give a name. She didn't blame him. It was scary enough to know he was a prince and not slip up. If she knew his name as well...it would be so much easier to fess up. It was safer that Leera only knew him as Sir Guard.
As the queen was closing in, stalking towards Leera like she was prey, she squeaked, "Wait!" It didn't occur to the assassin that she launched at Rennera earlier without fear. The change in demeanor threw off everything. "You don't know your own future king's name."
The advancement stopped. "No," the queen admitted. "I never thought to ask until today. It never mattered until now."
Leera opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped as the queen had a realization, one that made the assassin loose a breath.
"He is not a prince! What should it matter if I have his name or not? Your 'Sir Guard' is a bounty hunter who couldn't even afford to live on the streets. He doesn't need a name. Gods, maybe he was never given one!"
Good. Good, good, good. It was the only word floating in Leera's mind. Not only did the queen not know what Sir Guard was, but she even eliminated it. For now, he was safe, but she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the queen realized that Sir Guard was royalty. Would it change anything?
Yes, of course. Because if Rennera knew he was royalty, she could demand ransom. A prince was worth more than a few coins. A prince was worth a crown.
"Okay, here's the deal," the queen began. "I will allow you to sit next to my future king if you agree to find something out about him. I expect you to have at least one detail at the end of the night. If you don't...well, that is something I will think about."
"You are asking an assassin to spy on your next husband?"
Rennera nodded once. "You will do it."
"You said I have a choi-"
Leera's face dropped. What was there to find out? "Can't you ask him yourself?"
"Of course I can. But it would be at your expense." The assassin gave a quizzical look so she continued, "I ordered my guard away. You are walking out of here unscathed. If I don't do something, or get something out of this, he'll suspect I'm softening. I cannot afford that."
"What information do you want?" Leera added, "If you think he doesn't have a name."
"Where he comes from. Tell me that and I'll spare you from any misery for a week. You will get a full meal and wine or whatever you would like to drink during that time."
The assassin began nodding, and despite knowing she had no choice, she mumbled a small, "Okay."
