Royal Assassin

Chapter 9

I see small bodies everywhere, lying on the ground, sleeping and breathing heavily, with red liquid painted all over their torn clothes.

I see myself, small, unaware and scared of the things to come – of the things I must become.

I was looking at a horror picture. But I didn’t know at the time. I only questioned why were there children, just like myself, sleeping on the ground with splashes of red paint all over their bodies?

I saw a bunch of grown-ups in those black, handsome uniforms. They were soldiers, a different kind of soldiers. They bored the Kingdom’s Royal Initial but they spelled dangerous. I was afraid of them.

Those grown-ups though looked handsome, the truth was that they were cruel, such bad people.

Why were they crossing over those weak bodies like some mere pests that could taint their polished shoes? And I even saw one man lifting a girl but only to pull her hair harshly, causing the child to cry in pain, and then he tossed her away. She fell and was unconscious again.

But I could only cover my mouth to stop myself from screaming as well. I wanted to look away and yet I couldn’t. I was forced to watch the horror.

But alas I couldn’t take it. I turned to the Royal Council that brought me here, and begged him to order them to stop it. But he ignored me and talked to those harsh men instead.

I watched helplessly at the scene before me. I was afraid but not for those children, but for myself. Was I going to be like that? What were they trying to do to me? What did they want from us?

“Jadelyne, you don’t like war, do you?” the Council member turned back to me, speaking softly.

I nodded, while clutching his robe, “I hate it”, I said almost quietly.

My escort smiled a smile that I used to believe it was warmth but now it was deceit. “Then, you must be strong, Your Youngest Royal Highness”, he said like a father to a child, while slowly pulling off my fingers from holding onto his robe. “Meet Sir Wilson of the Gallant Kingdom”.

I almost froze at the mention of the name of the country’s enemy.

“Don’t worry dear, he is one of us”, Dmitry, my Council and caretaker, after our parents died, referred to the dark and fearsome man with him. “He is going to help us stop the war”.

The man noticed my presence and suddenly bowed to his knees and offered his hand but my childlike instinct couldn’t help but flinched at the sight of him. I was truly afraid of him, afraid of the enemy. I was scared, hated the war, but still scared of him, of them.

And then, I noticed the flicker in his eyes – evil. It felt a harmful intent like he wanted to crush me, severely. It just made me more afraid of him. But then it was gone, and he smiled gently as though he could forgive my behavior.

“I apologize Sir, but she takes time to warm up to people she doesn’t know”, my caretaker lied.

“No harm done”, the man said smoothly. “But allow me to introduce my son, Ethan Jeremire”.

And then, I saw another figure appeared behind the man named Wilson. It was a boy, almost the same age as my sister, probably slightly older. Cassandra was 12, so this boy may be 12 or 13. He looked unlike his father. He looked…bored, as though the scene around him didn’t give him any reaction at all.

I was still hiding behind Dmitry’s cape, when the boy named Ethan caught my eyes.

Suddenly, a small sly came over his face. He crouched close to my spot.

“Hey there, little girl, what is your name?” He spoke nicely, just like my sister would, and the little young me was entranced by his sweet words. He offered his hand and I slowly let go of my right and offered a handshake…

But what came after that was a cry of pain. Ethan yanked my hair, instead. And no one stopped him.

“Hmm? Father, are you sure this person will be the secret weapon we’re talking about? She screams just like all the children we tested before”, I heard him say.

He pulled it harder. I cried for Dmitry but he watched me sadly, as though he couldn’t help me, couldn’t save me. I begged Sir Wilson to ask his son to stop but he only smirked. And I begged between my sobs to Ethan. But he only made it worse.

Before I knew it, I was thrown to the ground and was lying among those unconscious children that I hoped they were still alive. I didn’t know what I thought back then, but I only knew of fear and horror. It was horrible and painful.

Then, suddenly I felt arms holding me down, forcing me to stay put and not move. And then, I felt something terrible was coming next.

Ethan’s figured shadowed above me and then he pushed my skirt.

“What are you doing!?” I freaked.

“Relax, this won’t hurt a bit”, he said calmly, betraying the situation I was facing. And he held my left thigh with his right hand holding a piece of sharp diamond.

I knew by just looking at it that it was going to be painful. I tried to trash around but it was useless. They were all bigger and stronger. I was so helpless, weak and couldn’t be saved. I was doomed. I had never felt so utter despair.

I didn’t know what to respond but screamed, cried, screamed, cried, begged and cried and screamed. But Ethan didn’t flinch as he drew the diamond across my leg in line coming down right to my ankle. The cut was deep because I felt liquid, damping my whole skirt, painting a new colour of red, deep natural red.

It was unbearable and I wanted the pain to end. But I was living through hell.

But then, he stopped slicing, “Maybe Father was right, normally you’d be dead by now”.

But it wasn’t the end. The torture had just begun, because I saw something else was surrounding my leg. I heard hisses.

Snakes!

I couldn’t move. And a few had already started to slither at my open, revolting skin of my leg. And another piercing pain seeped in through my system, as various venoms travelled into my veins.

But I couldn’t black out and I didn’t die. I was screaming for what, I didn’t even know anymore. But I remembered those malice eyes on both of those men. And I hated it. I truly hated them.

“Hey, Jaden…Jaden”, Jaden felt a voice calling out. Before she knew it her eyes fluttered opened and Justin was holding her shoulders. “It’s alright…it’s just a bad dream. Calm down…” he said, voice filled with concern.

Justin realized her body was shivering, no, more like trembling. But as Jaden overcame her shock, and realized where she was, her heart rate returned to normal. She realized that Justin had saved her from that hellish nightmare.

“Thanks…” Jaden whispered almost inaudibly.

“No problem…” said Justin with warmth as he gently wiped the tears off his wife’s face. Jaden felt his warm fingers on her face and it soothed her. It made her feel secured, protected – something her sister used to provide and something she had rarely felt ever since she became an adult.

But she needed to wake up. She stopped Justin’s hands from wiping her tears and said, “I’m fine, now, thank you. But I think you should rest”.

“Fine…”said Justin rather dejectedly. His wife was still secretive, even a nightmare, she wouldn’t share. “But let me sleep on the bed too…Don’t worry, I won’t cross over your side”.

Jaden felt a wave of headache coming over her and she plopped her body against the soft bed. And she forced herself to close her eyes.

“Jaden?”

“Just go to sleep, Justin. If I trashed in my sleep, I apologize”, said Jaden not in the mood.

So was that a yes? Justin’s mind perked up. Justin slowly lied down on the bed besides his wife and carefully waited for something bad to happen to him but nothing. His hand surreptitiously searched for something and found Jaden’s small, yet rather coursed and hard hand of hers. He held onto it firmly as though trying to send some comfort to her.

This would do, at the moment.

But Jaden couldn’t go back to sleep after the wretched dream she’d encountered. She waited a great deal for her husband to drift off into slumber and released his hold on her hand. When his unconscious body shifted, his grasp on her was lifted and Jaden quickly sat up straight.

She recalled the memories she had always tried to avoid remembering but failed miserably. This was why she hated to sleep, because when dark memories merged into vicious dream, she was forced to replay the events of her dark life in her head, and it made all of her senses became constricted and nauseated.

This was one thing she couldn’t control. And which was why she felt grateful that her sister had concocted her sleeping pills, but now she had become so reliant on those things that she felt the pain was unbearable to hold and yet she was still alive, suffocating her body and mind.

She could feel those pain still fresh in her thoughts, as though it was yesterday, she became a monster, and she was still was.

She tried to block her head from those rushing memories that swirled to illusion her being.

She remembered those cut, those countless bruises she received, those venoms that travelled through her body, she could feel them tainted her system. She remembered those revolting feeling stuck by the throat as she felt the poison tried to travel into her head and succeeded. But it was a difficult and life-threatening thing to do to her. She thought back of how she wished to die, but seeing the lives that were sacrificed before her and protecting those that were still in front of her, she felt somewhat grateful to be the one that was the cursed weapon – the cursed being. She knew it was warped but she had no choice. She was forced into it.

She thought of how her jade elements in her hair had protected her from the death of the dozens poisons in her body. She pulled her skirt to look at her long scar on her leg. It was not painful now but she couldn’t help remembering the searing pain it went through. She could’ve sworn the scar throbbed every time she remembered such horror.

After the cruel treatment she received, she was surprised to find herself awake in a cellar the next day. And then, she heard voice, demanding voice – her sister who was 12 at the time and was already growing up too fast to be Queen soon. She heard her sister begged the guards to release herself. Jaden thought back of how she still felt fuzzy.

But then, she heard her sister screamed as though crying for Jaden. Then, it was silent. Jaden was still unaware at the time but she felt sick, really sick and she dove into unconsciousness.

A week later, she assumed, she was released and immediately sent for lessons, like the usual, but only harder, harsher and isolated from her siblings.

Later, she learned that a newborn child of the enemy’s royal house was a prince and soon would take over the throne. Though, she still harbored dislikes for Wilson and Ethan, she was told that they were the betrayer of the enemy and her country’s ally – that their little experiments on her was used to cleanse the royal monarchy from corrupted politics. And she learned soon enough that she was to kill the King and when the time comes, she would also kill the Prince…

Ugh…she disliked this feeling. She looked at both of her palms, as though envisioned the wet liquid crimson, she was so used to bathe in.

All this time, the justice, the ideology she upheld – even though she knew deep down she was doing a sinful thing, probably the most sinful of all, she had always thought that the sins she bared were for the sake of her people, for her beloved siblings, the only family she had left and for the sake of her country. But now, as her ears could pick up the breathing of her husband, she started to question herself. Was she doing the right thing?

However beneath those concealed blanket, Justin was semi-conscious, and though he thought it was a dream, he could’ve sworn he saw a black figure residing besides him with two red glowing circles around it…