Royal Assassin

Chapter 12

As Justin waved goodbye, Jaden smiled, like for the first time sincerely at him, and only for him. And as for Ethan, Jaden this time made a meaningful look at him. He wasn’t pleased about it. Somehow, his torments on her backfired this time.

And he was already feeling the pinch. What he didn’t knew was that the moment he felt doubtful of her, the one he proclaimed as his ‘tool’, he was already playing into Jaden’s plan.

As the Jewel Siblings watched the two Gallant’s Cousins took off in their horses until they were out of sights, Jaden turned toward her brothers and sister.

“Cassandra, Robert and Robin, I need to tell you something…”

****

As they rode their horses, slicing through the wind that blew against them, Justin thought back of his last conversation with Cassandra on the early morning before he left Vast.

He really meant to see Cassandra on his own after the passing of one of the ministers in the Vast Kingdom.

”Because I know how he died”

He didn’t know if the Queen was intentionally scaring him or had she purely slipped a fact that meant his own doom.

But he needed to confirm his suspicions. And so after dawn, he got dressed and headed to the Queen’s study room. He’d also brought the King’s diary with him. Apparently, he had finished reading it. And just like the unknown reason for the war, his diary didn’t reveal the true identity of his assassin.

He knocked as he reached her room and when no one said anything, he turned the unlocked knob.

When he entered, he saw Cassandra was sitting while staring at the window behind the desk. As she heard his footsteps, her face turned, and in the still blue morning, Justin could’ve sworn that her eyes also glowed with red circles, just as the assassin’s.

“It seems you want some explanations, young brother in-law, or should I say young King?” said Cassandra, her eyes boring onto Justin’s hold on the diary. “You want to know how Sir Allan truly died, and possibly how you would as well.”

“You…you’re an assassin, aren’t you?”

But the Queen laughed, “I’m the Queen. I don’t have time to play in a pool of blood”.

Justin felt the Cassandra he was confronting was very different. She reminded him of Jaden when he first met; demeaning, commanding and with cruel and crude intent.

He tried to form words. “Why do you have something that runs around killing people?”

“Justin, I know you may have skeptics of an assassin in our royal line. But an assassin, despites the bloody reputation as a villain is the wisest and observant being. An assassin is clear-cut and he can clearly distinguish people’s intention and judge them on that. He will cut only those that are threat to the society. He’s the stopper to a virus. He chooses his victims. He chooses or at least he only kills those deemed necessary. He doesn’t…” she emphasized “…go run around killing people”.

“I demand to know the real identity of my father’s murderer”, said Justin in a serious tone. He didn’t like at how his conversation with Cassandra was going.

“The answer to that question is quite simple really”, said Cassandra rather bored.

“Don’t underestimate me because of my age”, Justin gritted his teeth.

“On the contrary, young King, you got my attention the moment you agreed to marry my sister so that you could ascend the throne” her words betrayed the witty tone she adorned.

Justin felt angry with such accusations. “So you don’t seem approval of our marriage”, Justin said acidly. “But never mind, I never really hope for your blessing anyway”, he shrugged.

Cassandra felt amused talking to Jaden’s husband. He was sure something. It was no wonder he could render his wife defeat in the last night’s duel.

“The answer you seek lies closer to you than you’d ever known. But I can’t give you the truth. I can only provide you a clue”, Cassandra’s tone changed and her expression returned to her usual courteous demeanor.

Justin tried to interject but she continued, “The real murderer huh? Who is the guilty one actually? The one who just took lives out of orders, like the Death Angel? Or the one who wishes others to die? Sometimes both enemies can have the same intent, same goal and the same assassin”.

Justin rode his horse even faster through the forest, galloping and moving forward without looking back and charging forward. His conversation with Cassandra was rather pointless. He’d only found more puzzle pieces to fit into the puzzle frame but nowhere near of completing the picture.

He didn’t get it at all.