Stargazer

Chapter 7

Back at the Academy in my own tent, I sighed as I sprayed the fresh, cool water on my face. The water felt better than the coldest drink on the hottest day as I ran it all over my body with a towel, wiping off the day's sweat and dirt. I redid my braids with a little oil, making sure they were sleek and tight for my ceremony. 

When I walked into the great hall, I heard the familiar sound of music. A few workers of the academy were always happy to share their talents with an audience, and we loved to hear the happy tunes of their flutes and strings. Then came the familiar smell of the amazing foods, another thing the academy had prided themselves for. Tonight was a type of roasted fish with honey, citrus and spices. It smelled different but savory, as everyone began to flake it apart, trying to grab a morsel of the platter before it was gone. I aimed for my seat, today being at the head table at the front of the hall, but was unfortunately interfered by a person stepping in, blocking my path.

"Hey Solé! Heard what happened!" 

It was Keegan, again. "Hi, Keegan," My eyes rolled involuntarily as I tried to finish the discussion quickly. "I presume mostly everyone has heard about today by now, but thanks for your concern!" As I tried to walk past him he blocked me, yet again.

"No, not about today. Last week? You and Pierce!" I froze and narrowed my gold eyes at his hazel ones, large and naive like a young fawn.

"What about me and Pierce!?" I said through gritted teeth.

"He said that you guys were about to make love, but then you turned crazy because you're a woman and got emotional." 

I am going to kill him! Was the only thought I could clearly make out as all others turned a violent shade of red. I turned to find Pierce at one of the tables in the far corner and could tell he had seen me, but he turned away, stood up with his drink, and briskly walked out of the hall in avoidance. I knew I'd have to deal with him later, the gutless, lie-spreading coward. 

"Don't believe everything you hear, Keegan,"  I responded as I pushed him aside and continued to the head table.

There, a platter already dished up with a good helping of fish, bread and potatoes sat for me with a mug filled to the brim. I sat and eagerly ate, feeling shaky with hunger from the rigorous day. As I sipped a tart cider from my mug, I saw Jasmine waive to me and smile, her hair let loose tonight in beautiful golden-red curls. It was hard to discern how she felt about me at that moment, but I decided she most likely would be happy enough for me, regardless of us needing to figure out what would happen with her. 

When the ceremony started, my stomach lifted and flopped but I refused to show no sign of intimidation. One by one, I watched in awe as each Assassin's Guild member kneeled to me giving their vows, and I gratefully knelt and returned my pledge back. Then the weapon armoire was lifted in and I couldn't contain my excitement! This was the moment I would meet a piece of myself. I would get to choose my closest friend and ally, my weapons.

A couple of the academy employees opened the armoire to reveal its contents and I found myself holding my breath until it was instantly deflated. Only two weapons lay before me, a long one and a short one, which meant I had no options at choosing. These were my weapons. I didn't understand why, but tried to be grateful for what I'd been given. Both weapons were rusty and old, but I lifted up the longer weapon to inspect it further. 

At first glance, it really looked like nothing to be proud of, but as I took a further look at the hilt, I noticed the black-green age was possibly a heavy silver quality, and likewise, little black-green stones were arranged on it in an indiscernible pattern. The smaller weapon seemed to be similar in make and looked to be a dagger, except the hilt was a dirty pearlescent shell. 

Even though ‘humble’ did not even begin to describe my weapons, I felt an undeniable pull; an undiscovered beauty inside them. The same feeling I had when the night sky gave me her stars. 

I held the weapons carefully in my palms and spoke as loudly as I could, "I, solé, declare these as my weapons of choice." It seemed somehow important to make it clear that I chose them, even if I didn't have other choices because I would've liked to believe that, even if there had been other weapons to choose from, these were my weapons. 

One of the Assassin's Guild members, Nova, approached me with my Assassin's tunic. Having on my thin, nylon shirt underneath, I undressed from the tan-colored tunic, and replaced it with the sunset orange-red of an Assassin. I sighed happily, exhilarated, and confident. 

Then my confidence broke as Belefius brought forth the basket of quests. I hurriedly grabbed one from the basket, attempting to not overthink it. Anyone would do. My head spun as I pictured the possibilities of my first quest; would I be protecting a guild forest like the one today?

I unraveled the papyrus paper shaking with excitement. On the paper read a simple quest, but I found myself reading it several times, unsure if I'd read it correctly:

 An Official Assassin's Quest of the Guild:

You must eliminate the Prince of Geldel, our rival realm, and an opposing danger to Sordova. 

‘Eliminate the Prince,’ my eyes kept returning to the paper. My mouth was gaped open automatically, and as soon as I realized it, tried to conceal my shock. Were all the first quests like this? 

Even though I had heard of the realm of Geldel, I hadn’t realized there was a Prince there, or that they had a monarchy at all. It seemed so archaic to think about, considering, in our realm, The Assassin’s Guild was our ruling government. A collection of people making decisions, with the Elder’s and the Lead’s having the biggest impact.

“Oooh, good one!” Nova commented from behind. She moved her shiny, white hair to the side of one shoulder, out of her way, and took the scroll to examine it further. “Don’t worry about that for now,” she reassured. “We’ll be meeting as a guild and going over all the details.” 

The guild meetings! Of course I would be a part of those now, and would gain access to all the happenings and, perhaps, even be able to say my opinions on matters! I began to daydream at how wonderful that sounded, a place to belong. I was apprehensive about my first quest being murder, of course, but Nova helped me see there was more to the story. The Prince was, surely, an evil brute mistreating the people of his realm.

As the Ceremony was now complete and food and drink was mostly depleted, the great hall had slowly dissipated from its remaining people. Only a few academy employees assisted with the cleanup duties, and a few remaining Assassin Guild members sat behind, mostly the elders, who loved to chat among each other and slowly stand from their chairs. The ceremonies were their favorite, basking in the glories of their youth and reminiscing about the great's being sworn in. 

"Congratulations, Solé," Jasmine was still there, in my support, I assumed. "Are you done taking it all in?" She teased as her hand motioned to the entirety of the great hall, and then she pointed to a small table to my right. A good pile of assorted gifts lay there from those that wanted to honor my graduation. I touched the familiar brown jug with an attached label saying, "Congratulations and enjoy! From your brother of the guild, Master Thomas." 

"Mmmmmm," I said to Jasmine, and she realized what it was and replied "ooooh." Smiling at each other, we burst out laughing knowing we would be having a drink of the mead together. 

I chuckled, "it's all still surreal, to be completely honest with you. Definitely a moment I've been waiting for my whole life." She opened a cloth in her hand and revealed a couple of large cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar and a date in the middle. 

"Hey, how about we go watch those stars and finish off these cookies? And perhaps a few sips of that mead might be nice," She winked. "Oh, and you can leave the gifts. I hear they bring them to your tent for you," She said with an exaggerated, haughty sarcasm. We both walked arm and arm out of the academy laughing, and feeling powerful.