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“Wait, let me get this straight...” Liam began, his eyebrows raised high. “You are the lost crown prince? The real heir to the throne?”
Shade gave him a wry smile. “Yeah.”
All eight of us were gathered in the school’s living room. A thunderstorm had rolled in on our way back from Hidden Oaks Cove, as the smugglers’ port down the coast was called, so we had taken shelter inside as soon as we’d arrived. Shade had just finished explaining what had happened on our trip to Keutunan and it was safe to say that Liam wasn’t the only one wearing a look of shock on his face.
“Wow.” Liam sat back on the frayed brown couch. “How about that?”
The Master Assassin hadn’t gone into detail as to why he had kept it a secret, and no one had dared ask. As far as I could tell, I was the only one who knew the full story. Or at least, the part he had chosen to tell me that night we got drunk on the floor. Mystery still swirled around him like smoke and I was pretty sure he kept more secrets than the rest of us combined. I wondered what else he was hiding.
“Yeah, nah, I’m not gonna start addressing you as Your Majesty or stuff like that,” Haela announced with a mischievous grin on her face. She swung her arm over the back of the sofa and twisted to face the newly revealed royal son. “But does that mean we should start calling you Ciaran now?”
Man, I hadn’t even thought to ask him that. I had just continued calling him Shade. How was that for social skills?
“No.” The assassin shook his head. “I’ve been Shade far longer than I ever was Ciaran. It doesn’t even feel like my name anymore.”
Haela sent him another bright smile. “Shade it is, then.”
A soft creak escaped the couch as Elaran shifted his weight. “You said Edward banished those two lords as well but when their ship arrived yesterday, they weren’t on it.” He flicked calculating eyes between me and Shade. “What happened to the Fahr brothers?”
The Master Assassin and I glanced at each other.
“I ran a sword through William’s heart.” Shade tipped his head to the right and blew out a short chuckle. “Eventually, anyway.”
I lifted one shoulder in a lopsided shrug. “I poisoned Eric.”
Liam closed his eyes. Pain was written all over his face. I squinted at him, trying to understand why in Nemanan’s name that kind of reaction would be the result of learning that the person who had kidnapped him was dead. Norah seemed to notice it too.
“What’s wrong?” she asked and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
“More people dead because of me.” He slumped back against the brown cushions.
Shade turned to look at him. “Not everything is about you.”
“Eric’s death is.” Liam sat back up again and threw out his arm in a desperate gesture. “He only became our enemy because Storm killed his son.”
I flinched at his words but they were true so I didn’t know what to say. Liam pressed on.
“And she did that because of what Rogue did to me.” He raked his hands through his curly brown hair. “And then Eric wanted revenge for a murdered son and now he’s dead too. Father and son, both killed because of me.”
Uncomfortable feelings carved into my chest like a rusty knife. I shoved them out. “But that’s what our life is like!” I blew out a frustrated breath. “It’s not some fairy tale. It’s complicated and violent and messy.”
“That’s my point.” Liam turned to me, his eyes full of agony. “Does it really have to be? It’s not like that in Tkeideru. Or here among the merchants in Pernula. Maybe it’s because of who y... who we are, that life is like that.”
I stared at him in silence. The start of that unfinished word before he’d changed his mind twisted like a blade in my gut. Was I the reason his life had been so filled with blood and violence? Maybe I really was a bad person.
Zaina cleared her throat. “Either way, they’re dead and the peace treaty is screwed. Now what?”
For a moment, no one said anything. Rain smattered against the windows while the wind howled between the buildings outside. Shade flashed us a confident smile.
“Now, we win the election.”
Haela whirled around to stare at the assassin. “I’m sorry, the election in a foreign country that ends in six days. The one we have absolutely no chance of winning. Ever. That election?”
Shade nodded. “That would be the one.”
Laughter bounced off the ceiling as Haela threw her head back and let out a string of merriment that lasted a good minute. We all watched her with amused expressions on our faces. Once the torrent had ended, she wiped a joyous tear from her eye and straightened.
“I knew coming on this mission was a good idea. Impossible stakes in a challenge we were never meant to win.” The mirthful twin grinned. “Who could say no to that?
Haemir shook his head at his sister but cracked a smile. “I’m in too.”
The auburn-haired elf on the other end of the sofa crossed his arms and drew his eyebrows down. “This is insane, Shade. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we can’t win an election in a foreign country!” When his companions only looked back at him with knowing smiles, Elaran blew out a breath and threw his hands up. “But someone has to make sure you don’t all get yourselves killed. And Faye would have my head if I let anything happen to you two idiots,” he added and nodded at the twins. “So I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”
The rest of the room chuckled at the grumpy archer. My head and my heart were still in too much turmoil from our previous topic, so I’d been studying the raindrops racing down the window during most of the conversation, instead of participating. Now, I felt Shade’s eyes on me.
“What about you?” he asked.
Turning my head, I found his intelligent eyes watching me. Strange emotions hid in the depths of his black irises but the look was so unexpected that I couldn’t identify what it meant.
“Are you staying?” the assassin asked again.
Was I staying? I wasn’t sure. The Fahr brothers were dead so the threat to me and the people I loved was gone. That meant I couldn’t claim that I was doing it out of self-interest. Sure, if Marcellus won, he might attack Keutunan but now there was another way of stopping that. King Edward’s mission to secure a peace treaty was already in shambles so we no longer needed to play nice. If I wanted to stop Marcellus from declaring war, really stop him, I could just assassinate him. My friends wouldn’t like it, of course, because it would leave Pernula divided and weak in the face of a potential invasion from the star elves. But what did I care about that?
No, helping Shade win the election wasn’t about survival. It was about him. I studied the assassin. If I stayed, it would be because I wanted to help him win. Because I cared about him. I heaved a deep sigh. By Nemanan, I really needed to find that cold black heart again.
“I mean, you’d have absolutely no chance of winning this without me,” I said and flashed the Master Assassin a smirk. “So, I guess I’ll stay.”
Relief blew across his face for just a fraction of a second but when he noticed that I had caught his expression, he gave me a teasing grin instead.
“Good.” His black eyes glittered. “That saves me from threatening and blackmailing you into it. My guild is here now, remember?”
“Oh, I thought you didn’t need your guild for that.” I gave him a quick rise and fall of my eyebrows while a wicked smile spread across my lips. “Are you finally admitting that you can’t take me on your own?”
Shade’s mouth dropped open and a surprised chuckle slipped out, but before he could decide on a comeback, Liam interrupted us.
“I’m staying too,” he said and squeezed Norah’s hand. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Norah smiled at Liam while Zaina looked from face to face, her dark eyebrows raised.
“You people really are insane,” she announced, though the smile on her face was more impressed than anything else. “Alright. You’re basically screwed with the elite, both because you’re an assassin and because you’re an outsider, so that leaves the workers. We might be able to swing some of them, though I’m not sure which factions. Any bright ideas?”
For a few moments, only the sound of the smattering rain filled the room. Which parts of the city would be most likely to support an assassin as General?
I tapped my chin. “Alright so they’re not technically part of the working class but what about the Underworld?”
“They don’t vote,” Norah said.
“You mean they’re not allowed to vote or they choose not to vote?”
“They can, they just don’t.” The dark-haired teacher looked pointedly at her sister.
Zaina blew out a sigh. “Oh I’m sorry for not being overly interested in politics.” She shook her head at her little sister. “None of the laws benefit me so I don’t care who makes them.”
“Alright, so we just get the underworlders to vote then,” Haela said, her eyes sparkling.
The Pernish smuggler swung her feet onto the table but after a sharp glance from Norah, she withdrew them again. She draped her arm across the back of the sofa instead.
“Sure, we could probably get some to do it but the problem is that our Underworld isn’t organized enough to launch a successful campaign,” she said. “There are some gangs, like the Rat King’s crew, but it’s mostly just people who look out for each other without wanting to challenge the other gangs for power.”
“Like Yngvild and Vania,” I concluded.
Liam turned to me. “Who?”
“The guys who...” I waved a hand in front of my face. “Never mind. But can’t we get them organized then?”
“Even if you could,” Norah said, “there’s just not enough of them to make a difference in the vote. Our city hates underworlders, remember? So there aren’t that many to find.”
“What about the soldiers?” Elaran ran a hand over his tight side-braid and turned to Shade. “You don’t have a lot of noble qualities but you’re a good fighter.”
Shade frowned at him. “Was that supposed to be a compliment?” When the archer only gave him a confused look in reply, he shook his head. “You kind of suck at giving people compliments.”
“I agree,” I interjected.
“The soldiers,” Zaina cut in before another argument could start. “That’s actually a pretty good idea. They respect strength, combat skills, and smart tactics more than anything. We could definitely get them to vote for you.”
“But how?” Haemir said.
Shade pushed to his feet and strode to the window. For a while, he stood there and stared out as if the thunderstorm outside held all the answers. Our mission of simply messing with Marcellus’ campaign had suddenly turned into a race to the finish line. Now, we needed to see this election through to the end and we didn’t have much time to do it.
“Sorry, Zaina,” I said and gave her a shrug. “Looks like we dragged you into something more complicated than we thought.”
The dark-eyed Pernulan grinned. “Oh, don’t you worry about me. After the crates of pistols you brought me from Keutunan, I’m a happy camper.”
Haela sat up straight. “Can we use that? Pistols are illegal here so can we somehow convince people that Marcellus is making them so that he loses support with honest people?”
“No!” Norah said with force.
Furniture creaked as we all twisted to stare at the suddenly terrified-looking teacher. Only Shade remained gazing out the window with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Pistols are banned across the whole continent,” Norah explained. “If the star elves find out that a city is producing guns, they will come and wipe it out. We can’t risk it. Even for a rumor. If the star elves hear it, they will come here and kill us all.”
“That’s it!” Shade whipped around. His eyes were filled with plots and schemes when he faced us.
“Didn’t you hear what she just said?” Elaran scowled at him. “We can’t use that.”
The Master of the Assassins’ Guild flicked an impatient hand. “Not that. We con Marcellus into thinking that the star elves are attacking so that he looks incompetent and jumpy. It would completely discredit him.”
Zaina let out a low whistle. “That could work.”
“What if we also circulate a rumor that Marcellus is going to send out the bulk of the common soldiers as cannon fodder so that the higher-ranking officers can survive the battle?” I said.
Shade released a dark laugh. “I like the way you think.”
Norah stood up and rounded the couch on her way to the door. “I don’t like it. It will terrify people and make them panic. But... I will help you as long as you promise that the ruse will be revealed quickly.” She stopped with a hand on the doorframe. Once she had seen Shade nod, she continued. “I need to get dinner started but those of you who will convince the merchants and nobles, you can come with me to the kitchen and we’ll start planning our approach.”
With that, she was out the door. She was a determined young woman, that Norah. I could see why she made a good teacher.
“Alright, you heard her,” Zaina said and waved a hand at the empty doorway. “Team Upperworld, follow the bossy girl in the white skirt. Team Underworld, you’re with me.”
Scattered laughter echoed through the book-filled room as Liam and the twins rose from their comfortable seats and made their way towards the kitchen. After one last look to make sure that her sister had left, Zaina swung her feet onto the table and leaned back against the cushions.
“Ready to make some trouble?” she asked us.
I grinned at her as Shade, Elaran, and I settled in to scheme about Marcellus’ fall from grace. “Always.”