chapter V

I looked at my reflection in the sword that almost took me down. Dark was right; the girl starringback at me looks like a mess, and her hair is covered in moss and leaves, similar to a bird's freshly made nest. Her white pants are now completely covered in dirt and weed, as is her face, for that matter.

She looked like she had fought a bear and lost. It's a good thing I'm not her. I would hate to think how bad her shoulder is going to feel tomorrow morning.

I want to push someone off the edge of a cliff.

I didn't miss trainingwith others. I used to do it all the time with him. And I'd won only when I cheated. He figured it out each time, and he didn't try to convince me to fight fair but insteadto make my enemy think that I was. If you can't win with the weapon in your hand, take theirs and stab them in the back. They're the most cruel words he'd ever spoken, but they're the ones I remind myself of the most. Cheat. Lie. And always take defeat with a smile.

He said this sort of thing only when we were dueling, as if he was preparing me for something bigger.

Oh, one more thing: know when you need to be something you're not.

I can hear his voice in my head. He's gone, Tarra. But you're right here. So let's put the adviceof a dead man to use.

So my unsteadysteps take me back to the hideout. I feel like playing some more games. Words cut just as deep.

But this time, instead of returning to Dark's room, I go to Valerian's.

Soft pastel green walls dark stain wood floors polishedto perfection, a huge closed matching with a small makeup table that was placed in the rightcorner to have the best lighting the room had to offer, a smallbut presentable appearance.

My mind escaped and returnedto the image of his room. That gloriousbookshelf is the first thing I'm stealing, though I think it will not fit in my pocket that easily. And that heavenly bed is next. He can keep the scratched and broken maps.

I walk to the desk, where I have the luck to find a clean cloth and some fresh, almost warm water.

I try to remove as much of the dirt, dust, and moss from my hair as possible and brush it out with some kind of made-up brush since the handle is made of some sort of wood that I've seen inside her work shop, so I assume that Val made it with her magic.

I quickly picked up a loose dress in the exact color of lavender; it smellslike it too, and it's made out of a very soft fabric. Could Val make a dress as well, because if that's true, she's my new favorite person? I don’tthink Val would mind. And if she does well, let's say I'd rather that be my biggest problem right now.

I need to play my part for a bit longer. So I put on a smile and got back into the dining room.

I look at the table, and it has only two plates. He still doesn't trust me to eat with the others.

To my absolute shock, he is wearing a purpleshirt underneath his cloak. Once more, his curlsfall softly around his face, and my eyes study their pattern for longer than they are supposed to.

How on earth in the name of Haran did he know the color I'd pick?

Focus not on his clothes or ridiculously perfect hair but on your mission.

After all, prettyor not, I still have to kill him.

"Rough day?" he asked, already knowing the answer. e's wearing black gloves and pulled a chair for me to sit on. I do pass him and plant myself on the one he just rose from.

He takes the seat, almost unhappywith my rejection.

“How is your arm?” I ask with a poisonous smile.

He tilts his head. He really expected me to run away by now. Didn't he? Not yet. Not yet, but pretty killer.

And for my plan to work, I need to be patient, calculate each word, and move because the weapon in my arm is not sharp enough.

He snapped his fingers, and a poké approached our table.

Before we eat, how old are you?”

“It’s rude to ask a young lady for her age. Why?”

“We drink wine after a duel to celebrate. I suppose if you're 17, you'd like a glass.”

Yeah, because after getting my *** kicked, I'd like to share a drink with him.

The pooch set down a beautiful old wooden bottle and poured two glasses of wine.

He slid one to me; it had an unusually dark color and a wonderfully sweet smell of grapes and blackberries.

He drank first. Nothing. 

Then I brought my glass, but as soon as the wine smell touched my nose, I knew exactly what he was doing.

I can't believe it! He tried to serve me wine with doomberries.

He is playing with a dagger, as if he has done nothing wrong.

If I had taken even a sip, he'd be countingthe seconds till my death.

“So the lady has a sense of danger after all.”

“You could have killed me!”

I slam my fist on the table, making the plates and glass tumbler nearly tilt over.

“You're only half mortal, so it would have hurt you rather than killed you”. He responded in a way that infuriated me even further.

“You are crazy!”

He rose from his chair. And came behind me. Leaning so close that I could feel his breath pass his mask, he said, “Characteristic, smart, and a true enemy, and you need to be more careful.”

He then bent over even further and whispered in my ear, "Let me give you a tip: trust no one." "Trust will only get you killed."

I sat there in disbelief, but now I see that he is a true monster, which is why people fear him. I need him for now, but I don'thave to befriend him.

He was so charming that I never suspected he would try to poison me; I was naive. I shouldhave known a free meal was no sign of goodwill. Was he goingto save me if I drank? Then why would he even botherto poison me in the first place?

That odd creature appeared again and told him something,and he left in a hurry, leaving his dagger behind.

I took a look at the blade; it was a lovely silver-cold moon color with perfectly placed emerald green stones that shined in the candlelight. So delicate yet deadly, you just need to know where to hit, and it is more effective than any other woman, magical or not.

Without considering the consequences, I slid the dagger into a pocket of the dress.

I left because I couldn't stand the sweet, awful smell of berries.

I can feel the weight dragging on my pocket.

———

As I was waking back up in Valerien's room, I felt a stabbing pain in my ribs. All of today's training had made me completely forget about my real wound, the one from that stupid deviant attack; all the moving and swinging of the hard metal must have opened up one of my stitches, even if they were done really thoroughly by Val. I could feel my heart racing like crazy. This job mightbe more difficult than I expected.

I've taken on some stupidly hard challenges in my life, but this may be too close to my limits.

I slammed the door open in rage. Val was staring at me as if I were delusional. Well, she'snot far from the truth.

“I hate him! I hate him so much!” I shouted. I threw my hands up in the air like a hysterical child who dropped his candy on the floor.

I didn't want to let him get under my skin, yet I did, of course, because that was his goal in life.

He got too deep, like an infection that poisoned my blood with hatred and rage.

“He poisoned you, didn't he?” She put down the arrow, and she was making my eyes wide at its beautiful leather wrap and sharper metal. I have a person I would like to show one of them.

“You knew?!” I am trying to control my emotions through action, which has proven quite difficult.

Val jumps off her bed, and I swear she'strying to hide her smile.

"No, but you stink."

“He is out of his mind!”

“No one said he wasn't.”

She patted a spot on her bed. I sat, more like collapsed, on the hard mattress.

"Come on, I saved you some food." She added. Words that made my mouth water.

She shoved some fresh, beautiful cheese pies under my nose, and I ate them all, barely breathing between my bites.

I didn't realize how hungry I was; I was starving. I don't know who to blame for that.

“I caught you staring at Dark's rings; he probably thinks that he’s so handsome”. said Val, trying to distract me from the shock.

Let's say I was staring just at the rings—rings on his elegant right hand jewels like I've never seen so dark and perfectly fitted for his long fingers—Get a hold of yourself! He tried to kill you! Twice!

Val's gaze is focused on mine; I need to play it cool.

“Yeah, what's up with those?” I said, trying to laugh as convincingly as I could; heck, I almost tricked myself.

Val shifted as she took off her jacket and changed it for a soft robe. Throwing it into a small bin. She sat next to me again.

“There are his medals." They are called darkblood rings and are only given after defeating a very powerful opponent.”

“By defeat, you mean kill.”

"Yes, you know, even if I admire your..."

I knew what she was going to say—that it was foolish of me to hurt him, even if he is rather peachy.

“You think he did it for revenge, don’t you?“

She gave me a shrug.

“All I'm saying is that you should be careful. You need to do what he tells you; that is how it works.”

Oh, really?! I'll teach him a lesson; he can only see how frail and broken I am, but if he wants war, he'll get it.

“Take this.” She said, after searching through her drawer, that things were flyingright and left.

She then hands me a robe similar to hers and a night gown; if this is another crazy piece of magic, I'll actually go insane. I changed, making sure to fold the dress I was wearing and place it on her nightstand.

I then collapsed on the empty bed. I have no idea who sleeps on it; I am too tired to think about that. I just fell asleep.

The morningrays enter through the half-drawn curtains.

I evaded the hideout after a quick change. I trotted on a horse, which I might have taken without permission, on the shorter route to return home.

I look right and left. How can a forest so simple be the same place that changed my life forever?

Much to my disappointment, Iam not alone in the house.

My father simply waved as I passed by. The second guest is the one I did not feel like seeing.

I rushedup my stairs, and my beloved Poe was flipping through one of my books.

Oh, so you must have a secret room since you keep disappearing, which is surprising given your current state.”

Oh. Right broken foot. Spell. And I've been away for quite some time. Quick. I need a lie, quick.

“I went out riding."”

“First of all, with what horse? Secondly, how are you even able to do that?” He crossed his arms and fixed me, obliviously not buying it.

“An army horse, and I used only my left foot, plus I went to the library inside the capital and got lost in reading for a bit.”

I mean, that is a more plausible explanation for my absence.

“Let's say I believe you, since I guess you'd do such a thing.”

As we were talking, someone knocked on the door. Oh, now what?! Has the King come to throw me in a dungeon?

Poe went to check it out. At least it can change the subject of our discussion.

I hid in the stairwell, listening to the intruder's voice.

“Is Miss Tarra Down here?”

“I'll bring her in a moment.“ Poe said.

I joined Poe in taking slow steps due to my 'injury'.

As soon as I see who our visitor is, I’m tented to slam the door in his face. Does this idiot want another punch?

Instead, I nod, “Capitan.“

“Miss Down.” He scratched his mustache, probably tryingto remove his breakfast from it.

Oh, so that's how he's going to be then.

“What brings your greatness here?” His mustache is slightly crooked.

“Cut the crap. It has been 48 hours.”

Yeah, and your devil tried to kill me for real this time.

I point at my broken leg.

“As you can see, I have been wounded in the fight.”

“I can see that, cadet. Good afternoon.“

Really, that's it? No nothing?

He turned back and left, slammingthe door.

"Cadet," he said to irritate me. Well, I've gotten closer to him than any other of his stupid soldiers, and I'mnot planning to stop there.

After that, Poe left me as well.

I was all alone, finally! I went to find it.

I've gone through all of my books several times because I'm looking for them. Long ago, my dad bought me a book all about deviant stuff, attack powers, and weaknesses.

I kept a low profile for the entire month until the day I put my plan into action. And made sure to keep actually dangerousbooks behind five different women's panels, two of which were filledjust with junk.

But first things first.

I went to the bathroom, where a steamy bath awaited me. After the bath, I felt more relaxed, so I made sure to repair my broken stitches and clean the wound as thoroughly as possible before changing back into a normal-fitting costume. I got back into my room and was surprised to see that Poe hadn’t left after the Captain's visit.

“And I thought you were finally taking a break.” He said this while staring at the books I'd thrown on my bed. It's a good thing that none of them are relevant.

“Caught me.” I joked. 

“Need a heaping helping hand?” Poe asked. He put a few of them into a stack.

Although I would enjoy spending time with my best friend, I was still in real pain, not from my leg but from the hole in my stomach. And have things to do.

“You are standing pretty well on your foot.” He added.

Shoot. I quickly changed my balance so I'dstand slightly off to one side.

“Yeah, it is like magic.” Like actual magic. Like not really broken magic. I need him out of here. I dry my hair with a towel, tryingto think this through.

“You know it is late, and I am sure you want to rest, so I will see you tomorrow.”

He left my room. Thank you, Gods! I was really in need of a break.

I couldn’t even close my eyes. I walked over the plan one more time, and tomorrow night I'll either do the best or the worst thing that I've ever done.

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