Her name was Honey; a Half-Elf, still in her youthful years of adulthood, but for an elf of tainted blood, her true age was much closer to that of an elf of normal lineage. She often dreamed of running off and leaving the forest of her elven nation's capital, but alas, those dreams were just that. 

She has never had any real attachment to her home in the forest of Kildare, just a very healthy weariness of the outside world. 

She had assumed that if all the strife she has suffered in the safety of her homeland, is a starting point, then the cruelty of the outside world, surely holds no bounds. 

This day was starting off to be a good day. As normal, Honey had spent the morning trying her darnedest to avoid any conflict and remain left completely abandoned to do as she willed. It helped that most others of her race turned away at the sight of her. 

Her visage was easily identifiable due to her abnormal raven black hair and white stripe that parted down the side. 

The elves of her home kingdom all had light and fair hair colors. Reds, browns, and yellows, were common in the capital, yet she had the hair of a skunk. The neighborhood bullies had all learned the hard way not to call her as such. That was how she earned her true name, which she only hated slightly less. 

Honey-Badger, or the elven word for one, was her whole name. She had no familial ties to add to it, and yet, she had shortened it even further to just 'Honey'. Not that she had anyone stick around long enough to gain friendly enough terms to call her so. 

The reason today was going so well for her was that she had some very tenuous plans pay off. She had very skillfully started a rumor the other day, that the old woman known as the neighborhood gossip had started volunteering their time and money at a local homeless shelter. Just a moment ago, she had witnessed her labor bear fruit as she was served a meal by the crotchety old hag. 

Honey knew for a fact that the witch hated the poor and filthy, but with a few clever suggestions and manipulations, the woman had ended up forcing herself to serve food at the soup kitchen, three days a week.

"Ha, let's see how you get out of this one!" Honey snickered to herself, letting the ongoing feud continue between the two of them.

As she was walking down a side alley with her still steaming soup bowl, a guard called out to her. "Halt, Assassin!".

Honey froze in her tracks. This was not the first time she was harassed by the city guard, but it was the first time that the guard was a Royal one.

How? Why? Questions rushed through her head. Was the King or Queen dead? Was there an actual assassin in the area? Why Her?

"Drop your weapons and turn around with your hands where I can see them." The Royal Guard called out.

That's not happening. It was easy to hear the greenness in the guard's voice. He may have the Royal seal on his tabard, but it was obvious he was going to be easy to escape and hide from.

Of Honey's skills, stealth and escape were easily her top two. Her only regret was that she wasn't going to be able to taste the soup that she had worked so hard to get.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The bowl clattered to the ground as she held her hands out and turned to face the guard. "What gives, man? Can't a girl enjoy her soup in peace?"

The guard furrowed his gaze at Honey as he took in her form. "You're not even trying to hide your alignment, and your disguise is horrible! If I wasn't ordered to call the rest of the squad when I found you, I would take you out, here and now!".

"We can't have that, now, can we?" Honey inflected her words with a bit of old fashion charm and a heavy dose of magic to drive it home.

The guard wrinkled his nose in disgust and a snarl crossed his lips. "Foul beast! You think a Paladin of the Holy Order of Truth and Mercy would fall to such a blatant and pitiful trick! By my God, Sari-"

"Stop that right now, Tylin!" Honey shouted at the top of her lungs, with a playful stomp of her foot and a pout. There was no magic in her voice, and she had no clue if that was his name. He did seem like a Tylin, though. It was a frantic, last second, desperate ploy. She only needed one more second to escape.

It had no real chance of working, yet, the guard froze for just a moment, and met her eyes. "How do you know my name?".

Mother of the Abyss, it worked! It worked? Of course, he's a Tylin! Godforsaken, Tylin!

Even with her internal monologue, Honey kept a level head. She locked onto his gaze and returned it with an intensity that she herself had never felt before. "I am not the rogue you're looking for. You, however, made a dark mistake not calling your buddies sooner".

The guard's eyes grew wide, and he frantically started looking about the alleyway. "Where did you go!? You can't run! The entire guard already knows my location and are on their way!" The guard readied his halberd and stepped back slowly from the mouth of the alley. 

He was panicked at losing sight of the so-called assassin. She never even appeared to move from her spot, and then she just disappeared. He swung his weapon in a wide arc in front of him, only to whiff through the air.

Honey knew it was true when he had said he had called for backup. There would be no point in staying to find out. A moment later, a platoon of knights ran up to the alley entrance behind the cowering paladin. 

"Tylin! Report!" called a grizzled old man, who had led the charge to the alley location as soon as he received the alert from this new trainee. 

"She was just here! I had her cornered! The alley is a dead end!" Tylin scrambled to whimper out a response. 

A golden glow shown out from the seasoned leader and washed away all the shadows in the alley. Tylin immediately straightened his posture and steeled his nerves. 

"Good Gods, Tylin! You weren't even under a spell! You let a simple rogue scare you half to death with nothing more than a few scary words and a cantrip! How have you even made it this long in the court! Report to the barracks and prepare for an impromptu training session, overseen by Myself, personally!" The following knights collectively winced at those words, and Tylin's face paled. 

"Knights, see to it that Tylin here makes it back without drowning in a puddle, or getting eaten by a stray house-cat." Tylin saluted and marched off at double pace, flanked by the group of knights.

The old man, in a full suit of dull gray armor, turned to face the alley that was congested with crates and barrels. "A simple rogue indeed..." The man's eyes sharply scanned over the alley and held focus on a few spots. Finally, the man's eyes fell upon the fallen and spilled soup.

With a decisive chuff, he approached the soup that had mostly absorbed into the ground. A golden light shown from the man upon the bowl and the few remaining drops left inside.

"A weak sleeping poison. I wonder...?" The man mumbled and then turned on his heels and walked away.

A loud crash sounded from the alley a moment later, just as the old paladin had reached a block away.

Honey's hiding spot was excellent, but not long-lasting. The pile of boxes and trash she had nestled into had been the most ideal option on a list of terrible ways to die.

She kept herself from retching, as a mixture of all manner of filth sloughed off her, and scaled the building that seemed the most climbable. 

Her luck held out just a little longer as she made it to the rooftop in one try. She darted off as quickly and quietly as she could, not waiting to see if the walking-death in High-Steel-full-plate had heard her clamor.