Charlie

“We’ll be there soon,” Vetica called out from the driver’s seat of the wagon.

Merlin sat in the back with Charlie. He leaned against the backside of the driver’s bench. Charlie was sitting closer to the center of the wagon. Bleedy and Mousifer had curled up, resting near his baby legs. He gently rubbed each of them as they slept.

“So, are you still sure about this plan, Vetica?” Merlin asked. “It’s not too late to think of something else if you’re having second thoughts.”

Vetica sighed. “No, it’s for the best. We need somewhere we can hide and gather information. Besides, they’ll eventually send someone after me if I don’t check in. It’s in all of our best interests that doesn’t happen.”

Merlin frowned and turned around to look at her. “Uhm, send someone after you? If you weren’t so poorly mannered, I might start thinking Orb was right that you’re from some noble family or something. What exactly are we walking into?”

Charlie tilted his head. “We aren’t walking! We’re in the wagon,” he corrected,

Merlin gave him a sarcastic look. “Thank you for that, Charlie. I hadn’t noticed.”

Charlie smiled; glad he could be helpful. Apparently, in more ways than one. Vetica seized the opportunity to ignore Merlin’s question. When Merlin realized she had no intention of talking about it further, he let it go.

Vetica had seemed a bit off since they stopped and made camp last night. At first, Charlie had assumed it was because she hadn’t gotten any sleep, but now he thought there might be more to it. Shouldn’t Vetica be excited? She was going to see her family soon. He wondered what they would be like, and if they knew about their daughter being an assassin. He had so many questions, and even if Vetica wasn’t excited, he definitely was.

Vetica had veered off of the main road a while ago, pulling them off the main road that they’d been following so far. Eventually, Charlie grew curious as to what was going on. He carefully crawled so as not to disturb either of his sleeping companions. He moved closer to Merlin, who picked him up, and they both peered over the wagon’s front bench to look at what was going on.

“How come we’re so far off the main road?” Charlie asked.

Vetica looked back at him. “Let’s just say we have an interest in keeping ourselves out of sight,” she said.

Merlin quirked a brow at her. But before he could say anything further, he noticed a building on the horizon. “Um, is that your family house?” he asked.

Charlie’s eyes widened. The building was much larger than a normal house. In fact, it was closer to a small mansion. The house was made of gray brick, and a tall metal fence surrounded in on every side. At the front of the house, two guards stood on either side of a gate. It wasn’t what Charlie had been expecting at all.

Merlin stood, taking Charlie up with him, and squinted toward the house. He turned to look at Vetica. “What’s going on, Vetica? This all looks really shady. A building in the middle of nowhere with sketchy look guards standing out front. I don’t like this at all. If you don’t tell me right now who your family is, we’re turning around.”

Orb floated up. “Listen, I’m not one to say I told you so—”

“That’s not true at all!” Charlie said.

Orb’s color dimmed. “Whatever! I’m just saying this totally looks like some noble family’s country estate or something. Not like the main one, but like the one where you send the child born out of an affair.”

Vetica shot him a look.

“Hey, if it floats like a dungeon core and glows like a dungeon core, it’s probably a dungeon core,” Orb said. He bounced up and down as if he was shrugging.

Vetica sighed. “I’m not a noble. The truth is, I’m a member of the Rawlin family.”

Merlin stepped over the bench and sat Charlie down on it. He hopped off the front of the wagon and hurried forward to pat Marvin on the back. “Marvin, stop now.”

Vetica started to protest, but Merlin pointed a finger at her. His face was pale, and he looked angry. “How dare you? I knew you were an assassin, but I never stopped to think for a moment you were from the family of assassins. Are you kidding me right now? Do you know how much danger you’ve put us all in? How much danger you’ve put Charlie in?!” he yelled.

Charlie’s eyes shot open. He held a hand up. “Merlin, calm down. Let’s talk about this,” he said.

Merlin’s nostrils flared. “Yeah, let’s do that. Talk Vetica.”

In most cases, Charlie would expect Vetica to respond poorly to Merlin’s tone. She wasn’t the type to sit back and take it when someone got angry with her. But this time, she was uncharacteristically quiet in response. “Listen, I know it sounds bad, but I wouldn’t have brought us here if I thought it was dangerous. We have houses all over, this one hardly sees any use. There will be a few grunts and some low-ranking member of the family to oversee the property. We’ll get a room, I’ll collect some information and then we’ll be on our way,” she said.

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Merlin crossed his arms. “You could’ve stopped to get information on your own. Why drag us into this? I know Charlie is powerful, but...” Merlin sighed. “He’s still a child, Vetica. We have to make decisions that keep him safe. This…wasn’t the right call. Let’s turn around and find another way—” Merlin held his head up and his eyes widened.

Charlie and Vetica had a similar response. It was only natural, after all, considering the cloaked man that had suddenly appeared behind Merlin and put a blade to his throat. “Who are you?” the man asked. It was like he had come out of nowhere. The only other person Charlie had seen move like that was, well, Vetica.

“I’m Merlin,” he said, swallowing.

The assassin looked up and furrowed his brows when he saw Charlie. But it was Vetica that gave him real pause. “Mistress Vetica? What?”

Vetica took a breath and stood, drawing a dagger from its sheathe. Canano had given her several as replacements for the one that had been lost in Arcadeya. “Unhand him, or I’ll coat the road in your blood. They’re with me,” she said.

The man looked over his shoulder toward the house for a moment, but then he did as she said. He took a step backward. “My apologies. We weren’t expecting you. There were rumors that you...” He trailed off.

Vetica held a hand up. “I’ll explain everything. I want rooms prepared for my friends and I. Have it done before we arrive.”

The man hesitated. “My lady, there’s something you should—”

“Now!” Vetica ordered. She seemed upset about something. Had Merlin’s words gotten to her? Or maybe she was flustered. Someone had gotten that close to Merlin without her noticing. It wasn’t like Vetica to miss something like that. She was the most observant person Charlie knew. Even on a bad day, she would usually have intercepted the other assassin. Charlie had the feeling there was more going on than he realized.

Merlin shook his head. He stormed toward the back of the wagon.

“Merlin…” Vetica said, trying to get his attention.

He didn’t say a word. He climbed into the back of the wagon and dangled his feet over it. Vetica turned to look at him but decided against saying anything else. She shook the reins, and Marvin slowly trotted towards the building before them.

The assassin had already run far ahead. It wasn’t surprising how fast he was, considering they’d seen him almost pop up out of nowhere to ambush Merlin.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the house.

Bleedy scurried up to the front bench to join Charlie and Vetica. Mousifer was holding onto Bleedy’s head. Orb sat in Charlie’s lap pretending to be a ball, and Charlie sent Boop back to the dungeon for now. He’d decided it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for the purple dungeon core to go around booping assassins who were eager to cut something. So, for all of their safety, he’d sent Boop to hang out with Koi Levi for a while.

When they arrived, the gates didn’t open. The guards stood there, eyeing them, but unlike the previous assassin they’d met, these men didn’t seem especially reverent toward Vetica. Charlie looked up at Vetica to see what she would say. But there was a strange expression on her face.

“Why are you two here?” she asked.

Charlie frowned. That didn’t sound good. She sounded nervous, almost. He focused his thoughts so only she could hear him. “Vetica, is everything okay? Do you know them too?” he asked.

She glanced at him and then back at the guards. Her hand slowly drifted toward her knife. Charlie frowned. Something had surprised her.

The front doors of the mansion swung open and a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair popped out, followed by four additional guards. The woman was wearing a green outfit that reminded Charlie of Vetica’s clothing. Though without the belts or leather vest she wore. In fact, the outfit wasn’t the only resemblance Charlie saw. He could see it in the various facial features of the woman. It only took him a moment to piece it together.

“Hello dear sister,” the woman said, holding her arms out toward Vetica. “I see you’ve brought friends,” she said as she approached cheerfully.

The guards swung open the gate for her.

Vetica looked down at her sister. “There’s no need to pretend like you like me. Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with father?” Vetica jumped down and walked in front of Marvin to cut her sister off from getting too close.

“Of course, I’m always with him.”

Something changed in Vetica at that moment. Her confident demeanor faded. Her shoulders sunk. The hand she always kept close to her knife slowly closed in on itself. Something was wrong, and Charlie was getting worried. He knew Merlin was upset, but right now, she might need them.

“Merlin, we need to—” Charlie called out for his friend so they could go to her. But Merlin was already beside him. He’d reacted before even Charlie had thought to. He picked Charlie off the bench and stepped forward to stand beside Vetica.

“He’s here?” Vetica asked. Her voice was quiet and frail.

Her sister nodded. “He is, and he is so happy to see you.” She turned attention to Merlin. “I heard you had failed to take out a target. This man, oddly enough, matches the description of the person you were sent to kill. So why are you traveling together? Wait, don’t tell me you even adopted a baby? Did you fall in love with the target?” She sucked her teeth. “Oh Vetica. You’ve gotten soft.”

Vetica stepped between Merlin and her sister. “Back off. He’s under my protection… I assume father knows I’m here then.”

Her sister smirked. “He does. You know what he’s going to make you do, right? If you bring them inside?” She tilted her head, and a devious look crossed her face. “But…I’ll let them leave. Your friends can hop in that wagon and turn right around. Fathers only interested in you for the moment. Consider it a favor between sisters. Besides, I can always track them down later if he wants me to.”

Vetica paused at that. And then Charlie noticed something that broke him. Vetica was shaking. She clearly didn’t get along with her sister, but there was something about her father that absolutely terrified her. He didn’t understand that. Why would she be afraid of her own father? Charlie didn’t want her to be afraid.

Vetica turned to look at Merlin. “You should go. Take Charlie and leave. I’m sorry. You were right about this. It was stupid. But I didn’t know that he would be—”

She stopped speaking when Merlin grabbed her hand and clasped it with his own free hand. “We aren’t going anywhere, isn’t that right, Charlie?” he said. His voice was firm. In that moment, Charlie wondered if Merlin knew just how cool he looked.

He smiled. “That’s right! We’re sticking together.” Charlie raised his head and looked toward the front door of the wagon. Vetica was one of the strongest people he knew. Behind that door was someone that made even her afraid. But she wouldn’t have to face that alone. Not while her friends were there.