Chapter 20

Ayasse stared at the body in the forest and felt numb. The head was missing, but he was certain this was Thane. They’d searched the area where they found the body, but there was no sign of it. Some animal must have taken it.

What remained of the body had been gnawed by wolves or foxes. It was hard to be certain it was her without a head, but he recognized the signs. The scar on her hand where he had stabbed her when practicing with the dagger. The hip bone that didn’t sit right and moved beyond what it should. The slave tattoo between her breasts. He’d only seen that once. It was usually covered. She’d taken him into the bath soon after she had purchased him and cleaned off the stink of the pens. He didn’t trust anybody then and had refused to let her touch him. She had taken off her clothes to make a ten-year-old boy feel better. It was the only time he’d ever seen her completely naked.

Her stomach had been eaten away but the mole under the left breast was the same, as well as the jagged scar that stretched from her calf down to her ankle. That one was his fault as well. It had almost killed her before he could get the potion. She kept the scar as a reminder. Ayasse rubbed it to make sure. She’d tried to trick him before.

“Are you certain it’s Thane?” Sam asked, wiping her brow. She was using a flat stone to dig a shallow hole in the ground near the side of the road.

He had offered to help, but when she touched his broken arm, the pain told him to stay with the body.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Ayasse needed to be alone with his thoughts. He reached for the slave crest on her shoulder. This was what had controlled his early years. Thane had never used it to tell him what to do, only to find him. He could never hide from her, but could always sense where she was. Now it was silent.

“Why was she here?” Sam asked, stepping out of the hole and cracking her back. She brushed the dirt off her clothes. “Shouldn’t she be in the city? It’s crazy to come out here, to this place, especially when there was a war going on.”

“I don’t know,” Ayasse replied, wincing as he dragged the body. He felt numb. She was his Master, but for the last ten years, she was also his teacher and, in a sense, his mother. He dragged the body to the hole and staggered back. Sam caught him and eased him down to the ground. She picked up Thane’s body and lowered it into the hole.

Prayer was never important to him. Why believe in any being that would ever allow him to be sold into slavery? Thane never made a big deal about it, but he knew she was a Shintonian. They worshiped nature and everything that went along with it. Burial like this was perfect for her.

Sam shovelled the dirt back onto the body and stood back. “What do you want to do?”

Ayasse was silent. He was free of the slave crest. Free, to choose his path, according to Sam. His real mother had sold him years ago, but she was also dead. Probably, in the bread riots soon after he was sold, or so his first master had said. He had Thane’s home. Something was drawing him there, but he couldn’t go, yet.

“I will help you get home, then I’ll find my path,” he said.

“Are you sure?” Sam raised an eyebrow. “I could help you try and find out what happened.”

Ayasse smiled under his mask. “Thank you, Samantha, but this is my mission. You have your destiny to follow and I have mine. Now, I’d like to be alone for a few minutes, please?”

Sam nodded. “I’ll give you some privacy.” She took the horses back to the road, leaving him alone.

Ayasse stared at the grave and thought back on his life. Thane had been acting strange the last time he was there and got the Master Pill. It was odd that she even had two to begin with. It was always easier to make four of everything. Did that have something to do with her being out here?

Ayasse wiped his cheeks, but his hand came back dry. Sam told him to cry, but he hadn’t shed tears since the first night they had beaten him in the slave pens. The tears had come back when he thought he’d killed Sam, surprising him. Why couldn’t he shed any tears now?

“Do you remember when you bought me from the slave pens, Master? I’ll never forget it:

“I’ll take that one.”

Ayasse looked up from where he lay in his cell into the eyes of an old woman. She was hunched over and covered in wrinkles.

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

“Are you sure, ma’am? He’s defective. Wouldn’t follow orders correctly no matter how much punishment,” the handler, Gon said.

Ayasse hated the man. He liked to use the whip a little too much.

Laying back down, Ayasse let the cool stone soothe the previous night’s beating. His back still burned from Gon’s attention.

“He’s perfect for what I need,” the old woman said. “Clean him up and deliver him to me in two days. Make sure you dress his wounds.”

“Your loss.”

Ayasse heard money changing hands and turned his head to the other side. As a slave, he didn’t have any say in what happened to him. He was tired of trying to escape anyway. The slave crest made it impossible to hide. Gon always found him.

“Here you are lady, one assassin-trained slave,” Gon said as he handed Ayasse’s leash over. “You’re going to regret taking this one.”

“Maybe, but that’s my choice. I thought I told you to clean him? He’s filthy.”

Gon shrugged, “I forgot. Hold out your hand,” he said cuffing Ayasse across the back of the head. Ayasse raised his left hand and the old woman covered it with hers. Gon said a short chant and placed his hand over the two. Ayasse could feel the slave mark being transferred from him to her.

“It’s done. He’s yours,” Gon scoffed.

“Thank you,” the old woman said.

Ayasse looked into the old woman’s eyes and sighed.

“What is it, boy?” she said.

Ayasse looked down and said nothing.

“I told you he was defective,” Gon said. He sounded embarrassed and ran his hand through his greasy hair. “I’m not taking him back.”

“Tell me, boy.” The woman’s tone was soft and her smile made him think of the last thing his mother did before she sold him to the slave troupe.

“Why are you pretending to be old?” he asked.

“What are you going on about boy? Anyone –.” Gon’s head dipped forward and he collapsed to the ground.

Ayasse smirked. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do it for you boy,” she said, her voice no longer old and sounding like iron. “Never reveal my secrets again. Is that clear?”

Ayasse nodded. “Yes, Master.”

She sighed. “Call me Thane.”

“Yes, Master”

“You never forgot where you came from, did you? Master” Ayasse rubbed his shoulder again. His broken arm still twinged and he couldn’t move it very well. Dragging her body to the grave almost knocked him out. “I promise I will find out who did this to you.” Ayasse placed a stone at the head of the grave and lay down a flower in front of it. “You saved my life and gave me a purpose.”

Ayasse turned to the road where Sam was waiting and smiled behind his mask. “I think you would have liked Sam. She’s as stubborn as you were and likes to control everything, but unlike you, her attempts usually end with her falling on her face. She tries hard but has never had your finesse. She thinks I’m free to live my life, but I’ve always been free. You made sure of that.”

“Stop looking at the jars with your eyes alone. Use your other senses.”

Ayasse stared at the three vials. Each held a different herb. Thane said one was a treat, one would make him sleepy and the third would give him explosive diarrhea. He’d just recovered from her last test. That one had left rashes all over his body.

“They all look the same.”

Thane grunted. “That’s the whole point, my useless student.”

“Why?”

“So, you can slip them into a person’s food without them knowing the difference. I want to make my target fall asleep. Which do I use?”

In the three years he’d been studying with Thane, she’d been teaching him more and more about the poisons she used. A few times she’d taken him on jobs. He was perfect to act as her face. Most of the Underworld didn’t realize that the head was a woman. He didn’t mind the exposure and it helped keep her safe. He’d watched her get a little weaker each year. Even if she tried to hide it, something was eating at her. She wouldn’t tell him what was wrong though.

Still, she persisted in testing him every morning.

Ayasse closed his eyes, stuck the first jar under his nose and waved his hand over it. There was a bitter smell. He tried the second and noticed a spicy flavour. It tickled his nose. The third one smelt vaguely of fish.

“Can I ask you a question, Master?”

“About this?”

“No. I know better than that.” Ayasse turned to Master Thane. “You’ve known about my abilities for three years now.”

“Has it been that long?”

Ayasse nodded. “Why have you never asked me to use my shadow powers for your purpose?”

“Is that what’s been bothering you?” Thane scoffed. “They’re your powers. You use them however you see fit. If they help you complete your task, that’s great. I have my way of doing things. If I ever need yours, that means my way failed.”

“I see,” Ayasse mumbled. “The spicy one is the dangerous one. I choose the bitter one.”

“Try it.”

Ayasse put some into a tea cup and added some hot water.

The gurgling in his stomach started a few minutes later.

“Why didn’t I choose the spicy one?” he mumbled later, coming out of the water closet.

“Sam has also never tried to exploit my powers. I think she’s jealous of them though,” Ayasse said, turning back to the grave. “I’m not sure what to make of her, but I trust her. She doesn’t quite understand what we had. I knew you were sick, but I guess I chose to ignore it. You wouldn’t have wanted me to say anything about it, in any case,” he scoffed. “I also know this tugging on my mana is from you. You finally used the slave crest, didn’t you? Why?” He shook his head. “I will return to our house as soon as I’m finished here, and find out what you left me.”

Ayasse leaned forward and kissed the grave marker. “Farwell, mother. Thank you for everything you’ve given me. I won’t waste it.” He stood up and went back to the road.

“Are you ready?” asked Sam.

“Yes. Let’s go see Eon.”

They moved forward, but Ayasse didn’t look back at the grave.

“It’s okay to cry, you know,” said Sam moving in closer to him.

Ayasse nodded and pushed his horse to a canter. They had a lot of distance to cover today.