“Ew, Cafeteria food sucks!” Alex exclaimed as he stared at the soup on his tray.

“I thought you said you were from the suburbs? This is a luxury compared to there!”

“Emm, no.” was all he said as he pushed it away. “You can have it then. I’d rather starve.”

Ailith shrugged and placed his bowl on her tray. “Alright, suit yourself.”

The soup was heaven in her mouth. It was full of flavor and soft, if soup could be soft. The bread included was no joke either, it was light and airy, still warm from the oven. She moaned softly as she divulged in the food.

Alex peered at her curiously, as if he’d never seen a girl before.

She attempted to stare back at him intimidatingly, but turned away blushing when he refused to flinch. Ailith cleared her throat.

He continued staring at her.

“Alex?”

He raised a brow, his only acknowledgement that he’d heard her.

“I can’t eat with you staring at me like that.”

“Alright.” He didn’t look away.

“So can you not…”

He nodded as he continued staring.

“For god’s sake. Alex, stop!”

He smiled but looked away-at his treker-and frowned.

“Um I’m sorry Ailith but something urgent suddenly came up.” As he said this, he got up from his chair, looking up at her. “I have to go. Is that ok?”

“Yeah, totally!” She replied, maybe a little too enthusiastic. He looked disappointed but turned his attention back to his treker, walking towards the door.

“See you later.”

Without anyone with her, there was no point in eating slowly, so she quickly finished her food and left for the dorms.

Back at the dorms, Ailith prepared to go to Dorrance. Mid-packing, she paused. ‘I need to get my dagger back from Evan.’ Clearly, he wouldn’t just hand it over to her. She surveyed the room and pulled on a wire jutting out of the wall. When it was detached, she placed it in her pocket. ‘This will do.’ she thought to herself.  In the back of her mind, something clicked. ‘Strange, why would a miscellaneous piece of wire be sticking out the wall?’ but after some thought she chose to ignore it, ‘Afterall, there was an attack on the city and I was proclaimed an assassin. I shouldn’t even be surprised anymore.’ 

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Glancing once around the hall, Ailith stepped outside. ‘Let’s see. Amber said that Evan slept in the main wing. That means his room is…’ she wandered down several halls before coming across the wing. ‘...one of these…’. Immediately, she was able to eliminate two out of the twenty doors. The two being the storage and weapons shack. She knocked on the door nearest to her.

Amber answered, “What?” She sounded rather annoyed as if Ailith had interrupted something important.

“I’m sorry for intruding so late at night, but…”

“Don’t intrude then.” Amber shut the door.

“Wait!...” ‘Shit.’ She knocked again. 

“What do you want?” Amber said as she crossed her arms and leaned on the doorframe.

“Where’s Evan’s dorm?” 

Amber looked at her with suspicion. “Why do you want to know?”

“I have something I need to ask him.”

She smirked. “If it’s about your prized dagger, give up. You’re never getting it back until he says so and that won’t be happening anytime soon.”

“I’ll find that out myself. Can you just tell me where his room is?”

She rolled her eyes. “7th room to your left.” She moved to close her door. “But Evan’s most likely still in the training room.”

“Ok.” If anything, it was good that he was still in the training room. Ailith wasn’t planning on asking him anyway. If there was any skill she had mastered whilst her time in the suburbs, it would have to be picking locks and stealing.

She arrived at his door and checked it. ‘Locked’ As she assumed it would be. Ailith pulled out the wire and got to work. ‘No time to waste.’ 

Within 3 minutes she was in his room, lock picked and door open. Hopefully no one had seen her. It was a rather hard situation to explain or in her case, make up a lie for. ‘Now let’s see. If I were Evan and I confiscated someone’s precious belonging, where would I place it?’ she said to herself in a mock tone. ‘Hmmm. Well for starters, I WOULDN’T confiscate someone’s precious belonging.’ She groaned. “This is getting me nowhere.” She began her search by closing the door and skimming through all his shelves. 

‘Open, close.’

‘Open, close.’

‘Open, close.’

The continuous clang of cabinets and shelves closing and opening was a repeating rhythm in Ailith’s head throughout the next hour. She checked every drawer, every nook and cranny only to emerge empty handed. ‘Where could he have put it?’ 

In frustration Ailith kicked the wall, calling him every nasty name she could think of. ‘Bastard, jerk, thief, asshole...’ She startled as one of his books fell out of its shelf. Reaching down she picked it up. 

It appeared to be a journal more than it was a book. The front cover had no writing and the binding of the book had a golden vine riding up it. It was a strange sight really. Most books these days had clean, white, crisp pages whereas this one had a rusted color to it. It was soft and torn on the edges and it had a faint smell of ink. She flipped open the cover.

‘To Evan my dearest brother,

I wish you all the best on your journey here on forth. I believe in you! Although we may be far apart, you will always remain close in my heart.’

- Emmeline’

‘Holy...he has a sister?’ 

From between two of the pages, something fell out. She picked it up. It was a photo of a young boy and girl. The boy-she assumed was Evan-had his arms around a girl’s shoulder and was grinning broadly from ear to ear. 

‘He almost looks cute, smiling.’ She turned it over. There was a date written on the back. 12/31. She flipped it over several times before pocketing it. ‘Might come in useful later.’

Just then, the lock clicked and the door swung open.