“Sometimes splitting the party is the best way to do things, even when conventional wisdom states otherwise.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“Now, I won’t tell you girls to take care of yourselves. You’re both old and capable enough to do so even without me telling you to,” said Aideen to Kino and Eilonwy in their room the next morning. Zayid had arranged a place for them to stay that was comfortable enough, especially considering the fact that the state was at war. “I’ll see you two when you return, with success, I expect.”

The three of them had decided to help out with the war effort, so they would split up and join different hit squads due to leave the capital within the week. Since they had already shown their fighting prowess back at the village they saved, there was no reason for them to hide it anymore. Besides, with the chaos of the war, news of their involvement would not spread quickly, if at all, so it didn’t really affect their mission as a whole either.

Aideen herself had no disagreements about the three of them splitting up in order to cover more ground. Each of them could take care of themselves anyway, and the most vulnerable of the three – Eilonwy – had her minions which would keep her safe even while she was asleep. Zayid would likely also warn his people not to mess with them, to begin with, and given the strong hierarchy often present in criminal organizations, his people would listen to his orders, more likely than not.

Each of them soon met their teammates for the foreseeable future as they went to the gathering spot Zayid told them. Aideen had to admit that she was quite impressed, as the crime lord had clearly gathered his best hardened killers for the task, people who would reap lives without blinking an eye as long as they were given the command.

That each of them seemed to be fervently loyal to Zayid was a pleasant surprise as well.

As for Zayid himself, he quickly sold the idea of cooperating with the young Emir to his men with promises of being able to live freely in an above board manner. They would no longer need to fear the constables finding their hideout and dragging them out while they slept, but be honorable men and women who had contributed to the state.

It was a risky promise to hold on to, but so far the young Emir seemed intent on keeping his words, and Aideen expected that Zayid would also have contingencies in place should the Emir betray them in the end. That said, if the accomplishments of Zayid’s men and women became public, it would be more difficult for the Emir to even contemplate not giving them what he promised, lest the public opinion turned against him.

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Since public opinion was the Emir’s main support against his older brother, Aideen could see the young ruler easily swayed that way.

Each of the three went along with a hit squad of around fifteen hardened killers. The men and women Zayid sent with them were quiet, rarely ever speaking unless they had something they needed from another. Most of the time they just communicated through silent gestures. Interestingly enough, five of the members in Aideen’s group were mute.

Two of them were mute from birth, but another three had their tongues cut off when they were young, from what she could tell. Aideen naturally offered to cure them of that injury, and while the three assassins looked at her offer skeptically at first, the youngest of them, a young woman who showed some mixed ancestry, accepted.

Mere moments later, the young woman was making unintelligible noises – she has lost her tongue for nearly two decades already, after all – with her newly regrown tongue while tears streamed down her cheeks. The other two quickly accepted Aideen’s offer as well when they saw the results, and soon joined the girl in attempting to train themselves to speak, something they had long forgotten how to do.

That minor incident made the assassins treat Aideen a lot more warmly, and she also healed a few more old injuries – including missing fingers on a couple of the older ones – by that evening.

By the time they traveled a couple days out of the capital, though, the assassins went all businesslike again, and focused on their respective tasks. Some amongst the group were skilled at tracking and scouting, and they quickly discovered the traces of another raider band. A quick chat with some townspeople in a nearby town also confirmed that they had seen a raider band ride close to the town but were apparently unwilling to test themselves against the town’s sturdy defenses.

The trackers amongst the group – one of whom was the formerly mute young woman Aideen helped – quickly found the raiding band’s traces and tracked them down to their camp. The camp was a rather large one, and there were probably close to a hundred of the raiders present inside. The assassins thus planned their assault for the pre-dawn hours, where most people slept their deepest.

After all, there were only fifteen of them – sixteen with Aideen – so a head-on fight was something they wanted to avoid at all costs with an enemy that numbered so much. Aideen had not interfered with their planning, other than to signal that she would fight along with them. Given that she had already shown her ability to heal missing body parts in mere moments, none of the assassins disagreed with her participation.

Of course, from their body language Aideen could tell that the assassins likely planned to keep an eye on her, not out of any ill will, but in order to ensure her safety. They had no idea that she was unliving, after all, so it was an understandable thought on their part. It was a show of kindness that she found rather heartwarming considering who it came from, yet also somewhat amusing at the same time.

Naturally, she disabused the notion that she was “just” a good healer when one of the raiders suddenly and unexpectedly exited their tent when they struck. Aideen struck the man down with her staff – neatly shattering his neck and pulverizing his throat with a single blow – before he could raise any warning about their presence.