Rise (20 page)

"If you were a teenage boy" Victoria began. "I am" Roman added. "Okay, if you were a teenage boy" "With a normal life" He interjected, again. "Yes, with a normal life" Victoria sighed. "Where would you be at say, -she glanced at her watch- 11 o clock at night, after, apparently, having a party."

Roman scrunched up his face for a moment while he thought. "I'd probably be passed out on the couch somewhere. Not in my bedroom though, because chances are, I never made it that far." Victoria raised an eyebrow at Roman's suggestion, but said nothing. "So, we’re looking for a couch with a passed out Prince on it? Right. But how do we get through this barbed wire? It's a bit of a problem."

She reached out to touch it, but her arm was suddenly yanked back, hard, the amount of force surprising her. She rubbed her arm where Roman had yanked, and winced slightly. "Sorry about that" he said from besides her. "It's electric." "Then how are we going to cut it without killing ourselves?" Victoria wondered aloud.

Roman whipped his dagger out, and held it up the air."Mine comes in handy for things like this?" "And why is that?" Victoria asked, in disbelief. "It doesn't conduct electricity, of course. Step back."

Victoria did as she was told and watched, still in utter disbelief, as he cut a clean rectangle, big enough for each to step through, in the fence. When he finished, he nudged the spitting fence away with the tip of his dagger and smiled. He stepped through the rectangle and held his hand to her. Trying her best to ignore the snug look on his face, she grabbed it and stepped through. "I thought this was supposed to be hard." She whispered, as they crouched down to the grass. "Maybe for you. It's either fail, or die. You start getting pretty creative after a while."

Victoria straightened up and observed her surroundings. They were finally inside the Gloucester Estate , albeit on the outskirts, but she could tell by the carefully manicured lawn, and the shrubbery that looked a little less wild than that outside of the fence. She narrowed her eyes, hoping that it would help her see better in the dark. “Roman, how are you able to see so well in the dark, and I can’t?” “Takes practice.” His smug response came from somewhere on her right, and if Victoria could see him, she would have thrown a punch. “You can see a bit, right?” She nodded. “Just stick close to me, I’ll lead. We need to get closer."

She did as Roman advised and stayed as close to him as possible, even on several occasions almost treading on his heels. As she did, she looked around, trying to pinpoint where exactly they could be, and found herself gaping at just how large the Gloucester Estate was.

Victoria didn’t think it would be the best idea to suddenly pull out her maps, as if she were some sort of assassin tourist, so she scrunched up her face, and thought hard. If she remembered correctly, there was a section of the garden with a very unique looking fountain. She couldn’t remember what exactly the fountain looked like, but Victoria hardly cared. It was supposedly located near the game room, and said game room had pool and couches. She didn’t doubt Roman’s suggestion that if the Prince was anywhere, he’d be there.

Speaking of Roman, he suddenly skidded to a halt, causing Victoria to tumble head first into his back. She felt him grunt and strain as he used all of his muscle power to stop them both from tumbling head first onto the grass below. “What was that for?” She whispered, groping around as she tried to stand herself back up properly. “Guards.” He said, gruffly, and he dragged her behind the nearest bush.

That made a lot of sense, she mused. She’d been wondering why they weren’t swarming the grounds. Victoria turned to Roman, and spoke her musings out loud. As she watched him, she felt him tense under her gaze. “I said, why aren’t there more guards? It isn’t supposed to be this easy” Roman exhaled a soft sigh, and rubbed his temples. “No, it’s not. There’s a lot you don’t understand.” “Make me understand then” Victoria whispered, as loud as she dared. She heard another exasperated sigh. “And stop sighing!” “Victoria said. I told you that what we –he gestured between the two of them—take care of, generally, are really bad people.” “Really bad people?” She suppressed a snort, at Roman’s phrasing. “I’m serious. We do. Murderers, thieves, vagabonds, whatever you prefer to call it.”

“
Okay” Victoria nodded her head. “This guy did nothing wrong.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “I know that already. You’ve actually said it a hundred times by now.”

“
AND, if you would let me finish, there hasn’t been a hit request on a king in over a century.”

“
A century? Wow, I thought this sort of thing happened all the time.” “Well, it doesn’t. The world is changing. There’s no need to hire extra hands. People fight with money these days.”

“
Then why are we even here, and what does that have to do with this being easy?” “They have no reason to believe anyone would try and kill them, especially a trained assassin. They get a couple of lunatics around here, occasionally, but nothing serious. There’s no need to have guards crawling all over the grounds.”

Victoria sat back, realization dawning upon her both slowly and painfully. “We’re…savages, then? That’s what they think of us?” She balled her fist up, and smacked it against her palm. “No, no. That’s not what they think.” “Then…what do they think?” “I don’t know, Victoria. I told you, it’s a changing world out there. Maybe you’ve been in the convent too long. Maybe I’ve been in the monastery too long, and now I don’t understand.” Victoria watched as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Then why are we here?” She asked again, this time a little softer. “I have no idea. That’s why I didn’t want to come. I didn’t like it. I just think…” “You think what?” “The days of the assassin are over. And…I can’t say I mind.”

“
Really?” Victoria felt her heart soften towards Roman, despite the fact that in her eyes, he was whining, yet again. She knew he was against the task from the start, for moral reasons, but she didn’t know that he envisioned a life outside of the monastery. She briefly pictured herself in his new life outside the convent, blushing, but she pushed the thought away. It was neither here nor there what happened in that fantasy life away from the convent, because that was there, and she was here, squatting behind a bush, realizing that once again, everything in her life was not as it seemed. “Do you…do you think we could get out of this?” Victoria couldn’t believe she was asking that, but as the words came tumbling out of her mouth, she found herself believing in them.

Roman looked at her, while he considered her words. “I don’t know” He responded, truthfully. “The assassin’s code is pretty serious.” “Pretty serious, indeed.” She snorted. The more Roman told her about the order, the more she found herself wondering if it too was crumbling along with her resolve. “What, you don’t think it’s serious? I suppose you could always test it out, but do let me know if you can come back alive.”

“
Roman, it’s just that I was inducted into the Other Sisterhood so suddenly. No training, no nothing. I know you said that once you accept a task, it’s final, but from what you’re saying, this is pretty serious. It just doesn’t make sense.” Victoria shook her head. And she knew better than to ask Sister Katherine, who was never any help at all. “Maybe, they’re desperate?” She tilted her head in confusion at Roman’s suggestion. “How so?” “I heard Brother Ammon say once that membership in both was dwindling, and those that were actually joining up weren’t the ‘right sort of people’. Joining for the wrong reason.”

Victoria wondered briefly if she was the type of person he meant, but Roman must have seen the change on her face, because he was soon amending his statement. “By not being the right sort, I mean criminals and such.” He added, hastily. “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be taking care of? Said criminals?” She asked, incredulously. “Yeah. This isn’t anything new, though. The fact that they even let me join at twelve says a lot about where its headed.” “But why?” Victoria found herself more bothered than she’d care to admit about the fact that the Other Brotherhood had allowed a 12 year old Roman to join up and kill. He couldn’t have known any better, and his parents probably meant to sent him to the monastery for some spiritual healing or something.

Victoria was suddenly hit with an overpowering emotion, one she didn’t have too much experience with. Disgust. “I can’t believe they let you join. They probably ruined you forever.” “Ruined you?” Roman asked softly. She could detect a slight bit of hurt in his voice.

“
No, not ruined you. You’re fine the way you are. But it’s not right to teach a 12 year old that killing is okay.” Roman smiled. “Look who’s the martyr now. How old are you?” “That’s not the point. This is different” Victoria reminded him. “They’re Desperate. Nearly twenty years ago, from what I hear anyways, the convent and the convent, they were good places. Many were still stuck in ways from the old world, --which is probably why you were dropped off there--” He said, as kindly as he could, and continued “It’s different now. People aren’t so dependent on the convent anymore. The Board recently cut its funding to half of the usual, and the jobs aren’t nearly as big as they used to be. Except this one, that is. The money for completing this job is enough to last for several years. I don’t blame Brother Ammon and Sister Katherine for wanting this.”

Victoria found herself agreeing, begrudgingly, although she felt like a pawn more than anything. It wasn’t ideal for her to be the one to complete the task, but the convent needed money, and when it came down to it, anyone could do it. A feeling of disgust rose again so suddenly in her chest that for a moment, she thought it was bile. After it settled, panic set in. Did she still want to do this? Victoria glanced down at her dagger, where’d she placed it in the grass, and watched as the moonlight reflected off of it. She didn’t know what to say, or even what to think. She glanced back over at Roman, who had sunk down to his knees and was now aimlessly tracing circles in the grass. What were they going to do? She looked down at her dagger again, and steeled her resolve. They had to do it. They’d already come this far. They couldn’t back down now.

Victoria mustered her courage, and prodded Roman with the handle of her dagger. He didn’t look up. “Roman, we have to do something. We have to finish this. I don’t see another way.” “I don’t either.” He said, when he finally spoke. “I just have one question to ask, Victoria. Are you still getting any joy out of this?”
His question made her insides freeze. She knew what answer he was looking for, but deep down inside, in the recesses of her soul, she knew she couldn’t give him that answer just yet. With the convent apparently crumbling around her, she had no other home to go to. It was the only place she belonged. Could she say she enjoyed, anticipated it even, like the day she’d first been inducted? No. But in a twisted way, somewhere in her heart, she had to be here. Victoria didn’t know if she could thwart plans that might help keep her home open. Even if it was going to fall anyways, she wanted to be there when it did. She turned back to Roman. “Roman, I—“Save it, Victoria.” Victoria looked up, eyes full of hurt, expecting to see the same, judgmental Roman looking back at her. Instead, she found herself looking into the eyes of someone as scared as her. “I don’t understand now, Victoria. I really don’t. But I will try, for you.”

Victoria was rendered speechless, and as Roman’s words hung in the air, she couldn’t help but feel touched. That was a big step for him. She cleared her throat and looked down at the grass.

“
So..what’s the plan for tonight?” She asked softly. He shrugged his shoulders and looked down as well. “Whatever you want. It’s your mission.”

She took a moment to weigh her options, and then looked up at Roman when she’d finished deciding. “I say, we see if we can find the Prince tonight and get more comfortable out here, and then go. We can come back in a few days and finish him. Roman nodded his head slowly “That sounds like a pretty good plan. Let’s do this, then.” He swiveled around on the balls of his feet so that he was back in a crouching position. Victoria mimicked his movement, and then peered around the side of the bush they were hiding behind. “See any guards?” She whispered, as she trusted his eyesight far more than she trusted her own. “Nope, the coast is clear.” “What about that guard from a few minutes ago?” “He went back around to the other wing. We’re good for now, if we hurry.”

The two crept closer, reaching the point where grass turned into hard tile. “These are the outer gardens, I think.” Roman whispered. Victoria chanced a look around, seeing an enormous array of flowers, red, blue, and green, and a small pond several fish circled about furiously, before speeding up her pace to catch up with Roman. “I’m guessing we’re looking for the inner gardens, then? The one with the fountain” She whispered back, and she saw him give an affirmative nod. “We keep going this way, I think.”

As Victoria and Roman made their way deeper into Gloucester Estate, Victoria found her heart was beating twice as fast as normal. The tile floors of the Outer Garden gave way to the fresh dirt of the Inner Garden, which she could only assume was the Prince’s personal garden.

The whole area was circular, and in the center stood the strangest tree she had ever seen. It looked like an art project gone terribly wrong, with its multicolored trunk that had every color from the rainbow. It was beautiful, but strange. “What in the world is that?” Victoria asked, as she took a moment to stop and catch her breath. Roman stopped as well, and inched closer to the tree in the question. “I’m not entirely sure. I think I’ve seen them before, but they’re really rare. Surrounding the tree was an assortment of other odd looking plants. To Victoria’s right, she spotted recently unearthed dirt, and she wondered if the Prince himself tended to the garden. “He has a lot of…bizarre things.” She said hesitantly, as her eyes swept the entire garden and found that everything, not just the plants, was unusual. Another pond, although smaller than the one in the Outer Gardens, was situated behind the tree. Victoria and Roman walked to it quietly, looking over their shoulder, occasionally, for guards.