Aligning Stars (Fate's Intent Book 1) (3 page)

“Three men? It was only three men?”

“Yes, your majesty. I stayed to confirm it. It was the Great Seni Fighters, led by Prince Zayden.”

The Queen sounded disgusted with this news. “
Rebels
. Your defeat cannot go unanswered.”

“What shall you have me do?”

“You? Nothing. You’re suspended from your duties as of now.”

I was instantly full of rage but said nothing. I didn’t want to make things worse for myself and lowered my head as a gesture of bowing. “As you wish.”

“Actually, I have one last duty for you.”

“Name it.” I quickly looked up with solid words.

“I want you to assemble the Kalu Assassins and send them into the mountains.”

Worry overcame me and I tried to protect my family. “But your majesty!”

Arianna held up her hand and I had no choice but to hold my tongue from making matters any worse. “Aleksander, I know she is your daughter but she and her team are the best and it’s about time to know who possesses the dominant force. Their meeting is inevitable. You know this. Will you not do your duty to your country, not even for me?”

I was silent and put my head down with an even more silent sigh.

“Do this and I’ll retract your suspension. Your record will be wiped clean of your humiliating defeat. You shall once again redeem your honor.”

I knew what I had to do. I had to send them out on the dangerous road of the mountains to face Zayden because I knew whether I wanted to or not, she would have them go anyway.

“Done. You have my word.”

“Good. Send them out immediately.”

I got to my feet, bowing my head one last time.

I rode a bit more slowly on my way back to the manor just thinking of what could happen. My whole world and everything I cared about could be taken away by having to do this one thing.

I still didn’t want to.

Adele was my life and Jaylyn and Ruby had become like daughters to me over the years they’ve spent together. Sending them to their deaths was something I didn’t want to do. I had to make absolutely sure that Adele knew what she would be up against.

I was alone to place my horse back in the stables with another minute to think but the moment I walked inside the manor, Adele was eagerly awaiting my arrival to hear the news. “What did the Queen say?”

The look in her eye was anxious and I tried getting to it slowly. “First of all, what you did was unacceptable.”

“I’m sorry, father. I just had to.”

“I understand but you know how hard it’s going to be for me? You’re lucky no one asked about it.”

“You faked it well.”

I touched my face where the dried blood smears tightened the skin. “You gave me no choice.”

“So?” She asked, getting back on the subject with an innocent voice like a child. “How did it go?”

It would seem I couldn’t put it off any longer and knew I had no choice but give her the orders. “Get your gear and gather your team. She wants you to track down the Great Seni Fighters.”

“Are we to engage?”

“You’re Assassins.” I hesitated to get out my next words. “Take them out.”

Adele nodded and turned to leave.

“Adele.”

My voice stopped her. “Yes?”

I was hesitant to let my worry show and came up with something else to say. “Make sure you’re back before the banquet. I know the Queen is expecting you to be there.”

“Don’t worry, father. That’s weeks away and we shouldn’t even have to leave the country. We’ll be back before then.”

“Also, it’d be best for you to travel on foot. The sound of horses carries too swiftly through the mountains and you will need the element of surprise on your side. That’s where I failed.”

“Father—”

“Remember what I said about them. This will be your most difficult mission yet. Let us hope Fate favors you and the others on this journey as I will. Good luck.”

She smiled her mother’s smile and left.

I watched her walk away, thinking of how Cynthia would have reacted to me letting her go and it only saddened me more.

It was done, my part that is. Now it was up to them to make the next move and I feared for it more than anything.

“You did well, Aleks.”

I looked up and Trever was in the doorway of the dining room, his eyes blazing with approval.

“That doesn’t make me feel better about it.”

“They will be watched. Everything is going exactly the way it needs to.”

He was right but as a father, I still worried.

Chapter 5

Adele

My heart was pumping so fast with the news. I went straight through the manor to the courtyard where Ruby and Jaylyn were waiting for word. “We have orders from the Queen.”

“Yes! It’s payback time!” Ruby said in excitement, ready to take on any challenger.

Jaylyn smiled at her reaction and felt just as glad. “This will be a refreshment. We haven’t killed anyone in a while.”

I nodded in agreement. That’s all I could do.

“We’ve been ready for this.” Ruby smiled.

“I know. Let’s get our gear. We leave right away.”

We eagerly walked inside to our service room where we kept all of our weapons and other battle gear. We changed into our winter Assassin attire and equipped ourselves with a few daggers, along with our specialty weapons that we designed.

We looked ready now as any Assassin would and set out to leave.

Despite what my father had suggested, we took our horses. Taking this whole trip on foot would have just been too hard on us. We travelled for several days and stopped off at the last farm in the north before reaching the mountains.

“Thank you for holding our horses.” I said to the stable master. “We have to be stealthy from here.”

“No problem at all.” He replied. “We’re happy to do it.”

“We’ll be back in a few days but if it takes longer than that—” I paused, not really wanting to show worry about not returning. “It just means we had to go in farther.”

“I’m confident you’ll succeed. Good luck.”

We left the farm and began to head even more north where no one ever travels. These lands are basically forbidden because it’s so close to Seni but that’s exactly where we needed to go.

Our journey would seem long now that we’re on foot but this is what my father wanted. I at least had to respect that. I remembered what he said about them and only continued to wonder just what we were going to be up against. We’ve never even come close to a visual encounter of the Great Seni Fighters before and it just made me wonder more.

“My father spoke briefly of our targets. He says this will be our most difficult mission to come.”

“We’ve anticipated this meeting but we’ve never lost a challenge.” Jaylyn said.

Ruby noticed I didn’t respond with agreeing confidence and looked over. “Adele, are you having doubts?”

“No.” I snatched to hide my worry. “I was just telling you what I already know. My father is the only one to ever face them and live. We all know this will be our biggest test.”

“You have every right to be worried.” Ruby placed her hand on my right shoulder for a moment of comfort but I didn’t find any in it. “The path ahead for us remains dark as we don’t know what Fate has in store but we always manage to return.”

“That’s what makes us so good.” Jaylyn said.

“I know. We’ll find them and when we do I will restore my father’s honor by taking out Zayden. He’s the one I want.”

“Zayden? Isn’t he the Prince?”

“Yes, I suppose he is.”

“This isn’t going to affect your killing royalty rule is it?” Ruby asked.

“Not this time. This time it’s personal.”

They smiled at my devotion to the mission but Jaylyn quickly took the smile off her face with another question. “Aren’t they considered to be the first generation of Great Seni Fighters?”

“Yes. They’re the first of their kind.”

“And they’ve only been around for about five years?”

“Yes. Since adulthood, I imagine. Just as long as us.”

“Then wouldn’t that make them young like us?”

“What are you getting at, Jaylyn?” Ruby asked.

“Well, all we know about them is their skill but what if they happen to be—you know—attractive? I don’t think I’ll be able to kill them if they are. It would be wrong. Wouldn’t it?”

Ruby and I shared a glance and I sighed. “We don’t have a choice. We have orders. They’re a threat and all threats need to be taken care of no matter their appearance. Let’s just get it done no matter what, okay?”

Jaylyn put her head down with a long disappointing sigh. “You only say that because you’ve seen the one you want to be with.”

“What do you mean? Ryon?”

“No. You know what I mean, Adele. The one from your dream.”

Just hearing her say it lowered my mood. “That’s not true. I could never be with him. He’s of Senian blood, remember?”

“Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t want to.”

I sighed again, really getting annoyed about this conversation. “Not in this life. Besides, I don’t know a thing about him, just that I’ve killed someone close to him. How could anyone look passed that even if we were to meet on common ground?”

They stilled their voices and left it alone. Finally. I most certainly didn’t want to carry it on. They were just bringing my mood even lower than it already was by doing it. We need to stay strong and we all knew it. We’ve been waiting for this for years and have finally gotten the chance to welcome it. I wouldn’t have it ruined with hopeless mentioning of
him
.

Chapter 6

Troy

Winter was coming to an end but it never seemed so in the midst of the mountains. It was always winter here; always cold. Our fire barely kept us alive. We’d have to stay awake all night, taking shifts to sleep when it was daylight. That was the only way but we’ve still been restless. Our thirst for conflict just waiting for someone to pass was slowly molding into something worse.

“It sure is taking them a long time.” Darius sat on a fallen log, kicking rocks at his feet as a sign that his patience was running thin. Our time here never seemed it would have an end. These rocks we sat around were turning into home and none of us liked it.

“Don’t worry, some will come.” Zayden said. “You can’t expect them to race to their deaths.” He turned his head back west through the pass and placed his hand on the ground, looking into the dark with darkness in his eyes. “Troy, scout ahead again. I feel something but it’s weak. It could just be an animal but you better check. We want no surprises.”

I respectfully nodded to the order. I greatly trusted in Zayden’s unique ability to sense vibrations around him; a gift perhaps but through an unknown source. He’s just always had it with no explanation as to why. We never really needed to ask, not even him but it was helpful at times and so I listened.

I didn’t exactly know what I would be looking for but knew I didn’t want to face it on this narrow path. I climbed up on a ledge and made my way west into Kalu on a little higher ground. I made sure I stayed in the shadows and looked around for signs of life. I saw no one. Perhaps it was just an animal as Zayden said. I was about to turn back but then I heard someone’s voice not far in the distance. My eyes gazed that way for just a moment before I decided to quietly approach.

The voices—they sounded feminine. I almost hoped for it, knowing who we were already waiting for but there was more than one and I listened before I was close enough to see.

“How much farther must we go? My feet can’t take much more of this. I never thought I’d miss the stiffness in my legs from straddling a horse so much.”

A girl’s laugh echoed. “It’s only been couple days. It shouldn’t be too long anyway. We’re approaching the border. I feel we should be running into them shortly.”

I was close now and stood up against a rock and slowly peered around it at the women below. There were three. They were all wearing long wool hooded cloaks in various colors. One had on a black cloak, another tan and the last gray. My eyes stopped on her and I was distracted from my duty.

She was sitting on the edge of a rock next to another girl and the moon reflected off her blonde hair that sat up in a twisted way on her head. I was being drawn in by the green light in her eyes. They were beautiful to me. She was beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone like her before and my mind drifted to Zayden’s humorous comment about his intentions with the General’s daughter. Having not known which of the three it was, I couldn’t let it be her. She was my reward; the perfect trophy.