1.

 

 

 

The city was just as it was five hundred years before. Literally. The same pavement, the same houses. My ancestors were known for being rich, for being able to build mansions all across the great city of Castillo. Not anymore though. The whole city was poor, and it was run by evil men and women. Murderers, drug salesmen, illegal weapons dealers. They all came to this safe haven to continue their vile ways.

 

 

 

My Lady the Queen did not care though. Her palace was updated nearly weekly, and people worked on it seven days a week. She knew the problems of the city that surrounded her great palace, but she continued to reject it like a stray dog. Instead of looking out the window and saying "I must get more money circulating around the city, stop the crime, update this once great place", she instead stared at it and said nothing. The capital city meant nothing to her. As long as she had all of the things she needed, she was fine.

 

 

 

The few sane people in the city were not happy with the Queen. Many attempts had been made on her life, but she has the most impressive guards. They are trained in the use of every weapon known to man and must train three hours a day in the palace courtyard. They are trained by an old man who has only one arm and is dying of the disease that has swept across the city over the past two years.

 

 

 

I maintain my sanity by helping the poor and needy intown. I may be giving them drug money, but I enjoy the warm feelings when they give me a toothless grin and thank me.

 

 

 

Sometimes, I leave the city and go to other cities that fare better than the capital. The Three Knights each watched over a part of the land and sent a message to the queen when something was amiss. They lived in castles in each of the other three large cities in the land.

 

 

 

The one I enjoyed most was Furo. It was the town of fire, built around a long inactive volcano. The red knight resided there, and he was a particularly good friend of mine. Every time I went into town, we shared a drink and a laugh.

 

 

 

As the Queens assassin though, I am usually tasked to take out her enemies. This particular day, I was studying in the impressive palace library, reading an ancient text of unknown origin, when her bodyguard appeared at the wooden table I sat at.

 

 

 

"The Queen would like to see you." He said. No explanation of what was happening, just a quick and easy way of saying "Whatever you are doing, quit it, and don't whine when the Queen gives you a terrible job". She was known for giving her knights the job of spying on people who dispised her, which was everyone but the drug lords and illegal sales people. Many innocents had died just for hating her. She wanted the kingdom to be on her side, but with a reputation like hers, no one would even want to speak of her in a good light.

 

 

 

I found a piece of wood that was peeling off of the top of the table, and ripped it off. I marked my page with it, then handed it to the librarian, telling him to keep it for me.

 

 

 

I then went to the throne room. It was like some kind of church. Behind the comedically large chair that the Queen sat in were three leaded glass windows, each depicting a battle that her predecessors had called for.

 

 

 

The Queen was beautiful, and only twenty three years old, the same age as me. She was wicked though, and twisted. I did not need someone like that as my lover.

 

 

 

I had kissed her and bedded her once though, a year ago. I do not like to talk about it though, it is a tale for some other time.

 

 

 

I kneeled down in front of her and stared up at the two bodyguards on either side of her. There was the one who had called for me, and another I had seen sparring in the courtyard that morning.

 

 

 

I then looked into My Lady's eyes. They were a beautiful hazel. In those eyes, I saw demons, angels, and corruption. She was exactly like her predecessors of the last five hundred years. She seemed so much bigger when on the throne though, so much more of a menace. I imagined flames engulfing the throne, but not at all inflicting any pain to her. She was just that evil, like a spawn of some great demon.

 

 

 

Her small, beautiful lips curved into a smirk. She then opened her mouth.

 

 

 

"Jourid, I would like for you to travel to Sylva and kill the mayor of the town."

 

 

 

That was all she said, and I merely stood and bowed like a slave to his master. Which, when I think of it, is the perfect simile. I was the slave, and she was the master.

 

 

 

I left the room and went to my quarters to pack up for the trip. On horse, it would take about six days. Hopefully, the open fields between here and Sylva would not bring upon me a demon or other bane of the Earth.

I like it so far...I think this has a great plot so far, and a great way to introduce us to the story.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm looking forward to reading more.

It's a lot better than your usual style, where you fill up most of the space with dialogue. Keep it up.

2.

 

 

 

As I traveled out of town, I was bombarded by illegal sales people. They were not hiding any more, they were able to sell on the streets with no worries of any kind of justice department capturing them. It was pathethic. There was the occasional person that ran up to my horse and asked for money. I would go to the small canvas sack I kept on my belt, and then hand the people a single gold coin, enough to buy a weeks worth of food, or a days worth of drugs. They would smile their toothless grins, thank me, and then run into the shadows, some would never be seen again, others lungs would give up and ultimately lead to their demise, and others would survive in their miserable existance.

 

 

 

I kicked my horses flank and bounced up and down as it galloped forward at a steady pace. I eventually made it to the gate of the city, where guards stood clumped together, staring down the streets. No one bothered them, because anyone who asked for money would usually have their head lopped off, and most people who wanted to have a conversation were usually stabbed in the back or lost one of their limbs.

 

 

 

The gate of the city was closed. It was a giant, wooden double door. It could only be opened if two people simultaneously pulled on a rope on both sides of the gate. It was only open if their were an emergency, if someone important were coming in or out, or if the Queen or one of her minions were leaving or entering.

 

 

 

I stopped my horse in front of the guards. They looked up at me, and then asked "How do you do sir?".

 

 

 

I answered politely, "Fine. Could you let me through?"

 

 

 

They nodded. "The Queen sent a message this morning. Good luck sir."

 

 

 

I thanked them, and then watched as they both took a rope, and heaved, their biceps bulging as they pulled it.

 

 

 

The door started to swing open outward. I kicked my horse again, and it galloped through the gate. Two other guards stood outside, watching the seemingly endless plains. The long grasses of the area bent in the wind.

 

 

 

The guards both nodded their heads at me. I nodded back and then kicked my horse twice. It galloped forward so fast, it threatened to throw me off and trample me beneath it's hooves. I held on though, just as I had held on to my job for a year.

 

 

 

I had been an assassin for My Lady for a year, the first time we met we ended up doing things we swore to never mention. We secretly loved each other for a couple months, but people soon found out, and she had to start acting like she despised me. I did so too, and eventually, nobody gave another thought on the matter. We still liked each other, we just hid it much better than we had the year before.

 

 

 

I am a fifth generation assassin. My forefathers were known as the best assassins in the world, each had killed hundreds of men, and each had also made one kill that gave them the distinction of best assassin.

 

 

 

My father had killed one of the Knights of Glory, one of three warlords of the island off the West coast of the mainland. The men on the islands were known to be brutal, and when the previous Queen declared war on the island, most people were scared that this war would be pointless and that they would be an impossibly hard enemy to defeat.

 

 

 

Near the end of the war, the enemies guerilla tactics and excellent camouflage were defeating us severely. My father was tasked with killing the warlord of the area. He rode in with the last group of men being sent to combat the enemy.

 

 

 

It took a month, but he was finally able to hide in the Knight of Glory's mansion, and assassinate him in his sleep. My father ended up getting killed by the guards of the Knight, but had still achieved his goal. He had won us the war.

 

 

 

My Mother ended up killing herself when she found out that my Father died, and so I was left an orphan in the Queen's care. I learned how to be an assassin from the Royal Guards, all of whom I would best at age twelve.

 

 

 

I shook my head, throwing the memories from my mind, and continued forward, humming a tune.

 

 

 

The eyes of the gods,

 

stare down at us.

 

Some stare with grief,

 

the others with lust.

 

But to some we don't pray,

 

so they walk away

 

bringing with him the hopes of all of us.

 

 

 

In the distance were mountains, clouds hiding their peeks from my view.

 

 

 

I headed toward those mountains, for some reason, hoping a demon would appear before me and I would have something to do beside stare at the long grasses that waved back and forth in the wind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the sporadic nature of the chapters and how short they are, I would write longer ones but my dad just got laid off and me and my siblings are trying to figure out a way to maintain the house and our sanity.