Chapter 25
Rogues and Assassins
The Assassins’ Chamber recruited the rogues in the isolated region inside Cassandra. They went to the farmhouse where the people gather to gamble. They threw the bundle of bucks on the table. The heat and tension, the spike and bitterness continued. When the assassins walked in, one bodyguard showed the way to the backroom.
“Good, now shall we enjoy the evening?” said Lucy, looking at the group of people gathered in the room. They leered at three ladies who just walked in.
“Too many people,” said Lucy.
The bald, broad-shouldered man who sat in the middle of the room was named Ned. He was the man who was leading this group. Ned glanced at Lucy.
“Fat one, to the bald one,” said Lucy, pointing at the men, standing behind Ned. “Get out.”
The men took out their weapons, growling. Ned scoffed and gestured his men to leave the room. They grunted, looking at each other and reluctantly left the room. There was only one bodyguard left.
“Hello Ned,” smiled Lucy.
“Hello Lucy,” grinned Ned. “I should congratulate you; for becoming the headmistress.”
“Cheers,” said Lucy, with a dry voice. Ned gestured the ladies to sit down. His hand was full of scars and it was rough. Lucy and other two assassins sat down on the couch.
“Seen your headmistress once, she is beautiful,” said him, sniggering. “Well, you are not bad either; we can have a good time together, mistress,”
“Know your place, dog,” said Lucy, smirking. The body guard frowned at Lucy, moving his muscle in discomfort.
“Ouch,” said Ned, smiling.
“Well, I haven’t seen you for a while. How’s the business?” said Lucy.
“Well, the chief of police department got fired and some young stupid kid came along, bugging us instead. We are teaching him how the things run around here,” growled Ned, drinking whiskey from his shot; he poured the drink and slid it to Lucy. The shot glass was not properly cleaned; it looked filthy even under the dim light. Lucy glimpsed at it and didn’t touch it.
“We are shipping off to the Island of Riddles,” said Lucy.
“Island of Riddles?” glimpsed Ned.
“Yes, we have a source that Nina might be in there,” said Lucy.
“Huh... alright,” said Ned, dully and with a little disappointment.
“So are you…” said Lucy.
“We will prepare the ship from our local customers,” said Ned, yawning. “It was always been our best interests to maintain good relationship with the Assassins’ Chamber; you guys drop the words that have been useful to our industries…”
“Good,” said Lucy.
“… I’ve seen you since you were with Pestice. Well, she was more interesting than you,” said Ned.
“…” Lucy’s smile faded.
“I don’t know why but,” said Ned, stretching. “You bore me, Lucy,”
“…” Lucy leered at him and clenched her teeth. Ned stood up and waved at his body guard.
“Your organization is dying off, good luck trying to stay alive,” muttered Ned, licking the last drops of his whiskey.
“It’s an insult for us to even deal with you thugs,” said Lucy.
“Really?” said Ned, his eyes sparkling. “Ha! Start to be more useful than right now or our business is over.”
Ned laughed and got out of the door with the body guard. After they left, Lucy was trembling with a humility and anger. She swung her arm and knocked over the whiskey they were drinking. It fell and crashed on the floor.
“Do you think they are using us to find Nina?” said the assassin. “Seems like he wants the replacement.”
“Yes…” said Lucy, sniffing. “If we fail to capture Nina Polchinski, our life will be over.”
“Careful, Pestice was killed by Nina Polchinski. She is not to be underestimated,” said the assassin, looking at Lucy. “If Ned is backstabs us, we have no solution.”
“… I know, I know,” muttered Lucy. “Just… let me think.”
The Assassins’ Chamber was originally the rebel forces against Veron’s regime. During the civil war, they were trying to take over the country after Veron’s army became weakened by the government at the time. But when Veron came to power, he captured the original members of the Assassins’ Chamber in order to prevent the coup. But instead of punishing the rebels, he made them to remove the potential rebel activities in Cassandra. This was the reason why they were sometimes referred to as the String of the Pendulum, the Keeper of Balance. This enabled them to do things that normal thugs couldn’t do, swinging their power as if nothing mattered. They risked very little, played an unfair game. Initially the Assassins’ Chamber consisted both male and female members.
The fact was they didn’t pay slightest loyalty to Veron. Sharine Pestice, who survived from the training of the espionage unit, hated Veron’s regime. Her hatred stuck to her bone. She did a good job keeping their hands off of certain matter and let business prosper on its own. As no one dared to question the authority to Veron at the time, the economy started growing, giving more power to Veron and the Assassins’ Chamber. But the amount of bribes that have entered the Assassins’ Chamber corrupted the organization. That was the time when Sharine removed all the male members from the group and acted as a sovereign group, free from Veron’s regime. And when she saw Nina Polchinski, she kept her members from touching her, even supported her to grow.
But when Sharine Pestice was lost in the ghost ship operation in the southern sea, they sensed a serious threat to the organization. The rebels, including Ned, started rising against the Assassins’ Chamber. As the situation come to this, Lucy bluffed that the organization became stronger as Veron regime fell, which, the reality was an exact opposite. This was the reason she contacted Heston in the first place; it was to look more powerful.
‘Hopefully they don’t notice,’ thought Lucy.