The Tavern
Behind that door was a dark alley where the sun never reached. It was slightly off the main street, lost among the other alleys of that bustling city.
Without sunlight, the alley was cold, and small colonies of moss grew on the gray rocks that made it up, forming curious shapes on the wall.
I looked back one last time, watching the old oak door close, shutting that underground world away from us.
Alden looked at me, anxiety evident in his eyes. I could see his fingers intertwining again and again, trembling slightly, whether from the cold or fear. I took his trembling hand in mine. Noticing this, his anxious gaze turned to mine, his eyes searching for mine under the black bandana that covered them.
His hand gripped mine tightly, his gaze calming a little. I turned mine to the man, whose hood still covered his face, preventing me from seeing his features. However, I could feel his gaze, watching me from inside the dark hood. My lips parted to speak, but before they could utter a word, the hooded man broke the silence.
"I'm sure you have many questions, but I'm afraid this is not the time to ask them, child," he said, as if he could read my thoughts.
"Can't I even ask your names? I imagine your intentions toward us aren't entirely... legal, since if they were, you wouldn't come to a place like this looking for people like us."
I didn't take my eyes off his. I could feel his eyes staring at me through the shadows, and it was likely that my words had upset him. But I had to test this man's temperament. The temperament of the person who had bought Alden and me, to get an idea of how much he was willing to endure.
One thing was certain, and that was that these two individuals were not noble. Their posture radiated strength and skill, but at the same time their footsteps made no sound. It was like a cat watching you from the shadows of the night, waiting to sink its sharp fangs into its prey.
But instead of getting angry, the man laughed.
That seemed to be a common trait in his personality, because instead of being surprised, the other hooded man simply sighed and brought a hand to his face hidden behind the hood. Alden was surprised, as the stress on his face changed to a look of confusion.
"You're pretty smart for someone so young, I like that," he said, then cleared his throat. "All right, I don't see any harm in telling you our names. After all, you're part of us now."
Part of them. A strange feeling of welcome flooded my being. No one had ever said those words before, as they were always words of rejection. But I couldn't let myself be carried away by those emotions, as I still didn't know what those people wanted from us.
"You could say that," the man began as he set off in the opposite direction from the door of the underground passage from which they had taken us, "our names are somewhat complicated, as we abandoned them long ago."
The two hooded figures moved calmly through the labyrinthine dark and damp alleys, as if they knew them by heart, as if it were their usual playground.
Their pace was not too fast, but neither was it slow, and their footsteps made no noise as they walked. This one walked at a pace we could adapt to, but he did not look back as he walked, his gaze always fixed ahead.
"If you have taken on new identities, I suppose you work in the shadows, avoiding detection. In that case, your jobs are limited to a few. Given this, you could be mercenaries, but since your footsteps make no noise when you walk, it would be more accurate to say that you are assassins."
The man stopped abruptly, turning and kneeling down to my face, staring at me through that hood that prevented me from seeing his face.
"Well," she began in a calm voice, "apart from having a keen eye, it seems you also have good reasoning and observation skills. But," her voice grew slightly heavier, taking on a serious tone, "that can be a double-edged sword, so use it wisely."
A slight chill ran through my body. He was truly an imposing figure. Even without seeing his eyes, I could feel his intimidating gaze, and Alden seemed to feel it too, as his hand trembled slightly.
"You're a smart kid, so I know you'll use your gifts wisely."
"You're quite polite for assassins."
"And you're quite cheeky for a mere kid."
"That may be true, but you said you liked that about me. Besides, you still haven't told us your names."
The hooded man turned around, but this time he didn't radiate an aura of danger around him.
"My name is Heika, and," he pointed to the other hooded man, "this kid here is called Hyacinth."
"How many times do I have to tell you not to introduce me as 'this kid'?"
"You're practically a child yourself, stop complaining," he said, shaking his hand. "You're only a little older than these kids."
"Whatever you say," he said with a sigh.
"We'll leave the rest of the introductions for later. Now we're going into the commercial district, so hold on to your cloaks so you don't get lost in the crowd."
I looked at Alden, who nodded and grabbed Hyacinth's cloak, leaving me to grab Heika's.
After that, we entered the commercial district, which, as Heika had mentioned earlier, was packed with people. The smell of sweat, dust, and freshly cooked food mingled in the air where hundreds of people were walking around, buying or selling. The sunlight bathed us once again, bringing warmth back to our bodies.
There were different stalls to be seen. As I walked behind the two assassins, I saw children stealing food from stalls, cart drivers snatching wallets, drunks staggering around and then bumping into a wooden stall and knocking over all the fruit on display, places selling fruit, spices, fabrics, meat, fish, and countless other things.
It was much larger than the market I used to frequent with my mother in the village where I was born. Niria was a small fishing village on the coast of the kingdom of Sett. Compared to it, Hein, the capital of the kingdom, was much larger and richer, attracting many merchants to come here to sell their products.
Thinking about Niria made me sad. Months ago, I would never have imagined this kind of life. I just hoped to continue living a peaceful life with my mother. It may not have been the life many people desired, as we weren't particularly wealthy, but we got along well together.
Now we were walking through the streets of bustling Hein, known for its great commerce and fine products, as well as its wealth.
A few streets further on, you could see a different kind of shop. These were the ones the aristocrats frequented. Tailors, confectioners, apothecaries, perfumers—whatever a young aristocrat might want could be found there.
Thinking about them made my blood boil. I wanted to go there and unleash my anger on those who looked down on us, treating us like mere flies. But this was not the time, as that would not fix anything that had happened, nor would it change anything in the present.
I must not let myself be carried away by feelings of anger and revenge. I had to take advantage of this new opportunity, to see what that group of murderers were doing.
After about twenty minutes of walking, Heika turned into an alley again. In that alley, you could see a slightly old oak sign. There was something written on it, but I couldn't read anything, as I had never been taught to read before.
Alden's voice brought me back to reality.
"Wandering Phoenix Tavern."
"Oh, what a surprise that you can read," said Heika. "I didn't expect either of you to know how."
He turned to look at me, waiting for my response.
"I can't read."
He clicked his tongue.
"That's a shame. Someone will teach you."
And without further ado, he opened the door and entered the tavern.