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The members of the Assassins Guild were too drunk and celebratory to notice the shadowy figure that slunk through the door of the Chimera Inn. There was only one sober enough to notice. Foxglove. It was nearing midnight when the last drunk stumbled upstairs and Ash could walk around freely. She dropped down from the rafter and waited for her cousin to join her. The "dog" sitting on a pile of straw in the corner stirred after a good quarter of an hour and stumbled over to Ash. The wolf opened its mouth and as it dissolved, Amber took form. Ash snickered as her cousin struck a dramatic pose and assumed the cloak Ash held out for her. Upstairs, the halfborns waited outside Foxglove's door until the grizzled Greek woman appeared after Ash's knock. "I have a proposition to make."
They sat around the table in the sitting room in Foxglove's suite and drank a Greek drink made with lime and parsley, after the tattooed had sniffed it suspiciously. Foxglove laughed humorlessly. "I don' have an agenda against ya two. Yet." Amber snorted as Ash began. "We need to join your guild." she said bluntly. Foxglove chuckled. "A younglin' like ya? If ya give me a good reason AND beat me at arm wrestlin', I'll consider it." Amber started, "Remember the 'untimely' death of the king? His gravy was poisoned. By us." The Greek woman told them to prove it. Ash pulled a poisonous flower that gives Frostnip out of her belt pouch with a glove and held it out to Foxglove as the woman realized she had miscalculated. "i grant ya that. But are ya strong enough to arm wrestle?" Ash went first. The Phoenixian girl held out her arm and pretended to struggle before she slammed down Foxglove's arm. Amber was next and she did the same, with a grin. The tattooed sat back and cooled their heels until Foxglove swallowed her pride and said, "Welcome to th' Assassins Guild," reluctantly.
***
"Who?" Ash choked. "Th' high priest," Foxglove repeated. "We received a message by pygmy dragon nary an hour ago. As yer the newbie Assassies, ya get the tough job. Can ya handle it?"
"Yes."
"Well then. Good luck, Lyrebird and Wolfgang." Foxglove was surprised to see both girls puffy eyed and yawning at breakfast the next morning. Two men held out a chair for Ash and Amber. Before the lead assassin's lackeys could move, both girls executed a fist to the jaw behind them, perfectly in sync. "Impressive, Assassies. But, how will ya fare 'gainst th' High Priest?" "Perfectly fine!" Amber replied hotly before lapsing into silence, staring at her plate of applesauce and pasties. Ash switched between shoveling food in her mouth and having no appetite whatsoever. "We'll be ready overmorrow." Foxglove was surprised to hear Ash's voice, as 'Lyrebird' was very secretive and quiet. "That liar will die," came the next blunt statement from that individual. What Foxglove had failed to notice was the bandages wrapping Ash's hands.
***
Two days later, the tattooed left the Chimera Inn before dawn for the castle. They arrived an hour before dawn and set their plan in motion. The Wolvenian was nonplussed to see her cousin circle the mountain the the castle was built into and begin to climb, wincing when she put pressure on her bound fingers. It was dawn by the time the halfborns had scaled up to a ledge, thousands of feet above the ground. "When did you do THIS?" Amber looked at her cousin. "While you were asleep. You get tired if you don't, so..." Amber choked. "ALONE?! At NIGHT?!" Ash looked away. "N-yes. We'll talk later. Got it?" Amber snarled wordlessly as Ash pulled out her second backup knife off her belt and pried at the rockface. "Hurry, the sun will be up soon," Amber warned as the piece of stone gave way and Ash was able to pry the rest off. Soon, there was a small opening, barely large enough for them to go through. They dragged themselves into the passage. Ash identified it and began to teach her canine cousin all about the tunnel. It led to the tower embedded in the mountain and was the main hiding place for the castle. As they passed a low archway, Ash explained that that was the door to a large cavern with a water supply, in case the castle was under siege and the water was poisoned. Half an hour passed and they found themselves behind a heavy wooden door. Amber opened it, for her cousin hands were still bloody and bruised. Ash pulled the tapestry concealing it cautiously out of the way and stepped into a dim corridor, followed by the girl behind her. Amber had the part of memorizing the castle floor plan, and led the Phoenixian flawlessly to the High Priest's chambers. The Wolvenian knocked thrice as the door swung open. The tattooed entered the room, posing as a healer and her assistant. The High Priest was a greasy, slimy, bald man in a "ceremonial robe". He seemed to believe them as Amber, the "healer", wove a story about a disease in the Kingdom of L'abeilles and that he needed to be cured before he got it, adding that males were chiefly susceptible to the illness. Ash handed Amber a needle with a chamber of air attached, which they had crafted the night before. Ash explained that injecting air in the foot cured the disease as the fake healer readied the injection. The halfborns completed the injection and almost got out as the priest let out a shout. Too late.They bolted. The guards opened the door and received a fist to the jaw. Ash and Amber got to the passage and to the shelter of the trees. The guards pursued them as Ash shoved Amber into the shelter of a cave and turned to face the guards. Amber got her breath back as she heard a crack. The Wolvenian went to help her cousin, who was about to pass out and surrounded by the palace guard. Amber punched two, but not before one slashed at Ash's exposed face.
***
She stumbled, blood trickling from her mouth. The concerned cry of Amber was drowned out by a rushing in her ears. Ash passed out, her will faltering as she bled deeply from dozens of cuts. Amber dove to catch her as the wounded girl turned and fell heavily on her fractured wrist.
***
Ash woke up five days later, feeling pressure on her wrist and chest. Waking up, Ash saw unfamiliar faces until her eyes settled upon her cousin, alert but, as only Ash could see, exhausted. "She is awake!" someone said as Amber glared at them. "You're supposed to be a healer; that should be obvious. You have been saying Ash will wake up 'any minute now' since ereyesterday." The healer stammered for a response but settled for a emphatic grunt. Ash tried to move her left arm, but as she discovered, it was bound to her chest with strips of bandage. With her right hand, Ash tapped Amber's knuckles with three fingers. Ash's cousin immediately understood and forcibly removed everyone from the room to leave the two girls alone. The wounded Phoenixian coughed and found that the bruising on her rib cage had led to internal bleeding, hence the bloody cough, as Amber brought her water. The Wolvenian had bloodstains on her fingertips and had obviously not slept for the five days. "That idiot healer was only in here for an hour a day; I splinted your arm and bound up your leg, to prevent you from bleeding out." "Thanks, that's something I'd rather not try. At least not before my twentieth decade," Ash replied with a weak laugh. Amber, seized by a sudden thought, vaulted over the table and shoved the deadbolt over. The Phoenixian swung her legs off the bed and sat up carefully, almost tumbling to the wood floor. Amber lunged to help her cousin and carefully lifted her, helping Ash hobble across the floor. "Why are we here?"
***
Amber's voice washed over the injured girl as she fell into a reverie. "After the fight, the prince thought we had done it for the 'greater good'. So, naturally, we were kidnapped by guards after you passed out. Logic. Anyway, we were brought to the castle and they dragged me to the oubliette and threw me in, and you were unconscious but somehow threw the guard in after me, so he was forced to let me go. I've been sleeping on a cot in here. The second day you were comatose, the High Priest's assistant came in, shouting obscenities and calling me a witch." Amber snorted. "I sorted him out real quick." Ash raised an eyebrow quizzically as Amber continued. "Then, they assigned the royal healer to you, but he was cheap and influenced by the 'high and mighty' priest, so he was trying to kill you the entire time. I slipped some of our Frostnip flower in his wine, so he's lazier now. That just makes MY job easier. No one EVER takes halfborns seriously, even though we were born with unique talents for fighting and healing." Amber made a disgusted noise. "That should be the entire summary. Anything else?" Ash shook her head and the two halfborns began formulating a return to normal.
***
A week later, Ash was in a sling and the tattooed had hatched an escape plan. Two days later, Amber was scaling the chimney with a rope around her waist, the end trailing down into the coals. Ash waited with bated breath underneath until she heard a mouse's squeak, the agreed upon signal. The Phoenixian secured the cord around herself as Amber began to pull her up. After both had successfully made it onto the roof, the two halfborns made their way to the edge and waited until the scullery maid had left on her errands until they turned into a wolf and phoenix (gray to not arouse suspicion) respectively and the canine grasped the phoenix's good talon in her mouth and Ash took off.
***
The halfborns landed at home by dawn. As soon as she landed, Ash stumbled over to the bed and laid down to sleep. The Wolvenian filled a pot with water and left to search for a stick she could whittle to ignite the coals. When Amber returned, she was greeted by Rafael, who had let himself in, seeing as Ash was asleep and couldn't. Their godfather had started a fire and was stirring herbs and some of his medicinal nectar in the simmering pot. Amber went to sit and slumped onto the couch. A minute later, Amber bounced up to find Oswald nibbling at her toes. The pygmy dragon chirped and settled down on her feet. Amber curled up around the small creature contentedly.
A quarter of an hour later, the halfborn was dreaming about eating a deer carcass. Soon, Amber was yanked out of it from a shake on her shoulder. Ash waited as her cousin blinked bleary purple eyes and sat up to take a cup of tea. Amber reveled in the spices of the drink until she realized that it was suspiciously sweet and floral.
"What-"
The Phoenixian glanced over. "Yes?" she asked, blinking innocent eyes.
"You put nectar in," Amber accused. "How much?"
"Not very much..."
"Half of it?!"
Ash looked away. "Yes..."
Amber sighed and swung her legs off the couch to stand up. Looking at the pot, she noticed it was empty. Ash shouldn't have-
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