Page 5 of Wild Flame

The High Priest said nothing for several moments, but there was a gleam in his eye as he finally smiled and said, “Yes, I can help you.”

That same gleam was in his eyes now as he spoke.

“Why did you not come immediately at my summons?” His voice was reedy and cold.

I bowed my head. “My apologies, Your Eminence, I was with my sister. And before that, I had an appointment with the king. I got away as soon as I was able.”

The thin line of his mouth tightened even further. He did not suffer excuses, as I well knew, and he hated even more to be reminded that I was beholden to anyone other than him.

“That does not matter,” he hissed. “Your duty is to our god above all else.”

“You’re welcome to tell my father that, Your Eminence.”

His eyes flashed at my response, and he gritted his teeth. “Careful, girl. I will only tolerate your insolence so far.”

I had to fight the involuntary shiver that tried to race over me at the promise of pain in his stare. It had been several years since I had completed my training with The Order, and longer still since I had been bested by any of my fellow assassins while sparring. Silvanus may be older now, but I still had no wish to pit my skill against his.

After the night when I came to him, desperate to settle my debt with the dark god, Silvanus had gone to my father. He had convinced my parents that he wanted to train me, to make my wounded body strong again. To this day, I still wasn’t sure how he had persuaded my father to allow a woman who wasn’t a dragon rider to be trained, but to my astonishment, my father had agreed. Perhaps, in part, because of who Silvanus was and that he saw no point in not honoring the request or maybe he truly just did not care what I did with my time.

Either way, Silvanus never let on the real reason for my training. To join The Order of The Assassin and kill for our god.That is how you can repay your vow, Silvanus had said that night.That is what our god wants of you.Silvanus had trained me to do exactly that. Not that anyone knew the true nature of my instruction. After a few years, once I had gained back my body’s mobility, my father had ordered I stop training with Silvanus as he no longer saw the point. I hadn’t though. My training had simply moved to the hidden chambers below these very floors where the other Order members trained. I had never learned how Silvanus knew about the stone chambers below the temple, nor the hidden access to them through a tunnel just off the public entrance. He was not one to share secrets.

My family simply believed I had become more pious, seeking the solitude of the temple and the gods in the wake of healing from my injury. None of them knew the true reason for my continued visits to the temple or my meetings with the High Priest. I had kept it all secret, even from Helene.

“Forgive me,” I murmured to Silvanus with a slight bow.

Silvanus said nothing to my apology and instead leaned back to unlock a drawer in his desk with a key he kept around his neck. From the drawer he pulled a small, sealed scroll. He sat it on the desk before him without a word.

At the sight of it, my heart sank anew. The last glimmer of hope I had that this wasn’t going to be about a new assignment flickered and died.

Still, I couldn’t help a slight protest.

“Perhaps you have not heard, but the king is sending me to Zehvi tomorrow on a diplomatic mission. I will not be in Halmar to—”

“This assignment is not in Halmar,” Silvanus spoke over me. “I know of your father’s plans, girl, and that is precisely why you are receiving this before you leave. Your assignment is in Viraj.”

I swallowed. “But that’s in Zehvi.” Our order was small, maybe fifteen to twenty members by my guess. Only the man before me knew the true numbers, of course, but as far as I knew, we never carried out assignments outside of Halmar and rarely outside of Nevgard itself. “You have never assigned—”

My words dried up at the forbidding scowl on his face as he leaned forward.

“I have not assigned you anything.” He said the words slowly, as if I were a small child. “It is not I, but our Lord who is asking this of you. Who are you to question the will of a god? Do you forget your vow so easily?”

Everything inside me went cold and my internal protests died.

Admittedly ithadbeen harder to remember it of late. Partly because I resented what I was, what I had had to become in order to fulfill my vow, but also because it had nearly been two years since my last job. I had thought—or rather, hoped—that The Assassin was finally done with me. That maybe I had finally paid back my debt to him and I wouldn’t be expected to kill any longer.

I clutched the talisman in my pocket so hard I wondered if my hand would bleed. Silvanus was right. It was not my place to question him.

“No,” I finally answered. “I have not forgotten.”

He sat back. “See that you do not. I would hate to think what might happen to you, or your lovely sister, were you to break a vow made to The Assassin himself.”

I hated the familiar spike of fear that assailed me at his words. But like I had done so many times before, I fought back the helpless rage and frustration and put it behind the emotionless wall inside me where it belonged. When I was sure it was contained, I silently stepped forward and collected the scroll. I caught the flicker of a satisfied smirk on Silvanus’ face as I did.

“Report back to me when you return from Zehvi,” he ordered by way of dismissal.

It wasn’t until I was back in my room that I checked to see if the seal had been tampered with. It hadn’t. I broke it quickly and unrolled the scroll.

My heart stalled in my chest at the neatly written words I found there.

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