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I look between the man and the woman, brows raised, lips parted, waiting for them to laugh, to tell me this is one big joke and that I can go back to the mud of Warroll now.

Neither one of them move, observing me with a stillness that only makes my skin itch.

"You dragged me all the way here just to ask me to assassinate the emperor?" I question, my words uttered at a slow pace as I try to wrap my head around the absurdity of the situation.

This can't be happening.

"Yes," the man replies.

I open my mouth, only to close it again, no words coming forth. My frown deepens. "I've decided you're not so smart after all."

"I'm giving you an opportunity," the woman says.

I shake my head, taking a step back, distancing myself from this madness. "I can think of a number of less painful ways to die, and none of them include being captured and tortured by the Empire."

"You're not going to be captured and you're not going to be tortured," she reassures me but her words fall flat.

"I just saw the Empire's soldiers slaughter kids in the street. I have an idea of what they would do to someone who tries to assassinate their emperor. Nothing you say will convince me to go into the belly of the beast."

"Not even if we offer you a home and riches?" she asks and shifts to stand in front of the desk, looking down at me from the corner of her eye as she moves, a full head taller.

The offer has me running my tongue over my teeth like a hungry animal. "The rebellion can't offer me those things," I reply, clinging to my sense, what little there is of it.

"Can't we?"

My gloves squeak as I clench my hands, gaze flitting over the room. I take in the expensive rug, the shelves bursting with books and scrolls, the polished oak. A few hours ago I would've believed my own words without hesitation, only seeing the rebellion as an outsider, their numbers and resources limited, their influence lacking in Sharlikire. But my eyes have been opened and I'm seeing things clearer than I ever have.

The emperor. No one has seen the man beyond the Empire for over a decade, but his iron grip on Rupteran hasn't loosened. Reaching him would be an impossibility I'm not willing to gamble upon.

I lean forward with narrowed eyes. "You can offer me a golden fucking castle, I'm not bloodying my hands for you."

"If you're not with us, Azura, then you're against us. And you really don't want to be against us."

I rear back and bare my teeth. "Don't threaten me. I owe you people nothing."

"You owe us your life considering Erasmus here saved you from the Sharlik soldiers."

I look to the man, my breathing quickening as these people push me further into a corner. He doesn't spare me a glance.

He said I had a choice, he said that I could leave if I didn't like the offer.

He lied.

I can only agree with the rough voice inside my head.

"Find someone else," I tell her, each word punctuated with anger that begins to knot my stomach like a coiling snake preparing to strike.

"I want you to understand something, Azura," the woman says, brushing a dreadlock back over her shoulder. "This school isn't a charity. We don't just accept every stray that walks to our gates. If we did, then we'd take in those orphans in Warroll. But we don't want every broken child filling up our ranks and wasting our time."

"Then why am I here?" I spit.

The smallest smile curves her full lips. "Because you have something I need, and I can give you answers in exchange."

A muscle under my eye twitches. "You know nothing about me." No one knows me.

Again, a lift of her lips, something secret and dark within her gaze. She knows more than she's letting on and it makes me want to throttle her. Or run to the other side of Rupteran where the grass is greener and the blood runs brighter beneath the sun.

"I know you have no love for the Empire," she says as though it's a secret that only she's privy to.

Take the offer, it's all you have left.

"That's easy to say. No one has any love for them."

Don't take it, they're liars and they're not nice.

"I know your hate runs deep."

No one is nice.

"Not deep enough to risk making an attempt on the emperor's life."

"And I know about the marks."

The words halt the voices. They still my breath, wrap around my throat and squeeze. "How do you know about them?" I ask even as my right hand curls into a fist, the golden marks feeling as though they burn beneath the black leather.

"I have eyes and ears everywhere, Azura. I know when you arrived in Warroll, the things you went through, none of it mattered to us. But then I heard there was a queen of the street rats, someone that was willing to do anything to survive. Someone that lived through having their throat cut."

My hand nearly jumps to the scar at my neck, nearly shows her my weakness, but I refrain and swallow instead.

"I became curious about you and what you were capable of."

"So, how long have you had me in mind for this suicide mission?"

Mira leans back against her desk, crossing her arms over her chest. "My hunters have been tasked to watch you. A year ago you singlehandedly killed five armed Sharlik soldiers just to save one of your own."

I purse my lips, remembering that particular mess. Dax had been caught thieving, stealing from someone he shouldn't have, someone with power. The penalty for that would've been death.

Then I shake myself and try to stomach the fact that she didn't contradict this being a suicide mission. She can dress it up however she likes, but she knows no assassin is going to walk back out of that Empire.

"How old are you?"

The question makes me frown. Why should that matter? "Seventeen. I think."

"Seventeen and taking down men twice your size without hesitation. Who trained you?"

They will ask you questions, try to find your pinpoints where they can push to make you bow. Give them what they want, but keep everything to yourself.

How do I do that, brother?

"My older brother trained me."

"Where is he now?"

I won't be by your side forever, little flame.

How can I do this without you, brother?

"Dead," I reply, burying my emotions, ignoring his voice in my ear whilst still listening to it intently. I've heard it all before.

Mira nods. "Then you have nothing left, do you?"

Nothing. Nothing left.

"I've had less."

"I want to give you something, Azura. Something to live for. I want to give you purpose."

"You think joining the rebellion will give me purpose?" I snort and shake my head. "I'll just be another body on the barge by the end of the month. The only reason you want me is because I'm expendable."

"On the contrary, you're valuable. May I see the mark?"

My lip curls. "No."

She inclines her head and expels a breath. "Realise you're worth more to me alive than dead. Realise that I wouldn't send you to assassinate the ruler of this world if I didn't believe you could do it. Realise that I will train you and give you the skills necessary to accomplish this task."

You'll be offered new lives, new opportunities to survive beyond just living in the shadows. New allies, new targets, different chances to hone yourself into what you need to be. Take them.

Even if it's dangerous, brother?

Don't listen to him.

My fingers tingle as I stand on the precipice of something. Perhaps it's just life or death, but maybe it's more than that.

The marks, I need to know what they mean. I need to know where I came from.

You were made for a lot more than just survival, little flame. But it's all I can show you, the rest you'll have to do alone.

How do I find the answers, brother?

I meet Mira's gaze, secrets and answers within the molten of them. Tantalising and alluring.

Dangerous.

Maybe this is what he meant. This is the road I must take alone to find the answers I seek, the answers I need.

"Well," I say with a false smile that feels more like a grimace. "When you give me the opportunity to be tortured to death, how can I possibly refuse?"

Something shadowy and cold flashes in her eyes, but it's gone in an instant. I've looked into the gazes of enough monsters to recognise one. I've seen my own gaze enough times to recognise such darkness. And I know what someone with such darkness within them is capable of.

"I'm glad we've come to an agreement."

A mistake. A bad mistake.

It wouldn't be the first.

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A/N: Yo! Thanks for reading this far and I hope you're enjoying!

I drew Azura's golden markings that she has on her hand. This is just the general gist of what they look like, there are more and I'm not very good at transferring what's in my head into a drawing so I'm sorry lol. They're meant to be a little ugly and each quite different. Wouldn't want Azura to be able to pass them off as cool tattoos, would I? Anyway, maybe I'll redraw them one day when it isn't midnight.