Quick Note
The picture above is only to show you Agardess' hair style. Just imagine her ears poking out of it. However the woman sporting the hairstyle is not what I think Agardess looks like. However this is the only picture guidance I am giving you for character. The rest is up to you.

A woman sat still. Cloaked in all black she looked like Death itself and it was appropriate seeing the fact she was there to deliver it. Jumping from one rooftop to the next before stilling again and glancing about. It wasn't as if she expected to be noticed, she was elvish and they were human.

She slipped through the window a maid had left unlocked earlier in the day and landed softly on the padded carpet. Flipping her black hair out of her face she stepped lightly towards the sleeping man. She drew one of her long knives glancing at the asleep lord as she did so.

Towering over the man she raised the knife, the blade glinting in the moonlight. She brought it down across his throat, slitting it nicely. She, however, could not avoid the blood that rushed from the room and her face and cloak became covered.

She returned to the window, slipping out, lingering only to hear the scream of horror that came from the maid who had the nightly schedule to check on the elderly man. She ran then, darting across the rooftops to the bar where she had met her client.

Flinging the door open she stalked inside ignoring the gasps of horror coming from the late drinkers. She leaned against the bar making the bartender jump at her blood speckled face.

"Ale," She growled pushing a coin towards the shaking man. He handed her a mug and she grasped it, stepping lightly to the dark corner of the room, making herself melt into the shadows. Soon a pale young man slid into the seat across from her, puffing a bit of smoke from his pipe. She pushed her untouched ale over to him and leaned back in the chair.

"Is it done?" The man asked before grasping the mug. He didn't, however, raise the mug to drink.

"Of course it is," She frowned at the client. "Would I be here if it wasn't?" She tried to keep her voice gruff, however the night seemed to be going horribly for her and it turned into her usual tune, which she had to say was higher and more elf like. The man glanced around at the drunken members of the bar before sliding her a pouch of coins. She opened it and dug around inside taking one out.

"You never saw me," She told the bartender, flipping the coin to him before walking out the door into the pouring rain. For not having a solid home, the woman fared well, however it was the rain that made her angry and perhaps it was one of the reasons she chose this day to snap.

She brushed her hair out of her eyes and started running, not caring if her weapons were swinging uncomfortably against her legs. She would make it to Mirkwood by tomorrow night and tomorrow night was the day she was going to die.

~*~

The sun was going down when she entered the forest. She walked steadily in the direction of the kingdom, knowing it wasn't going to be long until she encountered a patrol troop.

And it wasn't. Elves soon approached her, wary of the strange woman.

"Who are you?" A blonde one barked at her. She recognized him with a glance that her was the prince. He resembled the king and the elves in his company seemed to press unreasonably close to him, as if they wished to throw themselves in the way if he were to be attack.

She smiled, the devilish thing crossing her face and she reached behind to draw her twin long swords. She walked forward towards him, the smile never leaving her face. The elves in his company rushed in front of him and he drew his bow, nocking an arrow and aiming it at her head.

"Shoot, elf prince," She mocked walking steadily towards him. "Shoot me." He seemed to hesitate and she took this time to attack. It was a battle between her and the two other elves that were in the prince's company, but they underestimated her and she heaved the butt of her sword into the back of one's head, knocking one of the out. The other got away from her and with a look from the prince began to run.

"Just you and me now." She said stepping over the body of the knocked out elf. Shoot. She wanted to yell at him. Scream until her would, however the prince still hesitated, making it increasingly frustrating. He put away his bow and was in the process of drawing two long knives, not unlike her own, however she was upon him before he could draw the second.

It was a stalemate. She had both of her blades locked onto his one, him defending his chest and her trying to slice it. The only way they would unlock would be if she moved her blades, if he moved his own her blades would move forward and kill him. Yet she didn't move.

She drove him back into a tree and kept the pressure on his blade. She leaned forward, looking him straight in the eye. She had no desire to kill the prince, only to die herself.

"You should have shot me." She growled before dropping her blades on the ground and raising her hands. The elves the elf that had run off got, tied her hands behind her back and began to strip her off her weapons. They took the broadsword from her back, along with her long knives. They stripped her of her six throwing knives, her two daggers, and her hunting knife. The prince himself picked up the long swords she had dropped on the ground.

"I do not understand," The prince said staring at her with confusion. She held his stare, not moving from it, even as the elves behind her pushed her roughly in the correct direction. "Why were you so desperate for me to shoot you?" She dropped his gaze and refused to answer. She had come here for death and in one way or another it was going to be given to her.

~*~

The dungeon was filled with dwarves to her surprise, not that it mattered, she'd be dead soon anyway. She was shoved into a cell next to one which didn't matter to her either. In fact she didn't think anything would be able to bother her at this point. She was sad, old, and desperate. Once the elves left she soon understood how chatty the dwarves were, they seemed desperate, almost, for her story.

"I am not telling you," She said simply glaring at the dwarf across from her and sunk to the ground, leaning her back against the cold stone of the cell wall. "I see no reason to."

"I see no reason for you not to," One spoke, there were a total of thirteen of them and she found no reason to learn their names.

"I came to die." She sighed, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders. She didn't realize how pathetic it would sound out loud. How pathetic she was.

"Die, lass?" Another asked, his voice surprisingly gentle. For the first time in her memory she broke down in tears. She cried in the company of thirteen strangers when she would refuse to cry in front of anyone.

"Yes die," She smeared the tears that were collecting on her face, trying to control herself. "I will not let myself be guided by fate. I will drive that boat myself and I have decided that this is the time and place that I shall die."

"Have you no will to live?" One with a gruff voice asked, she couldn't tell from what cell.

"I have will, the fire of life still burns in my chest, but so does the fire of hate and some fires need to die, just as some beings need to."

The prince found that moment to walk into the dungeons stopping their conversation. He came and unlocked her door, not letting any of the fourteen know that he had heard their conversation.

"The king awaits you," He said calmly as he walked her out, his knife held loosely in his hand. She glanced at the dwarves and bowed her head before raising it high and prepared herself to walk to death.

~*~

"How many men, elves and dwarves have you killed?" The king asked towering over her from his seat on the throne. His son stood just at the entrance, surveying.

"Have you expected me to keep count?" She asked, the devilish smile appearing once more on her face. The king glared at her. "For I have not," She continued. "Nor have I kept a document of my clients. I kill, get paid and move on. It is how the life of an assassin works."

"I'm sure you can figure out a rough number." The king glared at her and she dropped the smile, glaring right back at him. She met his eyes in a silent rage.

"Did you not understand?" She raised her voice. "Get it through your incredibly thick skull and realize that I do not know!" She practically exploded on the last words, leaving her breathing ragged.

"Why did you attack my son?" He asked next. She made no move to answer. First she had angered him by answers, now she would anger him by silence. "What is your name?" He tried again. She lowered her gaze and became interested in the floor, giving no indication she had even heard the king.

She looked up when she saw feet in her vision and a sword point lifted her chin. In front of her was a fuming king.

"Answer me and I may spare your life." His tone was angry yet it was still quiet. As if life was a good bargaining option.

"I refuse." She glared at him in the eyes before spitting on his feet. Elves came and took her away, she clawed at them the whole way back. When she went back she saw that the dwarves cells were empty and based on the looks on the guards faces, they were not supposed to be. Although she was being thrown into a cell, she couldn't help but smile.

~*~

The prince visited her after awhile. He was dressed for battle so she assumed he had gone after the dwarves.

"Why do you refuse to answer the king's questions when answering could save your life?" He asked sitting across from her. Something about him made her want to answer his questions and since she was going to die soon anyway, she found no reason not to.

"You and I, quite obviously, have different looks on life." The prince hummed quietly.

"And what is yours?" He asked.

"I am like a wildfire," She started, her gaze unfocusing from his face as if she were imagining herself being consuming flames. "I burn everything in my path, whether it be good or evil. Wildfires die eventually, when they run out of things to burn, but sometimes they are contained. Still alive with power yet beaten down to something deemed less threatening." She turned to him. "The only difference is that I am putting myself out."

"Meaning?" The prince prompted, he wanted to hear it for himself.

"I came to die."

"Is this the reason you pressed me to shoot you?" She sighed at the next question, sick of answering them but something told her to press on and she was too tired to try and press otherwise.

"Yes."

"And why do you want to die?" He asked quietly. The elven woman paused, as if she was picking through the next words carefully.

"I am old," She said glaring into his blue eyes with her own hard dark ones. "And I have damaged the world, I find no more reason to live the way I am."

"Then why not try to change?"

"I am in too deep my prince," She said not even mocking the title as she would have. "There is no getting out for me."

"My Lord, Legolas." Someone called and he stood from his place on the floor to turn to them. "Your father wishes to see you." He nodded and turned to the woman inside the cell, but she had fallen asleep and he left with no bid of farewell.

~*~

"Did I wake you?" The prince asked as the elf's eye jumped open with his approach. She didn't answer, instead choosing to blink at him, her eyes adjusting to the light. He pushed food towards the assassin. "Eat," He told her and to his surprise, she did.

"What is your name?" He asked. Although his father asked him to ask this of the assassin, he too wanted to know. She turned to him, pushing the half finished plate back at him.

"What does it matter? The name will die with my body." The prince clenched his teeth.

"My father hasn't decided if we are to kill you," Lies, he just wanted information first. But the prince was interested and determined. If the assassin could somehow win him over with words, he would find a way to keep her from the awful fate of being executed.

"Agardess." She said quietly. It felt weird on the tongue for she had stopped using the name for a while, but it was her's.

"And why did you try to kill me?" Another question the prince was curious about, but his father had asked him to ask.

"I didn't," She pulled her eyes from a loose string on her cloak and forced herself to look into his eyes. "I only wanted it to seem as if I was trying to hurt you. I wanted you to kill me or give your father a reason to." She dropped her eyes away from him and back onto the string, she twirled it around in her fingers, feeling weak.

"You wanted me to kill you?"

"And you hesitated," She snapped, physically jerking her body in his direction. "You hesitated and now I'm in this situation. You couldn't of just shot me? It didn't need to be a killing blow just enough that I thought I'd be able to die from."

"I do not understand this relationship with death," He said trying not to let it show how taken aback he was at her motions towards him.

"I am not fate's toy." She wrapped her finger around the loose strand and ripped it from her cloak. "I will not be fate's toy. Fate tells me I'm immortal, I tell it the story of my death." She flicked the string away from herself at this point. The prince needed time to think, and more importantly, give her time to think.

"Perhaps fate knows best," He said quietly. "Until next time, Sereg'wethrin (assassin)." He got up and left her.

~*~

"Oio naa elealla alasse' (Ever is thy sight a joy)," She said as he approached, she smiled sarcastically. "Tell the king to hurry and kill me before I change my mind about wanting death."

"There is a way to escape death." The prince said sitting in his usual spot. She had shifted from hers, now placing herself on the other wall.

"And what would that be?" She asked curious, but the prince wasn't done yet and he continued speaking, ignoring her question.

"It would also wipe you of your status of assassin, creating you to become something else entirely."

"I'm listening." She was, the prince's words had captured her entirely and she was hanging on them. She was as desperate to escape herself as she was for death.

"You pledge allegiance to me." He stiffened, waiting for her to blow up at him but it never happened.

"And it will save my life?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, the king cannot touch you." She hummed turning away from the prince. He was shocked that she was actually considering. Perhaps saving her life would be easier than expected. She looked up at him, her eyes softening.

"Start the pledge my Lord," She said her voice soft. "I am willing."

Authors Note

Well, that was the prologue, I hope you liked it and I promise I will start using names.
Also I made up things in this (such as the pledge) so don't quote me.

~Jo