INDIGO

I hugged my jacket closer to myself as a cold morning breeze swept through the city. Numerous papers and confetti from the parade following the Blood Battles yesterday littered the streets and flew up with the wind. The city of Orleans itself was less occupied than your typical Saturday morning. Perhaps everyone was resting from the celebrations, which meant most of the city would be extra crowded at noontime.

I looked at the city rising around me. Unlike Los Demonios and Chicago, Orleans was built after the reign of the Crown Assassins began since the original city, New Orleans, sunk under the risen tides. You could still see the tops of skyscrapers rising above the harbor, though they were to be avoided at all costs in case of collapse.

Los Demonios always had an older look with its architecture from the Old Days and the ruins existing alongside the new building. But, Orleans looked shiny and new despite being nearly one hundred years old. The buildings were similar to the ones in Cressida, with their rising spires and geometrically cut glass. Most buildings had blue and gold flags with each class's symbol shining bright. There was always a combined symbol of the Assassins on a white flag above the doorways as if to say the residents were surrendering to the control of the Assassins.

My head spun as I looked at all of the flags swaying, memories of the cavern threatening to resurface. I tucked my head down, willing myself to focus.

At noon, the Ravens would be smuggling my mom through the city before taking her to wherever they want. We stayed up late last night, using the plans Trysha gave us to hatch our own. It was almost time to get into our positions and Wolf sent me off to find Nydia.

When I realized she wasn't in her room or anywhere around the base, he gave me directions to the local church. I was a bit surprised when he suggested she would be here. Assassins aren't religious. We were taught to put faith in our skills and the rule of the Crowns. Religion was always something for the Streeters to concern themselves with, not us. But then again, Nydia was never a normal assassin.

I stopped in front of a massive building with tall, slanted roofs, mosaic windows, and a cross on its gates. It was the only building without a single assassin symbol visible. I pushed through the gate and walked across the desolate courtyard before climbing the steps and entering the church.

On the far wall hung a large wooden cross behind an altar with numerous unlit candles. Long wooden benches were placed throughout the room. Tinted light streamed through the mosaic glass, covering the church inside in different hues. There was no one besides Nydia who was sitting in one of the long benches, her head bent over.

I walked up to the third row and slid in next to Nydia to find her, much to my surprise, sharpening her arrows.

"Hi, Indigo!" Nydia greeted as she waved an arrow precariously close to my eye.

"Hi," I said. "Why are you sharpening arrows in a church?"

"It's for good luck!"

"Right," I said slowly as she turned back to her arrows. "You're religious?"

Nydia shrugged. "Kind of. My mom was born a Streeter, so she was pretty religious. I don't always go to church though. Only on occasion."

"Wait. Your mom was a Streeter? That makes you a first-gen assassin."

Nydia nodded.

"So that's why the Streeters like you so much," I realized. "You're closer to Streeters by blood than I am."

"Sort of. I don't think they liked me at first."

"How long did it take you to gain their trust."

"I don't know when they started liking me," Nydia mumbled. "I think it was after I helped the children get away from a bombing. So, maybe five years?"

I blinked. "You spent five years as an outsider and didn't leave them?"

Nydia shrugged but didn't respond so I continued. "Why didn't you take the assassins' side in that time?"

Nydia's smile remained on her face as she replied, "Assassins were mean too. One time, a boy stole all of my cookies and chocolate and replaced the boxes with cow poop. I almost ate it. Another time, when I was on the Beta team, I was making dinner and left it on the stove to cook while I was taking a shower. Someone snuck into my room and put a baby doll in the pot of boiling soup and said that would happen to me if I stole an Alpha spot from real Assassins."

I gaped. I didn't even know Nydia was a first-gen until now. And even if I did, I would've assumed she was liked by both sides, not hated by both.

"What did you do to them?"

"Nothing."

"But wouldn't they attack you when you became an Alpha?"

Nydia tilted her head and thought for a moment. "I think they tried, but Xavier and Damien did something, I don't know what. No one did anything after that."

I looked down at my hands and shook my head. The Assassins were treacherous in more ways than one. But what did the Rebels and other Streeters subject her to that I wasn't aware of? If they also despised her simply because of the title she was born with, aren't they the same as the assassins they're trying to fight?

After a moment, I cleared my throat. "So, your mom is a converted Assassin?"

Nydia nodded.

"She must've been a great student in school," I said. Assassins had a habit of finding the best students from Streeter schools and adding them to their Assassin class, depending on the Streeters' skills, so that their class will have more power than the other.

Nydia shook her head. "Mom only went to public elementary school. She couldn't pay for anything beyond that."

"Then how did she...?"

"She caught someone who was robbing an Intellect. Or maybe she was the one robbing the Intellect. I'm not sure. My mom says one thing, my uncles said another. It was most likely her doing the robbing though."

"She became an assassin by robbing one? That's... impressive."

"Yep. But she was friends with Laine and tried to work undercover for him after she was converted, but then she had me and decided to leave to make sure my life wasn't put in danger."

"But, you joined the Rebels."

"My mom told me not to, so I joined."

I wasn't even surprised. That sounded like typical Nydia behavior.

"What about your dad? If he's an assassin I don't think he would be too happy with you joining."

"I don't know who he is. Some random stranger. My mom never talked to him again, even when I was born. My uncles love making fun of me for it," Nydia laughed. She seemed genuinely amused by the fact that she's an accident.

"You never wondered who your dad is?"

Nydia shook her head. "No. Besides, mom's dead so I can't ask."

Her mother died?

Her smile faltered, her lips straightening into a line. She bent her head lower, inspecting each of her arrows.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered.

She shrugged. "It's okay."

After a moment, I asked, "How old were you?"

"Eighteen," she replied then added, "technically four since I was born on Leap Day, but I've been alive for eighteen years."

Eighteen? That means...

"She died this year?"

"April."

I sucked in a breath. I've been a part of the Alphas since January. April would've been around the time Damien revealed that he knew what I was up to, meaning Nydia and I were already friends. And yet, she didn't utter a single word of her mother's death and I didn't notice any change in her behavior. She lost the only parent she ever knew, and I didn't even notice.

I turned to her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She looked up and smiled again. "You were busy."

Busy avenging Echo.

Before I could dwell, a bell chimed outside, echoing through the city.

"It's eleven," Nydia deducted and placed her arrows back into her quiver, her smile growing, eyes glinting. "Time for some fun."

Sorry for being late guys. I didn't realize that I didn't press "Publish" until I noticed that I didn't get any notifications of comments. Sorry!

Also, the Shadow and Bone TV show is amazing! I think it made the Shadow and Bone books better and did the Six of Crows characters justice. It's definitely the best book to TV/movie adaption (sorry not sorry Harry Potter) and it was well-received and enjoyed by non-book readers as well.

In fact, one of my favorite entertainment commentators who NEVER compliments shows and movies (like literally only three shows or movies have ever had a positive comment in their title) said the show was pretty great.

You can watch the review video below.

https://youtu.be/2Rpf2FJMh14

You should definitely watch it. Like right now. Stop reading my book. That show deserves all of your attention.

Anyways, see you next time!