The tail of my red dress dragged through the floor. I headed to Alyssa's room, which was located in the West Wing near mine. Alyssa was my friend, but I didn't trust her enough to tell her about my mission. I didn't know if I ever would.

I entered without knocking, I know pleasantries were not needed between us. Her room was astonishing, full of luxurious paintings, decoration, jewels... A majestic rug covered most of the room. She had a powder room, full of the most exquisite perfumes and makeup. There were the four mirrors in the room. I noticed that no matter where I stood, one of them would always allow me to see a reflection of the door. Alyssa wasn't as oblivious as she looked.

"You don't look so good this morning, Aelyn. The bags under your eyes almost reach your heels."

"Woah, good morning to you too. Always a pleasure speaking to you." We laughed.

"You can tell me all about your late night adventures while we eat breakfast." She playfully winked at me. "I had brought some bread and butter with tons of fruits. You can say what you want, but I would kill for one of this pomegranates. They are exquisite."

We chatted while eating breakfast. I told her about my encounter with the prince.

"Don't get too worried about it. Dylan can't commit to anything besides his country. He isn't capable of being mad at someone for too long. Specially ladies with lean bodies, flawless skin, sharp features and breath taking blue eyes." She winked and let out a playful laugh. "Besides, Dylan tends to forget he's supposed to be angry, and staying mad is too big of a commitment for him."

The way she talked about him,  how she didn't use his title when mentioning him didn't go unnoticed.

"I take it that you two are good friends."

"I've lived in this palace for the majority of my life, so has he. I don't remember a time when he wasn't my friend. We've always been together, it's always been Ryder, Dylan, Kasper and I."

Ryder Foxhill, Dylan's right hand, Kasper Blackmort, third in command and Alyssa Rainwater. Dylan's close circle were the heirs to the most powerful houses in The Highlands. They all had an unbreakable alliance, they were friends.

"Although lately, it's not as good as it used to be." Before I could say anything she continued. "Kasper, he thinks that..."

"You guys could be more than friends?"

"Exactly." She moved in her chair. She hadn't even looked at the pomegranate for the past 5 minutes.

"And you don't think so," I guessed. She nodded

"Things started to get awkward and I started to feel uncomfortable around him. I spoke to Dylan and he sent him to the camps, to train troops. He sent Ryder too, to keep an eye on him and not make the real reason of their departure obvious."

"Now I know why you befriended me. Having a small inner circle is nice, but everyone needs a female friend. I'm in the same position. Austin is amazing, but he is still a guy."

"Of course Dylan was jealous." My eyes were wide open, my mouth already open to speak, when Alyssa raised her hand and signaled me to stay quiet.

"Please, your reputation precedes you. Austin Silverhall, the closest person to the next queen of Kaerndall. Known for his deep blue eyes and a smile that will melt every lady in the court. Austin Silverhall: Kaerndall's perfect knight and the princess' lover"

"It's not like that."

"Why not?" I knew she wouldn't let this go. I had to give her an answer that would satisfy her. Alyssa's body leaned forward.

"I have never thought about him in that way, and neither has he. We both assumed that our marriage would be arranged when the time came.  We would grow fond of each other but we both know that we would never fall in love with each other."

"So you two have never shared a bed?" She grinned, unable to sit still, raising her eyebrows.

I had shared a bed with Austin, several times, but not in that way. Since we often posed as a married couple, our inn's room usually only had one bed. We both swore secrecy to avoid damaging my reputation.

"No."

The rest of our conversation was superficial. I made sure of it.

When I left Alyssa's room, I wrote another letter to Austin.

Dear Austin,
I couldn't resist the temptation of writing again. I wore your gift this morning. I still remember when you gave it to me, it was the day before we visited Kaerndall's market.

I wish you could be here.
-Aelyn

I knew that writing to Austin again, thanks to our reputation, would be noticed. The servants would try to read the letter. When they did, everyone would assume I was talking about my pear necklace. Everyone knew he had given it to me. On the other hand, Austin would know I was referring to my daggers. I hadn't planned to use our signal so early, but I hadn't planned on finding the tunnels either.

A small voice warned me that Dylan would find out sooner or later. The Royal Council would inform him of Austin Silverhall's request to visit the castle. I didn't know why I cared anyways. Dylan was just a friend.

When my eyes opened darkness surrounded the room, the shades of the furniture, barely visible thanks to the Moon and the dying fire. I got up and lightened a candle. I carefully opened one of the trunks that had been used to transport my dresses. At first, it looked empty but once I lifted the fake bottom, I found my assassin's attire.

It was made up by: a black as carbon turtleneck wool t-shirt, pitch black leather pants, which were reinforced in the thighs against daggers; a black leather jacket also reinforced to protect the heart, lungs, stomach and liver. Finally, there was also a black cloak that concealed my platinum blonde hair and whichever weapons I decided to carry.

The clothes were simple, I could get dressed quickly and without the assistance from my maids. As I did every night before stepping out, I fixed the door to prevent making noise.

Standing in front of the door, I performed my pre-mission routine: I stretched my back, cracked my knuckles and taking a deep breath I stood in front of my door and waited. I slightly opened them door, I could barely see the corridor to the tiny crack. But my sight was not required for the task, only my ears and a great deal of patience.

After a while, two sets of footsteps and metal noises were audible, they became louder until the guards passed in front of my chambers, that's when I started counting. Approximately fifteen minutes later the noises reappeared. I wanted to discover their consistency and my window of time between each round, so I restarted counting.

The second time around I heard their voices, they were having a conversation. This time, they had taken twenty minutes. I had a window of fifteen to twenty minutes to leave the West Wing. I didn't think I had to worry about they taking less time. They seemed tired and absentminded, they wouldn't be picking up their pace any time soon.

With my heart supplying adrenaline to my body, I slipped out of my room. I walked soundlessly, perfectly blending in the shadows. I was invisible. Once I left behind the West Wing, everything should be fairly easy until I got the the armory, but I remained alert nonetheless.

For the past two generations, Kaerndall's rulers had been trained as spies and assasins. This had caused the castle defenses, guards rounds and lighting to be rearranged, making it almost imposible for someone to successfully infiltrate the castle at night.

Ice Peak's castle was a whole other story. It's corridors weren't strategically lit, and left several blind spots that allowed me to stay hidden from guards if they ever come close. The guards rounds at night concentrated in the possible entrances, the Royal Garden and in the wings were the Royal family and nobles slept. This left huge parts of the castle almost unprotected.

The armory was near the servants wing, where the guard's break room and residences were located. Now, the beauty of arrogance and expectations is that they backfire quite easily. The placement of the armory gave a false sense of security and protection due to the closeness of the guards. Besides, why would anyone want to break into the armory?

If my predictions were right, the armory would be unguarded and unlocked, in case a surprise attack took place. The sentinels ought to have quick access to the weapons. I was right, when I got there, I encountered an empty corridor and a door begging to be opened.

I carefully approached the door, I grabbed a small tube of oil from my jacket and greased the hinges. When I opened the door, silence still reigned. I took out a candle from my pocket and lighted it up with a match. The armory was well organized, the swords and spears were to the right close to the door. The bows and arrows were also close to the door and to the left. At the end of the room, it was were the heavy weaponry was located; close to wooden swords, bows, daggers... made for training.

I planed to steal a small amount of weapons, to either avoid detection or if they noticed, for it to be ignored. Still, I couldn't carry the three swords and bows at the same time. I would have to make several trips.

After testing out some of the swords, I chose the three that I felt most comfortable with. They weren't Oleander, my beautiful sword, but they'd do. I took the first pair, concealed by my cloak, and ventured again into the cold dark corridors.

Without inconvenience I arrived to the ballroom, taking into account how much appearances mattered in the Ice Court I doubted this door would need to be greased.

Once I was inside, I searched for the passageway entry. I opened it and left both swords inside. In my next trip, I transported the last sword, a bow and a dozen arrows. In third trip, I took another bow and two dozen arrows.

I was making my way back when the corridors filled with voices. I pushed myself against the wall. A big group of guards headed to their rooms, I stayed still, waiting for the new sentinels to show up. Of course they stopped to chat and joke about trading their designated routes.

I looked towards them often enough to have their movements controlled, but not often enough to be staring. Humans had somewhat of a sixth sense. It subconsciously alerted your brain that you were being watched. Setting off this instinct, was the fastest way to make someone alert of their surrounding, which meant a higher chance of being discovered.

Finally, I took the candle, the last bow and fifteen more arrows. I reignited the candle once I was inside of the secret tunnels. I divided the weapons, I left in front of the secret door a sword, a bow and twenty three arrows.

I walked towards the Royal Garden's secret entrance. I had my two daggers, Foxglove and Nightshade, but in case I ever needed it, I wanted to be able to dispone of more weapons. I couldn't hide them in my room, so the entrances to the passageways were my safest bet. The library and ballroom entrances would be the easiest ones to get to, if the situation ever required it.

After leaving a sword, a bow and five arrows next to the garden's entrance I continued towards the library. I didn't know how long it would take me to learn The Highlands military secrets, their army numbers and situation and their weaknesses. I needed to stay in shape. The easiest way to escape the castle unseen would be through the gardens.

I left the remaining weapons next to the library secret entrance. I made my way back to my chambers without any incidents.

I changed back to my nightgown. I hid my assassin's attire, in the fake bottom of the trunk, and Foxglove and Nightshade in the stash next to my bed. I messed up, once again, with the hinges. I jumped into my bed, hoping to get a couple more hours of sleep before the sunrise woke me up.

Authors note:
What do you guys think of Alyssa?
What are your thoughts on Dylan's inner circle?
What do you think of Aelyn's and Austin's friendship?

I love interacting with you guys and I wanna  know what you guys think will happen next

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