If Two had to decide who was more annoying between Adrian and the obnoxious merchants of Lumina, Adrian won by a long shot. After regrouping at the Nightingale tavern, the first thing she heard was Lucius knew a witness had spotted them murdering a noble in Clarica's slums. And if that wasn't terrible enough, Adrian also informed her that Lucius ordered her to personally report the mission's success.

For her, meeting Lucius was mental torture. For Adrian, it was a different story. Birds of similar feathers flocked together, and as far as she could tell, Adrian and Lucius were the same breeds: bloodthirsty, deranged psychopaths. So she was baffled because, instead of the more compatible Adrian, Lucius wanted the report from her. It was like her distorted fate was laughing in her face because, right after she chose to let the Prince of Lux live, the Gods threw another obstacle at her.

Life was horrible. And it didn't get any better as she and Adrian foraged through the markets, listening to the haggles and asking if anyone knew a tavern "famous for its expansive collection of wine." Amid all the litanies to purchase valuables, like holy water from Sperofell or slaves from the south, the only name uttered in response was the Roost.

From what she heard, the place was well known among merchants who journeyed to Lumina during the trading season of Caidadh. People from all over Kartas roamed the markets and toured Lucidius Lake in daylight. But when darkness rose from the east and brought along the stars that glimmered over the lake's water, sightseers retreated to inns, and merchants found accommodation in taverns that welcomed them with a refreshing drink. Looking skyward, she saw the sun had reached its peak. Hopefully, not many people were at the Roost.

She squeezed between the hordes of boisterous people, shoving her way to the tavern that sat facing Lake Lucidius and away from the masses. As she suspected, not many people were there, but guards were crawling all over the vicinity.

"If things go south or if we have to chase the target, we might face some difficulty with the guards," Adrian said.

Tapping her foot against the ground, Two scanned the guards' positions. They were so close to each other. If anyone suspicious walked down the street, they were doomed to get caught. But if the person was an assassin of the Dark Lotus, that was another story.

"Difficult isn't impossible. We just need to finish our mission," she replied, heading towards the Roost and opening the door.

When the noble from Clarica said the place owned an expansive collection of wine, he wasn't joking. The walls were covered with stacks upon stacks of wine: Umbran, Luxian, Vitan, and more. It was like a wine cellar remodeled into a tavern with sturdy, wooden tables and chairs filling the emptiness. The interior was void of people except for her and Adrian, two men conversing at a table, and a boy with a light brown complexion mindlessly wandering back and forth. It was silent save for the boy's soft footfalls and the two men's voices that carried throughout the tavern.

"I'm tellin' ya I saw it: a demon."

Two's ears perked up as her eyes landed on a bearded merchant sitting across from who she assumed was the bartender.

"Thin' had hair and skin paler than the snow of them Scorchin' Frosts. Moment I dropped the thin' at Clarica and told them night watch, I was headin' back down to Lumina."

"Demons no longer roam Kartas," the bartender said. "The lad you saw may have had a loose bolt in his head."

"I'm tellin' ya I saw one. Almost lost me life." The bearded man finished with a deep sigh and a swig of his beer as the bartender shook his head in disbelief.

Averting her gaze, Two stared at the pacing boy, and the moment his blue-gray eyes locked with hers, he jumped and rushed over to the two men at the table. After whispering to the bartender, the boy dashed through another door and disappeared.

Peering at the vacillating door the boy ran through, Two walked to the bar. The bartender met her with a strained smile.

"Welcome to the Roost. What do you two youngsters want for this fine evening?"

Glimpsing the bearded man still sitting at the table, Two tilted her head and opted to be straightforward. This had to play out as fast as possible. "We were sent by Micael Hannik to retrieve a Vitan boy named Amic Inkiraj, so if you can be so kind, please tell us where he is."

She curled her lips into the most polite smile she could muster, but the second the bartender turned his head to the bearded man with a puzzled expression, she felt something was wrong. Studying both of their faces, she tried to read the unspoken words between them to no avail.

After a short moment, the bearded man cleared his throat. "I am Micael Hannik of Ruscao, and I've never met ya in me life. Who're ya again? And whaddya want with Amic Inkiraj?"

The smile on Two's face slowly sank into a frown. Uneasiness grew thick in the air as Adrian shifted on his feet, as Two watched the two men share a couple of swift glances. The tavern was tense with silence, not a single person moving, before both the bartender and Micael suddenly darted for the front doors. And as usual, all hell broke loose.

Drawing her glass blade, Two kicked the bartender to his knees and rested the weapon against his neck. Meanwhile, Adrian lifted a chair and knocked Micael out. The wood splintered and burst all over the tavern on impact, and Micael's limp body thudded against the floorboards.

"Where's Amic Inkiraj?" Two asked, her blade drawing blood as it dug into the bartender's neck.

"I-I don't know!" he screamed. "I don't know who you are talking about!"

She was about to stab the bartender's thigh to persuade him when Adrian took the liberty of doing it himself. But he didn't just stab the bartender once. He plunged his dagger into the bartender's thigh three times before he twisted it out, a patch of red staining the bartender's breeches as he wailed. Adrian wasn't done, though. Stepping on the wound, he elicited more cries and pleas. The blond lunatic was back, and Two felt her stomach churn.

"Where is Amic Inkiraj?" Adrian demanded. "Where are you hiding him?"

When the bartender shook his head, Adrian added more pressure, but Two stopped him with a hand. "That's enough. You're going to bleed him to death." Narrowing his eyes, Adrian removed his foot, and she sighed in relief as she asked the bartender, "Where is Amic Inkiraj?"

"I don't know."

"A noble told us you know where the Vitan is, so if you value your life, I'd advise you to throw away whatever sympathy you have attained for the boy and tell us the truth."

The bartender still shook his head. "I cannot tell you what I don't know."

Cursing, Adrian ran his fingers through the yellow strands of his hair. Two clicked her tongue. This bartender was digging his own grave. As she considered the idea of driving her blade through the bartender's hand, a door creaked open behind her. Turning her head, she saw the boy from before standing transfixed on the threshold. His light brown complexion caught her eye. Why didn't she realize it before? The boy was a Vitan.

While she was distracted, the bartender twisted her glass blade out of her hand and swung it at her, barely grazing her arm as Two propelled herself away. Slashing the air to protect the boy, he shouted, "Run, boy! Run!"

The Gods gave Two lemons, but instead of handing them to her, they were squashing the juice in her eyes. Nothing ever fell in her favor, but succumbing to that fact wasn't in her nature. "Deal with the goddamn witnesses," she said, glimpsing Adrian drawing his dagger. "I am chasing Inkiraj."

Blocking an attack from the bartender, she slipped the glass blade from his hold and impaled his hand, pinning him to the ground. Adrian nodded as Two barged through the door Inkiraj vanished behind and chased after him through a dimly lit hall. At the end, she swiveled right just as Inkiraj pushed his way out another door leading to the streets. She was right on his tail, weaving through the crowds and catching up little by little.

When the guards sent her suspicious looks, she hollered, "Just a thief. Nothing to worry about," before continuing her pursuit.

Inkiraj was nimble on his feet, blending in with the swarms of people to lose her, so she tried to call on her magic, force the rush of power through her limbs. But it didn't work. The Gods were feeding her more damn lemons, and she was growing tired. It only got worse when her unimaginative explanation wore out, and the guards started commanding her to halt. She sighed. Life was truly horrible.

The situation became somewhat brighter when she saw Inkiraj sneak into an alley. Following his tracks, she found herself face to face with him at a dead end. Escape was impractical: the walls were too high, and the only route to safety was past her. The game was set, and she had won.

Unsheathing her last glass dagger, she charged and finished Inkiraj quite easily. He didn't resist at all when she sliced his arm and slit his throat. As his body plopped to the cobblestone ground, blood pooled beneath him. But something was amiss. Something evaded her vision.

Every target she had killed screamed and cried and struggled before their death. Inkiraj didn't, and it was impossible because all humans—elemental or not—were the same. They had desires, they cried, they fought, and they died. Inkiraj was no different.

Running a finger through the blood on her blade, she noticed it was abnormally sticky. She analyzed the composition of the dead body, only to find no peculiarities. There was nothing odd unless. . .

Inkiraj was from Vita, and Vitans loved their herbs and plants. She scoffed. "Rassaiga. Of course."

Rassaiga was a plant that grew in the Navaera Forest, and when used, it transformed into a copy of the last person who touched it. The plant acted as the perfect distraction for an escape, but if Inkiraj had used rassaiga, he had to be nearby. Two searched the blind alley, listening for any sounds until she felt something brush against her tunic. Shadow elemental.

Her reaction was immediate. She grabbed an invisible body and restrained Inkiraj against the wall, crushing his arm behind his back. "Release whatever magic you've cast and stop struggling."

After a moment of silence, Inkiraj's body slowly appeared, shifting from transparent to opaque. "Please, let me go."

"Did you use rassaiga on the other bodies, the bartender's and Micael Hannik's," Two asked, ignoring his plea. When there wasn't a response, she growled. "Answer the question."

Hesitating, Inkiraj nodded. That meant Adrian wasted his time mutilating rassaiga doubles while the witnesses ran away. Troublesome. Just as she was about to finish the deed and cut Inkiraj's throat, he cried, "Wait! Wait! Wait! I know who sent you—who hired you. I know I can't pay more than what she offered, but sparing me will benefit you in return."

Furrowing her brows, Two peered at him. "How can you help me?"

"The queen may have taken everything from me, but I can grant you assistance when you require it."

"Queen Mariessa died on the Black Night."

"But it is not her I speak of. I mean the Queen of Vita, Evier."

Queen Evier? She was the one who hired Lucius? "So you pissed the queen off and fled to Lux to avoid punishment. That means nothing to me. I was sent to do a job, and I am here to complete it."

"But you are different," he argued. "I know it. If it meant nothing, you would've killed me already, but you listened—my pain resonates with you. The queen murdered my mother to conceal her shameful secrets, and until I exact revenge, I cannot rest. I cannot die, so please, spare me."

Two paused, faltering, struggling to finish the job. It reminded her of that night she met the Prince of Lux, but this was different. This Vitan had nothing to offer her except pain and misfortune, so she buried the glass blade in his neck and let him wither to death. Once he stopped writhing, she pulled her weapon from the dead body and padded across the alley.

Before she sheathed her blade, she traced her finger over the flat side of it to check the blood for extra measure and halted. The blood was abnormally sticky. Letting out of huff, she weighed whether it was worth her time to find the real Inkiraj. When she glanced behind at the blind alley, she saw an area in the shadows darker than the rest. She could do it. She could kill him.

But you are different. If it meant nothing, you would've killed me already.

Licking her lips, she shook her head and vacated the alley, eluding the guards hunting her. The sun beat on her skin, merchants screamed in her ears, and people bumped into her from left and right. Yet, when she arrived at the tavern and found Adrian cleaning the rassaiga doubles, her lips couldn't help but coil into a grin.

Just as she lied to Adrian about the Prince of Lux, she lied about Amic Inkiraj, and that was that. The mission was a failure. The last time she had failed a mission was seven years ago when she had subjugated herself to sentiment. Back then, she—along with another assassin of the Lotus who helped her—faced Lucius's wrath. But even though she was about to head to Clarica to deceive him, she was smiling like a buffoon.

Scorning herself, she parted ways with Adrian and headed for the Trader's Trail. As she trudged through the markets, she recounted her experiences with the Prince of Lux and Amic and sighed. Life was still horrible, but at least she was a little better.