“Enter and close the door.”

I entered the room and closed the door behind me. The room was fairly small room, with a single table in the middle, with an oil lamp hovering above the table. Three wooden chairs circled the table, and two were occupied.

“The emperor isn’t here?” I asked as I took my seat.

Blake crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. “No, he’s sitting in the corner invisible. Of course, he isn’t here you imbecile!” She sighed. “The useless twit bolted as soon as the Senate finished. The man is only useful when it comes to manipulation nothing else. I wish he would die already, so his son can inherit the throne. Men are such useless things.”

Her gaze fixed on mine. “But maybe some are less useless than others.”

“Praising me now? You are a woman of mystery Valk.” I said as I couldn’t resist the temptation to poke fun at her.

“I should’ve said nothing to you.”

Luna Gaia coughed to get our attention. “Let us get back to the topic at hand.”

Blake nodded. “Very well your majesty. Assassin, in recent days, urgent news has come to our attention. Strong, important political and financial figures from all three nations have vanished, they were killed.”

I leaned forward. “By who?”

She hesitated. “We… we don’t know who or what is killing these important figures. We told you that we believe it may be an organization of assassins.”

I leaned forward, directly into the Valk’s eyes. “Are you suggesting that the Nox clan is the guilty party?”

“No, I’m not. When these killings reached our ears, we contacted the clan. They say they took no part in these killings and pledged their support in helping us find out who these culprits are.”

Blake handed me a ruffled piece of paper. It was covered in dry blood. On it was a single thing, a marking; three diagonal slashes on top of an O.

“This.” She started as I gave it back to her. “This is always marked on the victims’ bodies.”

“I may have some information on this matter,” I said.

Both the Queen and the Valk looked at me in surprise.

“What is it?”

“I believe that I was attacked by a member of this… organization.” I took out the piece of paper I had found on Elrith’s corpse and showed it to the leaders. “This organization wanted me dead.”

Blake scoffed. “Who wouldn’t want to see you dead?”

“Fair enough, but that’s not what I meant. They called me an obstacle to their objectives. They wanted me dead so badly, they had one member become my disciple and she tried to kill me.”

Blake’s tone changed. She was serious again. “This changes everything then. We originally assumed it was a small terrorist organization, occasionally managing to kill their targets, but at a cost of heavy casualties. If they indeed sent one member to stalk you, they must be planning something big. This comes at the worst time as well!”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

The Valk sighed. “It’s Zeal. We strongly believe that the nations in Zeal will once again vote to try and invade Gaia. Tensions are high over there, famines, civil disorder. We do not need another war. Both continents are still recovering from the last war 30 years ago.”

Her Majesty spoke up, bringing back the conversation to the matter at hand. “Seth Nox, I task you with finding and pursuing these killers, and bring them to justice.”

“I understand your concerns, but what do I gain from all of this? Freelancer jobs are the source of income for me.”

The queen and the Valk looked at each other. Blake eventually sighed and waved at me in a ‘just tell him’ sort of way. Luna nodded.

“Seth Nox, if you accept to hunt down and kill our enemies to the Empire and Gaia, Blake May, Darth Nav and I will offer you ten million gold coins. On top of this generous sum of coin, you will be pardoned for all crimes,” she paused and continued. “And if you do prove successful I will give you the position of commander of the Empire’s royal assassins as well as my personal bodyguard.”

I stared at them in stunned silence. This was a hefty reward they were offering. They must be very desperate to get rid of this thorn in their sides if they plan on giving me all they were offering.

I scratched my head. “Is this really all worth it? This seems a bit excessive, even for me.”

“We must ensure that we’ll have your full cooperation Seth Nox. This group, whoever they are, are no laughing favor. We need full cooperation, so this measure will help ensure we have it.” Blake explained.

I stood up, my mind made up.

“Very well, I will depart at once.”

Luna coughed. “Not so fast Blade, there is one more thing, regarding your new partner.”

I sat back down. “New partner?”

“Well didn’t you say that your previous one tried to kill you?”

“I did, but that doesn’t mean I need a new partner, I work better alone.”

Luna nodded in agreement but pressed on. “That may be true, it’s undeniable. The number of deaths to your name, in such a short period of time, is admirable.”

“If you’re a murderer that is.” Blake interrupted

“The point is, this will be a serious task to undertake. This organization is clearly very clever and cunning. This organization is probably also huge, with many members across the continent. There is no way you can deal with this yourself. I mean they managed to make sure you took one of them in as your own disciple just so they could kill you. We will provide you with a partner who can have your back.”

There was no beating the young queen. I felt that no matter what I would say or do, she would insist on a partner. I threw my hands up in defeat.

“Very well, I’ll have another partner. Who is it?” I asked.

“Valentia Crimvern will tell you all the details. She was the one in charge of finding you a new partner. she refused to give us any details on the matter." Luna stated.

I nodded. "Valentia is very stubborn when I have to do with me. Very well, I like seek her out."

"Good luck Seth Nox, the lives of many lay on your shoulders." the queen stated.

"Yes, I suppose I have to put some trust in you now assassin. Please do complete this mission. If you prove yourself... useful, I may use you again in the future." Blake stated.