their sockets. He collapsed onto the cobblestone.
My sword clattered to the ground as I jumped from my horse and rushed to his side. Samael was a ruthless, greedy bastard who had used me for his own selfish gain and would do so again without hesitation. I intensely disliked him most of the time, but somewhere deep down inside I could never shake the paternal-like attachment that I developed towards him during the first years I lived with him.
“It’s okay Skyler,” he weakly raised a hand to wave me away as if him dying was no big deal. “She came to me in my dreams. Said you were in danger and asked if I cared enough about you to help. The answer didn’t change even after I knew I’d be forfeiting my life. I know you think I’m a bastard and you are correct. I’ve done despicable things. I am not sorry for them and if given the chance I would do nothing different. I toughened you up. You wouldn’t have survived in the world otherwise. I won’t apologize for it. There are two kinds of people in this world-- those who are prey and those who are not. You were prey when I first found you in that alley. You aren’t anymore. You will survive in this world or any other one now.”
Samael’s voice grew weaker by the minute. I tried to shush him, tell him to conserve his strength, but he refused to listen.
“I am dying regardless. I need to say this before I go,” he told me. “I had a daughter. You remind me of her. You both have the same fiery but sensitive spirit. I think you are what she would have been like had she lived past her sixth birthday. Her mother was taken from me in childbirth. Then an illness that could have been cured had I the money to pay for the herbs took her from me. The Assassin’s Guild was never about the amount of money I accumulated. It was about ensuring nothing would ever be taken from me again. You became the daughter I lost and I had to protect you. Even if it meant making you hate me to toughen you up. I sacrificed to protect you then just as I chose to sacrifice to protect you now. I don’t know what you have gotten yourself into this time, but don’t let my sacrifice be in vain. Stay safe Skyler. I will no longer be around to watch out for you. You are on your own.”
“She’s not on her own,” a low voice said from beside me. “She has me and on my life I will never let anything happen to her.”
Samael’s face relaxed into a relieved expression at Zander’s words. His grip on my hand loosened. His eyes closed and I knew they would not reopen.
“We can’t leave him here,” I cried into Zander’s chest as his arms closed around me.
“We won’t. Just tell me what you want me to do and I will. I meant what I said. You are not alone. You have me now, forever and always.”
His words should have comforted me but they did not. I could not shake the bitter feeling that I’d heard them before and they’d proved false.
Chapter 10
I couldn’t leave Samael’s body in the streets of Arythmia. Sure, someone would eventually find him and report it to the nearest High Noble who would send an undertaker to fetch the body for burning, but I couldn’t bring myself to allow him to be collected and incinerated like discarded trash. Zander helped me hoist him onto one of the two horses we traveled with and we carried him back to his residence.
His steward collapsed when he answered the door. Roland had served Samael for decades. I tried to convince him to take the rest of the night off but he refused.
“There is too much that needs to be done. Samael left strict instructions with me about the preparations that needed to be made in the event of his demise,” he said.
In no mood to argue with him, I stopped insisting he retire to him room. In the end, I was grateful
My sword clattered to the ground as I jumped from my horse and rushed to his side. Samael was a ruthless, greedy bastard who had used me for his own selfish gain and would do so again without hesitation. I intensely disliked him most of the time, but somewhere deep down inside I could never shake the paternal-like attachment that I developed towards him during the first years I lived with him.
“It’s okay Skyler,” he weakly raised a hand to wave me away as if him dying was no big deal. “She came to me in my dreams. Said you were in danger and asked if I cared enough about you to help. The answer didn’t change even after I knew I’d be forfeiting my life. I know you think I’m a bastard and you are correct. I’ve done despicable things. I am not sorry for them and if given the chance I would do nothing different. I toughened you up. You wouldn’t have survived in the world otherwise. I won’t apologize for it. There are two kinds of people in this world-- those who are prey and those who are not. You were prey when I first found you in that alley. You aren’t anymore. You will survive in this world or any other one now.”
Samael’s voice grew weaker by the minute. I tried to shush him, tell him to conserve his strength, but he refused to listen.
“I am dying regardless. I need to say this before I go,” he told me. “I had a daughter. You remind me of her. You both have the same fiery but sensitive spirit. I think you are what she would have been like had she lived past her sixth birthday. Her mother was taken from me in childbirth. Then an illness that could have been cured had I the money to pay for the herbs took her from me. The Assassin’s Guild was never about the amount of money I accumulated. It was about ensuring nothing would ever be taken from me again. You became the daughter I lost and I had to protect you. Even if it meant making you hate me to toughen you up. I sacrificed to protect you then just as I chose to sacrifice to protect you now. I don’t know what you have gotten yourself into this time, but don’t let my sacrifice be in vain. Stay safe Skyler. I will no longer be around to watch out for you. You are on your own.”
“She’s not on her own,” a low voice said from beside me. “She has me and on my life I will never let anything happen to her.”
Samael’s face relaxed into a relieved expression at Zander’s words. His grip on my hand loosened. His eyes closed and I knew they would not reopen.
“We can’t leave him here,” I cried into Zander’s chest as his arms closed around me.
“We won’t. Just tell me what you want me to do and I will. I meant what I said. You are not alone. You have me now, forever and always.”
His words should have comforted me but they did not. I could not shake the bitter feeling that I’d heard them before and they’d proved false.
Chapter 10
I couldn’t leave Samael’s body in the streets of Arythmia. Sure, someone would eventually find him and report it to the nearest High Noble who would send an undertaker to fetch the body for burning, but I couldn’t bring myself to allow him to be collected and incinerated like discarded trash. Zander helped me hoist him onto one of the two horses we traveled with and we carried him back to his residence.
His steward collapsed when he answered the door. Roland had served Samael for decades. I tried to convince him to take the rest of the night off but he refused.
“There is too much that needs to be done. Samael left strict instructions with me about the preparations that needed to be made in the event of his demise,” he said.
In no mood to argue with him, I stopped insisting he retire to him room. In the end, I was grateful
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