The Dagger and the Crown

Azazel enters The Ruby Inn and looks around, trying to find Lillian.
Eventually, he sees her sitting in the back by herself. She looks up and, upon seeing Azazel, waves him over. He walks over towards her and sits down across from her was quite crowded at the Ruby Inn. The innkeeper came over to them and said that they were lucky they even had any seats open when they came. The two managed to get a seat all to themselves near the back of the room, away from the drunken stories and threats. The musicians didn’t even bother tuning their instruments for they would not have been heard over everyone.

“So much for a peaceful date.” Lillian says in annoyance. “Everyone here is either drunk or getting there.”

“Eh, what can you do?” Azazel says, shrugging and sighing. “From the looks of things, these are sailors who just came back from, judging by the smell of them, a four or five month run, give or take a few days. Better be careful Lillian, or else they may try to take you away. They don’t see very many woman while they’re away.”

“Ha ha, very funny. All they need to know is that I’m the princess and they’ll leave me alone.”

“Actually, that might make it worse. I mean, since you are not married, I’m going to assume you’ve never been in bed with someone.” Lillian’s flustered face was Azazel’s answer, prompting him to say, “Exactly, and the sailors are going to assume the same thing. And then they’ll be all over you and I’ll have to save you.”
And before Lillian could respond, one of the sailors comes over towards them and says to Lillian, “Hey, you, whore, how’s about we go to my place and have some fun, huh?”

Lillian, now angry at what the sailor called her, stands up and says, “I am not a whore you scoundrel! Now leave me be!”

“Ohohoho, you sound like a feisty one. I like that.”

The sailor then reaches towards Lillian but Azazel grabs his arm and says, “I don’t think you want to do that sir.”

The sailor looks at the young assassin, obviously not knowing who he is and too drunk to care, and says, “I wasn’t talking to you boy, so I aint gonna listen to you.”

“Oh yeah, how about you listen to this instead?” Azazel then lands a solid punch in the sailors face, knocking him back a few feet. That is when all of the talking and shouting stops and all of the sailors turn their gaze towards him. “Oh, shit,” Azazel says to himself. “This is not good.” The rest of the sailors, which numbers at about 15, gather around him and crack their knuckles, preparing to beat him down. “C’mon, I’ll take you all on.” One of the sailors then raises his fist to punch Azazel but before he can, a knife comes out of nowhere and digs into the back of his hand, causing the sailor to scream out in pain. Everyone looks to where the knife came from and see a figure whose entire face is concealed by a mask. He steps into the light and the sign of the Hidden Blades is seen in full view on his shoulder. Everyone except for Azazel, Lillian, and the sailor with the dagger in his hand instantly pale at the sight. The assassin then casually walks over to the sailor, pins his hand to the ground, rips the dagger out, causing more pain, and turns towards the other sailors, saying, “Now then, as you can tell, I am a member of the Hidden Blades. And I do not appreciate it when people gang up on and try to take advantage of those who are weaker and outnumbered like this young couple. So unless you would like to end in a worse state than your friend here, I suggest that you run away and leave these people alone. Now!” The sailors did not need to be told twice for they were already up on their feet and running away. The assassin chuckles and walks over towards the two. “Now then, are you two alright?”

Lillian shyly says, “Yes, I am thank you very much.”

“Yes,” Azazel says. “Thank you very much Malum.”

Lillian looks over towards Azazel and asks, “Wait, you know him Azazel?”

Before Azazel could answer, Malum says, “Yes, I know who Azazel is. And I know who you are Lillian. And I also know that you know whom he really is and that you two are starting to grow closer together. As your friend, Azazel, I will give you this warning. Be careful when you are together, for there are others in our order that believe that if you get too close to this girl, that you may abandon us. I do not think that this is true but still. And I do not believe that the princess’s father, King Herald, would approve of your relationship. Again, because you are my friend, I will give you this warning. Farewell Azazel, until you return to our lair.” Malum then turns around, walks towards the door, apologizes for the fight to the innkeeper, and exits the building, leaving Azazel and Lillian alone.

Lillian looks over at Azazel and asks, “Is he serious? Would your order do something to us if we stay together?”

Azazel sighs and says, “Malum speaks the truth. If it were not for the fact that I am our leaders favorite, they would’ve taken action already. Odds are, they would’ve revealed to your father that I’m an assassin and he would have me executed. But don’t worry, I will talk to our master and convince him that he does not need to worry about me abandoning the order.”

“Alright,” Lillian says, “as long as we can still see each other. What will you say to them?”

“I don’t know. I’ll probably have to complete a few high ranked contracts to prove my loyalty,” Azazel chuckles to himself. He then turns back to Lillian and says, “But for now, I should be getting you home.”

“Okay.” Azazel then holds out his hand out to her, which she accepts, and helps her up. They then walk out the door and head towards the castle to conclude their day.