A: Ch. 1.4

Kya hesitated, though, before a second pair of eyes locked onto hers.

The General only smiled at her as he leaned down and grabbed Lorant by his hair and pulling him up a few inches to whisper into his ear.

“Valiant you are, Sir Knight,” he whispered, smiling only slightly. “But she's a little lamb here, and I am the wolf. Natural order of things, you see. And I have grown so hungry as of late.” The knight shivered and fell limp. “I’ve yet to lie with a northerner. Maybe I can get her to scream.” With a malicious chuckle the General let the man fall face flat back onto the platform's wood.

Hilt rose back to his feet and beamed out over the crowd, not even flickering an eye in Kya's direction. “I think we'll go with the oldest of favorites! THE MINES!”

The crowd roared in approval, each of them clamoring towards the platform to be the lucky group that got to drag the living body to its final resting place. The mines.

Of the tens of thousands of caverns carved into the mountain, only a few were still occupied. Some of the mines caved in, others didn’t reap the gold and gems expected. Not to waste anything, the people of Beinn turned these deep shafts into an ingenious execution chamber. The poor bloke was thrown down a shaft too steep to climb out and, for a piece of gold any man woman or child could throw anything down after him. Old favorites were fire ants, thick, suffocating sludge, and jars of noxious gas. Some cruel folk would send down food and water just to keep the victim alive even longer.

Hilt watched as the body was grabbed and dragged away. With a bored smirk he turned and returned to Aideen's side, reaching a hand out to her.

“Shall we, m'lady?”

Aideen beamed up at him and gently took his outstretched hand, but one of the grunts stopped them before they could leave.

“Aren’t you staying for the execution, General?” he asked timidly.

“No,” Aiden replied before the General could. “He grows bored of them now. I only thought he would be a bit more original this time around.”

The grunt still stood there, unsure what to do. “S-Sir?”

“You heard the woman. Besides, I have to escort Miss. Aideen here back to the castle. The King will want to hear from her why she missed her sparring lessons,” the General said calmly.

“The King doesn’t need to know anything,” Aideen hissed as the pair turned and walked through the now deserted streets toward the large mechanical lifts. Everyone in the square had gone after the prisoner.

“Why did you want to come to the execution?” the General asked.

Aideen shrugged. “I heard this one was pretty. Most of the pasties have colorless, mousy hair. Even dirty his still glittered like gold. Shame about his skin. Do they simply disappear into the snow up north?” she asked idly.

“Who told you about the prisoner?”

Again, another shrug. “Maids, guards. Most people have very loose tongues.”

The General grasped her upper arm and started pulling her into the lift. The gears screeched to life and started to carry the pair up the mountain.

“The King brought up marriage again,” General Noden said calmly, staring out of the open windows, gazing at the streets below.

“Only because the King knows you’ll refuse, just as you always do,” Aideen whispered. “You really should just pick someone and get it over with. People are starting to talk—Ow, Damien, you’re hurting me.”

The grasp on her arm became tighter, but the General wasn’t listening, his eyes were fixed below.

“Damien, let go,” Aideen winced.

General Noden still wouldn’t listen and he inched toward the edge of the lift.

“Damien!” Aiden finally cried, pulling him back. “What in the seven hells has gotten into you?” she growled.

The general blinked and finally released his grip on her arm, noting the angry red marks he left behind. “Didn’t you see her?” he demanded, his gem like eyes alight with joy.

“Her? Who?”

“The next assassin. How painfully obvious they’ve become. I thought I may have lost her in the crowd, but that silly little dove must have snow for brains.”

“Her? Elivagar sent a woman?”

“A small one.”

“Well that’s absurd,” Aideen snorted as the lift shuttered to a halt and the doors swung open. General Noden didn’t move. “Damien, let’s go.”

Suddenly the General pushed Aideen out of the lift and slammed the door back shut again.

“Damien!” she squealed.

“Go to the castle,” he ordered.

“How am I going to explain these bruises to the King?” Aideen demanded.

General Hilt only smiled through grate on the door and shrugged before the gears cranked back into life again and he started his decent back down.

It was time to hunt. And he would enjoy this one.

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