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Authors: Enrique R. Rodriguez

Sicarius (3 page)

BOOK: Sicarius
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Young Ambrose smiles and shows that he feels comfort and happiness. 

Ambrose snaps out of his thoughts and quits hugging Ms. White when he hears a noise an animal makes off in the distance. He looks at Ms. White and mumbles under his breath, “When I was a boy.” 

“What?” Ms. White looks back at Ambrose in confusion. 

“You remind me of somebody. When I was young, when I was a boy, I did not have anybody, but there was a woman there for me. She was always there for me while I was growing up. She was the only woman or person that showed me kindness. You remind me of her.” 

“I do?” 

“Yes, but one day, she just stopped showing up. On that day, I felt a hole in my heart. I filled it with hate. I never looked back on that day or even remembered her presence. Now that I look into your eyes, you make me think of her, and I remember.” 

“Was she meant to be your future companion? Your lover?” 

“No, she was older and more of a mother than anything. The love she showed me was what a mother gives to her children. What you give to Gytha. I think she was my mother.” 

“How could you not know?” 

“It is complicated. I never knew what happed to her, why she stopped seeing me. Now that I look back, I think she was murdered. I feel foolish for not figuring this out so long ago and how I hated her for so long. Then just blocking her from my thoughts and forgetting. When I look into your eyes, you remind me of her.” Ambrose starts to reminisce. “Oh, I am sorry. There is too much talk about death. I should stop.” Ambrose abruptly stops, not wanting to hurt Ms. White any more than he already has. 

Ms. White places a hand over her heart. “I am honored, and I am sorry.” 

“It is rare when I talk to people, and when I do, it is never long enough for me to get the emotion of happiness,” Ambrose says with a smile. 

Ms. White ponders in confusion. “You say the emotion of happiness? You speak differently. Most will say happy or cheerful, never explaining happy as just an emotion. Maybe it has something to do with you being a traveler, huh?” 

“Yeah, maybe, but like I said before, I never stay around long enough to feel the emotion of happiness, but not just that emotion. What I am trying to say is that I am sorry. I am sorry that I killed that man and put you and your daughter in danger. It was a foolish move of mine. I am sorry,” Ambrose apologizes deeply while looking intensely into the depth of the fire. 

“It is fine.” Lady White wipes a tear from her eye. “I am glad you did. Everett deserved it. I hope he is burning in hell. That bastard! If you never came along, we would still be there. The only reason we stayed was because we did not want my husband not to know where we were when he came back. It would only make things more difficult. In addition to that, we did not have anywhere to go. My husband built that house for us not just because we were married but because I was raised as an orphan and he was a traveler, not knowing family or love, like you. He knew we both never really had a house we ever called home. So you see, we only had each other. I wanted to raise our daughter differently, with a family. Now we never can. He is gone, and to make thing even worse, when Michael—my husband—left, the men that were placed in charge to defend the village in case of an invasion, and were too cowardly to go to war, picked me and my daughter out of the entire women in the village to harass. I think my daughter is pregnant from Everett or one of his men.” Lady White puts her face in her hands and starts to cry hysterically once more. “I am a horrible mother,” Ms. White tells Ambrose in a crackly voice caused from crying. “I tried to stop them, but their threats could come true, and we both could have been killed. There was nothing I could do.” 

Ambrose looks at Ms. White motionless as if he has seen this many times. “I am truly sorry.” He is showing that he is developing sympathy for Ms. White slowly. He then suddenly knows of a place he can take the girls. “War can be so ugly.” He places his hand on her back and tells her, “I do know of a place where I can take you two to be away from the war. It is the least I can do after what you both have been through and what I have done.” 

“Really? Thank you.” Ms. White looks up with eyes full of tears and hope. “So where is this place you speak of? Who will we be staying with? Will you stay there as well?” she asks, confused. Impatiently awaiting answers, she grabs Ambrose’s hand. 

Ambrose looks down at his hand being held by Ms. White and smiles. He is remembering once more the strange woman that showed him kindness as a young child. “So many questions. Ha-ha! Well, it is the land of Pacem. I will not join you ladies. I must continue on my journey. This place is too small and has too little resources for any big lands to want and to catch my interest—but perfect for you two. You two will be safe there.” 

“Good.” 

“Some might call it an island. It is in the middle of the ocean with no other land connecting to it. It is off the land of Fraudule, not too deep into the land.” 

“Is it close enough to the border of Incontinence that we will not see many Fraudule soldiers?” 

“Correct.” 

“I wonder this because I am afraid that we will run into the Fraudule soldiers, and they will question us. I am not too well of making stories. Being in the orphanage, we were taught to always tell the truth. I taught this to Gytha as well.” 

“No need to worry. We will not see any on the route we will go.” 

“Okay, that is perfect. So what is the reason we can stay at this place you speak of?” 

“The reason you can stay there is that I helped a family once from this land. With my good deed, they granted me access to their farm anytime. They wanted me to live there, but I like to travel all too much. They granted me a wish from them after I turned them down, and I told them I will return one day to fulfill it, although I never thought this would be true.” 

“I understand now. What was your good deed?” 

Ambrose sits in silence for a second to think of something. “Nothing much. I lifted a piece of wood that fell and jammed their only way out of their burning barn.” 

“It sounds like they were meant to be trapped in there, doesn’t it? Did you ask them of this incident?” 

“I never asked. Maybe it was just a coincidence,” Ambrose replies quickly not to arouse more suspicion. 

Ms. White situates her daughter and herself to lie down on the cool ground. “Let’s hope it was. I do not want us to be at a family’s house that has trouble in their history.” 

“They are an older couple. You two should not have any trouble.” Ambrose feels guilty letting the girls sleep on the cold, damp grass. 

“Good. You know, my husband would have liked you.” Ms. White smiles at Ambrose. “You are a good person and friend. Now let us get some shut-eye, shall we?” She then snuggles with her daughter. 

“Yes, good idea,” Ambrose replies filled with mixed emotions. 

“Good night.” Ms. White closes her eyes and turns away from the fire, cuddling Gytha securely. 

“Good night,” Ambrose said quietly, filled with emotion as he stares deeply into the fire with his mind full of thoughts. 

Ambrose knows that the mind-set he is in will not let him sleep for several hours. While he stays up, he sits quietly, staring up at the stars and looking deep into the fire trying to figure himself out and why. 

 

Chapter V 

 

 

 

Morning comes, and Ambrose wakes before anyone. He goes out looking for food to make his newfound friends breakfast. Ambrose makes a bow and a few arrows out of the materials he has surrounding him. This is to kill any animals that come by. Ambrose is in the tops of the trees looking for eggs, and he knows this is the perfect position to spot animals crossing his path. A screech is let out. Suddenly, Ambrose drops from a tree with a handful of eggs that he recently found. Ambrose knows the screech was from Gytha. He drops the eggs and runs back to the camp area. 

Gytha yells at Everett’s men to leave her mother alone. When Ambrose has the camp in view from a distance, he jumps in the tall grass not to show himself to the men. Ambrose quietly and quickly uses this grass to approach the girls more every second. He uses the tall grass as shelter from view of the men. 

When Ambrose is yards away, he can see clearly what is happening. He sees Ms. White is hanging from a tree by her wrist. When Ambrose is close enough, he immediately pops out of seclusion. He uses his bow and arrow with accuracy to shoot the rope that holds Ms. White, releasing her from her arrest. 

“Kill him!” The second in command looks at Ambrose shooting the arrow. 

Ambrose shoots the rest of the arrows that he has left to kill most of the men before they can move, leaving two. The two men are the second in command and a huge man. He then runs up to the last two that are left. As Ambrose charges these two men, he pulls out a dagger under his robe while holding the bow in the other hand. Ambrose will fight hand-to-hand combat from now on. 

The second in command draws his sword and cowers behind the huge man. “Stop him!” 

Ambrose jumps in the air to strike the huge man on the neck. Before he can strike the huge man, this man catches Ambrose’s arm and tosses him yards away as if he is nothing more than a feather. After being tossed, Ambrose rolls when he lands. 

While he rolls, his robe falls off. When he stands, all gasp in amazement from what he has under his robe. He wears the Sicarius armor with the emblem of being a highly ranked soldier of the Fraudule army gleaming in the sunlight. He then takes an arrow from a fallen solider, one of Everett’s men that he shot. 

The second in command snaps out of the trance of amazement and places his sword to Ms. White’s neck to stop Ambrose’s movements. “Do not mo—” 

Before the second in command could say another word, Ambrose shoots the arrow he pulled out of a previous soldier and hits the second in command in the head, killing him. The second in command stumbles back and falls. Gytha runs to her mom. Ms. White shelters Gytha when she reaches her. Ms. White covers her with her own body. 

Blinded by anger, the huge man charges Ambrose without thinking. Ambrose drops his bow, takes his dagger, and uses his agility to maneuver around the huge man. Ambrose tries to strike him in the neck once more. This time, Ambrose connects with ease. Ambrose watches him fall, holding his neck from bleeding out. Then he walks up to Lady White and Gytha calmly. 

“That emblem, that armor!” Ms. White is in shock, backing up and pointing at him as she holds Gytha tight. 

“Yes, once more, I am sorry. I am a solider for Fraudule. Please let me explain. I am not your enemy. You know who your real enemies are.” Ambrose expresses himself by opening his arms to show the soldiers that lay in pain behind him. “If I was, would you two not already be dead?” 

Ms. White stops backing up, stays quiet for a brief second, and looks at Ambrose angrily. “Explain then!” 

Ambrose releases his tenseness. “I am an assassin that is built to be emotionless. Somehow, I felt that I must question my king’s way, my life’s purpose recently, especially now that I look into your eyes.” Ambrose is in relief due to Ms. White not running. “I know you should not believe anything I have told you, or will tell you, but I think it must have something to do with the woman I told you about. Yes, she was real, and she has been flashing through my thoughts more every day. I am no longer with the land of Fraudule. I really am a drifter now but with fighting skill, skills that kill.” He holds out his hand as if he wants the two girls to take it. “Do not worry. There really is a place I will take you both to. Trust me.” 

Gytha removes her mother’s arms around her, steps forward, and says with a snappy tone, “Well, it is not like we have a choice, do we? What is this place called?” 

“I told your mother as you were sleeping last night. It is called Pacem. I do not lie. I am sorry. I hope this will be the last apology that I make. From here on out, there will be no more hiding the truth. There is a ship not too far from here.” Ambrose points in the direction they will go. “I was going to and still will take both of you. This was my plan for you both, Gytha. This ship will take us to that land. I am sure of it. Your mother and I were going to tell you this when you woke. Now please, let me show you both were the ship is located.” Ambrose still shows he is full of guilt because he is still hiding more of the truth. 

Ms. White looks down at her daughter, showing deep sympathy. “Gytha is right. We do not have anywhere else to go. We shall follow. This also explains how you could take the sword from Everett so easily.” 

“I am ashamed for not telling you who I was. I had to hide my identity. If anyone knew where I came from and who I was, they would have tried to kill me, and the letter would not have arrived. You and I both know if I came to you with this emblem showing, you would not have trusted me at all. This is why I hide the truth. After we ate, I was going to tell you both who I really am.” Ambrose is confused as to why he wants their blessing. This shows on his face. “That is where I was, that is why I was missing this morning—I was gathering food. I promise. Please forgive me. If not for these men, you would have found out in a different, more pleasant way. If I was here, this would have never happened. This will never happen to you girls ever again. I will make sure of it. This shall be my promise to you two for being dishonest.” Ambrose is full of culpability while the girls stare him down, full of disbelief. “If it makes you feel better, I prefer not to kill unless I have to. I did not mean to kill Everett. I had no choice. This is how I have been for several months now. I am changing slowly, and you two are improving this. I do not really know why,” Ambrose tells the two girls, hoping they will forgive him. 

“No need for more apologizing or promises. My mother already said we shall follow. But there are still a few questions, like why do you have your armor and emblem still?” asks Gytha. 

“Yeah, my daughter is right to ask. Why do you? I am confused.” 

“I kept it on in case anything like this happened. It keeps my body from harm from the many weapons that are drawn on me consistently. I know it does not cover much, but as I mentioned before, I am an assassin. Assassins need to move fast and quietly. This armor shields me from the majority of weapons while staying flexible.” Ambrose places his robe back on. “Now the emblem, this is a different story. It is still on this armor because it is not easily removed. I also have been so occupied delivering the letter I have not really tried with my full potential to rip it off. I am sorry to cut off more of your questions, and I know you will want to ask more. For now, we must go in case more show up.” 

“Fine, we shall go.” Ms. White looks at Gytha, and the two nod their heads hesitantly. 

Ambrose wrangles three horses nearby that the soldiers rode in on. He places his dagger back under his robe. “This is less dangerous and gives more freedom to move more swiftly.” He hands a horse to Gytha and looks at Ms. White. “Just in case our enemies show once again. Although I doubt they will show again. We will be moving too fast for them to catch up to figure out where we have gone and what has happened.” 

Ms. White agrees. The three jump on their new horses to ride off onto a horse trail that will lead into the woods. They leave several of Everett’s men dying in pain. 

Hours of silence later, Ambrose looks around as if he is looking for any type of ambush. He has a feeling that Adrian will show his face once more. The next time will not be so pleasant. 

“Explain more. Like the single glove you have on, Ambrose,” Ms. White demands. 

Ambrose is paying no mind to the girls as he looks around. “Pardon me, I did not hear you.” 

Gytha steps in the conversation. “So your name is Ambrose. Mother has not told me your name yet. Anyway, you said you would explain more later. Well, it is later.” 

“I am sorry. What else would you two like to know?” 

“Umm, how about your whole life!” Gytha exerts herself. 

“Now, Gytha, I think that might be too much. How about something a little smaller? Like this assassin thing you spoke of or the single glove you have on your left hand. It is black and looks as if it is made from the same metal my husband’s sword is.” Ms. White corrects Gytha. 

Ambrose looks at his glove from the attention the girls are giving it. “Ha-ha! Well, actually that is my whole life. I will tell you everything.” 

Gytha smiles. “Good.” 

“We have about a half a day’s journey left to travel. It will help pass the time. Well, let me see. Do you remember me telling you about that woman that showed me kindness?” 

“Who? No, I do not remember.” Gytha looks at her mom and Ambrose with much interest. 

“Yes,” Ms. White answers Ambrose. “It is someone who showed Ambrose kindness as a child. He told me while you were sleeping last night. He told me she was the only person who has done this,” Ms. White tells Gytha. 

“Well, we show you kindness too,” Gytha corrects her mother. 

“Yes, you two do. You two and that woman that I speak of are the only people that showed such kindness to me. I thank you two for this.” 

“You are welcome,” Gytha said smugly, trotting in front of them both. 

Ambrose smiles from Gytha’s reaction and continues, “I believe that woman might have been my mother.” 

“Yes, you told me this already as well. Why do you think she did not tell you?” 

“What my king does is look for young children around the age of two, sometimes even younger. If they meet his standards, he will kill the father and take the mother and child into his castle. From there, he will take the mother and make her a slave. He then takes the baby from her and condemns the child in a dark dungeon room.” 

“Oh, how sad.” Ms. White looks down then back at Ambrose with new knowledge of him. “I see now. You were once a child like this. She would stop every once in a while to see you. While doing so, she had to bear the grief of not telling you her true identity. If you told the king by accident, he would execute her on the spot, knowing very well the exact woman you would have spoken of. Didn’t you say you think she was killed? This does not make much sense. You did not say anything about this woman, did you?” 

“No, I never did. I think the king found out some other way and killed her. After she stopped showing up, I remember my king telling me she did not care about me. He said that is the reason she did not show up anymore. It did not make sense how he would have known about her, but he must have caught her and told me that crazy story to make me worship him as more of a god than a king. It worked.” His fist tightens to show anger toward his king and his lies. “He told me only he was the one who would always care for me and will never leave my side. So my heart filled with hate and anger, but I was very dedicated to the king. Because of this, I was able to become the most feared Sicarius and would never let anything happen to my king.” 

“So what are you called? Is there a special group you are part of with a name?” Gytha changes the topic as children would do. 

“What the people in our land call us is what my king’s ancestors named us. The kings that have ruled Fraudule have filled the people with fear. Just a whisper of or saying Sicarius out of the kingdom would be death. That is why this name, Sicarius, is so unknown to you.” 

“Oh. So the name of the group is called Sicarius,” Gytha declares. 

Ms. White looks away from the conversation into the trees for none to hear her think aloud, “Most feared?” 

“What is that, Ms. White? I did not hear you.” 

“Oh, it is nothing. Never mind me. Keep telling your story. You can call me Aida, by the way.” 

Ambrose nods to acknowledge Aida’s request and continues, “Very well. As I was saying, recently, I have started to understand what really happened. So now I have no choice but to question my king. I do not know why I keep calling him my king. I shall call him King Oswald from now on. I have no king.” 

“A true drifter,” Aida announces with a smile and a quick nod while looking at Ambrose with certainty. 

“Yes, I agree. Well, every Sicarius is brought up the same way, only the king is to interact with us, and that is to make us believe we have no emotion. No other Sicarius had to deal with any other outsider like I did. An outsider gives us mixed emotions. Without mixed emotions, we would have no emotion. I think because of the emotions I had, but was too uneducated about, this gave me the upper hand with the other Sicarius. Kind of how King Oswald—” Ambrose stops in his sentence to hear and looks from the corner of his eye without turning his head. 

“King Oswald?” Gytha repeats Ambrose’s words with her hand turning in a circular motion to show Ambrose he left the sentence unfinished, and she wanted to hear the end. 

Ambrose looks at the two as if he knows something they do not. “Let me tell you something about the rules and the rank structure,” he resumes with a new sentence as if he never stopped his last sentence. 

“Okay,” Gytha and Aida say at the same time and look at each other, perplexed. 

“At the age of eight, we are taken out of the dungeon and begin our training on how to become a true Sicarius.” 

“You seem distracted. Are you okay?” Aida asks Ambrose. 

“There are four ranks. The fifth rank is awarded to the most powerful and skilled. He is called head lion,” Ambrose recommences as if Aida had not said anything at all. 

BOOK: Sicarius
6.08Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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