Enoch's Daughter
The king was striding towards his daughter's wing. He walked with a purpose, and the castle staff and learned to avoid him, when he was in that type of mood. They had learned to notice that he always headed toward his daughter's room. While many of the staff were familiar with the princess's abilities, the secret didn't leave the castle. They knew better than that, because it would mean certain death.
Not even rumors escaped. The ruthless king had ensured their silence. He never chose staff without family, because he had found them easier to manipulate and control. They needed a way to provide for their family, and the king was more than capable of taking that ability away. If that didn't suffice, they could always threaten the family later. He knew that running a kingdom was hardwork. Traditionally, his family ruled by fear instead of loyalty or love, so he had begun teaching his daughter the way.
Nearby was a neighboring kingdom. He had heard that they were planning on making an alliance, and the king feared that it would be so they could attack them with greater strength. At least greater security that they wouldn't be attacked, while they were waging war. He wanted to unstablize them, so they wouldn't be able to go through with the treaty. If an opportunity opened up, he was sure to quickly take advantage of that. If a golden opportunity occured, he decided that he would try to conquer the kingdom.
His kingdom was rising, and he was collecting troops. He knew it would be hard to keep their movements secret, but that is what needed to be done. It would be best if this could be a surprise, and their army would be used to its best advantage. He knew that the secret to destabilzing a kingdom was taking away the heir. He also wanted the job done properly, so he would choose the best. The best lived in the castle with him. He preferred to keep her busy, because it meant that she couldn't sit around stewing.
From experience he knew the dangers of her stewing. It was extremely perilous to have her pent up anger pointed at you. It hadn't occured to him, when he had first sanctioned the order, and had the bright idea, that it was foolish to train a young princess to be an assassin. She would be unbalanced because of the teenager years already, and adding another thing to that never helped. He didn't spend a lot of time with her, and no one had taught her morals. Children commonly became mad at the parents, and it wasn't wise to keep around someone who was able to kill you. When you became an assassin, he knew you had to drill out mercy, which was scary if she decided her next target was him.
It was best for everyone if he found a way to get her to leave the kingdom. He knew she might see through all of his politics and confusion, because she was trained and smart enough, but he needed her out. When he entered his daughter's side of the castle, he paused for a moment. He wanted to make sure that he looked like a king. He could have summoned her to his chambers or he could have called a private meeting, but he hoped this would draw less attention.
He entered her sitting area, and waited for her to come.
He felt uncomfortable enough in his daughters sitting room, so he remained standing. He felt at a disadvantage, when he was sitting. It was harder to manuver, and he felt that he didn't look as impressive or using his size to his full advantage. He knew it probably would't mean much to his daughter, but she was short. He wasn't a super tall man, but he was a good bit taller than his daughter. He felt that being larger might make her think twice even though his mind told him that she was trained to kill anyone.
He knew he wouldn't be able to match her, especially, since he hadn't brought his sword with him, but he felt that if he was standing there was a bigger chance that he would be able to flee. His daughter was very observant, and he was sure that she would be able to deduct that it was him who was visiting her. She knew the reason he would come speak to her, but would she know who her target was.
He paused a moment, when he heard the door open, and he saw her enter. She didn't appear particularly princess like. She was wearing a gray cotton dress. It wasn't colorful or fancy, and wasn't in style at all. It might be around farmers and such, but he didn't consider it an outfit fit for a princess. He had learned to not argue about this, and save it for when it really mattered such as formal evenings. He appreciated the curtsy, but he still felt uneasy. He noted her sweet expression, and felt further discomfort.
"You know why I am here. Have you guessed the target?" he asked her. He was always impressed by her skills of observation and deduction, and he liked to see further proof of it. He wasn't totally devoid of observational powers, but even when he did notice things, he didn't understand what he had seen. It meant nothing to him, so he wasn't really paying attention. "The kingdom of Arathorn is making a treaty with one of their neighbors. I don't like it. It would make it easier for them to conquer us. Even if they didn't work together to destroy us, Arathorn would have one less enemy to watch. I want this stopped."
He looked at her trying to decide if he noticed any ah ha moments. "If they are destabilized, I want to take advantage of that also. If I see an opportunity, we'll use the momentum to take over their kingdom once and for all. Unless you think differently, I want you to kill their heir. I want you to make it look like their neighbor did it. I don't want this treaty going through," he said with some venom. He hoped she understood the importance of this mission. If she completed this and everything worked out, it would be a win win situation.
"Our army will be waiting for word of your success. Upon our hearing about the tumult in Arathorn, we shall attack. We won't be able to waste precious time, so get word to us quickly." He hoped this would keep her from being tempted to terrorize those who lived nearby, including himself. He wanted her out of here, exercising her mind and doing something he considered useful. "Do you understand the mission? Will you accept?" he asked her. He was hoping this would be purely formality.
While he had other assassins, none of them had as high of a success rate. She had truly proven what she was good at, and he wondered sometimes if it had been a mistake training her. It might help her when she became ruler, and she might appreciate it, but would it backfire on himself and his family. He had seen what was transported into his daughter's room. He didn't understand her obsession with plants, which he knew little about. It confused him, but he had not reason to not acquiesce with her request.
His mind was racing through plan b's. She could always try to be spiteful. It was hard to tell with her. Technically, this murder didn't need to happen. They would probably manage fine without it, but he thought it would be good for everyone except Arathorn."I am sure you know how to complete this mission, if you accept. I'll leave it in your capable hands," he told her. Since she was a princess, he was fairly certain that she could get a hold of all the materials she needed. From her training, she would know how to do this without drawing attentnion to herself.
He could feel something in his stomach sink at her forbidding expression. His daughter was unpredictable, and hard to appease. He wasn't sure exactly what he had done to displease her, but he could already tell that he wasn’t welcome here from her sour expression. Frankly, it amazed him that he could be intimidated by his own daughter. He had an integral part in bringing her into existence, and he tried not to disturb her. He wasn’t sure if he could have avoided her displeasure, but it was too late now.
He knew he would have to forge on with his debriefing of her mission. It was better to try to get it over quickly instead of waiting around for her anger to grow. Carefully, he studied her, because he knew if he observed any warning sign of her anger breaking upon himself, it might save his life. He knew sometimes you could see when someone was thinking hard, but he couldn’t see her mind hard at work through her facial expression. Because he thought he knew his daughter at least this well, he knew that she must be piecing together what he was talking about.
It would be unusual, if she didn’t make some effort. After a while, he began to feel like he was talking to a wall. Her eyes sort of glazed and they didn't dart around as quickly as when he had first entered the room. Her eyes were glazed over and she appeared to be staring through whatever she was looking at as if she wasn’t paying attention. He was certain that even if she wasn’t paying attention she wasn’t missing anything critical knowledge otherwise she would be paying attention.
She was a smart girl, and she knew what she needed. It still irked him that she didn’t respect him enough to give him her full attention. He was a king and her father after all. He paused for a moment wondering if he should ask about her plans. She was a princess, so she had full access to most things. She could probably handle it on her own, and if she was touchy, she might be offended by an offer of his help. His eyebrows went up in surprise at “I got it.”
He gave her an admiring smile. He felt an odd feeling of warmth towards her. His little girl had grown up quickly. Even though her skills frightened him, he couldn't help but be impressed by her. Without thinking, impulsively, he did something unusual, "I love you."
"That's pretty stupid of you," slammed into him. The reply was quick and harsh. In his heart and mind he knew that was a reasonable answer. He had turned his little girl into a monster. He hadn't ever shown love to her before. What was he even talking about? Why had he let such a thing slip out? He had only used her. Even though he didn't know what love was, he knew this wasn't it.
She whispered hoarsely with cold eyes, "I trusted you!"
It was the most emotion he had ever seen from her. Normally, she kept her emotions under a tight lid. He realized what a mistake he had made. His lips moved without him being able to think about it. He didn't want to take responsibility for his actions. He started shrinking away from her.
"Well you can't exactly blame me, can you? It was your mistake."
She recoiled, and he knew that he would pay for it. He was the parent. What had he even been thinking? He waited to see how she would respond. If she didn't react now, there would be a reckoning later. After a moment of standing there, she resumed with their brainstorming. Her planning had occurred quicker than he had thought it would. He waited patiently with his full attention unlike what she had given him. He didn’t want to be caught having to ask questions, because it always made him feel childish and dumb. When she began talking about a bird, he hid his impulse to sigh. Maybe she wasn't finished making a mastermind scheme. He began to be confused about what she was babbling on and on about. After he took a moment to try to listen he realized she was trying to remember the heir’s name, but he couldn't understand why this was important information at this time.
At first he couldn’t remember the name, but it came back to his memory before she remembered. Since it was taking her a while, he was tempted to just tell her, but she didn’t appreciate being interrupted, so he let her stumble through it herself. He was impatient, and it was sort of painful for him to wait for her to come to the same conclusion as he had. After an awkward minute or so she voiced the answer slightly louder than her normal tone. “Peregrine!" Finally! He knew she hadn't taken that long, but it was still a few minutes he considered lost.
This was a perfect opportunity for sarcasm, which the king had to restrain himself. He might have tried if the sarcasm had been particularly witty, but he would have just provoked her without any real satisfaction. He might have done this before he had had a child, but he had learned wisdom since then. He knew better than to push dangerous characters when it was totally unnecessary. He inclined his head slightly, that she had given the correct answer. He could hear the sound of victory in her voice, and she even flashed a rare smile.
That flabbergasted him. What a thing to smile about. Still, he did feel some affection for this girl. He was happy that they could move on to a more important topic, and he was glad to see a smile. Still, he kept a smile off of his own face. He kept quiet, because he was sure she would have something to say, and she wouldn’t appreciate delays. He wasn’t one to keep others waiting either and he wasn’t one to tolerate a wait. He could be wrong, and they might have similar moments like the one that happened previously. Finally, she began what he had wanted from her the whole time.
Her plan.
She went through what would work and what wouldn't. She said that they wouldn't be able to come here. He wasn't surprised by that conclusion, and he really didn't think that would work at all. He didn't want to kill them on his own land. He wanted them to be vanquished on their own, so he could take it over. He nodded his agreement. She would need to go to their castle, which he assumed she would be able to figure it out. He vaguely remembered the reputation she had sought to establish for herself.
He barely paid attention to it, since he knew what she was really like. He didn't want to pay attention to lies, because he may begin to believe them. He still saw through her deception easily, because he was familiar with what was underneath. When she mentioned needing to get there with an invitation, he felt his mind go blank. No quick ideas struck him. Her smile was cold and to himself unbearably self satisfied. He felt a quick surge of anger at her demand, but he had told her what she wanted.
He thought that assassins were supposed to be more independent than this. They shouldn't need the help of their employer. He shrugged this off, as he tried to figure a way out to get her in. She was his child, so he would suffer if she failed. There was no reason to not help her other than being petty. "Whatever you want," he muttered under his breath irritatedly. He stroked his beard trying to come up with a reasonable solution. He stared at his daughter for a moment before his eyes brightened.
He had to work harder than ever to keep a smug smile off of his face. “I have a solution. It will further my plan even if you fail. You will get engaged to Prince Peregrine. That way, there will be an understood treaty of marriage. With that on the line, I’m sure you will work even harder than usual,” he found himself saying without as much tact as might be wise. “Either way, I have a back up plan, and you have a way in. If there is another way, I’m sure you will figure it out. After all, you are the assassin,” he told her.
Credits to the Solareclipse and my roleplay
Fall Month: 1 
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