"The Rite"

Being an assassin can be hard, especially when you’re told to kill the King. I’m only a kid, and I have to live up to my parent’s expectations. In order to do that, I have to kill the king and not get caught. This was going to be an interesting summer. In order to gain love from my family, I had to kill the king. The plan was for me to gain his trust, then kill him, sounds simple . But I didn’t want to, I guess meeting the king would be interesting but I did not want to kill him. The plan was meant to begin in a month, and I wasn’t prepared for anything. I might have wanted to do that granted if I didn’t get things done right I would be disowned. And you do not want to be hated by a family of assassins.
I walked over to my weapons chest and opened it, I was going to disguise myself as a blacksmith’s apprentice, that much I knew. But what I didn’t know was how to actually sharpen a blade, or how not to get caught on fire. My whole family has been training me my whole lift for this mission, but I’m not sure if I can do it. I really have no reason to hate the king, I actually like the way he’s ruling. Besides if I kill him, he has a son who’s my age and old enough to run the kingdom. I’m really stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I mess up, my family will kill me. But if I do kill the king I’ll be the most wanted criminal in the country.
Tomorrow I would begin my apprenticeship , and the plan would be put in action. After this I would have no free will, I would merely be a puppet in my family’s master plan to take over the kingdom. Yeah that’s right, my father wants us to eventually take over the kingdom. I’m not sure how he plans to do so, he’s crazy. I walked over to my bedroom window, and with a sigh I watched the sun go down on my last day of freedom.
Morning came too soon. My older siblings thought it would be amusing to wake me up by pouring water on me. It was the perfect beginning to possibly the worst day of my life. The sun wasn’t even breaking over the horizon, I didn’t have to be at the blacksmith’s until closer to noon.

“You better have a good reason for waking me up,” I glared at my laughing siblings. Eric, the oldest one, had murdered the King’s right hand man who had yet to be replaced. He was going to be helping me by replacing the right hand man. He was mainly sent to keep an eye on me and make sure I didn't wimp out. Honestly, I really didn't want to have to do this, but I didn't want to let my family down.

“Well you have to leave soon,” he said.

“That’s such a lie,” I said, standing up. Eric was nearly a foot taller than me, it wasn’t fair .

“Yeah, you’re right,” Valerie said. Valerie was my oldest sister, “We just woke you up to make you miserable.”

“I’m going back to bed,” I said flopping back down on my bed.

“Whatever, Dad told us to wake you up,” Eric said, “So if you want to disobey Father that’s your choice.” They knew that I didn’t really get along with Father, he expected so much from me and I didn’t want to let him down.

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“Because it’s not true,” William said looking down. He was the only one I could really trust. He was the honest one.

“Really Will, you weren’t supposed to tell him,” Eric said hitting him in the back of the head. As the fighting began, I climbed out my window and onto the roof. By the time I got back into the house all my siblings had left, but that didn’t really matter because I had to leave anyway. I really hate them sometimes, like right now. I avoided my whole family, I didn’t want to be lectured on how this was a matter of family pride and how if I mess this up I would have to disappear... forever. To me there really wasn’t an upside to this situation.

I climbed down the wall of my house, doors are overrated. Some children shrieked as I climbed down the wall, they would tell their parents, but that didn’t matter, their parents would just think they were being silly. I knew if they knew what my family and I were they wouldn’t understand. Life was going on as usual in the town. Merchants were selling their goods, trying to one-up each other. Trying to get people to buy things they didn’t need, or really want. The market place was easy to get lost in if you weren’t paying attention, and you needed to be wary of pick-pockets when it was busy. Life was so simple for them, I was envious of them. They didn’t have to worry about killing the king, nor did they worry about disobeying my father, which may result in death. The market wasn’t too full, you could still get around without having to push your way through the crowd. I soon came upon the blacksmith where I would begin my betrayal.

I knew if I walked in, there was no turning back, that I was merely a pawn in my father’s web. I wasn’t a viper like my other siblings, I wasn’t sitting there waiting to strike. I was there and I didn’t want to be.

“Christopher,” I heard a booming voice say, “Welcome, my boy.” Gerard said hitting me on the back causing me to lurch forward. “You have a lot to learn, come on.” Gerard said dragging me into the workshop.

“More than you know,” I mumbled as I was being dragged. The workshop was a mess, I’d probably be cleaning this place for a month. It was a large space but it seemed cramped because of the piles of rubble.

“Okay, as you can see, we’re very busy. There are lots of people who want weapons made for them, especially since there’s a tournament next week. You’ll be doing on-the-job training, so I hope you aren’t a bleeder,” Gerard said hitting me on the shoulder, apparently he was trying to be funny. Although I’m not quite sure how bleeding is amusing, I smiled none the less. He handed me an axe and pointed in the direction of a sharpening stone, “Sharpen it.”

“Okay?” I said questioningly. I had no idea how to sharpen a blade, or even use the sharpening stone.

“The best way to learn something is hands on learning,” Gerard hit me on the back.

“My father did tell you that I’m not actually here to be your apprentice, right?”

“Yes, but he also said that I could have you do whatever I want. That includes putting you to work. Now practice, or you’ll never be a convincing apprentice.” I sat at the sharpening stone, I had no idea what to do, “Push down the pedal, then keep pumping it.” He said. I had no doubt that he had little to no hope for me. I got the stone going, “Now put the edge of the blade on the stone.” I did what I was told, “Now move the blade across the stone.” I didn’t have a good enough grip on the blade and it sliced my arm. There was a river of crimson running down my arm, I hissed in pain. Gerard just sighed, “Clean your arm, and try again.” I was hopeless. I tried many more times to sharpen the blade, failing each time. After the blade ended up embedded in a wall, Gerard decided that I had enough practice for today. I was dismissed with my arms wrapped in bloody bandages. I made my way back to my room. It was dark and the market was empty. No housewives, no thieves, no merchants. I was the only one there, it seemed too quiet. I knew I wasn’t the only one in the market. Someone or something was there. I decided to ignore the presence and just went back to my room. I climbed back up my wall, this time there were no children screaming. When I got to my room I was completely alone, or at least I was for about ten minutes.

Eric busted through the door to my room, “Dad wants to talk to you.” he said grabbing my injured arm, and dragging me down the stairs to my dads office. Eric looked at his hand, it was covered in my blood. “You might want to heal your arms before you go in there.”

“No duh, I was going to do that but you dragged me down here,” I said unwrapping my arms. “Go get Valerie,” I ordered. I wasn’t feeling to well, and I didn’t have enough focus to heal my arms. Eric got Valerie for me so she could heal my arms. I sat on the couch and a warm sensation engulfed my arms. It was pleasant and kinda tingled. When she was done all that was left was faint little scars.

“Now go, dad will be really mad if you’re any later,” Eric warned. I just sighed and walked into our father’s office.

“I heard from Gerard today about your progress. Apparently, you are not doing well at the craft at hand. What do you have to say for yourself?” Father said looking me directly in the eye, “You know how I feel about failure.”

“I’m sorry, Father, it’s only my first day, I promise I’ll get better,” I pleaded. My father was the only man I knew who I was afraid of, and he knew it. He knew how to make someone pray for death just by looking at them. He was fear.
“You’d better, this mission has to be flawless. You need to get better by the tournament. The crowned prince is going to be competing, and the king will be there to watch.”
“But Father, I have a question.” He nodded to allow me to ask, “If the king is going to be at the tournament then why don’t we kill him there. There are bounds to be lots of people to hide in, and the prince--”
“Enough,” Father said standing up.
“But Dad it’s really simple.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Father’s arm turned black as ink.
“The prince could just be killed--” A black hand of smoke reached towards me and began to choke me. “In a lancing accident.”
“The plan is as follows; you will befriend the prince, get close to the king, and kill them. Do I make myself clear?” The grip was tightening.
“Yes sir,” I gasped, and I was let go of.
“Good, now be gone.” I bowed and left the room. I hate this place, I honestly do. I walked back up to my room, I got weird looks from my siblings, Father probably told them not to talk to me. I sighed I REALLY hate this place. I wonder how much trouble I would be in if I burnt it down? I thought as I closed the door to my room.
Although I was dead tired, no matter how hard I tried I could not fall asleep for the life of me. This really sucks. Every time I closed my eyes I could see what might happen to me if I failed. It was my death, either at the hand of my father or at the hands of a palace guard. But then again they might just put me in the dungeon and torture me until I die, that would probably be better than going through with the plan. Either way this situation has no bright side, how long will I not sleep? How long will these images haunt me?


Hey it's up... yay... I know it's a little short... but the parts will get longer... probably... but yeah... I hope you enjoy...Oh and your character's will be added soon enough... and if you want to be part of the madness just post you bio... feel free to post comments below

Hey, cool intro! I liked it very much! Oh, and you don't have to worry about adding characters so soon.

I wonder what will happen next? :o

:O I liked it as well Keep it up!

Sleepless nights, something I have gotten used to. I had learned the streets better than I ever thought I would. I got to see what went on in the night. Things weren’t as peaceful in the night as people said. I had met everyone there was to meet in the night. My father had no idea that I left at night, and tonight was no different.
I snuck out of my window, and climbed down the vined wall carefully. I had to be extra careful not to wake anyone up. Sneaking around was one of the few things I was really good, never been caught once. But that’s nothing to brag about, I was still nothing compared to the rest of my family. I jumped from roof to roof with ease. That’s when I saw him, the crowned prince was sneaking around at night too, how odd. The assassin in me told me to kill him, he’d be dead before he knew it anyway. But the human being in me told me to warn him. I watched from my perch deciding what I should do. I jumped down and landed in front of him.
“What’s the crown prince doing out this late without a guard?” I asked not daring to make eye contact, or even letting him see my face.
“Who are you?” He said, I could tell he was trying to keep him calm facade.
“Don’t you know this place is full of assassins?”
“The crowned prince commands you to explain yourself.”
“All I will tell you is to go back to your castle, if someone else were to find you it would be the end.” I said trying to keep my face hidden.
“Interesting, may I know the name of my grave advisor?”
“No, and I bid you good evening.” And with that I disappeared into the night to leave the prince very confused. It’s better that he doesn’t know who I am now, he’ll know soon enough. The prince soon left, rather quickly, I could tell he had not fully processed what had happened though. I watched him walk away, he had no idea I was going to kill his dad.
I watched the sun rise and decided it might be good idea to get to work. I jumped on the rooftops of the houses to my destination. But that’s when I noticed I wasn’t the only one jumping on the rooftops. There was someone else. He looked a bit older than me, and he looked like he was worried about being followed. I considered going in for a closer look, but that didn’t exactly work. Somehow I managed to fall though the roof of a building. Luckily I fell through the roof of the workshop, bad news was I landed on Gerard.
“Sorry,” I said scrambling to my feet, and helping him up. Then I ran outside and climbed back on to the roof. The figure was gone.
“While you’re up there fix the roof,” Gerard shouted at me from the ground. I sighed and went down to get the stuff to patch the hole in the roof.
“Do I have to it’s more convenient for me,” I whined. The truth was it actually was handy to have a hole in the roof.
“Too bad fix it,” He said handing me some roofing materials. I sighed and got back to work. It took me most of the day to fix the roof. I could have been practicing how to sharpen a blade, which I’ve yet to master or even do without hurting myself, but apparently the roof is more important. I eventually got to work, the only thing I was allowed to do was sharpen knives, not even allowed near the swords this time, but knives. This really sucked. At this rate I wasn’t going to be ready for the tournament.
“Chris, come over here,” Gerard said. I did what I was told to do. He handed me some swords. “I want you you to take these down to the fair grounds, so the swords can be inspected.” I nodded and then began to walk out of the workshop, “Oh and Chris, don’t mess this up.” Gerard’s faith in me is amazing. I just rolled my eyes.
“I wouldn’t dream of messing this up.” I mumbled and continued walking. It was a long way to the fairgrounds and I hated taking the roads. But with all the swords I couldn’t climb. This really sucks.
There were many different types of people on the streets. Some I didn’t know, some I knew quite well It was strange there were more people that I didn’t know then those I knew. Eventually I made it to the fairgrounds. There were tents being set up everywhere, arenas being built, stadiums, benches, everything having to do with the tournament was there. All except or the participants. That’s when I realized; I didn’t know where I was going. I looked around, I had no clue where to go.
“Boy,” someone shouted I turned towards the voice, “Yeah, you kid, follow me.” I followed the man to a tent, normally I would have thought this would be really weird, but since we were at a fairground it wasn’t too odd. There are some serious issues with my logic, oh well. I followed him into a tend, before I entered I could hear metal hitting metal. It sounded like the Hellish Furnaces parents told stories of to naughty children. There was a firey red glow in the tent, I didn’t know what it was until I entered the tent. There was a dragon in there, a bright red fire breathing dragon. “Don’t mind him, he’s only here to supply material for the prince’s shield.” The dragon appeared to be trained, I had never seen a dragon before and I didn’t even know they could be trained. “So I see Gerard has an apprentice now,” I nodded not taking my eyes off the dragon, “Never seen a dragon before,” I nodded again, “He’s rather harmless you can go touch him if you like. He won’t hurt yo, after all he’s pretty mush the prince’s house pet.”
“House pet?” I repeated in shock.
“Yup, the King said the prince could have a pet, and the prince wanted a trained fire breathing dragon.” We kept walking then I found the source of the noise, there was a workshop there, and someone was trying out swords on a suit of armor... Or maybe they were testing a suit of armor with a sword... Maybe both. “Marcus, what are you doing? Marcus is my apprentice, get over here.” Marcus came over the where we were, “This is Gerard’s apprentice...”
“Christopher.”
“Christopher. Gerard’s apprentice Christopher. You two will be helping me during the tournament.” Marcus was obviously more excited than I was.
Hey would you look at that I actually go it up by when I said I would... It
s short but oh well... The next installment will be up by June... Hopefully...

Quote :

This really sucks.

you say that a lot in your story, and it seems a little bit out of place to me. Nonetheless nice job. =)

Yay, roof jumping and mysterious night time visits and more roof jumping and roof falling and roof fixing and blade delivering and fiery dragon and apprentice and stuff.

Yay!

Lol, nice chapter. Keep it up!