The Assassin

Hats and Tea

Luella had finally arrived home. Oliver squeezed the life out of her right after Beatrice who had done the same to her daughter, fawning over her while pinching her cheeks and kissing her face. The princess was asked many questions about the trip by her guard who was happy she made it back to Astor safe and sound but his tranquil face fell once Luella had told him about the woman she had killed. 

He kept asking her if she was okay and at the moment she was, but now as she lays in her dark room alone with her mind burning the image of the woman into her skull. The creeping uncomfortableness that crawled over her skin like spiders came back as she remembered the uncanny resemblance of the woman to Phillip's mother.  

They had the same orange-red curly hair and pale pointy features, it was petrifying seeing Arabella's clone's face turn a ghostly white as her green dress dampened with blood not to mention the previous seconds of seeing the familiar genial face crimp with rage as she hurtled toward Luella's father. 

It was such an odd feeling, the peaceful air that was surrounding her had been replaced with a heavy cloud of dread. Maybe it was the wearing off adrenaline that made the princess calm or maybe it was the lack of sleep, she couldn't tell. But now she was dealing with the consequences of brushing off Oliver's concerned questions. 

She knew he wasn't far, he stood where he always did. It was still quite early for him to already have switched positions with another guard. Luella stayed rigid in her bed feeling a bit foolish for having to come to Oliver with trivial thoughts and worries but part of her still kept urging her body to get up and talk to the guardsmen. 

She finally was able to move just enough to slide off the mattress and touch the cold floor with the flats of her feet. When she shifted her body weight from the bed to her legs it felt like she had entered a dream, like she was being pulled along. Her limbs languidly took her to the bedroom door and cautiously opened it, she peeked her head out from the room and searched the hallway for Oliver.

She somehow was startled when she caught sight of the man standing at his post, the torch near her door lit his face up well so she could see his stony face go soft when he saw the distressed looking princess standing at the frame of the door. 

"Oliver." She said. He turned the front of his body towards her and listened to her hushed voice.

She was trying to form a sentence in her head to somehow say how she felt and what she needed but it was difficult. It was quite a long pause, Luella fiddled with her dress and wiped her warm and damp hands on the cloth material. A thick lump of saliva slowly traveled down her throat when she suddenly felt the urge to cry.

"Your highness?" Oliver asked. She kept her gaze low still trying to figure out what to say, she decided to open her mouth and let whatever words fell from her lips fall but only a pathetic squeak and hiccup came out. 

"Luella?" Oliver's voice called out to her again as he walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Luella, are you okay?" He asked delicately. She shook her head as a tear swelled in her left eye then her right.

The princess was the first to wrap her arms around Oliver, burying her face into his chest and sobbing uncontrollably, staining his uniform with her tears. It was as if she soaked up the despair and sorrow from the Nostarians corpses for the image of their dead bodies no longer was a curious sight, it instead gave her heartache and made her feel like screaming until her vocal chords were shredded. 

The guardsmen didn't question her sadness, he already had an idea of why she was so upset which was why he was so adamant about the princess' emotional state when she had returned. It was such a shame to her like this, killing someone was not something to be taken lightly. Gloved hands petted the princess' black hair and held her back firmly to help alleviate the young girl. 

Luella was gripping the man so tightly it was almost suffocating but Oliver put up with it. About five minutes had passed before the princess had begun to calm down, the sounds of her cries became more and more muffled until nothing could be heard anymore and her stiff composure relaxed the tiniest bit. 

Slowly she peeled her face off of the man's chest showing her swollen and red face, it looked as if she had gotten into a brawl. Tears were still streaming down her face and occasional hiccups and sniffles would still happen but for the most part she had calmed down. Oliver silently lead her to the bathroom. Taking off his gloves he picked up a washcloth drenched it with water, rinsed it, and wiped the snot and salty liquid off of her face. 

Luella felt like a toddler again but in this instance she didn't mind. 

"Would you like to talk about it?" Oliver asked the princess now patting her face dry with another small towel. She shook her head. Her throat was much too tired for that and her now drained body wanted to fall back onto her bed.

"Would you like me to go get you a glass of water?" 

She nodded. Oliver quickly walked off to fulfill the request of the princess. Luella looked at herself in the mirror, oh how monsterous her swollen lips and eyelids looked! She couldn't understand how Oliver could look her right in the face and not laugh, he truly was a gentleman. She could almost cry again just staring at the bloated features on the face. 

Erratic breaths of air were still entering and exiting the princess' lungs so she took this time to normalize her breathing and slow her fast paced heartbeat. Soon enough, the guardsmen returned with a cup of water, handing it to the princess. 

The water in the glass was gulped down rather quickly for the princess was thirsty due to the intense crying she had done making her mouth dehydrated. Oliver took back the empty cup and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"Do you feel better?" 

"Yes." Luella managed to croak.

They walked back to her room and she gave him one last hug feeling the cold spots her tears had left on his attire before returning to her comfortable sheets and bed.

Her head now empty and tired she fell fast asleep not even three minutes later and had a dreamless night.

*   *   *

"A ball! To celebrate your first quest and to reward you for saving the king's life!" One of the maids told Luella.

"It's taking place tomorrow night so the king wants a list of everyone you'd like to invite." The staff member continued to ramble on with a smile.

Luella felt sick. Celebrating a murder? How could she possibly be excited? 

As for who she wanted to invite, no one, she didn't want anyone to come but she couldn't possibly tell that to her father.

"Why doesn't he make it open to the public like last time? I enjoyed the last ball when everyone was allowed to come." The princess said hoping she wouldn't have to take the time shifting through distant relatives and acquaintances. She didn't have the energy.

"I'll go tell him right away, your highness!" The over eager maid exclaimed. 

Luella walked over to a couch in the living room that had a flower pattern sewn into it and plopping down on the piece of furniture and staring at a painting of a small plaza that looked oddly familiar but she couldn't place her finger on it. Oliver sat on a couch parallel to hers and watched over her carefully. Her posture was askew and her head rested lazily on her palm but Oliver let the princess be, not wanting to unnecessarily bother the already upset princess. He watched as she closed her eyes and sighed through her nose, her usually rosy cheeks and lips were pale and washed out, her breathing was slow and most noticeable of all her usually twinkling eyes and upturned mouth was drooping with uncertainty and dimmed with guilt.

Oliver hadn't dealt with something so serious with Luella before but there's a first for everything and he was willing to learn how to take care of the situation.

The princess was frozen in her daze, the only thing that moved was her bouncing foot. Suddenly, her eyes snapped to his and she swiftly fixed her position on the couch.

"Sorry." She said.

"No, it's fine." Oliver reassured her. 

"Oh, okay." Luella slackened her posture once more. The guardsmen thought it was quite amusing how fast she returned to her lopsided posture as soon as he gave her permission but she straightened up again when something could be heard colliding with the ground. 

A guard could be seen accompanying a clumsy brunette holding three boxes, one of the boxes were on the floor.

"Sorry!" Phillip called out to her.

The princess' gloomy face turned into a excited one as she stood up and scurried to pick up the box that had fallen.

"Hello, Phillip." She said with a smile.

"Hel- hello, your highness." He greeted.

"I told you, call me Luella." She said invitingly.

"Come, come!" She lead him to the couches Oliver and her were sitting on and set down the box on a small coffee table in between the two pieces of furniture, under in a large brown rug. Phillip did the same. 

Similarly at Arabella's shop he sat beside her and avoided eye contact,. especially with her guard. Luella noticed the tension between him and Oliver so she dismissed him.

"Oliver, may you please give us a moment alone?" She asked. The nervous man wanted to say it wasn't necessary but he didn't want to interrupt the princess.

"I refuse to leave you alone with a boy." On his last word he eyed Phillip up and down.

"Then will you please send another guard to watch us?" Luella said looking at him with pleading eyes.

It took a second for him to respond but he nodded and left, another just as intimidating guard came in and stood near the entrance of the hallway.

"Okay, now, where were we?" Luella said with a smile turning toward Phillip.

"My mother finished the hats you requested." He motioned toward the boxes. He scolded himself for stating the obvious. The princess squealed in excitement.

"Show them to me!" She said.

"Ye-yes! Yes, of course." Phillip began to extra carefully take a box from the small tower of hat boxes and place it down, opening it.

Luella peeked inside the box and stared at them in awe.

"How gorgeous!" She remarked. 

"I am very glad that you like them." Phillip said interlocking his fingers together.

The princess placed the pigeon blue bonnet on her head, there were baby blue ribbons that wrapped around the head piece and under the chin, yellow ribbons littered the prominent head piece on the back. 

"Can you please ask one of my maids to fetch me a mirror, please?" She kindly asked.

"Yes, your hig-Luella." Phillip corrected himself and left the living area to search for a maid. Unfortunately, it was proving to be a difficult task for no maids were to be found, he was wandering aimlessly around the palace wondering if he should call out to see if anyone was there, he was getting worried that the princess might be becoming impatient but soon he started to worry if he would even be able to find the living area again. 

Phillip turned down another corridor that appeared like all the rest when he saw Luella's spine-chilling guard standing at a post, he wanted to turn around but he didn't want to get lost again and there are good chance Oliver had already seen him in his peripheral vision, so he reluctantly continued down the walkway and tried his best to seem nonchalant walking past the taut man.

Phillip felt he could almost pass out especially when the sudden voice of the guardsmen spoke causing him to jump. 

"Are you lost?" He asked. If anyone else had asked that sentence he would've been grateful for the help but he would rather be lost if Oliver was the one going to do it. It wasn't like he asked with a helpful tone in the first place. 

"uh, ye-" Phillip's voice cracked so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes, I am, Luella w-wanted a uh, a mirror." He struggled to say.

"I can get her a mirror, stay here." Oliver said.

"Thank you." Phillip said faintly, he wasn't even sure the guardsmen heard it. It didn't matter anyway since he was already on his way to retrieve the mirror before Phillip had a chance to speak.

The jittery man waited around, the princess had to be tired of waiting by now. What an i***t he was, can't even do a task so simple as getting a mirror. He cringed thinking about the upset royalty back in the living quarters. Luckily, Oliver came back soon enough with a hand mirror. 

"Here." He said handing him the golden looking glass. Phillip was going to say thank you but it caught in his throat so instead he gave a quick nod and began walking away, but then he realized he didn't know where he was going so he turned around to ask Oliver for directions.

He expected a infuriated look to be laid upon him but the guard looked disappointed more than anything. Maybe even pity? It was better than the usual livid stare he gave him. 

He wasn't sure how long it had been since he left the living room area but he was glad had made it back and thankfully, the princess didn't look upset. She was looking at the other bonnets with wonder when she looked up and saw that Phillip had returned.

"You're back!" Luella said excitedly. "Your mother is absolutely amazing, thank you!" She put the bonnet she was twirling in her hands down and briefly hugged Phillip. He didn't know why she was thanking him, all he did was bring the hats to the palace but he was certainly glad about the hug. It made the man flush and become tongue-tied, not that he wasn't already. He giggled happily as he sat back down on the couch.

Luella thought it was incredibly cute.

"Did you get the mirror?" She asked remembering why she sent him.

"Oh? Oh! Yes, I did!" He said handing it to her.

She held it up and beamed looking at her reflection.

"They're perfect." She whispered to herself.

Phillip stared at the alluring princess. 

"You're perfect." He thought. 

"Don't they look nice?" Luella asked the already enraptured man. 

"You look beautiful." Phillip responded in an oddly smooth tone, She looked at him surprised.

"Uh, sorry!" His eyes widened with panic, he didn't even answer her question. Luella bit her lip as pink dusted her cheeks.

"No need to apologize, Phillip. Thank you." She replied sheepishly. He awkwardly laughed and scratched the back of his neck as she continued trying on her bonnets while admiring herself in the mirror. All the while they kept glancing at each other and quickly looking away when their eyes met. 

"So, my father is hosting a ball tomorrow." Luella brought up. "Everyone is invited just like the last and..I was wondering if you'd like to come." 

"Absolutely, I'll see if my mother can come this time!" Phillip beamed. It was the first time Luella had seen the man filled with energy that wasn't fueled by anxiety, it was nice to see..but then she remembered why the ball was being held. She didn't know if she wanted to see his mother, not after Nostar. 

The man could see Luella's face fall.

"Is..something the matter?" He asked. She looked at him for a moment then looked away, could she tell him? Should she tell him? Luella turned the notion in her head over and over, she looked over at Phillip one more time.

"...Do you know about Nostar?"