The Assassin

Stranger

The pillows caressed her head as Luella mushed her face into the satiny material. Though she ached and her eyelids drooped from time to time, thoughts of the handsome man who clumsily walked on the edges of the ballroom encroached her mind. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't fall asleep.

Her head pulsed with blood, her heart regaining it's quick pace from earlier. Luella threw the heavy blankets off of her frame letting the cool air rush over her skin. She didn't like the sticky, sweaty feeling that came with the warming bed, though usually comforting, tonight it was suffocating. The princess sat up in her bed pulling on the long, white nightgown that was clinging to her skin. 

 It couldn't be normal for a stranger to make her so flustered to the point of overheating. Luella looked around her room trying to distract herself from the heat, the grand window in her room caught her eye  and she stared into the starry sky. It had to be somewhere after midnight for the moon was bright and high. The luminous ball helped take her mind off the humidity for a few minutes allowing her to ponder on about Phillip, though every breath she took seemed to fog up the room. She had quite enough of this, Luella walked over to her window and opened it up and taking in a deep breath of fresh air through her mouth. Her lungs held on to the air she just took in for a moment before letting it go and returning to her normal breathing pattern. Luella could feel the warm air leaving her room into the night sky and for the first time all night her body temperature felt normal. She sat in the nook of her window and relaxed against the sill. 

Observing the tall trees, whos leaves almost looked fake with the soft glow of the moon giving it a waxy appearance, the princess's eyes began to feel heavy once again with tiredness. Sleep cradled Luella in its arms and was she almost enveloped into a deep sleep until the moon's light suddenly turned dark on her eyelids as if something was standing in the way. Sleepiness got the best of her and was willing to chalk it up to drifting clouds. She shuffled into a better position to rest but her movement seemed to scared the thing blocking the moon and it no longer stood in the way of the light allowing it to hit her eyelids again. The brightness of the luminescence jolted her eyes open and she slowly let her eyes adjust to the illumination. 

Luella scanned outside her window and checked for animals or maybe even an ant but nothing seemed to be around. She noticed that there wasn't a cloud in sight either, peering over the ledge of her window she also concluded no one could have been standing there. Her room was three-stories up and the tedious stairs that lead to her room wasn't a short trip either. Though the unlikely probability that anyone could come through her window, she closed it anyway and locked the latch on it. 

She stepped off the nook and briskly walked to her bed, unfortunately Luella didn't know the something or should I say someone already made their way into her room. A strong hand covered her mouth and pulled her into a concrete chest, a cold sliver of metal lightly hovered on her neck. The princess thought it was safe to assume it was a knife that was being held much too close for comfort on her skin. 

Shivers crawled down her spine making the humid room feel like an icy Tundra. Heavy breathing could be heard eerily close to her ear making her body freeze in place and goosebumps to travel down her frame. This person holding Luella captive gave off an unnerving presence, the seemingly unending silence didn't help the growing feeling of dread swirling in her stomach. 

"Why aren't they doing anything?" Luella contemplated. The strength they used to grab the princess had such strong intent but now it's almost as if they're...hesitant. What was their plan to begin with? What are they doing here? Why were they after her? 

A deep, rugged voice startled Luella. It was low in her ear with a threatening growl but the words that came out didn't match the tone.

" Please...don't scream and I promise to let you go." The mysterious man said.

 Let her go? Is that all he came here to do? 

"Nod if you understand." The voice continued. 

Luella quickly nodded her head, she wasn't sure if she wasn't going to scream or not but if he was actually going to let her go she didn't want to ruin it by being defiant. The large hand steadily removed itself from her mouth. Matching his pace she began to turn around to look at his face.

"Stop." He directed. "Don't move."

Luella complied and stood still, however, she turned around just enough to see his shadow. She wasn't sure if it was the shadow being stretched but his physique was incredibly muscular in the chest but his torso looked too skinny to even be apart of the same body. He was tall with short hair and a long face. His posture was the only thing Luella didn't find acceptable. 

The man moved to the window and unlocked it, hopping on to the window sill he crawled out with ease. Luella watched in awe as his shadow disappeared behind the building wall.

"How did he climb all the way up to my window from the outside of the building?"  She didn't even begin to ponder on how he climbed down. Luella ran to her nook and hastily locked her window back up, the pitter-patter of her feet could still be heard throughout her room, then out in the hall where Oliver and a few other guards were patrolling. 

"Oliver!" She cried out. His head immediately snapped in her direction and he ran towards the princess, his facial expression was twisted in a cross manner. 

"What happened?" He asked with a demanding tone. Luella knew his anger wasn't directed at her. 

"There was a man in my room, he just left through my window!" Her voice was higher-pitched than usual but she wasn't too concerned about that right now. 

In a split second Oliver was shouting at the guards to search outside the castle and to bring in anyone they find. The uniformed man stayed with Luella at all times and was checking all corners of the bricked palace as he took her to the safe room, his hand on his weapon at all times. The smaller-than-average door was accessed by pushing an oddly pristine looking book shelf. The entire wooden prop spun around for Oliver and Luella and they rushed down the short hallway and past the door into the room that was slightly bigger than it appeared from the outside. Soon, the king and queen was wide awake and was swarming the red carpeted safe room with even more guards. 

 "Thank you, for protecting my daughter Oliver." King Charles said. The guardsmen nodded.

 "Of course, your majesty." Oliver bowed deeply. 

The king rushed to his daughter who was sitting down in her nightgown looking shaken up and fixated on the red painted wall before her. 

"Are you okay, Luella?" Charles asked enveloping her in a hug. Beatrice was following close behind, her face was pale and her eyes were wide with worry. Luella nodded. 

"What happened? What did he do to you?" The queen was going to ramble on with a list of questions but Luella had already started answering. 

"There was this man who came into my room, I think he came through my window, but he grabbed me and held a knife to my neck...but then he let me go and left." Luella said. Her parents listened intently towering over her with wide eyes. "I couldn't see his face, he wouldn't let me...I did see his shadow! He was tall and muscular with a small waist and he had a long face." Luella spat out remembering the details she managed to see. 

"Bastard!" Charles hissed. Beatrice just held her daughter close and whispered soft declarations of relief. 

"I'll go tell the description to the other guards. We should make a public announcement, see if anyone can turn him in." Oliver said through clenched teeth. Bulging veins could be seen on his neck due to the constriction of faking a collected demeanor.  

It was difficult to sleep that night. The hours felt long, Luella could count every minute that trudged by and every second that trekked on. Soon it felt as if weeks had gone by and the lack of windows didn't aid in her estimate of time, though that setback was a welcomed one. Guards stood at attention around her, unwavering in their positions that they've been holding for...

"Oh, I don't know, forever."  She thought with a sigh. The princess traced the golden edges of the walls with her eyes hoping it would tire her out. Somehow her parents fell asleep rather quickly, she supposes they felt safe here and Luella could agree that she couldn't even begin to imagine how anyone could harm her now with the small army that's been packed inside the safe room and stationed in the library. And the halls and the entrances and the exits and the entire palace. 

To pass time faster she envisioned herself as a spy attempting to infiltrate the heavily guarded mansion. Sadly, she failed every time. After the frustrating process of not being able to pass the visualized royal guard she let out a sharp breath and loosely hung her body over the brown leather chair she's been propped up on most of the night.

"I wish Oliver were here." The princess muttered shallowly. She could at least have someone to conversate with even if it were for two minutes. None of these other guards would do it, she just knew it. Her mind harshly judged the innocent guardsmen who were doing their jobs and following the rules. If not a conversation at the very least she'd have a familiar face to stare at, that wasn't the snoring face of her father, though staring is rude as she's had told to her many times. The growing impatience in her chest bubbled as she tried her very best to stop herself from letting out a loud groan. 

Suddenly, for what seemed like days, a loud shifting noise could be heard from behind the safe room door indicating someone had just walked through the secret passageway. Almost as if she'd summoned him with her mind, the door let out a soft click and from behind the door Oliver walked in. 

Luella was about to exclaim in excitement but he placed a finger to his lips and she quickly caught herself before she woke up her father and mother. He made soft steps over to Luella and whispered just loud enough for her to hear him. 

"Princess please, if you're going to stay up late you could at least sit down properly." Oliver pointed out.

Those weren't the words she was expecting but she fixed her dangling posture and sat up straight in her seat. 

"Thank you. Now, unfortunately we haven't been able to find the man who was in the palace..." , There was brief pause and his eyes flashed with anger, you most likely would have missed it but Luella didn't. "And for that reason I suggest you stay in this room until we do." 

"What!" Luella said rather loudly. The king and queen stirred in their sleep. 

"I know it's rather unfavorable but I will not run the risk of you getting kidn*pped or hurt or murdered." 

"But he came while it was night!" Luella tried her best to keep her voice to a whisper. "Surely, he won't come during the day, please, I don't want to stay in here! Can I at least walk around the palace once?" She pleaded with puppy eyes.

Oliver seemed to consider it for a second but his worries got the best of him. "No." He stated.

Luella crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. 

"Luella.." Oliver said. She didn't respond, she closed her eyes and turned her face away from him. 

"Luella, I understand you don't want to stay here all day but it's for your safety. I really don't know what I'd do if I allowed someone to hurt you." 

She continued to stay silent and she whipped her head to the other side and closed her eyes to show she was purposefully not answering him. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. 

"It's just until we can make sure that the palace is safe and secured." 

"And how long will that take?" Luella retorted. She expected a disapproving face to her attitude but instead she was greeted by a sly smile. 

"What?" She asked.

"You spoke." Oliver teased.

It only served to make Luella even more irritated as she reassumed her non-verbal opposition. He let out a short laugh and tried again to convince the stubborn princess that this was for her own good. 

"If you would like me to get anything from your room and bring it down here I will, okay? I'm not sure how long you'll be in here but I promise as soon as it's safe enough I'll walk you around the garden." Oliver negotiated. 

Luella stayed still for a moment before slowly uncrossing her arms. "Fine." She said in a low voice. He gave her a quick smile and went to stand up. 

"Wait." She said stopping him. Oliver faced Luella waiting for her to speak. 

"What time is it?" She asked. 

"About five thirty." He said.

She couldn't hold it in any longer. Luella let out a suppressed groan slinking back into the chair. 

"I want this night to end."