The Past

Luke

    “And who might you be?” as soon as they walked in the little girl had my brothers undivided attention, and it appeared to me that she didn’t mind that one bit.

“The name is Lily. You must be Cole.”

“Ah, so you have heard of me.” He had this twisted grin on his face, that poor girl, “Wait. Did you say Lily? As in the assasin?”

“Yes.” ALex was it? He was cold and his voice cut through the conversation like a knife. He was the one that called her by her first name. 

“Oh come on Alex. You don’t have to be such a stuck up.” Alex didn’t dare say anything back. 

“Welcome to my home. It’s a pleasure to see you again.” My father descended the stairs. He tipped his head towards Alex, then walked over to Lily. “Why, how long has it been since I have seen you. How you have grown. It is a pleasure to see you again!” 

“It’s a pleasure to see you again too, Mr. King.”

“Oh please Lily , call me Malkum.”

“My apologies but I prefer to call you by your more proper name, if you do not mind.”

“Of course not,” my father was grinning like a cat. However it was not in the same sense as Cole, my father looked as if he was honestly happy. 

“Could you please show us around?” Alex again. I would have to reconsider what my current profile was on him. 

“My sons will show you around the basement.”

“Thank you very much Mr. King.” Lily had a sweet soft voice, I am beginning to see what she sees in Lily. Leaving my father we led them to the basement as soon as we reached the bottom of the stairs my brother had something smart to say. “It must be hard working for that cold hearted woman?”

“The madam? On the contrary, I rather enjoy working for her. She is nice and kind and takes time to think about us and our needs even with her busy schedule.” Lily talked about her as if she was the most wonderful person in the world.

“What about you? Alex was it?”

He had a cold look on his face as if he was planning the quickest way to kill my brother. 

“It’s Alex and I would watch your tongue if I was you. Lily.” Lily hurried to speed up so she was standing next to Alex, this pissed off Cole. 

“Would you like something to drink Miss?” One of the servants asked Lily. To this Lily looked shocked as if this had never happened before. Alex was quick to calm her. “It’s ok. This is what they are here for. Today anything you want to drink or eat is yours.” Lily smiled and blushed at the floor, making my brother even angrier. 

“Peppermint tea please.”

“Of course.”

She looked at Alex as if she wasn’t sure if that was ok, he simply nodded.

My brother took this chance to wiggle his way back in. 

“Not use to this Lily?”

“Not exactly. Usually it’s the other way around.”

“Where are the recruits?” We all turned to see her standing there. When she saw Lily and Alex a sigh of relief came out from her mouth.

“Cheyanne, I didn’t think you would be coming.” To this my brothers mouth dropped right open. She didn’t let that get past her. 

“Of course I came. Lily, are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yes! Thank you Madam.”

“Oh please, this is nothing. Are they treating you well?” She turned her attention towards me as if she would get the answer from within me. 

“Yes! Shall I go and get you something to drink?”

“Lily, relax. It is your day off no need to worry about me.” RIght as she said that the servant was back with Lily’s drink. 

“Cheyanne, have you asked Mr. King yet?”

“I just arrived here Alex. One of the servants told me you were sent this way and I came.”

“Of course, my apologies.”

“Is there something you need from our father?” At that everyone turned to look at me. 

“If we did it would be none of your concern!”

“Alex! You don’t have to be so harsh.”

“Enough, both of you.” Her voice was soft but harsh. At this all of us made our way to the dining room. She led the way, hasn’t she only been here once? She had an eidetic memory. 

“Cheyanne, I didn’t know you were here!” My father’s voice was full of shock. 

“I’m ready to make use of that favor you owe me.” She reached into her coat and pulled out a paper with a list of names on it. “The third and fifth name on there. I need them to be delivered to me, alive.” 

“Aren’t these people that your mother…..”

“Yes. Can you do it or not?”

“Consider it done.” My father handed the paper to one of his men that were standing behind us, quickly he left the room. 

“Anything else I can do for you?”

“No, that would be it. I will take my leave now.” She turned and walked towards the door. Alex was quick to follow her but Lily stayed behind. 

“Thank you Mr. King for welcoming us into your home.”

“Of course Lily.” When Lily again was reluctant to move my father spook again. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Mr. King, there is nothing I can offer you but my thanks if I was to ask a favor of you.”

“What is it Lily?”

“My brother. I was wondering if you could find out how he is.” Lily looked like she was on the verge of tears. 

“Why not ask Cheyanne?”

“I burden her too much as it is, and she has a lot to deal with. I understand if you say you can’t.”

“I will look into it.”

“Thank you so much Mr. King!” This time she was crying, not much, just enough to shed a tear. She ran to my father and hugged him, then walked out. My father simply stood there and smiled. 

“What was that about? Why do what she asked?” My brother seemed utterly shocked.

“I remember when Lily first came to live with Cheyannes’ mother. She was clueless, scared, and alone. Lily had no one, her father abandoned her, her mother was dead, and her brother…...well…...he was too young to know. Back then a lot of things were different. No matter what was going on, Lily could smile and you forgot about everything you were so worried about. She was a light in a world of darkness. So, for something this small I think I owe it to her to get this information.” My father continue to stare at the door Lily had left from.  

   After a short time he turned towards me. “What did you figure out?” 

“Alex and her are close.”

“Of course they are, they were raised together.”

“She cares about Lily a lot.”

At this my father's gazed turned towards the ground. “Why does she care about Lily so much?” Cole had asked the question both of us wanted to ask.

“Do not worry yourself about that and prepare yourself for tomorrow. For  tomorrow we start the training process. 

She had picked 10 people to train out of the 50. My brother and I stood next to Lily waiting for her to stop looking them over. One of the recruits got the guts to speak, “You expect a women to train us, I mean come on.”

“You.” She pointed at the one who had just spoke. “Go to the mat. Lily.”

“Yes madam.”

Both walked to the matt as she stood there. “You will fight until I say to stop. Lily is a trained assassin, if you can manage to hit her I will be impressed.”

“Oh please, this is nothing.”

With that it started. He made the first move making a swing which Lily avoided way too easily. “You left yourself open. Mistake 1, never make the first move unless you are sure you can make a sturdy one.”

In one fluid motion Lily swung herself up and around his shoulders making him fall onto his back. Lily became to squeeze his neck, eventually he was tapping out. Alex had a crooked looked on his face. My brother was speechless. 

“Rule 1: You will respect me.” She was now talking to the recruits as he tried to regain his composer.

“Rule 2: Never underestimate your opponent. You don’t know what they are or are not capable of.” After a long pause she started to talk again. “Find a punching bag lets see what you are not capable of.”

One after another they scattered to find a punching bag.

“Nice Lily. I didn’t know if you still had it in you.” Alex was the first to talk. 

“Should I take it that there was a reason you choose me to fight that man, Madam?”

“Yes, what did you learn?”

“He has nice upper body strength although he steps before he punches, easy to decipher, and his footing left him completely open.”

“Holy shit.” My brother was in total shock he had no idea what to say, “they weren’t joking around when they said you were a trained assassin.” 

“Of course they weren’t! I don’t enjoy hurting people but I do what I have to survive!” Lily’s voice was just as sweet and kind as before. SHE went to attend to the new recruits, Alex was quick to follow but Lily stayed behind. 

“You aren’t going to go with them?” 

“No, the madam didn’t ask me to follow.”

“Why are you with her?”

“Me...because the madam wasn’t always this strong. Neither was I. My father was a monster, but the Madams parents are even worse. The last person she cared about was her…”

“Her what?” You could hear the curiosity in my brothers voice. 

With a fake smile on her face Lily spoke, “her sister.”