ARIELLE

I swore myself for the hundredth time as I walked through the palace halls.

Why had I exploded during my conversation with my father? Why did I even ask him anything? I already knew the answer. And more importantly, why did the answer hurt so much?

Edsel raised Phoenix to be his heir, his favorite daughter. Not me. I'm the second option, the girl with no skills besides a quick temper which is more of a hindrance than anything. I wasn't smart like Xavier. I wasn't charming like Damien. I couldn't command power like Phoenix. I'm just a little girl who used to hide in the shadows and wishes to hide still.

But I couldn't help the small nagging in the back of my mind, the one asking "What if?" What if I claimed the Crown just to spite him? What if I was actually good at it? What if I was better than anything Phoenix could hope to be?

And risk the reputation of the entire Fortier line for childish dreams? Don't be foolish.

I clenched my fists. The only option for me was to convince Phoenix to claim the crown, no matter what. Erilia's funeral was over, which meant I wasn't tainting her name by breaking my promise to not attempt to persuade Phoenix. I was free to do whatever I pleased, but I would have to take a page from the Kingston's book and do things quietly so Phoenix wouldn't run away immediately.

After seeing her reaction to small displays of Assassin power, it was clear that the only option was to remind her of what it's like to be a Crown. If even that didn't work, there would be nothing else left besides threatening Tressa's life or persuading Xavier to blackmail her, but I wanted her as a willing participant. How was she supposed to properly rule a country if she didn't want the title?

Which was why I sent a servant to get her after I messaged Xavier and Damien to meet me at our meeting place—outside the locked throne room of the combined Crown. I had Alistair sort the information Xavier and Damien gathered. He managed to pull up schematics of the building the Raven bomber was hiding out in and organize a possible entry point, though I was sure Xavier would change it.

I didn't have the approval of the Crowns, but I was in no mood to speak to my father. The three of us would claw out the people who killed Aunt Erilia and sent my mother into a coma, and we would do it without fear or hesitation.

And Phoenix would be with us every step of the way, reveling in the long-lost power which finally quenched her undeniable thirst.

I turned the corner and my mouth fell open.

At the end of the hall, the combined throne room doors were swung wide open the lock sitting on the floor, useless. Phoenix stood inside, red hair bright against the dark surroundings, looking up at the singular throne.

The throne had never been opened ever since it was built and no one was able to break in, not even Damien and Xavier. Even when I was younger, I attempted to climb in through the high windows, only to realize they were strongly blocked. And now, nearly two hundred years later, Phoenix broke into the room in under ten minutes.

Taking tentative steps, I entered the vast throne room. It was the same size as the main throne room, but all of it was only dedicated to one person, one Crown. The throne sat against the farthest wall on a large platform, with its golden base and dark blue leather. The wall behind it adorned the Fortier's and Kingston's combined symbol—a golden triangle centered around a hexagon.

In the center of the room sat a large, square pit that must've extended hundreds of feet. I approached it and looked down, knowing what lay beneath according to the stories. Sure enough, at the bottom sat the combined crown, safely tucked into a glass box. It was hard to see the design from this far, but I caught glimpses of blue gems and golden spires.

What did it look like when closer and in the light?

When the Head Guard is assigned to each Crown, their blood patterns are entered into the royal databases for record-keeping. Supposedly, the guards passed down the location of the key through each generation, and if they opened the throne room and spilled their blood, the glass box would be lifted and the combined crown ready for use. But, the occasion never arose, and the crown stayed buried and hidden, just as this room remained locked.

I looked up at the rising columns and arches, only to find a mural on the ceiling. I recognized it as the founding of the Assassins, which was documented and read to us as children from a book called Rise of the Assassins. I was ashamed to say I didn't remember all of the details and therefore, couldn't recognize a few of the events depicted in the mural.

My eyes settled on a red-haired girl with a kind smile who took up a third of the entire ceiling, and I remembered flashes of a forgotten memory—exclusive pages in the Crown's edition of the book speaking of an assassin, a third one perhaps, and something about a child. I couldn't quite remember, and it didn't matter. It was a ghost of the past.

I looked back down at my sister who looked like a ghost herself, her pale skin highlighted in the darkness.

"How the hell did you get in?" I asked.

"I picked the lock, obviously."

Her words were nonchalant while her rigid posture was anything but. She still faced the throne, not yet looking at me.

"Even Damien and Xavier never managed to get in."

"They aren't the best thief in Concorde."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you doing in here anyways?"

She ignored my question and asked, "They spent so much energy to preserve this place, building automatic cleaning technology and using preservative techniques. Half of the Golden Palace's most expensive resources are in this single hall. Why?"

I shrugged. "Because they wanted it to look nice?"

And it did. It looked brand new while retaining the feel of old, immortal power which the main throne room carried.

She shook her head. "No. Because they knew it would be used eventually. They wanted to be ready for the day the rule of the Assassins starts to slip, the day the Crowns take a last-ditch effort to salvage what they have before everything crashes to the ground."

"You think they built this place to last at least five hundred years?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe they only built it to last two hundred."

What was she talking about?

"The nation won't crumble now. Two hundred years is short for an empire like ours."

"Is it?" she asked. "Other illegitimate heirs exist, I ran, the Unassailable Crown will be in danger of meaning nothing throughout the entirety of your reign and perhaps for the rest of the Fortier line, the Kingston Queen was murdered, the Fortier Queen incapacitated, and the Ravens are still the most powerful, and constantly growing, organization in the world. Is it so hard to believe that the end could be nearby?"

I shook my head. "Not in my lifetime."

She scoffed. "You're just as delusional as father."

"I'm not delusional," I hissed.

"Aren't you? You lean back on Fortier power and think it will save us all as long as I claim the crown. You're wrong. The Age of Assassins is shattering, and none of your actions will stop it. Everyone dies and everything ends. The only mercy you can beg for is being sent to an early grave before it happens."

"I'm not going to die early. And I certainly won't be killed. Not by Ravens or any other idiotic organizations punching above their weight."

"People have killed delusional Fortiers before. During the first Streeter revolution, not too long ago, the tensions rose until an Assassin, who had strong relations with the Streeters, took advantage of the situation and stabbed the Crown Fortier straight through the heart."

"But the killer was a Fortier themselves. The nation didn't collapse and the Assassins remained the government."

"Our great-great-grandmother was a distant cousin who only took the Fortier last name to 'keep the peace' as they like to put it. And even though the first rebellion died down with her reign, a second erupted during her last years and the beginning of her daughter's reign when the Streeters realized she wasn't entirely backing up her promises to them. But, in the end, the main Fortier line dissolved, sinking into oblivion, and the Crown Fortier dead. Who will kill you?"

I thought to all of our distant relatives who could possibly have enough training to murder me. But, their faces were blurry as I struggled to pick them out from my memories. I had no close cousins, unlike Xavier and Damien who had direct uncle and cousin, but they died.

Instead, I could only think of Indigo Fluor. She was a skilled assassin, one who rose through the ranks and joined the Alpha team in the time one takes to master the proper archery stance, and she was a Fortier. She ran and claimed she was done with Crown business, but I knew how easily she could lie. Could she attempt to kill me?

I should've put my blade in her back when I had the chance. Why did Xavier stop me?

No one will be killing you anyways when Phoenix claims the crown.

"How the hell is this open?" Damien's voice shouted from behind.

I turned to find Damien kneeling over the picked lock while Xavier stood only a few feet behind me. He had his hands behind his back and was silently staring at me. He must've been there for a while, but how long? Did he hear the entire thing?

"I picked the lock," Phoenix answered, finally turning around. She was no longer the girl spewing dire predictions, but the thief I grew to know in the past two weeks.

"But... how?"

"Figure it out yourself."

Damien glared at her before returning his attention to the lock. "Why are you guys inside the combined throne room?"

"Because I can," Phoenix said.

"To plan," Xavier answered. He was staring at Phoenix now.

"Plan what?"

"Murder."

Damien rolled his eyes. "Obviously. But whose murder?"

When Xavier didn't answer, I spoke.

"The Ravens'. Alistair scoped the location of the bomber you two extracted. He says there are eleven occupied residents in the building out of twelve. Our target is the only known resident of his particular apartment, though there could be more traveling in and out through the use of secret tunnels. It's possible his family followed your warning and didn't notify him, but—"

"They told him," Xavier interrupted. "He knows we're coming."

I would've thought that killing a man's wife and threatening his daughter would frighten him into submission, but I knew better than to oppose Xavier's judgment.

"So, we're going bring him in," Damien stood. "Do you have permission from Edsel or dad?"

"No."

"Even better," he said with a wicked grin. Damien was never one to back down from activities on the more troublemaking side of things, but his thirst for revenge has made him even more reckless. Though, I'm hardly one to speak. I did, after all, massacre a city when I was supposed to be staying on the low.

"There better be vodka in the car," Phoenix said.

Damien furrowed his eyebrows. "You're coming too?"

"A few idiot Ravens tried to steal my hard-earned diamonds. I'd like to skin him alive."

"Shocking. He's not dead yet."

"One is."

"Shame. You could've volunteered him for Edsel's funeral demonstration."

"The demonstration I used him for was better."

"I see," Damien said. "Well, I hope you know this one won't be donated to your wonderful demonstrations."

"You can keep the cocky idiots," she scoffed. "I'll take care of the better ones."

"How nice it is to reach an understanding."

I rolled my eyes and shoved Damien towards the door. "Shut up. We have places to be."

"And people to kill," he responded.

"And things to steal," Phoenix added.

The two looked at Xavier who only turned and walked out of the throne room.

"Such a party-pooper," Damien groaned.

Xavier looked over his shoulder and smirked, "And people to be better than."

Damien rolled his eyes and looked to me for support, but I was only watching Xavier. As he continued down the hall, he met my gaze and his smirk turned into a small smile. I couldn't resist the way my lips curled upward as he turned the corner.

Damien rolled his eyes again and made gagging noises as Phoenix looked between us. Her eyes flew wide and for the first time in the past two weeks, she seemed genuinely off-guard.

"Are you two...?" she trailed off before she started laughing.

"Oh, you're all really fucked."

I glared. "Shut up."

"No."

Damien pouted. "That's my line."

"It's Nydia's line," I argued.

He blinked and shrugged, though it was weak as his playful smile was replaced with a thoughtful frown. I suppose she still hasn't gotten in contact with him since graduation.

"Nydia?" Phoenix asked.

"A friend of ours. She was on the Alpha team. A bit... odd," I responded.

"Crazy," Damien corrected. "And not the kind you would enjoy."

"Shame," Phoenix said. "I would've had someone to bash into the wall whenever you annoyed me if she was here."

"She would make you bash your own head into a wall."

"I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't bash my own head. I would bash her's instead."

"Trust me," he said. "You wouldn't be bashing her's."

"No one's bashing anyone's head because she's not here," I responded. "Probably trying to find rare kittens in Variatus or something."

"Ostriches," Damien corrected.

I waved a hand. "Whatever. Let's just go before our parents find out what we're up to."

Damien's face darkened as he remembered he only had one parent left, but it was quickly replaced with a twisted smile.

"I suppose we should get back to today's murder."

"Yes," Phoenix grinned and began walking down the hall. "Yes indeed."





Hey guys!

It's a bit later than expected, unfortunately. I'm still aiming for Friday though to get back on track, so hopefully we'll get there.



In the mean time, I know I said no more S&B talk, but I gotta say this once.



NETFLIX RENEWED IT FOR SEASON 2!!!

https://youtu.be/h1H41xqecE4

(Love the reference to Milo the goat)



AND IT GOT 55 MILLION DIFFERENT HOUSEHOLDS TO WATCH IT AND BECAME ONE OF THE TOP TEN NETFLIX SERIES OF ALL TIME.



And we're getting Wylan van Eck (our sweet summer child that blows up half the city) Nikolai Lantsov next season. I REPEAT, WE'RE GETTING NIKOLAI LANTSOV, THE BEST CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE TRILOGY. For those of you that don't know, Nikolai is literally Damien (innovative, prince, charming) but with less of the manipulative & addicted side and more of the other sides mentioned before.

So, the Damien-est Damien to ever Damien.

And I can't wait to see all of the interactions the cast has with each other once filming starts again!



These guys are literally my favorite cast ever! Charming, funny, sweet, talented, and highly motivated. And the fact that they're all fans of the books and know them inside and out is even more amazing.



Anyways, I'll shut up now until next season (trailer) comes out.

Bye!!!

~Sreenija Paruchuri