Chapter 4

"Rhys!" Kira exclaims, her bright, bubbly voice making the situation seem lighter than it was. She jumps up and wraps an arm around her brother's legs.

A small smile graces his face as he leans down to ruffle the girl's hair. "I told you not to run off on your own."

Kira pouts and waves him away. "Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened?" he bites out. His eyes are narrowed and although the venom in his voice is held back, it is still present. "Nothing happened, Kira? You really want to say that again? You could have died!"

She wilts away from his stare and Aria couldn't help but feel sorry for her. It isn't fair for a girl like her to be locked up, yet Aria understood her brother's concern. The world isn't kind to innocent kids like her.

"She wasn't trying to make trouble," Raiden starts and Rhys shoots him a glare.

"You were supposed to watch her!" he roars. "And what do I find? I find three guards who were fought off by a girl!" He looks over at the silently fuming Aria. "No offense," he adds on.

"None taken," she responds sarcastically. "I'm just a girl, who should be at home doing the cooking and cleaning and everything else girls are supposed to do, right?"

Rhys groans. "That's not what I meant."

"Really?" Aria crosses her arms and glowers at him. "What did you mean?"

"I meant..." His voice drifts off. "Okay. Fine. I don't think it's natural for someone as young as you to fight as well as you do. I didn't mean girl by gender. I meant girl by age. I know plenty of females who fight."

Aria almost laughs at the way he rambles on. She isn't even angry anymore. Now, she decides to continue the argument to see how he'll respond.

"You're like the same age as me!"

Rhys arches an eyebrow. "I'm 20."

"Well, I'm 17!" She glowers at him while simultaneously noticing that he never denied being able to fight. "And why would it be unnatural?"

He shrugs before awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "Because people just don't fight like you do out of nowhere. I would have heard about you long ago."

Aria ducks her head to hide her smile. Buddy, you have definitely heard about me before.

"Why? Most people don't pay attention to that kind of information," she says. She's calling him out and he knows it.

Rhys looks away and coughs awkwardly. "I'm really into stuff like magic and fighting."

Nearby, Raiden starts coughing as well, his hand poised over his mouth to hide a smile. In return, Rhys sends him a glare that could have frozen fire.

"How did you know I have magic?" Aria asks suspiciously. "Were you watching?"

"No." He studies her before saying, "Your eyes. There's only one other person I've met with those eyes."

Aria raises an eyebrow, trying her best to hide her internal panic. "Who?"

"The Wraith."

"Really? Well, we do both have fire magic. People with the same powers generally have the same eyes." She's panicking a little, yet she doesn't show it. On the outside, she is a perfect picture of relaxed. "You've met the King of Assassins? How?"

"Wrong place, wrong time," Raiden puts in anxiously.

His friend nods, catching his mistake. "Thank you for saving Kira. Why did you save her anyway? You didn't know her and you were up against the King's men. You could have gotten in serious trouble."

Aria pauses and thinks for a few moments. This was a chance to sway and convince the rebels that she was against the King. "Do you really think I'd leave a girl alone when she was in trouble? I was in the same place once," she says truthfully. "Besides, I have no love for the King's men." Also true.

Rhys looks at her thoughtfully. "How did you learn to fight like that? I don't think I've ever met a gi- anyone who would take on three trained men on their own."

Biting her lip, she struggles to hold back her laughter. She doubts the men could even be considered close to reaching the term "trained". They were like little children attempting to seem stronger than they were, not seeming to realize they were making a fool of themselves as they tried to handle weapons much too large for them to wield. Instead, all Aria says is, "You were going to say girl again, weren't you?"

The man rolls his eyes. "Well, I changed it, didn't I? Besides, you didn't answer my question."

"I found myself alone after my mum died," she says quietly. "This world isn't kind to anything that holds a shred of innocence. I learned how to fight studying soldiers as they trained. I figured everything else out from hunting and practicing."

Rhys nods, and Aria holds her breath, hoping that he believed her. Not that she had been lying in any way. Everything she told him was true, with the exception of a few omissions.

Thankfully, he takes her explanation with no further questions. "Well, thanks again," he says before taking Kira's hand. "We should probably go."

He tosses a look over at Raiden, as though ordering him to follow.

Raiden hesitates for a moment before placing a hand on Rhys's shoulder and leaning close to whisper something.

Rhys shakes his head in reply. "We can't," he says, loud enough for Aria to hear.

Whatever it is, Raiden refuses to drop it. Aria watches as he insistently says something to Rhys, his hands making large motions as he speaks.

"Enough," Rhys says tightly, his eyes flickering over to Aria nervously. "We can talk later."

Raiden sighs before giving in. He glances back at Aria once more before he follows his friend out of the alley.

. . .

Rhys is unable to stop himself from thinking of the strange girl that had saved Kira. He had never met anyone like her, boy or girl.

And those eyes.

They were the same eyes that had been haunting him since the night he encountered the Wraith. He is sure of it.

There wasn't anything in the world that can make him forget that night. The fight that occurred had been one of the worst. No one had expected the Wraith himself to show up. The only reason Rhys lived to remember it was also because of that same assassin that had brought so much destruction. The Wraith had stared Rhys dead in the eyes, was given the chance to kill him, yet he hadn't. Instead, he had only grinned, a flash of white teeth that shone in the fire glinting in his hand before vanishing.

Which brought him to the second point. The girl seemed to have the same magic as the King of Assassins. Fire. The kind that burns so bright that it was borderline white and was impossible to stare at for too long.

But Rhys couldn't reconcile the fact that the person that had stood in front of him was a woman. Not even a woman. A girl.

A girl that was younger than he, who could move like her flames, and use her words like her blades.

It was utterly foolproof if he truly thought about it. A girl pretending to be a king. That way, no one would ever suspect her.

"You should have asked her to join," Raiden says from beside him, a sleeping Kira in his arms. His voice startles Rhys out of his thoughts. "Gods knows we need more fighters like her."

"She's the Wraith," Rhys says aloud. The words sounded silly and he knew his companion didn't believe him.

Sure enough, Raiden gives him a doubtful look. "That girl is younger than us. Do you really believe she could be the Wraith? Besides, the Wraith is a guy."

"But how do we know?" Rhys mutters. "We know next to nothing about him. Her. All I know is that she has the same eyes and the same fire and she moves at the same speed as the assassin does. And we can't go telling everyone we're rebels."

The small bark of laughter that comes from the other boy causes Kira to shift. Immediately, they both quiet until the child stills. "It's a bit obvious," Raiden says at last. "How could she not know? We fight, but we don't fight for the King. We're good at what we do. I have magic. I'm pretty sure everyone by now knows that we're recruiting magic users. Besides, that girl is something else. We could use her on our side. We can't just let her go because of your irrational fears."

"My fears are what keeps us alive," Rhys snaps. "Raiden, not everyone has magic. Your barrier only does so much. There are only two ways mages go. If it's not to us, then who?"

"The King." Raiden sighs. "We need her, Rhys. You know it. At this point, I don't care if she's the Wraith or not. All I know is that she's a good person. She saved your sister."

"Maybe it's because she knows who my sister-"

Raiden lightly punches Rhys. "Stop being stupid. If the King knew who you were, we're all screwed. You are the reason we're still alive, Lord Rhysand."

"Don't you dare pull that card on me," Rhys says. He stands, his gaze resting on Kira. He can't deny Raiden's words. It was a pretty obvious answer to get her to join. "Fine. Go after her if you want. I'll feel better if we can keep an eye on her anyway."

Beaming, Raiden nearly jumps up before he remembers the girl in his arms. "I'll go tonight."

Rhys reluctantly agrees before he scoops Kira up. "It's night now."

"Oh!" Raiden lazily peers out a window. "So it is."

"Let's hope that she's still there," Rhys mutters. "Especially due to how slow you are."

"I'm not slow!"

With a soft laugh, Rhys turns away from his friend. "Sure you're not. It takes you approximately twenty minutes to get down four flights of stairs."

"No, it doesn't," Raiden protests, pouting.

"Mm, then why does it take you so long to come down for breakfast?" Rhys says. He smiles at Raiden's sputtered protests. "Have fun getting your ass down to the stable."

. . . 

Long after Rhys was out of the room, Raiden looks out the window where he was able to see his horse and then up at the sky. He hesitates for a moment, debating if he should take the risk before he finally decides that he would be able to get the girl back before Rhys notices that he never took a horse.

Climbing up onto the window ledge, he looks down at the ground before he steps out into the air. After all, what Rhys doesn't know can't hurt him.

A moment later, there was nothing but a brown hawk soaring through the air.