Trial by Poison, Chapter 2

Chapter 2
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That night Raven sat in the kitchen of the house she shared with her teacher. Her large collection of knives was spread on the table in front of her. Behind the line of blades, a neat row of glass bottles and jars full of poisons in various forms. Beyond the poisons lay her rapier, her hand-and-a-half short sword, and her cutlass. To the young assassin's right sat a crossbow and a quiver full of bolts and to her left the now unrolled parchment carrying the information for her assignment.

She sat with her tools, considering which was best for her task. Absently she stared at the ceiling as she ran her fingers over the hilts of her knives with a loving gentleness. It had been nearly three hours since she returned home from her infuriating audience with the king. Once she got back she had laid out her weapons and looked over the details of her assignment. Then she contemplated her options, trying to develop a plan. An idea had started to form over the past hour, but she wanted to discuss it with Kyrik, her teacher, before she decided on that course of action.

Raven was roused from her ponderings by the creaking of the front door. She glanced over to the kitchen entrance as Kyrik limped in, leaning on his walking stick.

"Are you going to light some candles or do you want me to trip and fall to my death in this darkness girl?" Kyrik asked sarcastically, pausing in the entryway.

"Right! Sorry," said Raven as she jumped to her feet and began lighting candles, chagrined that she had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she had failed to notice nightfall.

After she lit enough candles she grinned sheepishly at her master. He looked evenly back at her, but amusement shown in his left eye. His right eye, or lack-there-of, was covered with a black eye patch.
Kyrik pulled out the chair next to the one Raven had vacated. He groaned as he sat down and massaged his recently crippled right leg.

Raven turned away quickly to hide the sorrowful look that crossed her face. She still was not completely adjusted to her teacher's condition. Four months ago he had taken her on a mission which had gone horribly wrong. The injuries Kyrik received were grave enough that he was forced to retire. It had taken a long time but he had finally come to terms with his condition. That time had been hard on both master and apprentice. Composing herself, Raven sat down in her chair, facing her teacher.

He was a lean but muscular man of average height in his early-forties. His shaggy dark brown hair was showing streaks of gray. His face had a hard, chiseled look about it and jagged scars ran across its right side, disappearing under the eye patch.

Kyrik studied his student with his one brown eye. "So how did your meeting with the king go?" he asked.

"About as well as you predicted," she answered wearily.

He smiled sympathetically at her. From the time he first started training Raven he had tried to prepare her for her first audience with the king, knowing Rian was not in favor of a girl becoming an assassin.

Raven smiled glumly back and expanded on her statement, "He doesn't expect me to be able to do this, that's why he gave me a mission where it doesn't matter if I succeed or not." She sighed in frustration. "I think he hope's I'll be killed and he won't have to bother with me anymore."

"See that you prove him wrong," Kyrik said firmly, but not unkindly. His apprentice nodded.

"I'm so glad you taught me to hide my emotions. If you hadn't I…uh…" Raven did not finish her sentence, not knowing exactly how to phrase it.

"You might have lost your head?" Kyrik finished for her, looking amused again. He knew his apprentice was upset and he was trying to get her to relax a little through his rather dark sense of humor.

Raven struggled hard to glare at him, but the corners of her mouth kept twitching, trying to smile. She heard the tease in his voice, but knew his words were true, both figuratively and literally. Finally she gave in and laughed a little. "That is a distinct possibility," she chuckled.

Then her face once again lost its cheerful expression. There was something else troubling the young assassin. She opened her mouth to voice it, but quickly closed it again, turning her head to gaze at her knives. A long time ago Kyrik had told her that he would accompany her on her first mission, but now that was impossible. She strongly wished he could come with her, though. But there was no point in voicing her wish; it would not make it come true.

Kyrik had an idea about what was troubling his student. He knew how much she had wanted him to come with her for this. He had seen her open her mouth to speak, close it again, and watched the inward battle play in her eyes. Respecting the determined look on her face not to say what was on her mind, Kyrik did not pry. He was about to ask about Raven's mission when she sighed dejectedly.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this, Kyrik," she said softly, uncertainty showing in her whole demeanor.

The retired assassin took a moment before replying. "Raven, how long have I been training you?" he asked finally.

Raven looked up at him, considering the question. "Almost ten years," she answered.

Kyrik nodded a few times. "You've been my apprentice for nearly a decade. Don't insult my training by saying you're not ready." He saw the shame in her eyes just before she looked down at her feet.

Deciding that his words had sunk in he placed a hand on her shoulder and continued in a softer voice, "It's natural to feel this way on your first mission and I'm sorry you have to do this by yourself. I do wish I could come with you." She sighed sadly again but did not look up. "But I have the utmost confidence that you can do this."

At this Raven looked up, her spirits lifted by his praise; Kyrik's approval meant the world to her.

"Besides," he added in a conversational manner, "You have to succeed, I'm getting too old to train another apprentice."

Raven could not help but laugh at this. She was feeling much better about her assignment now.

"Back to business," Kyrik said, sitting back in his chair. "Let me see your instructions." Raven passed him the parchment and he quickly skimmed over the information. "Interesting. Do you have any thoughts on how you're going to kill this Talbot Foley character?"

Raven took back the parchment and laid it back on the table neatly. A small thoughtful frown creased her forehead. When she spoke she spoke slowly, thinking through her words. "I was actually thinking about not killing him."

Kyrik raised an eyebrow curiously. "Explain."

"It's not that I have a problem with killing him, I just don't think it will have the effect the king is looking for," she paused for a second. Her master nodded encouragingly for her to continue. "Foley is the leader of a fanatical cult. Though his lieutenants know the religion is false, its followers believe whole heartedly in these false gods and their cause. For Foley to be found assassinated would only make him a martyr in their eyes. It might cause some confusion, but I don't think it will damage moral, it might even make them fight harder." Again Raven paused, looking to Kyrik to see if what she was saying made sense.

He nodded his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. "That sounds reasonable. What are you going to do instead?"

Encouraged by her teacher's agreement, Raven spoke a little faster, now more sure of her reasoning. "I was thinking that I'll poison him, not with something that would kill him, but with something that will make him appear insane. Maybe henbane. If his followers see him loose his mind, I think that would damage moral much more than his death. With any luck they'll think their mission is cursed by the gods." She said the last words a bit sarcastically.

"That is a brilliant idea, Raven," Kyrik said proudly. Raven blushed slightly and smiled. "You might want to find some evil omen in the religion and incorporate that into poisoning Foley. That could help to convince his followers that the endeavor is cursed," he added.

Raven nodded, making a mental note to try and find such an omen. She noticed that Kyrik was looking with pride at her and beamed inwardly.

"When do you have to leave?" the older assassin asked.

"First light tomorrow," she answered, feeling better about her first mission than she had all day.

"Get some sleep. I'll help you choose your weapons early tomorrow," Kyrik instructed. His apprentice smiled broadly at him. He smiled back and said warmly, "You're going to do just fine."