Rise (16 page)

Roman shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable for a moment. “Do you…do you still want to try and do it?” Victoria looked at him with wild eyes. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?” She knew why. She could feel Roman’s thoughts from across the room, as if he were speaking directly in her head.

They’d been through a lot in the past few weeks. Victoria had seen Raela come undone because of her desire to prove herself. It was something very real, and reminded Victoria of herself just a few short months ago. Oh, how things had changed.

But what hadn’t changed, was Victoria’s excitement. She and Roman had grown closer recently, but she would never be able to explain to him why she still wanted to go through with this. She wasn’t entirely sure herself. Perhaps she still had the desire to prove herself. Maybe it was the thrill. Or maybe it was how despite Roman and Sister Katherine’s beliefs, she couldn’t convince herself that killing a guilty man was somehow more morally correct than killing an alleged innocent. Alleged, because as Sister Katherine had once told her, no one is truly innocent.

“
Yes, I’m still going to do it.” Victoria said again, adamantly, and she stared Roman down to enforce her point. He just sighed, and she thought she saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes, but it was gone before it could really register.

“
In that case, I guess I’ll just leave you to your exercises.” Roman stood up abruptly and stiffly, and made his way towards the door. Before Victoria could say anything else to him, he was gone. “That was rude!” She yelled as the door closed behind him.

What was his problem anyway? Victoria thought, as she twirled her right foot in a small semi-circle. She could see herself falling in love with him, she really could, but what she couldn’t understand was his unhealthy obsession with her every decision. The past few months, they’d felt like several years, but in reality, they weren’t. They were just that, a few months, so why on earth did Roman insist upon her changing so quickly? And why did she need to change again?

She could admit that for a while there, she’d been toeing the line between enjoying the mystery and intrigue that came with being an assassin, and just being plain blood thirsty. As far as Victoria was concerned, she never crossed it, and wasn’t planning on going that route again. Not after she saw what happened to Raela. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun. There was a difference between having fun, and being blood thirsty, right?

She mulled it over in her mind for a minute, before pushing it aside. It was too much to think about at the moment. She would focus on getting out of this godforsaken room, and then she’d get back to the task, whether Roman liked it or not.

XI.

The next day came quickly, and as soon as the first rays of the sun came peeking through her window, Victoria sprung from her bed. She dressed in a fresh set of day robes and took to admiring herself in the mirror. She looked good, and in all honesty, she missed her robes. Her night robes, which she was wearing when Raela stabbed her, were still soaked in blood, and crumpled on the floor in the corner of her room. Victoria assumed that while she’d been in her bizarre, poison-induced daze that someone had frantically ripped them off of her, to see how deep her wound was. With an absolutely impish grin, she wondered if that someone had been Roman.

No, Roman is too noble, too concerned, she reminded herself. As she tied her sash around her waist, she wondered what he would say to her today, or if he would say anything at all. No matter, she thought, surprising herself a bit with how little she was concerned. Roman didn’t control her, and if he thought he did, he had another thing coming.

Victoria opened the door of her room, and crept out slowly. The incident with Raela was still lurking in the back of her mind, causing her to grip her dagger a little tighter. The hallway was dark, but when she narrowed her eyes as she peered down it, she saw a glowing, curved mass of light.

“
Grace!”

A large mass glided forward immediately, and Victoria found herself wondering how she could have possibly missed her. Tricks of the trade, I guess, she thought, as she strode forward to meet Grace.

“
How are you, girl?”

Victoria shrugged. “I’m doing well. I think I’m mostly healed, and ready to get back at it.” Grace looked her over, as if she didn’t believe what Victoria was saying. Her eyes came to a rest on Victoria’s side.

“
Grace, I’m doing fine, really.” Victoria said, a little louder. She didn’t want Grace to start freaking out like Roman did, but to her relief, Grace’s eyes returned to her face, apparently satisfied with her condition. “Alright then. Let’s go outside, you can help me wrap some legs. Easy work.”

Victoria followed Grace down the darkened hallway, and out into the sunlight. The sun seemed to be extra harsh, but that was probably because for the past few weeks, the only light she’d been exposed to was the flickering candle in her room.

When they reached Grace’s station, Grace handed her a box of bandages. “Just set these up for me. You prepare, and I’ll wrap. Sound good?” Victoria nodded.

By the time the fifth orphan had limped away from Grace’s station, Victoria was sweating profusely. “I thought you said this was easy.” She moaned, as she soaked yet another line of bandages in antiseptic. Grace chuckled “It’s easy. It’s just a lot of arm work, and it can be pretty repetitive, but easy nonetheless. Stop complaining, this is good for you. It builds character.” Victoria moaned in reply.

“
So, you and Roman had a fight?” Grace’s question was so out of the blue that Victoria nearly knocked off the entire roll of bandages. “No” she said quickly, “What would make you think that?” Grace snorted. “He’s been hanging around here for days. Talks non-stop about you, and how great you are. Then one day, he doesn’t show up? I know he’s been around, I thought I saw him talking to Sister Katherine earlier, but he certainly hasn’t been to visit you. Tell me about it. Come on.” Grace nudged, as she applied a dab of healing ointment to an orphan’s leg.

Victoria sighed. “How do I explain this without sounding…?” “Like a whiner? Grace supplied “Oh, don’t worry, you already are one, so just go right on ahead.”

“
It’s just that Roman, he’s so serious. He’s put me up on this pedestal of morality, and whenever I do something he doesn’t like, he acts so disappointed. But on the other hand, he’s so kind to me. He…understands me, I think.” Victoria shook her head. “I’m really not sure.”

“
Another bandage, please Victoria.” Grace started to wrap the leg of a new orphan, and then looked up. “So, he’s too serious for you. He expects too much.” Victoria nodded. “But” Grace continued, “Did it ever occur to you that maybe you’re the only person in his life that he can really hold in such high standard?”

No, she hadn’t thought about that. It was true, she had never really inquired to Roman’s background. He’d mentioned it before, of course, but it was just in passing, and she’d never pried. Roman seemed to have taken the time to understand so much about her, but she couldn’t even return the favor?

“
Aww, Victoria. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, I just thought you might want to consider that. Don’t get me wrong though, I agree with you. You’re still figuring it all out, and Roman isn’t helping by forcing his beliefs onto you.
Victoria mulled this over while she dipped another bandage into the antiseptic. After a lengthy bout of silence, accompanied only by the sour smell of medicine, she set aside her bandages. “Grace, you don’t mind if I—“Go on.” Grace cut her off, and as Victoria turned on her heels, she caught a glimpse of her older friend’s knowing smile.

Victoria had run halfway across the convent yards, before she remembered that she had no idea where she was headed. “Grace! I just remembered, where is he?” “The convent, just a few miles north.” Came Grace’s voice, and it was accompanied by something that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Victoria muttered an embarrassed thanks, and turned north, feeling nothing less than a lovesick fool.

A few minutes later, she was trekking through the forest, cursing Grace’s vague instructions. Why again couldn’t she have given instructions the normal way, such as “Turn left here”? Victoria rolled her eyes and continued in the direction that she thought was north, but then again, she couldn’t really be sure.

After narrowly avoiding several clumps of poison ivy, Victoria found herself at the bottom of a steep incline. She squinted her eyes in order to see better, but it was to no avail, as the brush was impossibly thick. All she could make out and it was with difficulty, was a narrow, beaten path leading up what looked to be the side of a mountain. Victoria looked again to be sure she had seen that correctly.

Indeed, the path came to a halt at the edge of a protruding wall of rock. Her eyes traveled the length of the wall, and when they finally reached the top, Victoria could see that the rock smoothed out.

She shook her head in disbelief. There was no doubt in her mind that this was where the monastery lay, but how on earth she was going to get up there was a mystery unto itself. Victoria moved closer and examined the wall.

Slight and unassuming, upon closer inspection, the wall revealed small rock protrusions, just big enough for a foot. Victoria found herself at a place that was somewhere between laughing hysterically, and a slew of curse words. She looked around helplessly. Couldn’t there just be a normal mountain path, somewhere in all that breath. She sighed. I suppose not, she thought wryly. What’s an assassin’s den, without a little danger?

She brushed her robes back from her legs, and grabbed hold of one of the protruding stones. Sturdy enough. That made her feel a bit safer, but only a bit. Victoria lifted her leg, placed it on the stone nearest the ground and hoisted herself up.

It was slow going, and by the time she arrived at the top, every muscle in her body was burning. As she plopped down on the ground to take a much needed rest, she found herself wondering if Roman and the other monks used this as some sort of climbing wall. If so, that would explain why he was so agile; climb this wall a couple times a day, and you’d be in the best shape of your life, she thought with a snort.

After resting, Victoria pushed herself up from the ground and looked around. As her eyes scanned the surroundings, eventually, they landed on something that caused her breath to catch. Just a few hundred feet in front of her, perched on the edge of yet another steep cliff, was the monastery. She wandered closer to it, unsure as to if she’d ever seen anything more picturesque.

The monastery was covered with ripe, green ivy, and nestled between the jagged rocks of the cliff. With beige stucco and flat brown roofs, it was a picture of simplicity and perfection, and Victoria felt a flash of jealousy. The convent certainly didn’t look this way. She made a mental note to take it up with Sister Katherine when she returned.

Victoria looked around, and to her relief, the path to the convent seemed relatively straight forward. Good, she thought, because I don’t think I have the energy to climb another cliff. She started up the winding path, taking her time to observe the beauty as she passed. There was something oddly inspiring about the monastery. It was odd because Victoria knew what lay inside, and she wasn’t entirely sure whether it was something to be inspired by or not.

As she finally neared the monastery, she was confronted by a large stone wall, and a wrought-iron gate. Standing on the other side of the gate was a hooded monk who was carrying not an unsheathed dagger, but a short sword. Why does everyone have a huge weapon but me? She thought, exasperatedly.

Victoria neared the gate with caution. It wasn’t that she was scared of big weapons; she’d seen plenty of those before. It was this monk’s silence that disturbed her. All the while she approached, he’d said nothing. The only thing that indicated that he had even seen her, was the slight, albeit creepy, slow head turn in her direction. She had a feeling that he would sooner gut her like a fish, than speak with her. But, that’s why he’s the doorman, she reasoned. It was always good to have a scary doorman. Victoria made another mental note. The convent should probably get one as well.

“
Excuse me?” Victoria said, to no one in particular, whilst leaning against the gate. She felt awkward posing the question directly to the silent, watching monk, so she opted for a more general approach, and hoped that he might just say something. He didn’t. Instead, he lowered his head into what looked like a bow, turned on his heels, and glided away.

Victoria watched, with utter confusion, as the monk cover an impossible distance, and disappear into one of the arched doorways of the monastery. Just what was she going to do now? She looked up, eyes traveling the height of the stone wall. Too tall to climb, and no handy foot grooves in sight.

Ah well, she thought, as she turned to make her way back to the convent. She’d stumbled blindly through the forest, and climbed a wall to get here. If she did see Roman again, perhaps he would be so flattered with her dedication that he would forget why he was angry.

Just as Victoria began to step away from the gate, she heard a movement behind her. The silent monk appeared again, this time bearing a large key holder with what seemed like an infinite amount of keys, that all looked exactly the same.

With what was clearly years of practice, the monk flipped quickly through the keys, examining each one for a moment. He finally settled on one of the last keys on the ring, and swung the gate open. Victoria stepped inside, carefully, nearly jumping when the monk hurried to close the gate behind her. The monk then set off quickly up the path leading to the front door of the convent, leaving Victoria no choice but to follow.