Chapter 5 - Skeletons In His Closet

The moon is at its peak and the village is sound asleep, but Alessia's thoughts remained screaming in her head. Her mind replayed the fight that occurred earlier and how she didn't even grow suspicious of Clyde. He went up against a dozen men, some of which doubled his size, but still defeated them and left the battle without a single wound. 

Isn't he just a merchant? 

She scoffed. How had she not thought of him like this before? The shreds of evidence were right in front of her. His golden blood, him referring to the Dragons as his comrades, his mesmerizing hazel eyes—an eye color rare for low-class merchants—and his presence. The way he carried himself and the air around him oozed anything but indigency. He threw those bodies on the ground like feathers and threw punches that threw them a few meters away. He was like a monster on a rampage and she turned a blind eye to it. 

Just what is he? 

Sighing, she rose to her feet and carefully went back inside. The night breeze never fails to make the screws in her brain work better, but that's enough for today. The cabin's wooden floor creaked with her every step. She's pretty sure he's asleep at this hour because the cabin is dead silent. If he'd be awake, then it's either the kitchen's buzzing or his mouth is. No matter how mysterious he seems, he can never stay silent. He talks for hours on end, but usually only flatters himself. 

As soon as her back came in contact with her bed's comfortable sheets, her entire body relaxed and her eyelids quickly conceded. It's been a long day. 

Her eyes flew open upon hearing the slightest floor creak outside her room. Knowing it's just her annoying housemate, she closed her eyes again. The door proceeded to open and the heavy yet careful footsteps made it inside. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her body was as rigid as a tree. He wouldn't dare wake him up. 

Or he would. 

"What a sleepyhead," he whispered more to himself. A gust of air was felt above her and before he could reach her, her right hand already beat him to it. She tightly gripped Clyde's wrist that was about to flick her forehead and greeted him with a threatening glare. "Well, I'm guessing you're already awake?" He chuckled. 

Her lips remained pursed in a straight line, making Clyde shut his own mouth. "Breakfast is ready," he said before walking out with his hands in his pockets. 

Alessia followed his retreating bareback and squinted her eyes. The sunlight reached his back and she blinked multiple times to make sure she wasn't just hallucinating. What were those that glinted on his back? They couldn't be sweat. The shine was barely noticeable but her keen eyes caught the half-second glimmer and her thought stayed on that for the entire day. 

Marika dozed off the whole day, extremely exhausted with the amount of magic she released yesterday. And so when Clyde bid goodbye to her as he went hunting for food, Alessia rose to her feet. She told him she'd watch over Marika while he's out. This is the perfect time to investigate Clyde's real identity. He's a walking question mark, and as an assassin, she can't get over knowing too little information about someone. She has to know every little thing about anyone around her. 

With the lightest steps she could muster, she sneaked up on Clyde's room. Unfortunately, the door was locked so she had to grab a crowbar and break her way in. As soon as she got inside, she roamed her eyes around as her lips slowly parted. 

From outside, the wooden cabin looked like an average village house. So did the other rooms. But in Clyde's room, it was like a King lives here. There were jewels sprung up on open chests, stacked gold bars lounging on wooden tables, and animal fur rugs on the floor. She knew him being a merchant was just a front. A merchant can't be this luxurious and not brag. What is he? A thief? A mercenary? A lord in hiding? 

Alessia proceeded to walk around and snoop on his opened chests that contained nothing but valuables. There wasn't a single thing in his chests that wasn't glittering. Her tracks stopped at his bed. The mattress was of a soft, cotton cloth with a spring inside. He even had a velvet blanket. What a filthy rich man. 

She shook her head and was about to move on when her peripheral view caught something halfway tucked beneath his blanket. She immediately pulled the blanket away and was surprised to see something that only her target species have. 

Under Clyde's blanket was a piece of golden scale, glistening with exposure to the sunlight. The scale was as big as her palm and it rendered her speechless. She's never seen a dragon before and the only ones she crossed paths with didn't have the time to shift into their original form. And she wasn't a dimwitted girl to not catch up to this. His room is full of his extravagance and a dragon scale was found on his bed. What else could that mean? 

She clenched her fists with the scales and ended up hissing to herself. Upon opening her palm again, she was greeted by a blood-stained scale and her wounded palm. Alessia sighed and closed her eyes as she cocked her head upwards. The enemy has been right beside her all this time. If he is what she thinks he is, a loyal apprentice to the Prince, then maybe she could deceive him to take her to his Prince. 

Her eyes met the ceiling as soon as she opened her eyes, and caught another interesting sight. Just right above her was a square outline of a trapdoor. The attic, huh? 

 Alessia made one last glance at the small crevice on his room that could be seen to the front of the cabin before leaping up and hugging a wooden log on the ceiling while trying to open the trapdoor. She had to go back down and grab the crowbar to force it open and when she did, she frowned. The attic was mostly empty and stored nothing but a small chest. It was a dark room filled with cobwebs and other nasty animals but she couldn't care less. She quickly made her way to the chest, wasting no time. The sun's about to go down and that would mean Clyde's on his way back. 

It took her double the time she wasted on opening the door and the trapdoor to open this chest. It had double the rusty locks and was completely covered with dust. Alessia released a heavy sigh once the last lock clicked open. That took her long enough. 

The chest creaked open and released a few spiders. After much coughing up of specks of dust, she finally caught sight of what's inside it. 

"A book?" She muttered to herself and wiped the clouds of dust on the cover of the book, revealing its title. It was a golden-rimmed hardback with an embossed title. . ." L'Histoire de la Magie."

Alessia knew this language like the back of her hand. This was an old archaic language rarely ever heard in the streets of the Kingdoms of the world. This was long forgotten, but her father never failed to make her memorize how to read it and how to write it. She thought this language was long dead, but to see a book in that language, stored in the attic of the most mysterious man she knew, it piqued her interest. 

Alessia borrowed what's left of the setting sun's light from the hole in the attic's wall and flicked the book open. The pages were crispy and demanded delicate hands, or else it'd tear completely. The book was barely hanging together, which meant it must've survived thousands or hundreds of years already. 

Not even reaching a quarter of the pages, a certain stallion's neigh from outside caught her attention. She slammed the book shut and alarmingly looked outside, her heart racing.

Clyde dismounted the familiar horse with a wide grin. He managed to push his luck and not only gather his comrade's corpses but also retrieve Alessia's steed. He was familiar with this horse because this was the horse that he was shoved against when she grabbed him by his cloak and pushed him to the horse so she could get near his face. 

He scoffed inwardly, who would've thought that that only happened two days ago? It felt like ages ago. He rubbed the black stallion and tied him to a nearby fence, stealing a glance at Alessia leaning by the doorway with her arms crossed. 

"You found him," she remarked, leisurely making her way to the stallion. 

"Hmm," he nodded. "He was the only alive one I could retrieve, unfortunately."

Alessia tenderly caressed her steed. "I thought he already ran off. He must've been traumatized." 

"Probably. That guy even watched me slaughter a boar." 

Marika excitedly eyed the dish being served in front of her during dinner. She was all ready with her utensils on her hands with a wide smile plastered on her face. "Why does that smell so good?" 

"Roasted boars always smell good," Clyde replied, putting down the plate right in front of her. At the same time, the smile on her face fell as she turned pale. 

"B-Boar?" She uncomfortably chuckled. "I-I think I prefer milk with honey..."

"Of course," Alessia muttered to herself. She's a fairy. Eating meat is a crime. Which is why Alessia came prepared. She fished out the bottle of milk and jar of honey she bought from the plaza yesterday, knowing fully well Marika will refuse any kind of meat. "Here."

The glint in Marika's eyes returned and excitedly dug into her own meal. 

"Thank you!" Alessia and Clyde locked eyes, with her sighing and him shaking his head. Well, at least they had the toasted boar for themselves. One less mouth to share with. 

Marika had finished her milk and honey and waved goodnight to the remaining two who remained quiet. As they both reached for the same part of the boar, they locked eyes. 

"This is my favorite part. Give this to me," Alessia sternly said, not breaking eye contact. She wore a stoic expression while Clyde's eyes screamed determination. 

"I'm sorry, darling, I can give you everything but this part," he replied with utter seriousness. His fork stabbed the said part, but she didn't cower and instead tore that part with her own fork in the blink of an eye. 

"Wha—?!" 

A sly smirk curled from her lips as she slowly chewed the meat and savored its taste. "Tastes good. You roasted it well," she even commended him. 

He snickered. "That part was covered in mud and I didn't wash it away, anyway—Aw!" He grunted and caressed the back of his head, the part she smacked. What a heavy hand this woman has. 

After eating, they agreed on going for a walk in the village to let the meal digest. They strolled out and about side by side, enjoying the tranquil night in the isolated village. The wooden lampposts weren't giving them that much light but it was enough to have a rough idea of the paths around and not get lost. The village was fast asleep and both Alessia and Clyde enjoyed the silence of it. 

Her shoulders are relaxed around him and her eyes aren't wandering everywhere. She was actually comfortable around him when they've only been together for mere days. They stopped by a lake at the edge of the village and Alessia sat down on a boulder right next to it. The calm waves hitting the rocks soothed her bones and the moonlight reflecting the clear waters radiated a different kind of peace within her. 

She hugged her knees and Clyde sat next to her. 

And that was when he broke the silence. 

"I wasn't planning to talk to you about this, but, I thought you deserved to know why I'll slit your throat in a few moments."