Mia
After the freak lightning bolt struck, Mia stood over the prone form of her captor for a long time. Since the start of Project Lighthouse, Mia had felt like she was being pulled back and forth between her pride as a Starling and her only somewhat noble ambition. She fell to her knees and screamed at the injustice that plagued her. She should have been ending lives that threatened innocent people, but as she looked upon Sara, she finally saw where she was going wrong. As far as she could see, things could not get any worse.
She walked away from her latest victim, not even wanting to know whether she survived the lightning. Perhaps someone would have seen the bolt and looked in out of curiosity. That being the case, it was even more important than usual that she disappear. But before she left Resta City, she would have to confirm the completion of her mission. She had never wanted to go to bed more than she did now, but she wouldn’t even make it to her bedroom if she had failed Dinorah.
The more she walked, the less sure she felt of her plan. Did she even want to go home? How could she look her stepmother in the eye after years of deceit? She was no champion in the shadows. She was a killer whose crimes accomplished nothing more than the advancement of a political agenda. Under Dinorah’s authoritative influence, it had seemed like a good idea at the time, but the logic was completely lost on her now. She was trained to kill so that few could suffer the Starlings’ fate, but with three deaths, their mission would fail for good.
What good was fear supposed to do anyway? Sure, it had kept her alive more than once, but it also impaired her decision making. With this thought, her mind pulsed with the answer that had eluded her all along. I’ve made a terrible mistake.As she walked into the mist that surrounded Salica’s temple, it parted before her. With this growing certainty, it wasn’t long before the fog vanished completely. Now able to see, it wasn’t long before she realized that she was also visible. The surrounding streets had been cleared and filled with men in golden armor. Great. They’ve had ten whole seconds of unimpeded sunlight and their stupid armor is blinding me again!
Mia found cover behind a covered wagon that had apparently been overturned in the panic the fog had caused. Now able to see clearly, it wouldn’t be long before the soldiers regrouped and found their way to the temple. I have to be quick. Mia climbed onto the wagon and struggled to find proper footing on the canopy. Following a quick, deep breath, she leapt for a nearby house and climbed to its roof. Feeling the desire to climb higher, she located the fire escape for an adjacent apartment building and made a running jump for it. She just managed to grab onto the railing outside the second story window. She hoisted herself up and climbed the stairs to the fourth floor.
Atop the roof, Mia could see a cable that supported outside her line of sight which inclined toward a shop across the street from the temple. The only problem is that she couldn’t reach the roof from where she stood. She didn’t have her supplies with her; she might have lost them in the restaurant when she tried to run from Sara. So, she kicked out the nearest window and crawled into the building. To her relief, she found herself inside an empty sitting room that appeared to be recently occupied. She searched quietly for something that could be used to climb to the roof, but most people sadly don’t own rope and grappling hooks. She found a knife in the kitchen and cut the drapes into strips, which she tied firmly together and to a metal stepping stool she found in a closet.
Once back onto the fire escape, she heaved the stool onto the roof and hoped it would latch on to something. On her third attempt, she found that it had snagged on something that supported her weight well enough for her to climb to the top. She found her cable attached to a billboard and threw her makeshift rope over it. With a hand on either side, she leapt from the building and sailed toward the shop. She let go of the rope before she crashed into the side of the building. Unfortunately, she had come in quickly and her inexpert drop caused her to roll headfirst into the door.
Stunned, Mia plopped to the ground and sat for a few seconds. She sharply commanded herself to stand and peered around the building. The area surrounding the temple appeared empty; she had managed to get there ahead of the guards. She sprinted across the road and into the temple to look for the queen, but she was not who she would find within. A splatter of blood would be the only evidence that any violence had occurred there. In the queen’s place stood her brother and, to Mia’s surprise, Mario. Just as before, both were engaged in discussion and failed to notice Mia’s entrance.
“It’s hard to believe I am paying for such incompetence!” Anthony hissed. “I can’t receive the crown without my sister’s corpse! Where is it?”
“That’s the least of your problems right now, your highness,” Mario replied in his most intimidating drawl. “Mia hasn’t reported in yet. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“Of course not!” Anthony replied, genuinely affronted. “Do you really think I would betray her?”
“Why not?” Mario pointed to the Salican statue behind her. “Everything we’ve done has been a betrayal. Am I really supposed to believe you can betray an entire country, but not one person?”
Anthony began to laugh. “You don’t realize what’s going on! I would have thought your mistress trusted you more than that!”
“Where is Mia?” Mario snarled.
Mia slowly walked up to the altar and said. “I’m here.”
The men both rounded toward her with a jolt. A cold silence hung over the entire room, that was soon broken by Anthony’s anxious voice.
“There you are! What did you do with my sister?”
Mario ignored the prince and hissed. “Mia, we need to talk.”
Mia had never been less pleased to see Mario. “What are you doing here?”
Mario glanced at Anthony for a moment before responding, “I came to stop you. Lighthouse is a lie! We’re being used!”
The prince sneered. “Ignore him. He does not speak for your mistress.”
Mia began to glare at Anthony. “We’ve known her longer than you have! Why should I believe that?”
“I know that because Dinorah came to me! This was her idea!” Anthony exclaimed, his eyes widened with glee. “And neither of you had the slightest idea!”
Mario kicked the prince behind the knee, and floored him with a kick to the head. After confirming that he had knocked out his foe, he grabbed Mia by the shoulders and fixed a fierce gaze on her.
“Mario, what was he talking about?”
Mario hesitated and when he spoke, his voice was shaking. “I already knew that Dinorah was behind Lighthouse. She’s been manipulating all three of us!”
“Why?”
“I don’t know! I just know that we can’t allow it to happen! Dinorah’s been stocking up on arms and consorting with demons!”
“We’re talking about my mother here!” Mia insisted. “Where’s your proof!”
Mario sighed. “I can’t prove what I’m telling you. I just need you to trust me. She’s leading the Starlings astray! What did you do with the queen?”
“The fog hit before I could get her,” Mia replied. “I cut her, but I couldn’t see if I managed to kill her.”
“She probably escaped.” Mario sighed with relief. “We need to get out of here. Once we’re clear, we can drop a message to the Inquisitor and explain the whole thing.”
ia frowned. “Fine. But once we’re done with that, we’re going to check on the shit you just said about Dinorah. If you’re wrong, I’ll kill you.”
Mario nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s--”
Mario’s dagger slipped out of its holster and buried itself in his torso from behind, guided by Anthony’s hand. Mia’s blood chilled with shock as Mario fell slowly to the ground. As his blood mingled with the queen’s, Mia turned toward the prince with a livid expression.
“This is your last chance,” Anthony said coldly. “Find my sister! Finish the job, or you’re finished as a Starling!”
Mia could not help but notice now what Sara had told her earlier. This entire mission had put her off her game; the unfeeling calm that she felt when hunting felt lost forever. What she felt now was white-hot rage. Thunder boomed outside the temple and loud cracks could be heard through the ceiling. The lights, dim as they already were, blinked rapidly and went out. In the faint light of the round window above the door, Mia could see shock registered in the prince’s face. Mia only remained still, oblivious to everything but her desire to kill, which was motivated by pure emotion rather than purpose.
Still, he was armed, and Mia was not, so she spent a long time considering her options. Mia could disarm and kill with her bare hands, but the royal family had mostly proven to be a higher caliber of prey, and each had their own line of defense. One had tried to hold her off with spellwarriors, another with rigid security, and the third with a compelling appeal. Could it be her luck that this would be the one who was capable of besting her?
Mia was saved the trouble of finding out as another bolt of lightning crashed through the window, narrowly missing them both. This sudden storm was all that was needed to send the prince running. He dived under one of the benches and didn‘t come back up. Mia followed him to see that the space he had chosen to hide was now empty. The hidden passage!
Before Mia could find where the prince had slipped to, the door burst open and a dozen guards poured in, followed by the Royal Inquisitor himself. The sounds of the dissipating storm would soon give way to a din of shouts.
“Get down on the ground!”
“Suspect acquired!”
“We’ve got a wounded person here!”
But Mia had eyes for only Mario, who had gone completely still. The last traces of that disarming smile had all but vanished. As one of the guards restrained Mia, she found that she no longer had the will to resist. Mario was dead and, if she took his word for it, everything she believed in had turned out to be a lie. For the first time since she lost her birth family, tears pooled in her eyes. They slid down her face as she looked up once more at the statue of Salica.
I would give anything for just one more chance to kill Anthony Clark.
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