The Eternal Assassin

Asher could only stare at Bordan as the truthseeker remained frozen, envelope held out expectantly as if he knew Asher would take it. He didn't offer any additional information or say anything else, he just stood there, waiting patiently. Asher all but sputtered, trying to figure out what the hell to even say to something like that.

"How… What… Why would the High Prince of the kingdom care about someone like me of all people?! And how would he know I was going to lose my hands before it happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Bordan said with the barest hint of a frown. "While I have a massive amount of respect for High Prince Donvath and all that he's managed to accomplish since taking the crown, I will admit the man is… a tad eccentric. He enjoys giving cryptic orders for us to follow that only make sense after a certain amount of time has passed."

That scared Asher more than anything else Bordan had ever told him, and he stared at the truthseeker with wide eyes as he jumped to the most logical conclusion.

No way… Does the High Prince of this kingdom have a Time element?!

Not even getting into the logistics of how someone would accomplish getting an element like that in the first place, the thought of someone having skills related to time was horrifying. It sounded like at the bare minimum the High Prince was capable of seeing at least temporarily into the future, which meant even without factoring in all his other skills and abilities, he would be functionally impossible to catch unawares.

Hoping he was making a horrible mistake, and that the High Prince was actually just really good at making predictions, Asher slowly reached out and plucked the envelope from Bordan's hands. The fingers on his own right hand had only regrown up to the knuckle, but that was more than enough for now.

Bordan made no comment on the state of his hand as he handed over the missive, even going so far as to take a step back and gesture for Asher to open it. Not wanting the truthseeker to take advantage of him while he was reading, Asher threw up a Spatial Lock just in case. He knew from prior experience that he could block at least one of Bordan's powerful blows with his skill if needed.

Having learned his lesson from the last time he'd opened a strange message, Asher mentally prepared himself to slip into the astral at the first sign of anything funny. But rather than an explosion of blue powder or anything else, after a few moments of struggle as he tried to nimbly wield his dagger with his crippled right hand while balancing the message on the remains of his left arm, he managed to open it without anything blowing up in his face. Inside was a handwritten note.

Addressed specifically to Asher Holden, a.k.a., The Reaper.

Bordan should have already congratulated you, after coming to terms with the fact that he couldn't kill you, but allow me to say it as well. Excellent job taking down Drip! I could never come up with a plan to rid Whikoga of his influence without losing too many valuable people to do it, so I greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter! Now, you're no doubt thinking things such as 'how could he possibly know Bordan was going to try and kill me?' or 'damn, opening letters with only nubs for fingers is incredibly difficult.' To the second, I say 'I have no doubt,' and to the first, I say 'that's a secret.' What does matter is that I have two things I want to tell you.

To start, do you have any idea how much of a headache you've caused me?? Running the Noala Kingdom is a delicate balancing act of keeping the various noble families happy, keeping the two dramatically more powerful nations on either side of our borders happy, and keeping the citizens of this fair kingdom happy. Not to mention attempting to avoid direct notice of the various powers that are roving the world at large, such as perhaps The Council of Death of all things. Here I was, having finally gotten things stable after all these years, only for you to show up and jump on the hornets nest, jostling all the pieces and giving me a literal headache. Frankly, it's just inconsiderate, and I don't appreciate the added stress. The High Prince can't address his people with bags under his eyes, which means I've had to double the throne's makeup budget, a cost I expect you to pay up when we finally meet. Fair warning, I only use the good stuff, so you better have some shards on you when the time comes.

Anyway, I've gotten off track. Now that I'm done ranting, I did say I had two things I wanted to tell you. I know this is going to annoy you, but it's the only path forward I see from where I currently stand, so I'm going to have to tell you anyway.

Unless you want to be responsible for tens of thousands of innocent people losing their lives, you should take Samantha and Brian and leave Whikoga. Today.

Yes, yes, go ahead and freak out a little because I know about the two of them. Once you're done with that, make sure you think about what I just said. Your hand should be close enough to fully healed by now that you can protect yourselves on the road if needed. Oh, and I'm not sure if you befriended Theorn or not during your invasion of the Frent family estate (nice job on that by the way, hate those guys). But if you did, you shouldn't go asking Theorn for a ride via his pegasus. It's imperative your arms are finished regenerating before you make it to the next city. While riding by pegasus is much safer, and you're going to feel pressed for time, you arrive too quickly if you go that route.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Now, I'm sure you have quite a number of questions and strong feelings rattling around in that head of yours, and to that I say, rough rubramelons. I'm the High Prince, I don't have to tell you squat. Not to mention giving a sealed letter and a cryptic message to one of my truthseekers isn't exactly the most secure method of communication. Not that Bordan would ever open something I gave him without permission, but there are all sorts of skills in this world, and even I can't factor in all of them. I know you want answers, but you can't come to the capital just yet. I promise I'll explain things to you one day, provided you don't get yourself killed.

Remember, unless you want to be at the heart of a horrible tragedy, you should get out of Whikoga, today. I can't tell you why, but trust me, it's bad if you don't. Honestly, you shouldn't really be wasting any more of your time there anyway. Because while you may have forgotten after so many near-death experiences back to back, you have more important things to worry about.

Like the fact that Leighann is going to be resurrected in Dormaul in only five days' time. I'm delaying the healer the best I can, but I can only do so much. Unless you want her spreading the world about your special element, you might want to get a move on.

Yours truly,

Donvath

P.S., Before you go, tell Rosh to keep a minimum of 18,342 shards on him at all times. Thank me later.

It was a good thing Bordan didn't try to attack him while he was reading the High Prince's letter, because Asher was so shocked by its contents his Spatial Lock actually flickered and died as he lost concentration.

The High Prince, the ruler of this entire kingdom, knew everything.

He knew about Asher's Eternity element. He knew about Samantha and Brian. He knew about The Council of Death and the situation with Leighann. Hell, the man somehow knew he'd spoken with Theorn and that his fingers were only half healed at the moment!

After rereading the contents of the letter a second, and then a third time, Asher finally looked up at Bordan. For his part, the truthseeker seemed to have expected this reaction, because he merely gave him a small, pained smile.

"That's often the expression I see after delivering the High Prince's missives for him. And before you ask, I won't tell you anything about the High Prince or his skills, so don't bother."

Asher slowly nodded, closing his mouth rather than waste his breath. If it were anyone other than Bordan he might try and needle them down anyway, but one look at Bordan's aura with Judgement was all the reminder he needed that the man would not be moved if he didn't want to be. The beaming, golden aura radiating from him was blinding enough that Asher knew he'd never get a single syllable out of the man, even if he were the type to resort to torture.

Before doing anything else, he used Incorporate on the letter and shoved it into his Personal Rift. He'd burn it later once he had fingers capable of igniting a match again.

Incorporate - Lvl 17

Asher dismissed the notification without even looking, his gaze still locked upon Bordan. His mind was in such utter turmoil, that after a few seconds, he just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Does this mean you'll stop trying to stab me every time I turn around?"

"I have long-standing orders not to interfere with anyone while they're reading one of High Prince Donvath's missives, or for twenty-four hours after," Bordan explained. "But until I'm given specific orders not to try and kill you, I will continue to do so."

"Gee, well thanks for the heads up," Asher said, shaking his head as he tried to figure all this out. "If Donvath wanted me to do all this… Why not just tell you not to try and kill me?"

"I've found it a lesson in futility to try and place yourself in the High Prince's shoes. Besides, did he actually give you specific orders to do something? I will say, generally, these missives contain a warning, rather than an order. The High Prince doesn't seem to enjoy bossing people around like many of the noble families."

"Actually… you're right," Asher admitted, going back over the missive a fourth time. Most of the message was him just grumbling at me. Other than that, the only real 'order' he gave me was to get out of Whikoga. He warned me about certain things, and reminded me about Leighann, but he didn't actually give me specific instructions to do anything other than flee the city.

Assuming he does have a Time element, maybe he can't try and change things too directly without there being some sort of consequence?

Asher wouldn't say he was all that well versed in the nuances of hypothetical time travel in fiction back on Earth, but he knew the basics. Things like the Grandfather Paradox or how messing with one little thing could have drastic consequences for the future. Maybe telling Asher specifically what he needed to do would end up creating a worse future than if he vaguely hinted at things.

Damn it, I haven't even met the man, and I already hate him and his skills.

While he was bemoaning this twist of fate, Asher blinked as Bordan turned and began walking away. "Where are you going?"

"To the market?" Bordan said, pausing to glance over his shoulder. "I was in the middle of eating lunch when I saw you, and I'm still rather hungry."

"Seriously? We just… walk away like nothing happened?"

"I follow my orders." Bordan shrugged. "As of this moment, you have twenty-four hours until I'm allowed to interfere with you, unless you put another person's life at risk or commit a new crime. I'll be sure to keep Clare away from you as well. Though mark my words, as soon as those twenty-four hours are up, we return right back to where we started."

"Fair enough," Asher said, walking over to join him. "In that case, mind showing me where you bought those steamed buns? They looked pretty good, and I think I'm going to have to eat lunch on the road today."