"This is Joseph," Lance said, dragging me along as I shied away from everyone behind him.

He looked like he would snap me in half. Big, burly, hairy—

"He was a butcher before he came here because the royal guards burned down his meat shop after Joseph told them he didn't have enough money for taxes. He's from outside the gates. This is Demetria." He took me to a pretty girl who was busy braiding her thick hair in a fishtail.

The girl wouldn't look up into my face. She just smirked, looking only at Lance.

"Hello Demetria," I greeted.

"Hello. How long will you stay? Or are you just here for the food? Free shelter, maybe?"

"Demetria. . ." Lance warned, and pulled me away, lowering his voice. "She thinks she's so great just because she's a good fighter. I'm the only one she can't defeat."

Can you defeat me?

I followed him around as he introduced me to everybody. This is Darren." He introduced me to a golden haired boy that was fairly good looking, with blue eyes and a serious smile. Next was Aland, a brown haired boy with soft hazel eyes. Sitting next to them was Charlotte, the redhead. She'd come with her parents as a child.

Soon later came many adults and a sweet woman with a kind smile named Anna, and a newlywed couple. There were a few rude ones also, but I managed just fine. "And this is our crew," he concluded, ending the tour back at my room. "Do you like it?"

"Of course," I laughed. "What do you think?" I think this is a waste of time. Xavier is dying.

"I think everyone is glad to have you here," Lance grinned. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"I'm not sure," I shrugged. "Is the tour over?" I was hoping to get some information about the antidotes and poisons, but he didn't mention anything about an infirmary.

"Yeah," he nodded, leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What am I going to do here?" I asked, tiredly. "I mean, who knows how long I'm going to stay? I have nothing to do. How will I pass time?" I added a small whine to my voice.

"Do you fight?" he asked. Not the answer I was looking for.

"Yes, but I'm not really interested in fighting." My shoulders drooped. Did the whining not help? Did I look like some muscular boy to him?

"So you can't fight?"

"Of course I can," I said abruptly. Smoothing out my voice, I corrected, "I mean . . . I can. My father thought me, but I'm not that great," I covered up modestly.

He laughed. "Are you sure? You don't seem too skillful to me."

"What?" I said, taken aback. You should see me with my sword. "I'm no weakling."

"You were almost trampled by your horse." He bit back a smile.

"He became out of control. Something spooked him. That has nothing to do with being a weakling."

"You couldn't control him."

"I'm strong enough to hurt you."

"You're a girl."

My jaw dropped. "Excuse me? How dare you insult me like that!" He was asking for a broken nose.

"Prove it."And then I realized he was only teasing me.

"Alright," I smirked, "come here and I'll show you what a girl can do." He walked over to me, standing still.

I drew back my fist and punched him across the shoulder. He moved an inch, and then laughed out loud. "Is that all you've got?"

"Harder?" I grinned, curling my hands into strong fists. I punched him firmly, and this time he stepped back.

"Tough, but not tough enough. Are you done?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Aw, have I hurt you?" I smirked, leaning against the bedpost.

"No. I've been punched harder."

"Well then, Lance, shall I really hurt you?" I asked, straightening his shoulders. "Stand tall. My father showed me this," I lied.

"You may try, but you aren't going to hurt me."

"Right," I rolled my eyes, stepping back. I pulled back my fist to my waist, taking in a deep breath and focusing all my strength in one arm. With one small step, I let my fist fly.

It cracked against his shoulder and he staggered back, letting out an oof! He gripped his shoulder in shock, wincing every time he moved it. "Did you really just—" He couldn't complete his sentence, utterly bewildered.

"You can do it as well," I said. "It's not that hard." I walked closer him, grabbing his arms and told him to make fists. Then I brought them down to waist level, fingers faced upward. "Bend your knees. Separate your legs a little." I tapped his knees to show him. He did as he was told, and then I commanded him to focus all his energy into one arm. "Forget the other one."

He did as was told, and then I told him to punch me.

"No," he got up, annoyed. "Why would I punch you?"

"Because I'm training you," I claimed. "Get back down."

"But you'll get hurt," he said.

"Lance. Get back down or next time my fist will find your nose."

He rolled his eyes and went back into fighting position. "Alright, but just don't cry when you find yourself on the floor."

"Punch," I ordered.

He let his fist go, hitting my shoulder this time, but I didn't move. "Really?"

Frustrated, he repeated the same step, hitting my other shoulder.

"No, Lance," I sighed, "focus your energy on one hand. All of your power should be here." I pointed at his fist. He nodded, took a deep breath, and punched. I was thrown off balance. "Whoa," I laughed, on my back, my elbows propping me up. "That was great."

"Thank you. You okay?"

"Fine." I grabbed his hand as he pulled me up. "Want me to teach you how to kick?"

After he left, I lay on my bed, tired. I'd been having so much fun training Lance I'd forgotten about Xavier, which deeply depressed me. Xavier was dying, far away, and I was sitting here laughing and having fun with this . . . boy. But what annoyed me so much more was that after he left, I realized one thing. I had been laughing. I had fun.

And it wasn't fake at all.

"I don't want to practice!" I pulled my arm from Lance's grip. He was laughing at me. "Leave me alone."

"Kristina, you have to. Everyone here does. They'll set you up with a good teacher. You're so good, you could be a teacher." He wasn't supposed to know that, and it irked me when I thought about how carried away I'd gotten.

"But why are you forcing me?" I backed away from him.

"You're a brilliant fighter! What are you so afraid of?" he persisted. No one could see me fight. If they did, they'd figure out I was no ordinary person in the blink of an eye. People here couldn't be as blind as Lance. "We need people like you. Don't let me down."

"Stop laughing at me!" I swatted his arm.

"I'm not. I'm laughing at the . . . the wall," he sputtered, which made him laugh harder.

"Stop it."

"Alright, alright. It's just that I've never seen anyone act this way before. You're so. . . ."

"What am I?" I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling.

"Childish?" His green eyes were amused.

"I'm not childish. It's just that everyone has their fears, and I happen to have two." I turned up my nose.

"If I stay with you, will you be alright? Because if you want to stay here you'll have to follow the rules."

I thought over this. I'd have to fake quite a bit. "I'm not as good as you think I am. I might be strong, but I can't fight."

"Let's see about that." He offered me his hand, and I braced myself. I was not going to have a pleasant time.

"You're partnered with Demetria, new girl," the instructor said. "She'll teach you what you need to know."

Just my luck. I knew that Demetria had whispered something to him before class started, and she definitely wanted to hurt me. I could see it the way she smiled coldly at me, her eyes narrowed. I felt a familiar pang every time I looked at her face, and I finally realized I was looking at a mirror image of myself, but with different features.

"You may begin."

I walked over to Demetria, feeling painstakingly bored. "Here you go."

She tossed me a sword, which I was careful not to hold properly. It was too light for me anyway. The sword from the Queen was the only one I could use flawlessly.

She laughed out loud. "Look here, the new girl can't even hold a sword!"

I was enjoying every moment of this. "You're Demetria, right?"

"Yes ma'am." Suddenly, I saw her do something peculiar. With a quick flick of her eyes, she scanned the training grounds for someone. Someone in particular, and I knew who it was the moment her eyes stopped.

Lance was watching us closely from afar, twirling a sword in his hand. His eyebrows were furrowed. I hoped he was close enough to hear our conversation.

When Demetria looked back at me, she was scowling.

"What were you looking at?" I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear casually.

"None of your business," she said a little too loudly.

That was the one of the many advantages of being an assassin. You were trained to capture every detail. Even the smallest of actions were caught. Her eyes moved quickly, in a matter of seconds, but I caught on immediately.

"Lance?" I snorted. "Really?"

A furious blush rose upon her cheeks. "That's it. Get your sword ready." She was mad. Good thing, too, because the best thing that could take down even the most professional fighters was their own anger.

I picked it up. She attacked and I dodged. "You're supposed to be teaching!" I pointed out as my head was almost severed from my body.

"Nothing can get through your head," she snarled, doing an uppercut. I stumbled back and kicked her knees, taking it slow. She hit my head with the butt of her sword and I dropped to the ground, defeated. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lance approach us.

"Demetria, what have you done?" he asked, holding his arm out to help me up. I took it, getting to my feet and feigning dizziness.

"I fought. Let go of her so we can go another round."

"It's okay, Lance," I shrugged him off. "I'm fine," I said, though my head was throbbing where she hit it.

"Are you sure?" he asked, and I nodded. Then I faced Demetria as he watched us, backing up. I waited until she made the first move. I pivoted around her. She was getting angrier by the second. She whipped around, slicing at my legs. I jumped over it. She went for my neck and I ducked easily, causing her to trip over her own feet, falling. I kicked the sword out of her hand and with one quick movement I grabbed it and held it at her throat.

My hair was loose around my shoulders as I threw the sword to the side. "Learn who you're dealing with," I said quietly, and looked around to find everyone watching in awe. Damn it.

"You had her on the ground without even trying!" Lance yelled, laughing.

"What can I say," I smiled shyly, "I've had experience. Old bullies."

Lance was grinning ear to ear as he reached out to Demetria to help her up. She slapped his hand away, and I raised my eyebrows. We watched her stalk off, eyes full of fury.

Lance turned to me and shook his head. "What have I brought home now?" I gave him a flamboyant smile.

"Never doing that again," I lay on my bed.

"You were amazing."

"She's going to murder me," I groaned, stuffing my face in my pillow.

"Not if you do that to her again," Lance shrugged.

"I can't always dodge her. I probably got her by surprise this time, but if she gets a hold of me next time she'll tear me apart."

"Stay close to me then," Lance suggested and I pulled my face out of the pillow to look at him, raising my eyebrows.

"Like that'll help," I glowered. "This is your fault."

"What do you mean?" He ran a hand through his light hair, leaning against the door.

"She's probably around you more than I'll ever be," I simpered, not meeting his eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

I gave him a sly smile.

"Tell me."

"Maybe she fancies you."

"What? No. Really?" He stared at me. "I was not expecting that." His eyebrows were raised in surprise.

I shrugged. "It does happen."

"You've had experience?" He grinned. I pushed him away in annoyance.

"You wish," I rolled my eyes, and he leaned forward. "Go away." I pushed him again, not making eye contact. He laughed out loud and stood straighter.

"Are you sure? Because I could arrange something."

"Keep dreaming." I wrinkled my nose in distaste.

"I will," he winked. "See you later."

My jaw dropped. "You don't even know what I'm capable of." He only gave me a dismissive wave, unconvinced, his green eyes twinkling.

He shut the door behind him and I could hear his cool laugher outside. I buried my face in my pillow. Why did this feel so familiar?