Chapter Three

Chapter three;

Lissie’s father hadn’t been lying. He did order her to do things still, and treated her just as cruelly. That night, Lissie robbed some already poor folk, her father had forced her. He threatened her with death, this time.

“I’m training you for what’s to come.” He would say every time she was assigned a task.

That night there was a thief meeting. Her father’s crew consisted of roughly five men and two women including her.

“Surely you have a plan by now, Ervine, right?” One of the younger boys asked her father, impatiently. “Lissie has to be ready by now.”

“I feel she still is too clumsy to take on such a huge task.” Lissie heard him say from the other side of the wall. They had started without her; she had guessed it would happen. She walked in the room, stopping their conversation. She didn’t know of this ‘huge task’ they were discussing, but she didn’t like the sound of it. She took her seat next to her father. They all looked at her cautiously; as if they knew she had heard.

“What? Why do you all stare? It irks me, cut it out.” She threatened. A few of their heads turned, but occasionally there was that one glance one of them thought they could steal without her noticing. The meeting went as they normally did, her father would ask how much money they had collected, then he’d ask for it, and then they would be dismissed if their amount pleased him. Which most of the time, did. Unfortunately for Lissie; she was responsible for those who collected nothing. In other words, she was responsible to do away with them, to kill them.

Tonight, to Lissie’s disappointment, the only other girl displeased her father. Lissie and her were sent out of the house. Lissie took her around to an old barn where she normally took this kind of thing.

“I’m so sorry.” Lissie said. The woman was crying.

“I have a family, please, show mercy!”

“If I don’t do this, my father won’t show me mercy.”

“Please, I won’t even show up next time! I’ll change my name, dye my hair, and move out of Denerim! Please!”

“Will you do all that you said?” Lissie asked. She had never let anyone escape her like this, but she felt somewhat sorry for her.

“Yes, yes!” Lissie couldn’t trust her. Lissie could trust no one. Her thought kept wondering to the fact that the first thing she would do with her freedom would be to tattle on her to her father.

“I can’t.” Lissie said, apologetically. “I can’t trust you with that, sorry.” Lissie then slid the dagger straight thought the woman’s heart. She didn’t struggle; she collapsed in Lissie’s arms. Lissie let out a long sigh, and headed back for the house.

“What did you do?” It was the sound of Quince’s voice, as Lissie turned to face him. Lissie couldn’t look at him. Now that she knew, he looked far too much like her father.

“You know very well what I did. You know my reasoning behind it as well, mage.”

“You know of my gift?” He sounded surprised. “How?”

“Calling it a gift is a bit generous, don’t you think?” She blinked at him.

“It’s become a habit to call it so. It’s what my mother calls it.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Your mother.”

“You don’t believe I have a mother?”

“Oh, no I do.” Lissie fought back the thought of what her father had discussed with her. “Why are you here? What do you want of me?”

“I just wanted to talk about your father, I thought you might need someone to talk to, you know…”

“Yes, my father.” Lissie said, implying that he was in fact his father, too. She didn’t let her mind wander to that, though. She thought of her loneliness, and her lack of friends. She thought of the warmth leaving the body that still slouched over her arms. If Quince found out they were siblings, surely he would ask his mother about it, and his mother would come to Lissie’s father, and he would beat her senseless. All because Lissie let her mind wander.

“Do you need help?” He asked.

“Of coarse I don’t.”

“That’s not what your mind thinks.” He said, timidly.

“Leave me alone, mage. I can handle myself just fine.” Lissie needed to escape him before her father came to see what was taking so long. “I have to go.”

“Let me talk to your father for you.” He suggested.

“No!” Lissie spat before she had time to ease her words.

“Okay, okay. I’ll leave. But if you do ever need help…”

“Yea, whatever.” Lissie left as fast as she could. She left the body in the barn, where the other bodies were stacked. No one ever went in there except her. Ever.

Her father didn’t ask her of her delayed appearance. He didn’t care, for all she knew. When she returned, her father called the meeting off. The thieves left at once. One man was sobbing; this man was the husband of the woman Lissie had killed. She didn’t feel any guilt. She was disgusted with herself, though. She was disgusted that she felt no guilt.