Joker Old Volume

Day XX of XX00

The king is dead, the whole kingdom is coping, he was a great and wonderful king, he will be missed, the princess is also greatly cheered by the townsfolk, she will be shortly crowned

Day XX of XX00

The kingdom is at dispair yet again, the princess has disappeared, luckily the brother of the king has taken into account the affairs of the kingdom and is managing everything for the sake of the people, his popularity is rising fast, as he affirms to have dispatched several knight squadrons in search of the princess and rightful heir

Day XX of XX01

It is with great sadness that Count Valmount, brother of the king is crowned king today, in the one year anniversary of the search for his niece, the kingdom is in auge, thanking him for everything he is done in this long year

—

A dark night covers the royal castle of Neirukon everyone asleep, except by a few guards, and the king, whose emotion cannot be contained for he is finally king, oh long gone are the nights of dreaming, of desiring the crown, for his dreams are now reality, he has power, fortune and fame, what more could a man desire on this life.

He moves quickly through the castle, doesn't matter if anyone sees him, but is better to not arouse suspicion, any mistake could be fatal. Down a snail staircase carved in stone, he goes to the dungeons of the castle, empty of course, but that doesn't stop him, the dungeons are just a straight corridor with four cells at each side, at the end of the corridor Valmount presses an specific brick that only the royal family and those who work in the shadows are acknowledged of.

More stairs deep down into the earth, a single torch lights up a small room with the reinforced door of a cell, inside the princess disappeared a year ago, by the order of the Ex-count Valmount, the life of a prisioner has made dent in her appearance, her eyes have lost the light, her clothes are ripped and torn apart, any visible skin is covered in dirt, the King grins, he never liked that child, he never thought of her as dignified enough to reign, too compassionate, too good to the people, so goddamn stupid, just as his brother, well, no need to get angry at a poisoned dead bastard and his equally idiotic descendence.

Not too long passes until the princess acknowledges the appearance of his uncle to which she answers with a look that defies mountains, kings and dragons, a burning hatred improper of royalty, she can't yell anymore, for she has no energies left for that anymore, the light coming from her jailed window goes away for a second and something hits her in the face. Bread. From who knows when, she eats, there's no motive to not eat, it will give her strength.

-Ha!- He laughs, for the princess, oh so deary supposed royalty is eating like an animal a piece of bread from a week ago, he thinks of what it is to come and smiles a bit more -Enjoy it my dear, they say your last meal is the best meal you will ever have, I wonder, is it? you seem to eat it like so- His words are just received with more looks of pure hate, well what more could one expect from something so pathetic, doesn't matter, he has no use for her anymore, so, she will not live anymore.

His uncle leaves, she knows it may as well be the last time she sees him. When will she die? How? Maybe the bread? Is it poisoned? Does it even matter? No. She won't let the fear get through her, that was the last promise she made to his dad, and she will keep it to the bitter end, so she gets comfortable as one can in an underground cell, while heavy chains keep you bonded to the wall and eats his probably poisoned bread, well ready to haunt his dear uncle after death.

And so a week passed, yet surprisingly enough, she didn't die.

—

Zack was never a clever man, but he was the man of trust for the new king, and he would do anything to keep that position, including walking at midnight into the most dangerous place in all the kingdom, the Ugly Death, a tavern, also the hideout of a guild of thugs, the worst kind of thugs, thieves, assassins, those are nothing, that kind of people would have nightmares if the found someone from the Ugly Death, so not letting his rational side get the best of him, Zack entered the tavern, there was no one in there for Zack´s luck, only the bartender was cleaning some glasses, maybe luck was on his side, maybe everything about this place was a lie.

-If you want to enter, leave half your payment here- said the bartender without looking at him

-E-excuse me?- Zack managed to talk back even if he could feel there was more than a joke behind the bartenders words

-You heard me, either half and you talk with the boys, or all and you leave with your life- The bartender wasn't joking, so Zack got to the bartender making sure there was still no one in there, slowly and trembling he put one of the two bags of gold Valmount gave him in the bar, and took two more coins from the other bag, just as the King told him, putting them in front of the bartender

-I-i need the best assassin there is, i-is for a special j-job- The bartender took his time cleaning the glass until it was shining, then grabbed a coin and took a bite out of it, testing if it was real, he seemed convinced enough, everything was gonna be fine Zack thought for himself. The bartender looked up and down at Zack and got back to cleaning glasses -Ex-excuse me but…-

-Shut up. … … … Did ya hear that J? He wants the best, this tiny piece of shit wants the best, think you could show him what we got?- The bartender spoke without looking. "He's crazy" Zack thought, to himself luckily, there was no one more in this whole establishment, at least that one could see… Suddenly an arm got on his shoulder, he couldn't move, felt shivers down his spine, then, a voice on his left -Jolly boy Zack right? Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice to meet ya, I´m Joker, we are gonna make great things together I feel it Gyahahahahaha so…- The hand made him move to look at the face of the voice -What is the job?- Zack stuttered, and the face of fear smiled