Chapter 9: Spring Smiles

"Alright, tell me what you found." Athel said as he motioned to a chair in front of him. Kelvin nodded and walked over to the chair, then sat in it.

"The individual in question seems to have been an assassin, her target is currently unknown, however, she did have several poisons on her, one was already in her mouth, I assume she was supposed to kill herself upon discovery, but she hesitated and we managed to take it out." Kelvin explained.

"And how is the interrogation going?" Athel asked.

"She hasn't spoken yet, we may have to move to... Rougher methods." Kelvin said.

"I see. I'd rather not be known for torturing my prisoners for information, but if it's necessary, carry on with it. If she doesn't confess to anything, use a slave seal, you can have her after that." Athel said.

"Right..." Kelvin said.

"Well, moving on from that, who do you think would be best as a training partner for Astrid? She has a bit too much strength to go against people around her age, however, she is still small, so I think we need someone who can stand that but also knows how to hold back." Athel said.

"You aren't saying what I think you are, are you?" Kelvin asked.

"Kelvin, you are the only person I can imagine being able to fit that position, at least, for right now. Once she is a bit older, we can have her spar her brothers, but for now, you are the only person capable of properly sparring with her." Athel explained with a gentle voice.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Kelvin said with a slight sigh.

"Now that we have settled all of that, Kelvin, report back at the end of the week with your findings, and based on that report, I'll decide what to do next." Athel said.

"Yes sir." Kelvin said as he stood up.

"You are dismissed." Athel said. Kelvin walked out of the room, then sighed.

'Jeez, just how much work is that workaholic gonna pile on me?' He asked himself as he walked to the dungeon.

"Lady Coldblight, would you like me to draw you a bath?" Nora asked as she and Astrid walked down the hall. Astrid shook her head.

"I did not do anything crazy, so there will be no need." Astrid said. "Well, at least Father approved of me having a sparring partner." Astrid said lightly as she stretched a bit.

"Agreed. I will ask that you do not get injured, to see you in pain would be... Saddening." Nora said as she gazed at the floor.

"The odds of that are low, knowing my father, he will choose someone who will not purposefully injure me, in fact, it is rather likely that Kelvin will be the one to spar with me, to begin with." Astrid said.

"I see, if that is the case, it is highly likely you will be fine. That does put my mind at ease." Nora said.

As Kelvin walked down the stone steps, he could hear the sounds of light breathing echo from down below. After a few moments, he reached the bottom of the stairs and stood before a large stone corridor with several cells on either side of it.

He walked through the corridor and after passing a few cells, turned right and faced a young woman who is in her underwear and chained to the wall with her hands above her head. She looks to be about seventeen and has large breasts.

Her hair is black, while her iris is a dark brown color and her skin is slightly tan in coloration. "I already said that you weren't getting anything out of me no matter what you do." She said with a hoarse voice. Kelvin sighed.

"Look, I'll warn you one last time. If you don't tell me what you know, I'll have to do something neither of us will enjoy. So please, just tell me." Kelvin said gently as he opened the door.

She spit in his direction. "Just get on with it." She said with the same voice as earlier. Kelvin sighed as he walked in and turned to the table in the right corner of the cell that has several glass containers of liquid of varying colors as well as several tools.

He grabbed a bottle of orange liquid, then threw it onto the ground in the center of the room. Quickly, flames erupted where the bottle shattered and Kelvin turned around and picked up a fire iron.

"I'm going to give you another chance to confess all that you know." Kelvin said. After a few moments of silence, he sighed with an annoyed tone to his breath as he scratched his head.

Kelvin turned around again and plunged the fire iron into the flames. "You have until this heats up to tell me. If you don't, I'll be forced to use it." Kelvin said. The only response was a mild amount of nervous laughter.

After a few minutes, he pulled the fire iron out and approached the woman. "We'll start with something simple. Your name." Kelvin said as he slowly moved the fire iron closer to the top of her right thigh.

As the object got closer to her, she tensed up her muscles and clenched her teeth. As the orange-hot item made contact with her, a loud grunting noise could be heard as she tried to resist screaming.

...

Athel lit the candle on his desk as he dipped his quill in ink. After a moment of organizing his thoughts, he began to write.

'Daer your royal highness,

I recently came in contact with an assassin. As of me writing this, we do not know their target, however, this is rather alarming. If assassins are capable of infiltrating my defenses, no defenses are safe.

I implore you, your majesty, to increase the number of guards and exercise caution in the coming days. There may be factions looking to cause instability in the kingdom in addition to those seeking to gain power.

Your majesty, there are many threats looming over our great nation and I fear that the storm of change may be on the horizon, biding its time, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Until we meet again,

Athel Coldblight.'