APPLICANT #9

the domesticated assassin, sun shinae

She wants to see her. After all these months, she has not been able to forget the face of this woman. She remembers every detail of her body, how it fitted in her arms all those nights, how she smiled, how she laughed. She knows she is not supposed to fall in love. She is an assassin. She has to live for that and nothing else. Having a lover would be having a weakness an enemy could use against her, she knows it. Yet, no matter what, she is drawn to this girl. She has come back several times already and each time, it is a bit more difficult to leave. But finally, she is able to go back to her. Even for a minute, she is alright. Or is she? No, she needs more than that. She is running so fast she does not feel her feet anymore, but she does not care. As the lights of the capital appear in front of her eyes, her heart beats faster. She needs to see her. She enters the city unseen; she passes through the streets like a shadow. She knows the way by heart, she cannot forget it. When she knocks on the door, the seconds feel like hours. Finally, Ara opens the door and the assassin smiles. Finally, she is where she belongs.

She was bored. She was terribly bored. She was sitting on the porch of her house and looked around her, observing the busy streets of the city without moving an inch. A child laughed and said she looked like a statue. He started crying when she glared at him, before his mother took him away with a frown. Shinae sighed. The city life was usually one that people appreciated, especially considering the fact that Lucia was a very active city, but it was nothing for her. It was not that she hated living in Lucia – it was just that there was nothing to do. She had tried everything to get herself entertained, to no avail. She had been tempted to try baking again but when she saw the alarmed eyes of her wife, she understood that no, burning the kitchen should not be on her to-do list of the day. Therefore, there she sat, watching as people went on with their lives, not understanding how they could find the city so great. There was nothing to do and no guild to pick missions from.

She raised her head, looking around in alarm, as if to check that Ara was not there. The girl was not a magician but she could catch her thoughts way too easily. If she ever suspected Shinae to wish she could have a mission, the ex-assassin was sure she would be on the menu of their next meal. She had given up (almost) on her job when she married Ara, she had to stick to it, no matter how hard it was. She let out a sigh and turned her head to the right, eyes staring at the castle that was visible from there. It was striking to see the differences between Noctis and Lucia. Or between any city and Lucia. The capital of the Kingdom of Light was truly one of a kind. Shinae found it… slightly too bright. Everything was white and screaming purity in this city. Even though it had his share of criminals, brothels and other not-very-religious inhabitants, it seemed less serious. Everything in Lucia was disgustingly nice – which was far from Shinae’s natural environment.

But she had gotten used to it. For Ara. When her wife had told her they would have to move to this Kingdom for her work, Shinae had not minded. And after a month in the city, she had wondered if there was something in Luce’s soil that made everything so good for its inhabitants. Everyone seemed to be happy, they did not even mind the fact that their Prince was apparently hiding something. Shinae had to admit, even if she did not care about royalty, hearing Ara talking about the royal Heir’s habit to hide his body, she was slightly curious. And then she looked at Ara and she forgot everything to focus on her, as she always did.She was taken out of her reverie when she spotted a child – another one – staring at her along with some of his friends. She stood up and stared at them, but they did not move, they just stared at her again and whispered between each other. She growled.

“Stupid kids, do you want me to snap your necks?” she snapped.

The kids jumped and ran away, scared as if they had seen a ghost. She scoffed, muttering insults at those idiotic mutts, when a laugh interrupted her.

“Did you scare some children again?”

Shinae turned around and a small smile found its way on her face at the sight of her wife. Ara was looking at her with a mischievous grin, her hands on her waist as if she was scolding her. The blond-haired girl rolled her eyes and entered the house, followed yet again by a familiar laugh. Ara closed the door behind them and noted with a sarcastic smile that the house was still intact, so no bakery today. She put her bag on the table along with the food she had brought from the castle. Shinae settled to get the cutlery.

“So, how was meeting the King?”

“Tiring. He is kind but with the Prince getting involved, he is getting harder to deal with now.”

“Why, because you cannot manipulate him as well as you wished?”

Ara glared at her.

“There is a ball next week for the ambassadors of every country, to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival.”

“Hmm.”

“You will need to wear a dress.”

Shinae froze and looked at her wife, whose face adorned a sheepish smirk. She sighed. Sometimes, she really wished she was not so whipped.

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