Without so much as the sound of the key turning in the lock, Syne eased the cell door open. Flux slipped out, knowing what was expected of him. He looks like a starved cat, Syne thought, returning to his master after an unsuccessful hunt. He smiled.

With his free hand, he took one of Flux’s cold palms. His other hand was hidden in his pocket of his black robes, where he was in the process of freeing himself from the length of fishing wire that he had used to strangle the guards. He glanced back at the lock one last time, the key still inside, and considered for a moment. Then, thinking better of it, he turned away. I can get it back if I need to, he thought. It’s so easy.

Syne blew out the torch, drowning them both in utter darkness. He felt as Flux’s fingers tightened in his grip. “Just trust me,” he leaned down and whispered in his ear. Momentarily, his long hair rested on the boy’s shoulder. Flux nodded.

Finally freeing his fingers from the fishing wire, Syne put his hand against the left wall and led the way to the exit. He had been in the prison often, so he knew that it was a large circular tower with a spiral staircase in the middle. There was only one door on the left wall.

If it hadn’t been for Flux, Syne wouldn’t have bothered turning out the light. But he didn’t want the boy to see the dead guards. He didn’t like Flux thinking him as a murderer, even if killing was his specialty. Syne had managed to keep it a secret for the many months that they had been together, feared that it could make the boy less trustworthy.

He had left the door to the stairway open when he had arrived. There were tall, narrow windows in the wall of the stairs that allowed some moonlight to flow in. Once he was sure that Flux could see the steps, he released him, staying close behind him so that he couldn’t look back.

“You see, I came for you,” Syne said softly once they were out of the earshot of the prisoners. Flux met his stormy eyes again. Syne hated that love-filled look. He forced himself to smile back.

He hasn’t seen anything yet, Syne reminded himself. I can wipe that brightness from him in a single night. But I still need him. He’s my pawn. My puppet. The profit is all mine.

Syne reminded himself of the first day he had met the boy. He had been taking a stroll along the path beside the monastery, where his next assignment was to take place. Flux had been working in the flowerbed beside the path, but he stopped to watch Syne as he strode past.

Syne didn’t like children, so he paused and stared back coolly at the boy.

“Y-you’re a-a mercenary, right?” Flux stuttered, blushing fiercely. Syne could feel as his dark eyes ran over him, taking in everything from his long, neat brown hair to the worn black boots that matched his black robes.

“What’s it to you?” Syne growled. The boy got to his feet, but he still had to look up to hold the gaze of the stormy eyes.

At the time, Flux wore the plain robes that the monks provided for him. Too young to be seeking priesthood, Syne had correctly concluded that he was an orphan. He’s not so different than me, he thought, disgusted. Gypsies or monks, what’s the difference? At least they taught me how to steal. Even they couldn’t teach me how to kill.

“Could you… help me?” Flux stammered. His gaze dropped to the ground and both his hands disappeared in his pockets. “I have some money that the monks gave me for gardening.”

“What do you want?” Syne asked swiftly. It wasn’t like him to take a small job, but he had some time on his hands, so he wasn’t about to turn down a few coins for no reason. Besides, there was something about the kid that he couldn’t resist.

“I want to leave the monastery,” the boy said simply, blushing again.

Syne laughed. How silly, he thought. “Why don’t you just leave? It’s not like there’s anything holding you back.”

“I wouldn’t have anywhere to go,” Flux stated. “I want to learn how to be a mercenary, but—”

Syne raised a hand to stop him. A great idea had come to him. He had nowhere to go, he repeated to himself. He doesn’t have anything to live for at all. If I give him a reason to live, he will do anything I tell him. A smile came to his face.

Since that day, Syne had kept Flux at his side. Over the course of a year and a half, the boy had gotten more useful than he could ever have anticipated. Syne taught him the arts of crime. He let Flux do the little jobs: picking pockets, robbing from the nobles, and spying.

The longer they were together, the less Syne let him out of his sight. They ate together and worked together, leaving each other only when Syne got an assignment. And yet, Syne still couldn’t stand it when Flux looked at him with all that love in his eyes.

It made him sick.

They had reached the bottom of the staircase. Flux pushed the door open, as skillfully as Syne himself would have done it, and let himself out to the castle’s outer wall. The ocean thundered against the cliffs below.

The salt-filled air was bitterly cold, but the boy, shivering in his sleeveless shirt and loose pants, did not complain.

Syne glanced around the side of the tower. To his surprise and dismay, two guards were standing at the stairwell that led down into the city. If I was with anyone else, I wouldn’t hesitate, he commented to himself. He glanced at Flux, seeing the trembles run up and down his slender spine. Then again, he added, turning away in self-disgust, I never hesitated in the old days.

His left hand found the spare fishing wire in his pocket that he always kept with him. I guess I don’t have a choice, he thought. It was destined to happen sooner or later.

“Flux,” he said quietly, pulling the boy in close against the wall of the tower so that their conversation could not be overheard. He handed him the fishing wire. “Wrap it around the neck of the guard on the left when I give the signal. Do it quickly. Do it right.”

The boy knew what he was talking about. His dark eyes had gotten big. “But--”

“Do as I said,” Syne demanded softly. He could feel Flux’s tense, warm breath on his face.

“But I can’t! I can’t do that!” His hands grabbed the front of Syne’s robes.

Syne’s fingers tightened on Flux’s slender arms. For the first time, the boy backed down. Fear glistened in his eyes. Syne knew that he was hurting him. He couldn’t control himself anymore.

“I’m not a mercenary,” he growled, forcing the boy back in the corner between the tower and the wall that opened to the ocean. “I’m an assassin. And you’d better do what I say, or I’ll walk you right down to the devil’s door myself.”

Tears welled in Flux’s eyes. He couldn’t do any more than shake his head.

“Are you listening?”

The boy pulled himself free from Syne’s grip. With one leap he was gone, over the stone wall.

Syne made a soft sound from somewhere inside him. He looked over the wall helplessly. The ocean howled.

He turned away in disbelief—shaking, but not from the cold. For a moment, he held himself, waiting for his mind to clear and for his fingers to become steady. Then, he sighed and went back to work.