The Ultimate Sin

William Lyorre

Celebrations had kept William awake for the entirety of the week. While once he never would have cared for the festivities of any of the royal siblings' birthdays, this year had brought about a change within him and his family. For years he had resented the people of the upper ring and all those of noble or royal blood. He resented any of those with power, but who chose not to use it to liberate the poor people of the slums. This year, however, he came to meet several new individuals who lessened the bias of his opinions.

The day he met Azrynne, Stahl and Sumia had completely changed his life. Though he was still poor, with barely enough coin to sustain himself or his family, his life had brightened considerably. William was sixteen, yet it was only then that he realised how he did not act his age at all. He could be considered an adult to some, and as the eldest and fittest member of the family, William felt regret for the unsupported slandering he had spewed regarding the royal family.

The day he met the Prince of Ylisse in person had changed his perception of the world completely. While most of Ylisse shared an almost unanimous, if unspoken, vow to never speak of the madness of their previous Exalt, the people of the slum were some of the few who did. Some Ylisseans to this day, particular those of strong religious conviction, still believe that their Exalt truly did hear the word of the Divine Dragon. Most, however, elect to forgo the errors of their former King, not wanting to admit fault.

But the people of the slums knew exactly who caused their misfortunes, and most spoke loudly of their hatred for Exalt Arlen and his family.

When William met with Prince Chrom, though, it was not a selfish warlord who stood before him. Though he was the son of a greedy and blood-thirsty man, Chrom was not the reflection of his father that the slums had raised William to believe. He was not violent, quick to anger, or even uncaring; but of all the years of lies and bias that William had grown up with, the one fact that shocked him the most was that Chrom Ylisse truly did love all of his people – and that included those of the slums.

The past week had been a grand one for William. It was the first in which he had actively participated in the celebrations of the city, and for the first time in his life, William found himself caring for the happiness and wellbeing of the royal family.

It was the last day of the prince's week long festivities, culminating with the grand ball at the palace, where hundreds of dignitaries and soldiers would celebrate with the man himself. The city itself, though, did not simply sleep as the palace was alit with revelries. Even at this late hour, where most would find themselves drifting to the world of dreams at any other day of the year, William could still hear the joyous shouts and cheers of bar patrons across the city.

He and Kinley should not have been out at such a late hour. Usually, Lavina would forbid it, but for once she had relented and allowed the two boys to do as they please. William was sixteen, after all. Though she coddled him like a child, slowly his sister began to loosen her protective nature around him.

Of course, he was forced to care for Kinley – not that William minded. Though not connected by blood, he loved the boy like a brother. In fact, all ways but blood, they were brothers. Kinley hardly needed the elder boy's supervision, though; at thirteen, he was beginning to form his own level of independence.

They had snuck into a bar in the middle district earlier this night. While usually the patrons would have sneered at the presence of slum children, the fact that they were all drunk on the high of the celebrations made them uncharacteristically accepting of the children. Although, it was likely that they were literally drunk on alcohol, and didn't even really realise the boys were slum children. It made no difference to William or Kinley.

Though the alleyways were cold and dark, both boys walked with comfort and confidence. The only light that was shed was that from the moon, and some public lanterns alight by magic. They had stayed out far too late tonight, and while Lavina had given them freedom to roam, William doubted his sister would be impressed should they remain out all night.

"I can't believe some people use all their money on wine," Kinley said. "It didn't even taste nice."

"I guess when you have the money to waste, you'll waste it on anything," William replied with a shrug.

"Do you think Stahl, Sumia or Azrynne drink wine?" Kinley asked, cocking his head to the side. "They would have to coin to spare."

"I don't know… maybe? Why does that matter?" William replied.

"Adults all seem to like wine so much," the younger boy reasoned. "I thought we could give them some as a present."

"We can barely afford food for ourselves, let alone wine for others, Kin," William scoffed.

"When we get money, then," Kinley continued. "I've just been trying to think of some way to say thanks to them."

"We have though, haven't we? They give us supplies, we give them information! It's a business transaction. Strictly formal," William said, crossing his arms.

"I think it's a little more than that, Will," Kinley shook his head, but smiled.

Though at first William was not so eager to call a group of Shepherds his friends, the opinion had rapidly changed over the season. The three Shepherds they had befriended were practically family now, and on most their days off from the garrison, they would spend it in the company of the slum children. Of course, William did not truly think their relations to be strictly formal – though if anyone other than his family had asked, he would have denied it on the spot.

"Hey, let's take that shortcut behind the Silversun Tavern," Kinley suggested as he wrapped his arms around himself. "It's starting to get cold."

William shrugged in agreement, and the two boys adjusted their course home. The shortcut behind the tavern barely a shortcut – it was only a few short turns down several alleyways that saved them a few minutes at most. William was not in the mood to disagree though, so he let the young boy lead their course instead.

"I'm glad we got see to Prince Chrom yesterday," Kinley said as they began to walk down the first dark and cramped alleyway of their 'shortcut'.

"Yeah," William said. "Didn't expect him to come to the slums of all places on his birthday week."

"Do you think he liked my present?" Kinley asked.

"Hated it, he did. Didn't you see his face?" William joked.

When Kinley paused for a moment, William quickly elaborated with, "Joking."

Kinley was always a sensitive one. He wasn't necessarily slow, but rather distrustful and cautious. Years of sarcastic jabs from disdainful upper-class men had moulded him into what he was now. While William was used to such comments and shrugged them off, Kinley often took them to heart, and anything that sounded remotely upsetting would hurt his feelings. He was getting better now, though the family had found they had to preface or end most of their jokes with a warning.

The younger boy was one of the better children of the slums though. Though both he and Faline were affected by the slurs that were thrown at them for being slum dwellers, they were two of very few children who grew to be kind and compassionate despite it. Where other would grow bitter, the comments never seemed to change the two from the sweet and gentle people that they were.

Even William himself could be bitter and spiteful at times. In particular, he had problems controlling his anger. It was issue that he acknowledged, but could not control. Though he was getting somewhat better, and he had Kinley to thank for that. Somehow his little brother had a way of calming him that others did not. William always found that he listened to Kinley without question.

For the rest of the trip, they were quiet. Kinley was never one for much conversation, anyway. They strode by the rest of the middle and lower districts with ease, quickly reaching the outskirts of the eastern slums. They found though that they could only make it through two more alleyways before their path was blocked. In the middle of the once clear alley, a large collection of wooden planks and rubble blocked their way. As they approached, Will looked up to the top of the building to the right – he could see a large hole in the side of the third story. He recognised this building as a long deserted schoolhouse. It had been empty for years due to its weakened structure.

"Damn it," he whispered.

"The wall finally went down," Kinley muttered.

"I don't think it fell down. It looks like it was smashed. The construction workers must be taking it down," William replied.

"We should go back around," the younger boy said.

"No, no," William replied as he began to move around the rubble. "There's barely anything here. We can just move some planks around and go straight through."

"It would be easier to just go around…" Kinley muttered.

"It's gonna take us twice as long to get home if you go back," the elder boy argued. "Come on, Kin, this is nothing."

Will heard Kinley sigh, but ultimately the younger boy conceded. Together, they began to shift around planks of wood to clear a path. The stack of rubble was too high to climb over, however the alleyway was too small for them to simply push everything aside and go around. Though it took them several minutes, eventually they managed to move enough rubble and planks to form a small tunnel of sorts through the rubble that was supported by some fallen wooden beams.

"This doesn't look that safe…" Kinley muttered.

William shrugged him off. They had done more dangerous things before, after all. With encouragement, Kinley went first. He got on his knees and began to crawl through the small tunnel, William following hot on his heels.

The rubble was spread farther and its width was much smaller than William had initially thought. While Kinley, being quite small for his age, managed to crawl through fine, William struggled slightly. He pushed carefully at some pieces of the rubble to squeeze through while Kinley gently pushed at the rubble in front of him to dig deeper. The pile of debris stretched on for only two metres, and soon Kinley pushed through a small hole to the other side. He stopped though before widening it to exit.

"Kin, what are you waiting for?" Will asked.

"There's a woman over there," he replied.

Kinley scooted over slightly so that William could see. While the tunnel was still too narrow for William to crawl next to Kinley, he was able to peer around the boy's side to a small opening that he had knocked aside. There was indeed a woman in the alleyway past the rubble. She was further away, but was walking towards them, a small lantern held in her outstretched hand. Will could hear the echo of her heels against the cobblestones growing louder with each step as she grew closer.

"Doesn't she see the rubble…?" Kinley muttered softly.

She must not have, for she was she came closer and closer until she was no more than ten metres away. William could not see her face, even as she drew closer. Her entire body was cloaked in a black hood, though beneath it William could make out that she wore a long, dark dress, and from each step she took, he could see she wore expensive, shiny silver heels. She was obviously not a slum dweller.

It was strange enough to see a woman of an obviously higher class at the slums. Even stranger was the fact that she was alone in a dark alleyway. Surely she was not so naïve to walk by herself in the middle of the night, in one of the most dangerous parts of the city? If her shoes were any indication, William guessed that the rest of her clothing and items were just as valuable. The woman was asking to be mugged.

The strangest thing, though, was neither of those facts. The strangest thing was that suddenly, she was not alone.

Wisps of darkness twirled around the sudden appearance of another woman. This second figure appeared from thin air, the sight alone stunned both the boys into a mutual silence. She appeared centimetres from the small hole that Kinley had punched out, and as the dark tendrils that wrapped around her dispersed, William could feel a cold chill blow through their little tunnel. The new woman, too, was cloaked, and as she stepped towards the first woman, Will could hear the echoes of heels as well. The woman who had appeared from nothing was much taller than the first, looming over the other by a whole head.

"How was your little party?" the taller woman asked.

William felt every muscle of his body stiffen. He recognised her accent. She was Plegian.

"Bearable," the shorter one replied. "At least the food was nice."

"How very lovely," the other said in a long, sarcastic drawl of a voice.

"It's been almost a season," the short woman said in a short and irritated voice. "Surely my dear employer has more instructions for me by now? Or has he simply forgotten of me?"

"My dear, how could we ever forget about you?" The Plegian woman replied. "You're our most valuable piece. You are the queen of the board."

"Funny," the other said. "I feel more like a pawn."

The Plegian woman laughed at her remark, her voice almost shrill like a hyena's. The shorter one found no amusement though, and she waited motionless and silent as the other laughed.

"Surely you have more to do during this visit than laugh," the short woman said.

"Such formalities," the other replied. "Always straight to the point with you."

"I am your employee, not your friend."

"You break my heart, dear," the Plegian woman said, feigning hurt as she placed a hand to her chest. "But you're right. I actually have very important instructions for you today, my dear. Our beloved King would like your… best services to be put to action tonight."

"Tonight?" the short woman said with audible shock.

"There's no better time, is there? Everyone would be drunk after their silly little celebrations. A perfect opportunity for a perfect assassination. Do you disagree?"

The short woman paused for a moment, thinking. After a long gap of silence, she finally nodded.

"Yes," she said. "Tonight would be our most opportune chance for a long while."

"Good. I trust you've wormed your way into everyone's trust?"

"I have free access to all parts of the palace."

"My, my… how very trustful these Ylissean fools are. And you have everything you need to pull off a clean kill?"

"Do you have everything I've asked for in payment?"

"Oh yes, we've organised everything your heart could desire," the tall woman laughed shrilly again. "You'll be well rewarded, should you succeed… and if you don't, you'll have your little Shepherd friends to answer to."

"Then their precious Exalt will be dead within the hour," the short woman said simply.

William felt every muscle of his body tighten at her words. He inhaled sharply, suddenly realising he hadn't taken a single breath the whole time. His fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles had turned white, and it took all he could to calm the nervous jittering of his body.

They had to leave. They had to go, now. These women were dangerous. It was the only thought in William's mind as he ever so slowly began to retreat backwards in the tunnel.

He was careless though, and his foot pushed aside a piece of wood that had kept most of the tunnel up. William suddenly felt the rubble collapse above him, and while the tunnel crashed into itself in a way that he wasn't completely crushed by the weight, the distance he had put between himself and Kinley had been completely blocked.

William's heart beat so fast in his chest, it physically pained him. He found that while he could breathe, he could not move at all. Just as he started to panic, though, half the weight above him was lifted off him.

"Looks like we've caught ourselves our own little spy," he heard the Plegian woman say.

At first, he was positive that he would die then and there. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, his heartbeats drumming so loud they were all he could hear – but when no pain came to him, he looked up through the rubble.

He was still completely covered by rubble, even if the weight had lightened. From the small crack of a tiny hole though, William could see Kinley struggling and thrashing widely in the arms of the tall Plegian woman. As his hearing returned to him, he could hear Kinley screaming and sobbing, and once again Will felt his breath catch heavily in his throat.

The woman slapped him hard across the face, silencing the young boy.

"Shut up," she spat, voice laced with venom. "It's rude to eavesdrop."

"How much did you hear? Are you alone?" the short woman asked.

When Kinley could only manage a sob, the shorter woman slapped him too.

"Answer me," she hissed.

"Y-yes," Kinley whispered through sobs. "J-just me…"

William wanted to scream. He wanted to push through the layers of wood and rubble above him and throw himself at the women. He wanted to grab Kinley and run far, far away. But instead he found that he could not move at all, and he watched in horror through the cracks of the rubble as Kinley struggled in the woman's arms.

"That's good," the short woman said. "One less mess to clean up."

"P-please –" Kinley started to beg.

It was for nothing, though. With utmost speed and precision, the short woman reached into her cloak and pulled out a small, silver dagger. Faster than William could comprehend, she stabbed the dagger at Kinley – somehow, though, the young boy avoided the fatal strike.

Kinley thrashed in the arms of the tall woman as soon as the other one had revealed her dagger. When she stabbed it at him, it had missed his chest and instead scraped his shoulder. The tall woman released him in shock, and he lunged at the shorter one with ferocity that Will had never seen before. He tore off her cloak, grabbing at parts of her dress as he pulled at anything he could find. Bits of jewellery broke off her body and shattered as they hit the floor.

It wasn't enough, though. Though she was caught off guard for only a second, the now uncloaked woman kicked him aside and pushed him hard into the ground, and William could hear Kinley's head crack against the pavement.

She adjusted the grip on her dagger, and with a quick jab slashed Kinley's throat open.

William felt his whole world fall apart at the sight. His vision blurred and his ears thrummed with the loud beating of his heart. He barely heard the women anymore, barely comprehended their speech.

"Leave the body," he could hear them say, though the words made no sense in his mind. "Street rats die every day in these god forsaken slums."

Even well after they had left, one disappearing into wisps of darkness and the other down the alleyway, the echoing sounds of her heels piercing into the night, William found he could barely move. Every bone, every limb, every muscle in his body felt numb. It took all the strength he had to push aside the remaining rubble that had hidden him. He reached for Kinley as he climbed through the rubble, every part of him aching. He called to his little brother, though he was unsure if he was even speaking his name allowed in his frenzied thoughts. When he had finally freed himself from the last block of stone walling that pinned him down, William found himself collapsing next to Kinley's body.

William covered Kinley's open neck with his hands.

Stop the bleeding, he thought desperately to himself. Stop the bleeding.

There was no bleeding though – blood no longer poured from Kinley's throat.

William's hands were shaking uncontrollably. He gripped his brother's shoulders tightly, shaking him violently. William begged to hear his brother's voice, to see that smile he had come to love for the past thirteen years.

"Come back," William begged softly. "Come back."

But Kinley did not come back. He stared, glassy eyed and lifeless into the dark night's sky.

How he had managed to restrain the tears until now, William did not know. But as the realisation that his precious little brother was gone sank into his mind, he found himself unable to control the river of tears that came.

"Kinley!" William sobbed, beating his fists against the boy's still chest. "KINLEY!"

William threw himself onto his little brother's corpse and sobbed. He sobbed, he begged, he screamed… but Kinley had long since left this world.

William needed to mourn. He needed to find Lavina – he needed to bring back Kinley's body – he needed to tell someone, anyone. But a part of William denied him all these things. As he reached out to Kinley's face, his fingers gently brushing his little brother's cheek before they closed his eyelids, William knew what he needed to do.

"I'm sorry, Kinley…" William whispered through his sobs. "I love you."

William tried to stand up, but found that his legs were weak and shaky. He leant against a nearby wall to steady himself, and with a deep breath, forced his muscles to co-operate despite the pain.

He needed to go to the garrison. He needed to tell the Shepherds. He needed to protect the Exalt.

He took a slow step, forcing his body to move towards to garrison. He couldn't help back look back though – to steal one last glance at his brother's body before leaving him.

I'll come back, Will promised. I'll come back and get you.

He took another step and heard a crack beneath the sole of his shoe. Looking down, he saw the shards of jewels and gold that Kinley had torn off the woman when he had thrown himself at her. William reached down to grab at a pendant that was still intact.

This belonged to the one who murdered Kinley. This would be his evidence. He squeezed the pendant so hard in his hands that the corners of it drew blood in his palm.

William took another deep breath, bracing himself for his journey to the garrison. With a newfound strength and determination, he began to march as he shoved the rose shaped amethyst pendant into the pocket of his pants.

Author's Notes

Deepest apologies for leaving this update so late - technically it was ready to be published on Saturday but I, uh, forgot. Oops! I'll endeavor to have the newest chapter out soon, but the next few weeks are going to be incredibly busy for me (I am an artist and it's con season in Australia, AND University season has started again), so I can make no promises. Sorry to keep you waiting at such a suspenseful moment of the story! Maybe it'll keep you on your toes regarding speculations.

Once again, I'd love to hear your thoughts via review. Thanks for your continued support, everyone!