I'm SO SORRY it's taken so long to update! I honestly lost track of the time, I was checking over my stories a few days ago and couldn't believe I hadn't updated this story since last year! I feel so bad :(

So here it is! Huge thanks for Karl for editing this for me, and in a few hours as well! =D

Valek's Interview - those of you who's read Valek's Poison Study, would know what I'm on about. Well, It's going to be posted onto mine and Karl's blog very soon - if it hasn't already. The link is on my profile, so go check it out =D

Chapter 24 of VPS has been written, it's now with my beta, so as soon as she sends it back to me I'll upload =D

Hope you enjoy, don't forget to review please xD

Harlequin x =)

Bright light stabbed at my eyes and I shut them tight, trying to block out the stabbing pain. I bit my lip to stop the whimper from escaping my lips as I recalled what happened over the past few days.

The last thing I remembered is walking behind that man. So how had I ended up here? I must have fallen asleep, but I didn't remember falling or lying down. Maybe he had drugged me again? I wouldn't put it past him.

Images of him scooping me up in his arms and carrying me flashed through my mind. Did he really do that? More importantly, why did I let a man who I've only just met—a murderer no less—carry me to goodness knows where?

No matter how exhausted I was, nothing could excuse what I had done. How stupid I had been. Just because he killed Reyad didn't mean that I could trust him. He's a man. He's just the same as the rest of them. Vermin. I thought bitterly.

I opened my eyes. The light still burned them, but I ignored the pain now. I needed to get out of here. And fast.

I looked around both curiously and anxiously. I was on a large bed in a room cluttered with books, rocks, black statues and weapons. I shivered as the sunlight reflected off one of the dangerous looking knives he had left on the table.

I wonder how many people he's killed with those.

I suddenly realized that this must be his bedroom. I'm in his bed. That thought sent a shiver of fear down my spine. No. This was how it had begun with Reyad.

Without hesitating, I flung the sheets off of my body and swung out of bed. I was relieved that I was still in the clothes I had been wearing before, and he hadn't bothered to undress me. He had taken my boots off though, and the stone floor felt freezing beneath my bare feet, but at least it helped my tired and confused mind to focus.

I had no idea where he'd gone, but he couldn't be too far from here, so I needed to move fast before it would be too late. He may have been nice to me so far, but there's nothing stopping him from turning into him once he gets the chance.

However, as soon as I stood up, a searing pain shot through my abdomen. I bit down onto my cheek to stay quiet and fell back onto the bed in agony. I waited a few minutes for the pain to pass before standing up again, slower this time, but the pain returned even worse this time round and I couldn't stop the strangled whimper from escaping my lips.

The door opened then and he walked in with a tray in his hands. He smiled slightly. "Good you're awake. I was beginning to worry."

But when he saw my expression he frowned before rushing over. Placing the tray on the messy table beside me and balancing it precariously on a pile of books and papers. I watched as it wobbled slightly, trying to distract myself from the pain that was now beginning to subside, not by much though. Surprisingly, the tray of food didn't topple over, no matter how much I wanted to see it crashing to the floor.

"What's wrong?" although the question was supposed to be comforting, there was no worry or gentleness in his voice. If he did worry as he said he did, he certainly didn't show it, unless this was part of his ploy to gain my trust.

"My stomach," I managed to get out, between gasps.

His eyes traveled to my hands resting on my lower abdomen to the sheets pulled back around me. It didn't take him long to realize what I had been trying to do.

"You stupid girl. You aren't supposed to get out of bed," he chastised me and I flinched as his hand came closer, almost touching me. I braced myself for the blow, but none came. I blinked up at him in shock as he pulled the sheets back around me. If he noticed my odd reaction, he didn't say anything once again.

"You think you can sit up?" he asked me. The pain had almost passed now, so I nodded and he grasped my arms causing me to freeze in shock. He didn't hit me or shake me though; he just slowly pulled me into a sitting position, so my back leant against a pillow that had been propped up on the headboard.

He placed the tray on my lap and gestured to the white cup filled to the brim with what looked like tea. "Drink. I got it from the medic, it should help."

I hesitated for a few seconds before reaching out and grasping the warm mug in my hands. I did worry briefly that he might have poisoned it, but if he wanted me dead, he had had more than plenty chances to do so already and he hadn't. Yet, my mind added.

I took a small sip, and cringed at the bitter, medical taste. I quickly lowered the cup from my mouth, I was about to set it on the tray when he pushed it back towards me.

"Drink," he ordered.

I sighed, but took another sip. It still tasted horrible, but I tried to drink as much as I could. When it was almost empty, I placed it on the tray.

"Happy now?" I looked up at him.

I don't know where I got my boldness from. I was certainly never like this with Reyad, and I'd learned the hard way never to talk back or make sarcastic comments of any kind. But it was strangely different with this man, although he had a much more intimidating aura to him then he had, and was an assassin on top of that. At least I think he's an assassin, but there's no other explanation for him killing Reyad so effortlessly – like he had done it hundreds of times before. I shivered slightly.

He just snorted at my comment and muttered under his breath about being stubborn. I lied back down as drowsiness washed over me. There must have been sleeping pills or something in that rancid drink, I thought as I gave into the fatigue and closed my eyes to welcome the darkness.

I woke up to a weird grinding noise. He wasn't in the room and it was starting to get dark. Had I really been asleep that long?I wondered.

The grinding noise started again and I tossed the covers back, desperate to know what the hell it was and where it was coming from. It sounded like one of Reyad's torture devices.

The floor felt even colder beneath my feet now, and I braced myself for the pain as I pushed myself off the bed. The pain came, but not nearly as bad as before. It had now been reduced to a dull ache. I sighed in relief and started to walk slowly to the door. When I turned the handle, I half expected it to be locked—Reyad had never left me alone in an unlocked room—but it turned effortlessly and I managed to pull the door open easily.

I only opened the door a few inches, and peered out down the dark hallway. I couldn't see him anywhere, so I opened the door wider and stepped out. There were several doors either side of me as I walked passed, but I made no move to open them. I didn't want to see him yet, nor did I want to get punished for snooping.

So, I slowly made my way down the long hallway, and it ended at a small sitting room. It was similar to his bedroom, with clutter everywhere. Books were stacked up precariously, some lay in heaps where they had toppled over and he had made no effort to pick them up.

There were gray stones and black statues scattered around, but I sighed in relief when there were no weapons lying about. That's one good thing at least. I picked up one of the statues on the table next to me. It was a small eagle getting ready to fly off. I turned it around in the dimming sunlight, and silver streaks sparkled in the sun like stars against the night sky. It was beautiful, and I gently put it down to admire the other statues littered about the room.

The grinding noise started again and I almost dropped the statue I was holding. I quickly put it down, more afraid of breaking it than getting caught. Or worse, getting caught once it was broken. The noise seemed closer this time, coming from the room next to me. My mind was shouting at me to walk down the stairs to my right and get away from here while I still had the chance.

Curiosity got the better of me and I found myself walking to the door, the sound even louder now. I hesitated slightly, wondering if I should knock, even if I doubted he could hear me over that noise. I knocked on the door anyway, just in case he asked, and let myself in quietly when I got no answer.

The room wasn't as big as his bedroom, and it was completely empty apart from a long table at the back and rocks lined up on the floor against the walls. But without the clutter and untidiness of the other rooms, it gave the illusion it was much bigger than it actually was.

His back was too me, sitting at the table at the back of the room. He was grinding one of those rocks on a solid wheel, spinning around expertly.

It suddenly occurred to me that he was the one who carved the statues around here. It shocked me far more than it should have. But he did kill Reyad in front of me and didn't seem to regret it or show any compassion at all. And with the number of weapons in his bedroom, he must kill a lot of people. Yet, he was skilled and patient enough to carve these beautiful statues out of dull and ugly rocks. I expected him to be plotting his next kill, not this.

But I couldn't help but watch him as he carved. I don't know how long I stood there, watching the boring rock turn into a beautiful black statue, but when he spoke it shocked me out of my thoughts.

"I know you're standing behind me."

"I…I wondered what the noise was." I mumbled weakly.

"You shouldn't even be out of bed." He said sternly.

"Sorry Sir," I apologized quickly. He hadn't punished me yet for my disobedience of his prior orders, but that didn't mean he wouldn't start now.

He turned around then, looking at me with a slight shocked expression before he covered it up with the expressionless mask he often wore. I briefly wondered what other emotions he hid underneath his cold exterior. Why did he even need to cover them up?

"Valek." His deep voice shook me out of my thoughts and I realized I had been staring at him. "Call me Valek."

I took an automatic, and quite necessary, step back. He was Valek?

He was the master assassin and chief of security for the Commander, also the most feared man in all of Ixia, and Sitia. He'd killed hundreds of people, including the King and his family. He now worked for Commander Ambrose, killing Magicians and any people bold enough to speak against them.

How had I not realized it before? He was curious when I was burying the fire amulet at the fire festival, and when I'd let slip I didn't want him to find it, he wanted to know who. And then he killed Reyad without a blink of regret.

He must have noticed my fear as he said tiredly, "I'm not going to kill you." This was an old conversation for him. He probably had to say that loads of times before.

I sighed in relief but questioned him anyway. "How can I believe you?"

"You're alive now aren't you?" was his quick reply. I realized he must be telling the truth, after all, he was a master assassin. He could kill me in a blink of an eye if he wanted to.

"Now go back to bed and don't get out until I tell you too. Understand?"

I nodded and turned around quickly, leaving the room and shutting the door behind me. I hated being ordered around, but now that I knew who he was and what he was capable of, I didn't dare disobey him. He hadn't punished or hurt me yet, so I was not going to push my luck any further.

With a sigh, I climbed back into bed, getting under the warm covers. I hadn't realized how much energy this little escapade had sucked out of me and, in less than a minute, I was back to sleep.