Jack Staples and the City of Shadows by Mark Batterson Page A

Assassin answered. “I came to Ballylesson to find you, my lady. And when I arrived, I saw the old woman you know as Mrs. Dumphry standing over the body. I can only assume she killed her.” He shook his head sadly. “I am sorry, but I was too late to save her.”
    Alexia remembered walking out of the house and finding Megan lying on a sea of grass. A short while later, Mrs. Dumphry had arrived to take Alexia and Jack away. Could the Assassin be telling the truth?
    â€œWhy do they call you the Assassin?” she asked without thinking. As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. For just a moment the Assassin’s icy blue eyes became the caverns of fire she’d seen on her first day in Thaltorose.
    â€œThose who call themselves the Awakened,” he said, “gave me that name. They thought it a curse, but I have embraced it as an honor! My dear lady, there are few still living I have allowed to address me by my real name, but I would be pleased if you would call me Belial.”
    Alexia gulped, then quickly nodded. “Okay, Belial,” she said. “Thank you. Did you really assassinate someone?”
    â€œYes, I did. But you must understand I had no choice. You see, there was a man, a very dangerous man, who called himself a simple poet.” Belial grimaced. “And this poet, this treacherous man, threatened to topple the greatest kingdom this world has ever known.”
    He walked out to the balcony at the side of the throne room. Alexia hesitated. She didn’t want to look at the city again. But Belial stayed silent, waiting for her to join him. After a moment she took a deep breath and marched out.
    She gasped. The city was not nearly so terrifying as it had been that first night. Yes, the sky was an unearthly yellow, but there was something pleasant about it … not quite beautiful, but impressive at least. And those weren’t monsters filling the air, but strange, winged creatures, and there was something graceful about them.
    The city was as gilded as the palace—streets paved in gold, studded with gemstones. Alexia stared in awe at the elegant black spires. The city still felt … hollow, but it didn’t bother her as she looked on it now.
    â€œIt’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Belial said.
    â€œIt is,” Alexia lied. She could not call it beautiful, but it wasn’t the nightmare she remembered. I must have imagined it.
    â€œMy lady, I know you have only been in Thaltorose a week, but you have already made me so happy. I am glad you agreed to stay, at least for a while. And though you have been here only a short time, have you seen how we live?”
    Alexia nodded, suddenly dizzy as she looked into Belial’s eyes. When he placed a hand on her shoulder, she shivered at his ice-cold touch. Yet when he spoke, his voice was somehow less jarring than she remembered.
    â€œIn my kingdom, anything you want is yours—riches beyond measure.” He dabbed at the sweat dripping from his chin. “But this vicious man, this poet who pretended to stand for peace, threatened it all. He used honeyed words to turn the hearts of the people. And, my dear lady”—Belial grabbed Alexia’s hands and knelt in front of her—“I had to have the man killed, don’t you see? He threatened our entire way of life. He would have ruined everything!”
    Belial turned his gaze on Thaltorose once again. “Those who followed this poet called me an Assassin, and they were right.” For a moment Belial’s eyes shifted to the fiery caverns. “And I would do it again. I do not regret it.”
    Alexia didn’t know what to say. Belial admitted to killing someone. He didn’t try to hide it, and he didn’t treat her like a child. He offered answers to her questions. She wasn’t sure what she thought, but this Belial didn’t seem half so threatening as Mrs. Dumphry and Elion made him out to