Thump.

Lilia paid no attention to the onlookers and spectators that had gathered as she worked with her knives within Andro's garden. She grew used to the constant stares of the guards who acted as though they'd never seen a mature woman before, so the curious glance from the castle's attendants didn't bother her.

If she had to admit it, it drove her on.

The tree, on the other hand, was worse for wear.

The blade had been thrown into its gnarled wood repeatedly for the last hour, but still, Lilia didn't feel as if she was anywhere near where she was supposed to be for any attempt at a mission or even a vetting assignment. As Andro's new assassin, he had given her the time to prepare herself again, but still she was uncertain when he would grow tired of her training and deem her ready enough to proceed.

"You're going to ruin the grass," a deep voice murmured from behind her as she again approached the knife protruding from the trunk. The very Lord in question stepped through the gathered crowd who quickly dispersed when they realized their benefactor was within their presence.

"One would think you'd be more worried about the tree," Lilia retorted without a glance towards him, returning to her starting spot before turning back to her arboreous target. She held the knife up as her eyes trained on the spot where the bark remained worn and pierced, and with a flick of her wrist, the blade twirled through the air, landing just a hair away from the same spot she previously hit.

"Shit," she hissed as she trudged towards the tree once more.

"What was wrong with that one?" Andro asked as he followed her in her march.

"I missed," was all she said, and flatly, as she moved to pull the knife from the trunk.

The Lord's eyes darted between her, the knife, and the tree. "It looks like you hit the tree to me."

His assassin sighed, finally removing the dagger. "There's accuracy, and then there's precision."

Andro raised a dark brow in question, and Lilia had to roll her eyes in response before she continued, pointing to the marks on the tree before them.

"Accuracy is the ability to actually hit a chosen target," she said as she motioned to the area of the tree that was worn away from the repeated beating it had received from the whirling blade. "Precision is being able to hit that target over and over and over again."

Andro peered at the trunk, his hand running over the hole within the tree from where it looked as if that dagger did indeed hit it over and over and over again. "It appears as though you have the right of it," he mused, but Lilia shook her head.

"No," she began, pointing to the smaller marks that marred the bark around the central blemish. "My precision is off."

He peered as he observed where she motioned. "I think you're being too hard on yourself."

She held his gaze at that, but only for a moment. "When precisely hitting a target means the difference between life and death or revealing my cover and remaining in the shadows... no, I am not."

"Is that what happened to you at Midsummer, then?" he asked with a twitch at the corner of his lips. "Was your precision off?"

Lilia turned on her heel and walked back across the grass at that. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You still refuse to discuss it?" he asked, almost teasingly. "Even after all this time- after all we've been through?"

"We have been through hardly anything at all," Lilia retorted as she took aim once again.

"Oh, I don't think that's a correct assessment whatsoever."

She faltered slightly at that, turning her attention to where he stood by the tree. "What are you talking about?"

Folding his arms across his strong chest, he leaned casually against the target tree as his stormy gaze fell upon her. Upon his lips grew a playing grin, which made Lilia's skin prickle and crawl at the same time. "If you're as good as they say you were, I should be dead."

Lilia said nothing as she stared.

"You could have killed me any way you wanted, anywhere you wanted- I saw how many weapons they removed from you that night." His grin turned into a knowing smile. "You hesitated on Midsummer, so can you blame that on precision? Or perhaps your accuracy..."

The sound of the blade whipping through the air cut Andro's words short as the dagger flew past his head and into the precise center of the target within the tree.

Lilia's chest heaved as she watched her knife hit its mark, even if she wished she could have aimed it between the sneering Lord's eyes, but the look of shock on his face was more than enough to satiate that urge.

For the moment.

"Lilia!"

Andro had been calling after her since she left him, awestruck, in the gardens.

She didn't even bother to collect the knife she was using. Let one of the groundskeepers keep it as a memento, for all she cared. Instead, she trampled through flower beds and herb gardens to return to her room as quickly as she could, if only to keep herself from doing anything else she might regret.

Andro held her very existence in his hands- with one word he could send her back to the dungeons.

Or worse- he could send her back to Lathos.

Lilia knew she had to get a handle on her temper, and taking it out on Lord Millian in his own castle in front of his own people was going to be the quickest way to get her killed.

But even after all this time, thinking about that damn night sent her reeling, teetering over an edge she when she could barely balance on two feet. She had been used- tricked and manipulated- and had fallen right into it without even suspecting what was happening.

Those first nights since, when she would lay awake, alone in that cell in Lathos, wondering what guard would draw the tall straw to visit her that evening, she would think back to what went wrong, and if there was ever any way she could have suspected what Baz was concocting right under her nose.

"Lilia!"

She gritted her teeth together hard enough that she felt as though they were going to shatter, and her fists clenched at her sides as she finished her ascent up the stairway that led to her bedroom.

"Will you stop?" Andro insisted, reaching out and grabbing ahold of her elbow, just as she reached the landing.

What Lilia would have given for her knife at that moment.

Instead, she swung her hand around, as if to backhand her assailant, but Andro was fast- faster than she expected- and caught her by the wrist before she could connect with his face.

His unexpected defenses caught Lilia off-guard in her assault, and she stood there, more than a little surprised.

Andro's gray gaze met her levelly as they were almost the same height thanks to where they stood upon the stair. And there they stood, his hand around her wrist for a breath. Maybe two.

"Why did he want you dead?" she finally asked, quietly. She hadn't asked before and didn't know why she needed to know now.

Lord Millian didn't need to request further clarification. "Have dinner with me tonight, and I'll tell you," he replied, and his voice was hoarse.

She wasn't expecting that, and the look she gave him in response stated the same.

"Tonight. In my private dining room," he offered, softer. "It will be just you and me and I will tell you everything you want to know."

Lilia wanted to resist- to deny him in this request. Every fiber of her being wanted to pull out his teeth and tear off his fingernails and poke out his eyes.... and she didn't want to know why her heart was beating so steadily it felt as though it would burst from her rib cage. Or why her face felt warm and her body ached in ways it hadn't for years. At least not how she wanted it to, anyway...

"Fine," she finally ground out, tearing her hand out of his grasp. She needed to get away from him, if only for an hour or two. So, without a word as her rage and other emotions she didn't want to consider boiled within her, she stormed down the hallway refusing to give him another glance.

At least not until she reached her bedroom door.

"Lilia?"

His voice went straight through her and she spun around to face him with murder in her eyes. "What?" she snapped.

Andro merely grinned at her.

"No knives allowed."