A little while later they were all sat down at a large table, Mattias was sitting next to Vivi, who looked very happy to see him.

‘Nice to see you again, Mattias!’ she greeted

‘Your name’s Vivi, right?’

‘Yes! Well remembered!’

‘Do you remember my name?’ Katlamina asked.

‘Uhhh… no, sorry’

‘No one does, it’s OK!’ said Vivi. Katlamina got out a piece of paper and started writing on it. She then gave it to Mattias - it had her name on it.

‘Let’s see if you remember my name’ said a young looking woman to his left ‘My name is Lakota’

‘That’s easy enough to remember’ he said ‘Where are you from, anyway?’

‘I’m from a distant land’ she answered ‘The underworld connects everyone, you see’

‘Well… OK but how “distant” are we talking?’ Lakota didn’t answer.

‘She’s a succubus, too’ whispered Vivi.

‘You didn’t have to tell him that!’ yelled Lakota.

‘You don’t look like one, to be fair’ said Mattias. A smile returned to Lakota’s face ‘My friend Viola doesn’t like being a succubus, is that the same for you?’ he was looking at Katlamina when he said that.

‘It’s just something you get used to’ said Vivi

‘I hate it’ said Lakota ‘Hopefully one day I get to be something else’ Mattias was then looking at Katlamina,

‘I’m not a succubus, Mattias’ she answered. He then looked at the last woman on the table - she had blonde hair and she was wearing a black robe.

‘I’m an assassin, just like you’ she answered ‘My name’s Krystal, by the way. It’s nice to meet you’

‘You too. My name’s Mattias’

‘Have you had you first assassination yet?’ she asked.

‘Yes’ he then sighed ‘I hated it’ a tear was rolling down his face.

‘Mattias, I know exactly how you feel. I remember killing my first target. I couldn’t sleep properly for weeks, I couldn’t stand the sight of the guy’s blood, entrails and whatever. I remember feeling sick, and all that sort of stuff. But don’t worry, over time you’ll get used to it. As humans, we are hunters, after all. It’s part of who we are’

‘Right’ he then looked at Orhan ‘What about you? You’re an assassin too, right?’

‘Not just any assassin, Mattias’ Mattias rolled his eyes ‘The best assassin’

‘Yeah, cool’ he paused for a moment ‘What was your first assassination like?’

‘I don’t really remember it, to be honest. My target was just some old fellow who was basically dying anyway. I never cared for him, I was just doing my job. It was nothing personal, in fact, you’ll do quite well to achieve that mindset’ Mattias’ eyes went wide open. ‘You never know, you might even start enjoying killing!’

‘Uhhh, I hope I never do!’ he then got off of the chair, he was looking for Katrine - she was still at the bar. ‘Ummm, Katrine?’

‘Yes?’

‘Is there any way to get me back to the dungeon? I don’t want to be here anymore!’

‘Is that asshole Orhan winding you up?’ she then rubbed her eyes ‘Wait, hold on, what’s happened to Viola?’

‘She’s upstairs’

‘Oh right’ she got out of her seat ‘I’ll get you a room, Mattias. You’re not sleeping in that god-awful dungeon’

‘OK, thanks’

‘Besides that, I’m pretty sure Kyros has a big task for you tomorrow, so you’ll need a good night’s sleep’

‘Oh wonderful, can’t wait’ Mattias sighed and sat on a nearby chair. He sat there for a while until she came back, this was roughly ten minutes.

‘Mattias, I’ve got you a room, I need to talk to you, if that’s OK?’ Mattias gasped, later sighing.

‘What have I done?’

‘Nothing! Come with me!’ Mattias followed Katrine upstairs, he looked very nervous and was avoiding eye contact with her. She led him into a bedroom that was next to the one Viola was in. Katrine was looking outside the corridor before she closed the door. ‘You look so miserable! Come on now, everything’s fine!’

‘OK then, what about Viola?’

‘Oh don’t worry about her, she’s drunk and… well let’s just say she’s had better days’

‘OK, so what’s this about?’

‘OK, you know those girls you were sitting with?’

‘Oh great, what about them?!’ Katrine started laughing, she then brought out a piece of paper - it was a drawing of a crown. ‘Huh? What’s that?’

‘It’s a crown. You know you have a knife on your hand?’ he started looking at it.

‘Yeah?’

‘Well one of those girls had a crown on her hand. That more or less means that she’s a very special person’ Mattias looked puzzled.

‘In what way?’

‘She’s under special protection. She’s probably a celebrity of some sort’

‘Well that sucks, I mean, where’s my crown?’

‘I didn’t even think these existed! I only heard about them once and I thought it was just some kind of rumour, I never knew this was actually a thing!’

‘OK! Well, which one was it?’

‘It was the one with long black hair and… I want to say gold coloured skin! She had a lot of weird jewellery, too’

‘Is that…’ he brought out his piece of paper saying “Katlamina”.’

‘Yes, that’s her!’

‘Oh my god…’

‘You better be nice to her, Mattias!’

‘I think I am…’

‘Nah, you’re really sweet, don’t worry!’ Katrine paused for a while ‘Why’s she with Ohran, though?’

‘I don’t know’

‘I’m just thinking out loud…’ she focused her attention back to Mattias ‘Keep this between me and you, but I hate him. He’s a nasty manipulative bastard’

‘Yeah, I figured’ Mattias was silent for a moment ‘How has he got all those girls with him?’

‘I have no clue, Mattias. I think they’re just young and impressionable’

‘Fair enough’ there was another period of silence ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea’

‘Yeah?’

‘Maybe the other girls want to be around Katlamina instead of him?’ Katrine was smiling.

‘I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there, Mattias!’

‘Yeah, that has to be it! Wait, hold on a minute…’ Mattias was silent again ‘No, you’ve got to be shitting me!’

‘What’s going on?’

‘Ohran and Katlamina… they’re not a couple, are they?’ Katrine had a very uncomfortable look on her face.

‘I hate to say this, Mattias, but I reckon they are’ the two were silent for quite a while, with Mattias looking completely aghast.

‘How old is that Ohran guy, anyway? He looks twice her age!’

‘He’s about thirty-two, if I’m not mistaken’

‘But that girl, she looks so young!’

‘I don’t really want to think about that, if you don’t mind!’

‘Ugh, me neither!’ there was another period of silence ‘OK, let’s change the topic: apparently succubi can’t get pregnant?’

‘No woman in the underworld can, with a few exceptions, that is. I can’t get pregnant, for instance’

‘Viola’s really upset about that’

‘I know. Most girls I know from the underworld are miserable because of that. I’m not too bothered myself’

‘You said there are a few exceptions?’

‘Apparently some really high ranking girls from the underworld can get pregnant. But then that’s probably just a carrot some of the taskmasters use to keep their girls going. I don’t know anyone who can’

‘But then what about…’

‘Ugh, please don’t go there!’ Katrine got out of her chair, heading to the door. ‘Is there anything you want to ask me before I go, or anything you need?’

‘Well, I was just hoping Viola’s OK. She seemed to be in a bad way’

‘She’ll be fine. She does have a hard time coping with being in the underworld’ Mattias then sighed.

‘And I thought I was the only one’

‘You are not!’ she said, smiling ‘In fact, most people hate it here’

‘Yeah, it certainly looks like it’

‘Well, on the plus side, we’re all immortal, and basically immune to ageing’

‘That bastard Ohran certainly doesn’t look like he is’ Katrine was gazing at him.

‘OK, we are but we aren’t, it’s something I’ll have to explain to you some other day. Please, do get some sleep. And also, don’t think of Ohran and that girl too much, you’ll drive yourself insane’

‘OK, good night, Katrine’

‘Nighty night, Mattias’ she blew a kiss to him. He then laid down on his bed and eventually fell asleep.