Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

Mattie said, “Awww, that‟s so sweet.”
    “Sir,” the ruddy-faced man said. “When are we going to eat?”
    “Not today,” Kael said calmly, ignoring their disappointed faces.
    “I didn‟t have breakfast,” another man said.
    Kael stood up, towering over them, leaning forward as he spoke and pointing
    at them one after the next. “You fucking morons! We don‟t get lunch breaks and tea
    breaks on this job. If you want to work in a fucking office, then go and work in one.
    This job is for real men.” He looked at Mattie. “No offense.”
    She grinned. “None taken, sir.”
    “Some of you will go into security; you‟ll be minders. Imagine taking care of a
    head of state and saying, „Excuse me, minister. I need to stop and have my
    sandwiches now. And I need to go for a piss. Can you wait there?‟”

    4
    Fyn Alexander

    The men started to laugh. “See how ridiculous that is? There‟s water in your
    packs. That‟s all you get until morning. Make it last.” He looked at Mattie. “When
    you‟re small, you have to be more careful. You get hungry quicker.” But she looked
    as tough as nails. It was Angel he was worried about. Before they left London, Kael
    had made the boy eat an enormous protein-loaded breakfast to tide him over. “Does
    anyone want to leave? Because if you do, go now. Don‟t waste my time.”
    “Our careers depend on this weekend, don‟t they?” one of the men asked.
    Kael looked round at them. “Your futures with SIS will be determined by my
    reports. If you want exciting, action-filled careers, then act as if that‟s what you
    want. Or you‟ll end up in office jobs.”
    “Kill me now.” Mattie laughed.
    Kael almost smiled at her and repeated, “Does anyone want to leave?”
    No one spoke.

    * * *
    The first task Kael set them was a five-mile run—not a jog or a walk. He set

    the pace, and Angel kept up with him most of the way. Mattie on her short legs
    quickly fell behind, but by the time they all reached the finish, she was back at the
    front of the pack. Five out of the seven men who had got off to great starts had
    peaked and become exhausted. Kael reached the end a full eight minutes ahead of
    the group and stood, hands on hips, waiting for them. Angel and Mattie arrived
    first, and the men trailed in after them. One man collapsed on the ground, and
    when his buddy went to help him, Kael said, “Leave him! If you were in the field,
    running for your life, you would have to leave him or die with him. Be sensible.”
    After several minutes of watching him lie flat out, panting like a dog, Kael
    walked over to the man. “Up you get.” He put out his hand and hauled the man to
    his feet. Giving him a brusque pat on the shoulder, he said, “You finished the race.
    That‟s all that matters.”
    They had barely recovered when he took them to the moat on the east side of
    the castle, where it was deepest, and ordered them to strip naked. The presence of a
    woman made them hesitate. But Mattie and Kael were the first ones naked. Angel
    was next but only because of the cold. He was used to being naked and was very
    comfortable in his skin, but being so slender, he began shivering very quickly. Kael
    kept his eye on Harry Denbigh, who seemed to want to compete with Angel and
    looked angry when the boy had beaten him in the run. He hurriedly stripped off his
    clothes and strode up to the edge of the moat, ready to go in first.
    Angel ran up beside him and jumped in, his knees drawn in toward his chest
    the way he often leaped into bed at night. “First!” he screamed with childlike glee.
    The look on Denbigh‟s face was one of hatred. He dived in after Angel.
    “Get out, the pair of you,” Kael ordered, furious at their stupidity.
    The two climbed out onto the bank, shivering. “Only an idiot jumps into a
    strange body of water,” he said to Angel. “And a bigger idiot dives in.” He got in

    Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

    5

    Denbigh‟s face. “There could be rocks in there you could hit. At least Angel would
    only have cracked his arse. You could have broken your stupid fucking neck.” Angel
    and Denbigh colored despite the cold. “What if you were in a tropical country and
    there were flesh-eating fish or reptiles? First you examine your terrain.”
    For twenty minutes he made them stand naked while he went over the ways to
    check if a body of water was safe before using it for an escape route. Then he went
    in first to show them how to do