Things went smoothly in the Guild safehouse for three months after Claude and Fifolet told the rest of their family their secrets. Day by day, their relationship grew a little stronger, but they were careful to take everything slowly. They were very comfortable with each other, and as time went by, the rest of the thieves and assassins became comfortable with it as well. And then one day, all hell broke loose.
In spite of the unification of the two Guilds, they were still required to give tithes to Candra the External, the benefactress of both Guilds, every seven years. They knew this and were prepared for her arrival. They knew if angered, she could kill them all in a moment's notice and they always tried very hard to please her. That wasn't an easy task, given the circumstances. She was immortal and easily bored. Little did they realize she was going to be even harder to please this time around.
The Guilds went to the usual tithing spot, a vacant area in the middle of a marshy forest outside New Orleans. Candra appeared shortly after they arrived, along with her cronie, the Tithe Collector, who somehow scared the Guild members more than the External herself did.
"I am not pleased." Candra stated. "Not at all."
Remy and Bella Donna, as patriarch and viceroy of the unified Guild, stepped forward, each of them holding a box. The tithes were in the boxes. Bella Donna suddenly got the impression the tithes weren't going to be enough this time. She sent a telepathic message out to the rest of Guild. "I don' know what we did, but she ain' happy wit' us..."
"That's right, Bella Donna. I'm not happy with you. I have never thought the unification was necessary, but I allowed it because it's written in the prophecies. One cannot deny prophecies. The seers knew more than I could ever hope to in regards to you people. However. I would like to know where in the prophecies it states that thieves and assassins are allowed to fraternize...?"
That was said with a very pointed look at Fifolet and Claude, who cringed under her gaze. None of the Guild members had ever supposed Candra would object to the still new relationship between the two men. Both looked at Remy silently for help. They didn't know what else to do.
Remy looked sharply at Candra. "Times are changin', Candra. De Guilds are changin' wit' de times. You've said yourself dat change is a good t'ing. Why retract dat statement now?"
"Change is a good thing, yes, Remy. But how can you stand there and accept this radical a change?"
"An assassin an' a thief..." Remy glanced at Bella Donna. "Hmm...now Bel, who does dat remind you of...? Candra here didn' seem to find anythin' wrong wit' our relationship...jus' what makes Claude an' Fifolet's relationship so diff'rent, I wonder...?"
"SILENCE!" Candra yelled. "I will not condone any of this. If the relationship does not end...I will end it for them...permanently."
"Now you jus' wait a second here, Candra. Dat's not fair." Bella Donna protested. "You've always said you want what's best for de Guilds, but yet you don' want any of us to be happy. If you really wanted what was best for us, you'd let us live our lives de way we choose an' not get in de way."
"And that is the secret of my success, dear child." Candra laughed evilly. "I really don't want what is best for you, I never have. When you thought I cared, it was easy to get you to do what I wanted you to do. You have always been my cute little Cajun puppets, and I let you think you had control, but you really didn't. And now you know I am in control and nothing can stop me. If Claude and Fifolet do not wish to die tonight, they will end their relationship. I will return in one hour."
"What are we gon' do?" Claude asked, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"How can she do dat to us...?" Fifolet wanted to know. The two men were finally happy for the first time in their lives, and now they were being told they had to throw that happiness away just for the sake of keeping a crazy old woman from killing them? It made no sense and they hated it.
"It ain' fair." The two complained in unison, looking at each other, fear and heartbreak mirrored in green and brown eyes. Nothing serious had happened between them yet, but that didn't stop them from caring for each other and depending on each other. They couldn't imagine living the rest of their lives without having the closeness they were building.
"Okay you two, relax." Remy commanded, taking charge of the situation. "We have two choices here, as far as I can see. One, you guys can do what Candra wants you to do an' break up so she won' kill you. Or two, we can kill her an' end her reign over us once an' for all."
"Uh...Remy? I hate to break it to ya, but she's an External...you know, immortal? She can' be killed!" Emil pointed out.
"Oh yes she can, Emil. All creatures on this planet can be killed somehow, even Externals. Thanks to my friend Jean, I happen to know de way to kill Externals. We jus' have to find it."
"Huh?" Bella Donna complained. "Remy dat made no sense."
"We have to find her heart. An' b'lieve me it ain' in her body. If we find it an' destroy it, she will die."
"Okay so where is it if it ain' in her body?" Gris-Gris wanted to know.
"I don' know. Let me call Jean. If anybody can find out, it's her."
While Remy called Jean on his cell phone and waited for her to give him an answer as to where Candra's heart was located, the rest of the Guild moved off, letting Fifolet and Claude have as much privacy as could be given in a swamp.
"I don' wan' lose dis..." Fifolet said quietly.
"Me neither." Claude agreed. "First time I've been really happy in my whole damned life an' suddenly...we can' let her win. I jus' hope we can stop her."
"We can. An' if we can', den..." Fifolet looked into Claude's eyes, his own filled with emotion and conviction. "I'd rather die den give up what we're workin' for..."
Claude smiled sadly at the assassin, a warmth filling his soul. "At least if she killed us, we'd always be together."
Before the conversation went any further, Remy hung up the phone. "Okay everyone, I know where it is."
"Where?" Theoren asked.
"B'lieve it or not, Candra tried to pull a fast one on us. It's in her body. Jean said dat's not usually de case, but Candra tried to be sneaky. Figured we wouldn' look dere for it. So all we have to do is stab her in de heart an' dat'll be it. Any volunteers?"
"We have to have a plan first, Rem." Mercy reminded.
"Yes I know, an' I have one, but still..."
Fifolet and Claude looked at each other and then back at Remy. "Remy...?"
"No." Remy shook his head. "I t'ink you two are gon' be key players in de plan, but someone else has to do de actual job."
"I'll do it." Gris-Gris said, his voice filled with venom. He was a hard-hearted man, but he was very glad his best friend was finding happiness and he would do whatever necessary to make sure that continued. Aside from that, he'd always hated Candra.
"Okay, so here's what we're gon' do..." Remy said, lowering his voice. The Guild pulled in tight and listened to the plan. Once they had their parts down, all they had to do was wait for Candra to return and pray that it worked.
Candra returned precisely when she said she would. "Well? What have we decided?"
Remy and Bella Donna stepped forward again. "We're ready to continue wit' de tithin', Candra." Bel announced.
"Not so fast, child." Candra looked directly at Claude and Fifolet. "I need their answer first."
Both men were talented actors when the need arose, and played their parts perfectly. "We don' wan' die." Claude began. Fifolet finished for him. "We d'cided bein' alive was more important. So you' get what you want."
Candra laughed triumphantly. Her guard was down and she had no idea what was really going on in the clearing that night. "Very well! Then the tithing will continue...wait..."
"What is it Candra?" Remy asked.
"You look like you're missin' somethin'." Theoren teased, right on cue.
"Silence!" Candra looked at the group before her. "Where is Gris-Gris?"
No sound was made as the stealthy assassin sneaked up on Candra from behind. As he shoved his sword through her heart, he spoke. "Right here."
"You...tricked...me....!" Candra gasped.
Claude laughed. "Damned right. You can' possibly b'lieve Fifolet an' I would give up our happiness jus' to keep you from goin' postal on us. You lose."
With the fatal wound in her heart, Candra collapsed to the ground in a heap, her body disintigrating before their very eyes. Once she was out of the way for good, with nothing left of her body but a pile of ashes, Gris-Gris quicky beheaded the Tithe Collector, who had been as unaware as his mistress during the whole ordeal.
"You know what dis means, don' you guys?" Remy asked the Guild as they walked through the swamp back to the city and their home.
"Yeah..." Fifolet smiled at Claude. "It means we can finally be happy wit'out anyone tellin' us we're not allowed."
"Not only dat. It also means de Guild is free. Candra no longer exists, which means she no longer controls our lives. We're free."
"An' it's 'bout damn time too." Theoren said. "I was gettin' real sick of heedin' her beck an' call. Now we don' have to. An' if you t'ink 'bout it, we're free b'cause of Claude an' Feef. If it wasn' for dem, she wouldn' have freaked out an' we wouldn' have needed to kill her."
"Guess you could say you guys are heroes." Questa joked. "Go figure, huh?"
"Nothin' so unreal 'bout dat, Questa." Claude said.
"No, there isn't." Zoe said. "Freedom and love are two things that people fight and die for everyday, all over the world. It just makes the guys that much more special and less different."
"But we didn' do anythin'..." Fifolet and Claude protested in unison.
"Maybe not...but you would have." Zoe amended.