Night Shade

Unravelling Plans

My target was standing right next to me and I could not kill him.

My original plan was to just get this close and then strike him down when the getting away was the most guaranteed. As I stood there, pretending to be a bodyguard, I had second and third thoughts.

Of course, you are thinking that this has something to do with the Chief Investigator Merrick and in a way you are right, my not so bright jailors. The truth is that I was a little more concerned about his ability to pin the job on me than I was about the job itself.

Guilded assassination is legal, as my jailors know, but only to a certain extent. If I killed Vic and walked up to the constables with my assassins’ guild badge then I would not be charged with the murder…impersonating a guilded bodyguard and withholding information about who hired me is punishable under the law, however. The worst part would be that I would never get another job in this district again because all the constables would know who I was.

The choices were limited now and I needed some time to debate them. You do not get a reputation for being fast by thinking slowly so I had a plan ready by the end of his trials for that day.

After a sleepless night I met the High Magistrate at the same place he dismissed me the night before; his front door. I don’t know why people feel that they are safe in their home? It would have taken me less than twenty minutes to get into his house, even with the magical protections on it, murder him and get out. He was far safer on the street than he was at home, especially at night.

We made our way to a constable’s station where we picked up a few guardsmen and a few prisoners and then we went to that day’s temporary court house. More prisoners from other jails were brought in as well and a team of people arrived with various tools and magic items to help in the judgments.

While all of the busy work was going on I kept my eyes and ears open for anything that might disrupt my plan. Much to my surprise there was something that did cause a bit of a bump in my goal. Chief Investigator Merrick and his Half-Elf assistant arrived with another prisoner and they began to move to the processing table when I saw one of the prisoners who was waiting make a sudden move.

Very accomplished hands and body moved at an amazing speed. The prisoner was a Vanlyn. They are not known for their speed except when flying, but once they have made a decision about anything they can move faster than Humans and with more determination than T’kon.

Strangely enough, I moved in front of Vic and drew out a brace of special throwing knives as I squared off towards the Vanlyn. I was ready, in a surprising twist, to protect the man but the High Magistrate was not the target of the attack. The first prisoner in line for the trials was suddenly grasping at his neck and making sounds of gagging. It took me another second to notice the thin blade that was jutting out of the other side of his neck. We all know the accuracy of a Vanlyn and missile weapons but seeing it first hand is impressive.

The Vanlyn was wrestled down by three constables but he didn’t put up any resistance. He knew his target was dead before they put the restraints on him and I nodded to myself out of respect for a job well done. The Vanlyn would most likely be exiled or even stripped of his memories as punishment but for those of us in the trade we would respect his audacity and his conviction. He would be remembered even if I had to tell the story to every new member myself.

For a moment I felt overshadowed and a touch guilty. I almost turned around and killed my target then but as I began to turn my eyes fell on the Chief Investigator and all thoughts of killing went out of my head. He stood there, his walking stick held up almost like a weapon, head facing the constables with the Vanlyn. I do not know why it felt as if he was looking at me despite the direction of head but it did and I think it made me blush a little.