The Assassin

Chapter 1: 7 Years Later

I watched the little house from the other side of the street. It seems like a lot of my job is watching. Watching and waiting. Waiting for the perfect moment, the one chance you get to strike. When that perfect moment comes, there are only two rules: seize the moment, and do not screw up. Messing up a job is just that: messy. It is messy for you and all the other assassins at Cowick Manor. We don't want anyone finding out about the assassin from Kordon that are trespassing on enemy territory.

As I continue watching the little house, I run through my mission in my head for what must be the millionth time. Step one: Determine target. Step two: Kill target. Step three: Dump the body into the Antala River. Step four: Make sure not a single person saw you. Step five: Return to Cowick Manor. Seems easy enough. I definitely have had missions ten times as difficult as this one. Ideally, this mission will be a cakewalk. All I have to do is kill the King's Royal Advisor. Then I can return back home to the others. Maybe have a nice, warm meal. That would be really nice right now.

A flash of movement catches my eye and I return all of my focus back to the mission on hand. A plump little man staggers into the house. Perfect, the idiot is drunk. This should be one of my easiest missions yet. I look around, confirming that no one else is by me other than the Royal Advisor and then I quietly dash towards the house.

By the time I reach the front entrance, the advisor is passed out on his bed. I know this not because I can see him but because the idiot snores like crazy. I quickly assess my surroundings one last time before I duck inside the home. Careful not to make a sound, I make my way to what I presume to be the bedroom. As I am about to turn the doorknob, a low trotting sound catches my attention. Quietly but quickly, I run into the nearest room. I frantically search for a spot to hide that still allows me to hear whatever, or whoever, is making the trotting noises.

I settle into the corner of the room that contains a pile of blankets and fling myself to the bottom of the stack. Just as I get the last blanket over top of my body, I hear the front door open up and someone with relatively light footsteps walks into the main living room. I can hear the neighing of a horse outside, which explains the trotting noise I heard earlier. The person who entered the house continues to walk further into the home until I hear him pass the door to the room I am hiding in.

I hear the doorknob to the bedroom turn and then the footsteps continue. I decide that this is my chance to either take on both the Royal advisor and this unexpected visitor, or to slip away and try my luck at a later time. Hopefully, if fate is in my favor, this intruder will leave and I will only have to make one kill tonight.

I slowly stand up and walk towards the door to the room I am currently in. Holding my breath, I carefully twist the doorknob, silently praying that the knob was oiled somewhat recently and won't make a sound. Luck and fate, it seems, are both in my favor as the doorknob turns without making the slightest of sounds. Preferably, the rest of my mission will go smoothly and this visitor was just a little hiccup. Hopefully.

I continue slowly, creeping closer and closer towards the bedroom door. The unexpected visitor left the door slightly ajar, and so I peek through the small opening into the bedroom. The King's advisor in now awake, but he is still hopelessly drunk. The visitor is a young man around my age, I'm guessing him to be about 18 or 19. He has charcoal coloured hair and is muscular. He is wearing fitted clothes, so I am assuming him to be a well off man in terms of money. Or he has rich parents. The man is also extremely tall, probably about 6'6". His height and strength combined suggest that he would be an exceptional fighter, especially if he was trained.

"We have reason to believe that their might be an attempt on your life, Gerald. It is in your best interest that I am here. His Royal Highness requested me to personally escort you back to the palace, where security will be tight and we will be able to protect you." the young man was talking. He had a nice voice, deep but not too deep, and he spoke with confidence.

Well, this is just great. I believe that this man is in the Royal guard because of his words, clothes, and stature. Realistically, this man is probably pretty high up in the ranks if the King specifically asked him to escort one of his most trusted advisors. Shit. How was I going to fight against a tall, muscular, very well trained guy?

I am still thinking of ways I could beat this man in a fight when I hear him walking towards the bedroom door. Shit. I start to walk backwards toward the front door, frantically looking for a hiding place. The knob of the bedroom door starts to turn and I hear grunts and groans coming from the bedroom. The man must be caring the stupid advisor who is obviously drunk out of his wits. Good luck with that.

I turn around the corner as the door flings open and the two men come stumbling out of the bedroom. I quietly pull out one of my daggers, ready to use it the second they round the corner if need be.

The walking stops and I hear hushed conversations instead. I struggle to hear what the two are saying.

"I think............hear someone..............stay....................I will go look."

Shit. The footsteps start again, but this time there is only one pair. A door across the hall creaks open and I spot the young man entering another room, sword drawn.

Seeing this as my only chance, I run forward and grab the drunk advisor from behind, holding a knife to his throat.

"Don't you dare make a sound." I say as I apply some more pressure to his neck. I decide that I need to kill the advisor to finish my mission, then I will either run out of this house, or attempt to kill the other man too. I quickly slash the dagger across the advisor's throat, praying the he doesn't make to much noise as he dies. What I didn't realize was how heavy the advisory was. His entire weight is on me as he collapses and I struggle to lay his body gently on the ground.

I start quietly making my way to the door when I hear footsteps back in the hall. I turn and make eye contact with the young man. A split second later, one of my daggers is protruding from the man's chest. It definitely was not a death blow though, which means that I need to get the heck out of here.

Once I am out of the house, I throw a dagger at the horse so that the man can only follow me on foot. Then I dash into the woods. I lay down and cover myself with leaves as I watch the man come out of the home, cursing his head off. He runs to his horse, only to start cursing more when he see the horse's injuries. I must admit that this man has come up with some interesting uses for swear words. I might actually use some of his phrases one day.

The man goes back into the house, only staggering a little bit. Either my dagger didn't hit very deep, or this man is really tough and conditioned. I am thinking it is a bit of both, but I am still leaning towards the latter.

I need to get out of here before the man finds me. I can't kill this guy by myself, especially when I am down to only three daggers. Of course I have some more weapons, but the daggers are my best.

I decide to stay hidden in the forest for 3 more hours, or until the man leaves, whichever happens first. After one hour has passed, I roll up the sleeve of my shirt on my left arm and then pull out a small but sharp dagger.

"For the King's Royal Advisor." I whisper to myself. Then I slowly and precisely make a line on my inner forearm, near my elbow. I watch as rich red blood drips down my arm, and I stare at the rest of my scars on my left arm. The list of those I won't forget. I look at my new, soon to be scar, and then turn my gaze back towards the house.  

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Hope you liked this chapter!  Sorry I haven't updated in a while.  I will try to update this story more regularly!

By the way, the picture at the top is sort of what I picture Maya to look like.  Brown hair, piercing blue eyes.... not sure about the tattoos though.  The pictures are more just for fun then an actual exact description!

-Jess

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