The Assassin and the Princess

Chapter 1

The night was cool, and the breeze was gentle. A shadow danced across fences and lampposts, careful to not make any noise and disturb the peace of the calming and silent night. As the small shadow reached the large gates of the castle, it became even more cautious as it maneuvered around the guards and cameras. Once in the garden, it hopped between flower patches and vegetable sections. It reached the wall and began to climb, up to the highest window. On arrival, it slowly and quietly unlocked the seal and slid it open, carefully but with ease. The dark shadow landed nimbly on the blue carpeted floor and made its way to the bed. The figure stared down at the small princess below, sleeping peacefully. This made the shadow envious. Swiftly unsheathing her katana, she raised it, ready to bring it down on the sleeping figure and bring it a silent death.
Only it never came. The shadow hesitated without any reason as to why. The young child below looked so peaceful, so innocent. But the moment she had heard the princess yawn and saw her eyes flutter open, she knew she was caught red-handed. The shadow suddenly felt uneasy. She'll scream for sure, wouldn't she? A memory of the night previous to yesterday flashed through her mind.

~•~•~•~

Flashback

Elouise sat in the chair quietly, looked down at the wooden floor below. An older man plopped in a chair across from her on the other side of the table in his office. It was dead silent, the only noise sounding being the crickets and cicadas chirping outside.
"So, you've failed your mission. Again. Am I correct, Elouise?" he said, anger laced in his words. Said female nodded. The man stood and slammed his hands on the table, startling the young girl in front of him. "This is the last time, Elouise! You have continuously failed your missions, and I cannot tolerate it any longer! Time, and time, again, you've never met the requirements to succeeding them! And that oh-so-precious katana of yours has never helped. Both your parents were proud assassins, and your mere existence has tarnished their name! As punishment, I will assign you a mission that may very well be your last. If you fail this one as well, you will be stripped of your title as assassin and hunted down. Understand?" he growled. Elousie nodded silently, emotionless and deadpan as usual. He turned, continuing, "Good. The mission I will give you is a simple task for sure. Over the years, King Asuka has grown weaker with his constant illnesses. His army of knights and guards have dwindled as well. Your task is to sneak in and assassinate his daughter, Princess Katsuma. Oh, and a few more things, don't get caught. You have three days to complete this task, and are not allowed to come back unless you have succeeded. On the fourth day your name will be transferred to the wanted list. Any questions?"
Elouise snapped her head up. "But boss...even with weakness the castle is still as baracaded and hard to enter as it has ever been! This mission is impossible and too advanced for someone of my rank to do!" she protested. The latter smirked.
"Then I guess you're no longer an assassin and will be hunted with no one to protect you." This scared Elouise. She gulped and shook her head.
"I-I'll do it..." she whispered.
"Splendid."

~•~•~•~

Katsuma yawned and stretched her arms, looking to her right. It was still late at night, but it's not like waking up in the middle of the night was weird for her. She does it all the time. She looked to her left, then her breath hitched. Standing above her was a shadowy figure no bigger than her, though still slightly bigger, with a katana in mid-swing inches from her head. "What are you...? Wh-Who are you..?" she managed to force out. The shadow never moved, but just stared down at her, brown eyes downcast in a mixture of frustration and anger. The rest of her face that wasn't covered showed no emotion. Katsuma wondered what this person was going to do to her. Finally, much to her relief, the intruder lowered the blade and dropped it to their side, still in their grasp.
The shadow mumbled something what sounded like, "Dammit..." and she started to curious on their next move. Shaking her head vigorously, she pushed that thought out of her head. I have to focus on defending myself! An intruder is still an intruder, so I have to keep my guard up, especially since they look like an...assassin... the realization hit her like a ton of bricks, causing her to quickly gather herself and jump out of bed on the side opposite to the one the assassin was on. Katsuma was about to scream for help when suddenly- THUD! The intruder had tackled her to the ground, covering here mouth with a gloved hand. "Shh..." she whispered. Katsuma nodded silently, tearing up. They both watched as metallic footsteps was making their way to her room. Suddenly lifting herself back up, the princess watched as the young assassin quickly hopped on the window sill and made her way into the night. Katsuma let out a breath she was holding just as her door was opened. It was her favorite knight, Sir Orion, with two other guards behind him. He quickly stepped over the mess in her room and knelt beside her, concerned.

"Are you alright, m'lady?" his tender, but stern voice asked. Katsuma cried and hugged him, to which he returned the gesture. He comforted her as one of the guards surveyed the castle ground through her open window then closed it and gestured to the other. They both left the two in silence to guard outside, closing the door behind them. The knight rubbed circles on the child's back, humming a lullaby to calm her nerves. Finally mustering up the courage, she spoke up.

"I-It was an assassin...she-she t-tried to k-k-kill me..." she sobbed. Orion gritted his teeth as he listened to her tell him what happened. After she finished her story, he gently picked her up and tucked her back in bed.

"It's going to be okay...I'll stay here with you to make that assassin girl doesn't come back with reinforcements. In the meantime, try to get some rest, okay princess?" he soothed. Katsuma nodded and sniffled. She buried herself under the covers and laid there until she fell back asleep. He sat in a rocking chair beside her bed, thinking. Why didn't she kill her? Lady Katsuma said she had every chance to kill her but didn't. I wonder why...he was furious that she had attempted to assassinate the little girl, yes, but he was just as curious as to why she didn't. That question was what kept him up the rest of the night.