Woods

SIX

After three more hours tossing knives at Kyle (for training purpose I swear) I sent him off, calling it a day.

Whishing to clean myself, I headed towards the bath. It was still early in the day but I knew no one would be there. I needed some time alone.

Usually, men and women took their bath together. Romance nor privacy or shyness were considered important here. Besides, the Master has had this crazy idea stuck in his head that less time would be lost in bathing if we were together and scared of each other.

Scared of what? Probably of being raped or killed.

Sometimes, an assassin holding grudges toward another would try to kill him when vulnerable, so the baths were a good place. Well, I supppose it's a form of selection. After all, the weakest were executed by the Master no matter what. As for me, I always bathe with a knive fixed on my right ankle, never had to use them though.

I put my clothes and weapons on the floor and entered the water sighing. I felt my back and shoulders relax with the heat. I closed my eyes and let my body enjoy the soothing sensation of being warm.

When I was done cleaning myself, I got out of the water and took a good look in the small mirror. My silhouette thin and muscular was made for hunting but my curves still showed that I was female and gave the impression of being delicate. That would be a fatal guess for my prey. Master knew that and made me work twice harder than the others to become a perfect killing machine. A felin-like assassin.

I could have been qualified of having a nice body if it wasn't for the scars on my back. Like a wild felin, I was tamed by being lashed out at, and whipped. You wouldn't want your killing machine to turn against you, would you?

I chuckled darkly at that thought.

Master was calculating. But to think that he tamed me into a scared kitten, would be a stupid error.

...

Going back to my room, I found a letter on my bed. I curiously opened it and read the following content: Departure tomorrow 4 AM. Pack lightly. Team up with 4 others. Meet at the gates.

Nice! I had a new mission. Althought I wasn't alone, I had the occasion of leaving this place and go out.

Gathering my weapons, I went to bed straight away. I needed the rest.

.....

I woke up before dawn and headed toward the gates. Happily munching a loaf of bread.

There were three men and five horses waiting. All three of them were part of the strongest assassins here, after Ethan and myself.

For the master to send his best pawns meant the mission wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.

"Who's the fourth one?" I asked at the mountain of muscles standing next to me.

Cedrick was his name, I think. He entered the camp three months after me and we had to fought again each others often. Master's orders.

Without even looking at me he grumbled something which I interpreted as "The newbie. Late."

Rude. You could at least look me in the eyes. No need to pout because you never beat me.

So the shrimp was coming along. I was wondering what was inside the master's head. The greasy man probably wanted to test Kyle, before keeping training him - or not.

After waiting around twenty minutes, we heard some huffing and weapons clicking. The shrimp was running towards us, holding his weapons as best as he could.

Catching back his breath he managed to explain that he overslept.

With a scornful sound the muscle's mountain climbed on his horse and left the camp, followed by all of us.

Heading in the woods, I kept thinking about our mysterious destination.