Garin sat patiently on the roof of a well-known official’s office, cleaning the dagger he most often carried with him. It was nightfall, and his thoughts weren’t on the kill he was about to make, as it was a fairly routine type of thing. Instead, his thoughts were drifting to Nadia, and what he imagined her to be doing at that hour. Sewing, probably… but then she had also recently taken up knitting, as it had gotten rather cold of late, and she wanted to make certain her baby had warm things for winter. She had even made Garin his own pair of knitted wool socks. Garin hated the itchy, prickly feel of wool though, so he was quite excited to find that she had lined the insides with that soft fabric she’d made his cloak out of. Now, he was warm, and his toes were too. Javik would likely call him spoiled, and perhaps he was… but that was okay, he’d decided. If the consequence of getting exceptionally warm, and soft socks for one’s boots was to be called spoiled… Javik didn’t mind at all. He was the one with warm toes, after all.
A long, drawn-out creaking of the door to the office below him pulled Garin out of his musings on the benefits of warm socks. He slid the dagger back into its leather sheath at his belt, and pulled his scarf over his nose while keeping his eyes on his mark. Slowly, he stood to his full height, exchanging his padded leather gloves for a thinner pair he used for killing, and climbing. The padded ones had been patched so many times, they had been all but useless for anything by the time Nadia came. When it had gotten colder, she lined them with a rabbit’s pelt she’d requested.
She’s spoiling me, there’s no doubt about it. He thought to himself as he clasped the cloak a little tighter and stepped toward the edge of the roof. Snow began to fall as he knelt down, and grasping the edge of the roof, swung his legs off, allowing himself to bump quietly against the stone walls of the office. He made his way to the ground, and began silently following the official. He was ready to get this kill over and done with, as he had been away from home for a week or more, doing various small bounties in this city while taking note of the man’s daily routines. He had also been eavesdropping, and on top of learning that the maid and one of the guards were having a nightly ‘meeting’ on the balcony of one of the watchtowers, he had also learned that the official in question would be alone tonight. Evidently, this was a night that he allowed his guards a little bit of leave.
Garin smiled behind the black scarf covering his face as he drew nearer to his mark. Snow was already obscuring the pavement, and the fall had become heavy. It would perfectly conceal his footprints, as it was the first fall of the season. Quickly, he grabbed his mark from behind, covering his mouth with a gloved hand. Garin almost reached for his dagger, when Nadia’s words echoed in his ears. ‘I won’t forgive you if bloodstains that aren’t yours get on this cloak. At least, not if it could be helped. It’s hard to wash that out, and I worked so hard on this for you.’ Garin sighed audibly, and twisted the man’s neck instead. The body hit the pavement with a soft thud, sending puffs of white powder into the air.
With an accomplished grin, Garin walked confidently toward the wall that divided the inner city, which consisted of higher-class officials, from the outer city, which consisted mainly of common folk, and merchants. He scaled the stone wall with practiced ease, and once at the top, he followed it all the way to the outer walls of the city. He would waste no time in the city. Once the official was found, there would likely be a manhunt, and that would delay his getting home. After all, he’d promised Nadia he would only be gone for a week at the most, and that week would be up on the morrow. He didn’t want to make the mistake of being late… not when she was going through her emotional periods.
