Assassin in White

One

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."

A figure in a light blue cloak moves smooth and confidently through the crowd. Nobody glances his way as he walks. He looks every now and then at the wares put out on the side of the road. Or he steps out of the way of someone else who is not looking where they are going.

He reaches the pale white walls of the palace and hardly glances at the rows of guards that are placed along the top. A single, white wrapped, powdered hand reaches out to trail fingers along the surface of the wall. The young man smiles and ducks behind a tall cart of flashy fabrics.

He doesn't emerge from the other side, and a light blue cloak lays abandoned in a woven basket as the cart moves on. Nobody sees the pale figure move slowly against the pale stones. When the guard looks over, he just sees the same white and cream unmarred by shadows in the sun.

The boy hugs the walls tightly, moving from sunlit patch to sunlit stones in the glare of midday. The eyes are looking for shadows, but he leaves none for long. He grins, his white teeth gleaming like the polished tiles of the arbor he is now pressed against.

Slowly but surely he makes his way deeper and deeper into the palace grounds. Further than any before him, and in the brightness of day. The guards are too used to watching for darkness. They have forgotten to look for danger even in the brightest of light.

He walks carefully. His movements slow and soundless. Creeping ever closer to his goal. He watches top officials as they walk right by him, unseeing. He sees the guards' eyes slide over him, unknowing. He sees his target in the distance and looks away to a birdfeeder, that even his intentions might not be detected by the powerful man.

This is it. The moment he has been waiting for. The people flow to different sections of the vast place, and he slides along the walls to close in on the target's destination. He crawls into the outer building and waits against the pale stone.

The sun is beginning to set. It is starting to cast shadows along the shiny stones. He doesn't have much time left. He slips into the inner sanctum, not through the windows that are watched and shadowed, but right through the gleaming white door.

There He sits. His robes flowing around him like great plumage. His hair spilling down his back as he relaxes in his private room. Food laid out before him, having been tested by poison. Guards and servants dismissed for a moment of peace. Alone.

The boy is but a breeze that dances across the marble floor. The man takes a drink and by the time his cup is set back down, it is too late. A strong arm curls about his neck, two strong legs wrap about his waist, and a sharp knife is pressed against the tender spot of his throat.

"Hello, your majesty. It is an honour to meet you." The boy whispers in a soft voice in his ear. The emperor blinks as he realises he is caught.

"Indeed? Is it such an honour? I cannot say I am pleased to meet you." The emperor says drily. The boy smiles, pleased that the powerful man would joke with him.

"Come now. I worked very hard to get this far. Can you not at least say you are impressed?" The boy replied cheekily. The emperor was confused. Was the man not here to kill him? Why were they even conversing?

"Alright. I am impressed. What do you want?" He said to the assassin.

"Right to the point. Alright then. I want to trade. Your life in exchange for all the innocent lives of the Xu family, your majesty." The assassin requested. The emperor snorted.

"You already know that nine generations will be sentenced to death, do you not? How about if I just shout for a guard?" The emperor countered darkly.

"Then you will die before they enter the room and... to be perfectly honest, your majesty, I do not want to kill you. This is simply a move in order to save lives, not spend them needlessly." The assassin sighed, but his grip did not loosen, nor his careful grip waiver.

"Spend them needlessly? Is eradicating a traitorous family not spending wisely?" The emperor responded.

"No. No indeed it would be if the whole family was guilty. When the majority are faithful and loyal subjects though, that is indeed being wasteful." The assassin countered.

"How shall I determine which are which then? If I leave a snake in the garden I am sure to be bitten." His eyes narrowed.

"Eh? Are you not able to root out rot in your own country? What of the women? What of the children? Will they suffer for the covetousness of others? Rather to be merciful and give them reason to love you instead. You should have more followers that would praise you than fear you, your majesty." He tried coaxing the emperor.

"Alright, then how about I trade the innocent women and children only? That seems fair. Their lives will be spared in exchange for mine. That I can do." The emperor relented. He could feel the hesitance in the assassin.

"Hah, this is so very difficult. If I accept, then my father and brothers will still die. If I do not accept, then my mother and sisters may yet die. I'll have to accept. My father and brothers are all working so hard to root out the evil for your majesty....is there really no way you can spare them? Is there nothing else I might trade?" He mused to the man under his knife.

"Your life is already forfeit for the attempt on my life. I have no need for your family's riches. There are no sisters that might be of marriageable age. There is nothing." The emperor taunted the assassin. They stayed still for the moment while the assassin processed it.

"Are you sure there is nothing? I could be a guard? No, who am I kidding... who would take their assassin as their guard... Oh! You could make me a servant? I could be one of those... er, eunuchs or whatever..." The assassin was mumbling to himself and the emperor saw the opportunity arise as his attention waivered.

Xu- "slowly"