Bound In Blood (Bound In Blood - Book One)

Chapter Three

I obliged to Silva, seating myself across from her, resting my arms on the desk lazily. On her sheet of parchment, I noticed a strange red seal. I didn't query her; I just simply waited for her to tell me what to do. That's what she always did.

"I'm sure you're looking for another contract, aren't you?" I nodded once. "Of course. Well, you're in luck. It's nothing major. Just a lowlife beggar. Apparently, he's been stealing from people's homes in a small village to the north of here. Starset, I believe. You know the drill. This is just a small contract though, so don't expect much in the way of payment. Or anything of worth in your target's pockets." I didn't say anything, I just watched and listened. "Anyway, your mark's name is Alfred Pselvid. I'm sure he shouldn't be too hard to spot. Dirty, old. Homeless. The rest of it," Silva explained.

"Anythin' else I need to know?" I asked her. It was always wise to have as much information on the person you were to kill as possible.

"Not much. Only, I hear he's an ex-scholar. The fancy book type. I'm not sure how true that may be, though. Just be careful, won't you?" She said this with an astounding level of sincerity in her voice.

"Yes." I didn't know what else to say.

Silva handed me an envelop in which my contract was enclosed with all the detailing she had given me. I tucked it safely inside my armour and left her be. She was very busy, I figured. There was no need for me to take up any more of her time than necessary.

Shortly thereafter, Conner came and found me, a broad smile on his face. "Alex! I've a quick query for you, if you do not mind."

"I s'pose that would depend on the question," I told him.

"Indeed," he agreed. "I was just wondering if you'd care to take a trip with me into the nearby village? I'm in need of a few more arrows and such and could really use the company," he said, still with that ridiculous smile on his face. I simply shrugged.

"Ya know I don't much like going out. I like stayin' here," I answered. His face fell slightly at this before he nodded politely.

"Of course. Then I shall see you later in the day, shan't I? With a whole new quiver of arrows on my back, too!" he said excitedly. "I'll be back before dark, I can assure you."

"Be seein' ya, then." Then he was off and out the door with a spring in his step. Always the overly positive one, he was. Smiling constantly and almost never upset. I didn't know how he did it.

Not long after, I happened upon Hermia, grinning with one of her crazy glass bottles in her hand with a label tied around the neck, and one of her journals in the other, bits of parchment sticking out at odd angles from notes she'd hastily tucked inside. I sighed heavily at the sight.

"Hey, ya think ya can test this out for me, quick?" she asked, shaking the squat vial, the contents swishing around inside and bubbling, producing repugnant fumes that would make even a currier gag. "Just take a sip and tell me how ya feel so I can write it all down," she told me, shoving the bottle forward toward me.

"Test out your poison on myself?" I asked her in disbelief. She must have done something to her head with all those toxic fumes to ask me such a question.

"Poison? Oh no, this is a potion. It helps, you see." I wasn't foolish enough to try it.

"Why don't you test it yourself?" I suggested. She paused for a moment, pondering the thought.

"Hmmm... no, no I don't think so. I don't want to risk it," she told me.

"But it's fine if I do?" I countered. She shrugged, a silly grin on her face.