• Chapter 2


    The moon hung high in the sky, stars twinkled almost lazily in the coat of velvety black darkness.
    Kai crouched on a tree branch outside the small castle's grounds, inspecting his "playing field.". The stone castle, which was relatively small compared to other castles, sat in the middle of a truly huge property. The property was surrounded by a high stone wall, too tall to climb over and no trees close to it. There was one entrance to the grounds, a metal gate with bars running vertically along it and sharp, barbed points on top. A guard stood on either side. By the light of various torches strewn across the yard, Kai could see several guards patrolling the area. He quickly counted them. Twelve on this side. This would indeed cost the man greatly. A plan formed quickly in his mind. He watched the guards movements, searching for any patterns in their patrols.
    Finding each guard had a certain route, he leapt to the ground, landing between the two gate guards.
    "What the--" The guard on the right leaped back, startled, and reached for his sword hilt upon seeing Kai's assassin attire. Kai wore tight black clothes, nothing baggy that would get in the way, and a wide black belt specially made for carrying all his daggers and poison pouches.
    Before the guards could even pull out their swords, Kai ripped the long, thin sword from the leather sheathe on his back-- metal sheathes were far too loud-- expertly swung the blade at the right guard then back at the left guard all in a single, smooth motion. The men fell to the ground with two quiet thuds and Kai slipped the sword back into its scabbard.
    He slowly pushed the gate open. Not a creak. Good. He didn't want to have to think up a new plan while desperately fighting off all the guards in the castle.
    He walked calmly along the path then slipped behind a statue as a bored guard wandered by, barely even paying attention to his surroundings. As soon as he had rounded a bush, Kai darted across the open lawn, avoiding any torchlight.
    Just as he had calculated while in the tree, there were no guards around to spot him. They really need a better organized patrol route.
    He approached the castle wall and looked up. Vines grew along the cracked, rocky surface, stretching up and around a closed window that, he hoped, belonged to Grenvil's bedroom. Kai hated basing his plans, or even a small fraction of his plans, on hope and chance, but being what he was, he was often forced to.
    He tested his weight on a thick vine and, the vine giving off only as faint crackle of protest, began climbing.
    The window was reached without much difficulty and Kai peered in. Darn it. It was a hallway. A brightly lit one at that. Oh well, it'll have to do. He reached up and gave it a light shove. It was locked. He groaned in annoyance and reached down to his belt with the same hand, pulling out one of his daggers. He slid the blade through the crack on the left side and jiggled it experimentally. Aha. It was a simple lock on the inside, all he had to do was lift a little wooden bar out of its slot and the window would slide open. He flicked the blade upwards and the window swung in a crack. Kai tucked his dagger into his belt, pushed the window open the rest of the way and carefully lifted a leg over the sill, gently, silently lowered his foot to the floor, then pulled in his other leg and he was in.
    Now to find Grenvil.
    He looked one way, then the other. Which way to go? He went right. Hope and chance, yet again. He sighed inwardly.
    This time, hope and chance won out.
    He jogged down the corridor, his soft steps seeming to echo off the walls, sounding to his ears like hammer on anvil in the silence. He heard the heavy footfalls of a guard's boots around the corner. Kai pressed himself to the wall close to the bend in the hall, clutching a dagger. When the unsuspecting guard rounded the corner, Kai, holding the dagger with the blade off the outside of his hand, plunged the dagger into the guards neck.
    The guard could get onyl a quiet gurgle past the dagger, then his eyes clouded over and he slumped forward. Kai caught him before her hit the ground, which would cause his armor to set up a racket, gently laid him on the floor and retrieved his dagger. He wiped the gleaming scarlet blood off the blade on a nearby curtain, shoved it back in his belt and continued on.
    He didn't come to any doors that looked very promising.
    He rounded yet another corner, climbed down the stairs, and came to a set of of large wood double doors. Based on past experience, these seemed like possible Master Bedroom doors. He pressed his ear to the wood and, hearing nothing but faint snores, pushed the door open enough for him to squeeze through.
    A large window on the right wall let in enough moonlight to see a bed on the far side of the room, a dresser against the wall to the left of the bed and a make-up desk to Kai's right.
    He silently crossed the room to the bed's left side and peered down at the face of the sleeping form. Grenvil. Kai had seen him before, wandering down the streets and looking through shops in the city with his wife, who lay beside him on the bed, an arm draped over Grenvil's shoulder.
    Kai didn't want to wake either of them. This couldn't be done by classic blade.
    He reached down to his belt, untied a small leather pouch filled with liquid poison, and dipped his fingers into it. Kai carefully reached over to Grenvil's face and gently, ever so gently, wiped his dripping fingers over the sleeping man's lips.
    Grenvil licked the poison off his lips in his sleep. Kai smiled. He would be dead by dawn. His job was complete. He could collect his pay.
    He turned, left the room, closed the door behind him, and headed back the way he came. He only encountered a few guards, and dealt with them quickly and efficiently.
    He climbed down the vines, ran across the yard, around the statue...
    And came face to face with a girl.
    They stared at each other for a few slow seconds, stunned. Kai, acting on pure instinct, leapt at her, grabbing a dagger, and slashed at her neck.
    She moved to throw up her arms to defend herself, and the dagger sliced into her lower neck, narrowly missing her artery. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out; her hands clutched at her neck, the blood seeped through her fingers. Her eyes rolled back in her head and crumpled to the ground.
    Kai stepped over her and was about to leave her there, but something made him stop and turn to look back at her, lying on her back, her neck bleeding.
    His mind suddenly seemed to go back through time, back to when he was six years old; ten years ago. Images flashed through his head, images he had managed to forget for the last nine years of his life and thought he had erased for good.
    A perfect, sunny day. Playing in the yard. That awful scream of agony.
    His mother dead on the floor, blood seeping out of her neck, soaking into the rug.
    He closed his eyes, squeezed them shut, bid his memories to be gone, to just leave. But they wouldn't.
    For the first time in nine years, a tear slid down his cheek.
    He opened his eyes again, looking down at the girl. She would be dead by the time someone found her. Something, he didn't know exactly what, moved him to bend down, wrap the girls scarf tightly about her neck as a bandage, and pick her up, one arm under her knees and the other arm supporting her back.
    She was heavy and it was hard to manage carrying her home, but somehow he did it.