X111
Lord Camlash
I sat with my son next to me in the Hall today, alongside him is the the mistress and the young kid. Before us, are the advisers and leaders of my land and their personal guards. I am not without my guards, they are stationed behind the advisers and leaders. The hall was decorated with gaily colors and a lavish layout feast was on the table. Everyone came bearing gifts for my grandson, and lots of pleasantries was noted. The only one missing is my daughter Camy, who is in her chamber as she finds herself not in the limelight today. More so her bodyguard is sent on a mission of mine, she is very upset.
‘Hail my friends and allies, I have two announcement to make. One is the birth of my grandson to my son, Conal whom you get to meet today. He’s been shy all this time until today.’ That brought laughter to my guests and I looked at my son who is smiling. He should be as he could be the one on the unmarked grave now. His ‘mistress’ stands next to him, also smiling and holding their child; a wonderful woman and yet I find her very mysterious and deceitful like myself. I liked the last thought as its a good trait if she given that to my grandson too.
‘The second announcement is’ I let the Hall quiet down to hear me make the second announcement; all was silenced as if I may announced the beheading of some of my guests; its happened in some culture as a tribute to life, a death is required. But not here. ‘I found ore in the land. And will mine it soon.’ That cheered them up well. No more deaths to be seen tonight. Not here anyway.
There been reports of the Outsiders stealing my ores, and I need to teach them a lesson. I do not want to fight a war as yet, but I can removed the threat. I want to remove the leader so he cannot lead. So today among my guests is one short; a young personal guard. She is away on a mission for me. If she is successful, we will have one less person to deal with. But she must be careful as I heard of others who has also similar plans. They think that the Praetorian is hiding among the Outsiders and they seek his head too. And that of the leader.
Dina
I been at this pace for the last two weeks, running and hiding in the forest. Some of the people I meet on; and some I avoid if need be. Now I am on the trail of my mission; Braven the Leader. Its a relief to be away from the Mistress, but the trip here has been tough and dangerous. Twice, I avoided capture by some Outsiders and once by the Frontier Army; though some of them will not be singing at fire place anymore. I have to be careful as I cannot afford to reveal my identity, so a careless loss of my daggers can be revealing. I have to killed my enemies by close combat and retrieved all evidence to point to me. I know the Praetorian or the Lieutenant can recognise my daggers so I kept them in a bag, while I used some army daggers.
I am near the settlement and I can see the guards on the high branches. Whoever taught them was good but the outpost need is more better men. I had to create a diversion to tell a different tale of my arrival. The two men will served that diversion. I walked up to one outpost, which I know is manned by two sentries. One of them called out to me to identify myself. They are not used to seeing a lady assassin, so they assumed I am just another woman on the way home or lost. I disguise my walk as in pain, and asked for some help. One of them immediately sailed down by the rope ladder. As he was picking up my foot to looked at it, I ended his life with a thrust in the neck from the right. I then scaled the rope ladder to removed his other friend, who was too busy doing his works; watching the forest trees. I left army daggers there and then scaled down to proceed to the settlement. I wanted them to be assumed an army spy is in the area. And most army spies are men anyway.
Once I cleared the outposts, I was in the edge of the settlement. Now was a matter of blending in with the simple folks. That was easier than I thought as I took on the kindness of an old lady to bring her home. Her other families members are away on a visit to another settlement; a kindness which I am to deliver her home for good. I was dressed like any of the woman and was easy to just walked in with the old lady. I took my rest in her home and studied the settlement, as much as I can. I like to know the place well, before I can strike. More so, I like the extra attention given when I strike. As for the old lady, she is in deep sleep now, and may not wake up again.
Praetorian Genus
The perimeter guards tell me that one of their outpost was killed this evening. They found the men when there was a change of guards. They were all killed with a single stab wound on their neck; clearly a work of an assassin or a spy. They found an army dagger on one of the men and are now searching the settlement for a man who may be army spy or assassin.
So they are here too, like the Praetorians. I need to know their target. If its a spy, is the person coming in or leaving. So we need to beef up the perimeter and prepare for any war.
If its an assassin, then who is the target?
Is it me or Braven or even any of the elders?
I sure need the help of my friend, Lieutenant Damai, as he is more familiar with assassin. As a Praetorian, we do encounter assassins but not as much as personal guards like Damai. Most of our works are involved in battles and revolts, so open fight was more prevalent. There men like Mercer and myself, but we are the rare ones.
‘Braven, I can double the guards but I am not sure if the spy is in here. If its a spy, I assume it will be monitoring our activities. Then the spy may be in the trail to report back to the Army Camp. I will get our people to watch the Camp for suspicious person who are recording or observing activities. But if its an assassin, then we need to find that assassin fast. We also need to know their target.’
Braven told me not to alarm the settlement. Just do my investigation and he will see to the additional guards. Later, when I checked on him, he is still with his own personal guard, Lydia; the lady from the Yellow Beard. It seems she has taken a fancy of him and now acts as his personal guard against any man or woman. She is a tough fighter, that I can see from her training and display when needed. But can she handle an assassin is my concern.
I appointed a few group of guards and assigned them to the different section of the settlement. They are to look for any unfamiliar faces and detain or report to me. I also had the Clan Hall guarded as there is where most of the leaders are gathering. I also have the personal home of Braven with a tight perimeter of guards. It did raised some questions in the Hall, but I told them its the new routine of the guards, and some of them are in training.
But what baffles me was after three nights and day, we had no incident to report on. Not even another victim or stranger seen in the settlement. My men began to wander from their posts and some has taken to sit at the fire place during the cold nights. They are not as discipline as the Praetorian but it takes time to be one.
And it was on that night, the assassin strike.
Dina
I been watching the guards at the hall and also the personal home of the leader. Its easy for a young lady to moved around as no one suspects me. When I see the Praetorian coming, I turned away or hide behind some women as I was afraid he will recognised me. I was surprised to see him here, as I was told he escaped and was not seen To date. Some said he died from some old wounds and others said he died in an assassination.
But he is here, and that is a new factor I need to consider. My stay has to cut down and I need to act fast.
I created a diversion by starting a fire in the hall. It was not a task for someone who has been helping in the kitchen. I crept in late that night and lit up some oil strewn on the some wood piles. The fire soon spread and the whole place was in fire. The alarm raised by the guards awaken the surrounding homes and barracks. Soon people formed up to douse the fire with sand or buckets of water.
It was then, I sneak off to the personal home of Braven. I stood waiting at the path I know he will take, and he did come with his guards around him and also his personal lady. As he was passing by near me, I got ready to pulled the rope which I had attached to the pillar of the hut across me. I had already loosen the pillar so it will far on a taut pull. It did and the approaching group was distracted, and that was all I need. A fling of my hand and the dagger went for the side of his neck, but the there was one guard who moved into the flight path of the dagger. It hit the wrong target and the commotion started.
That was not foreseen and its rare that such things can happen. Even more rare was the appearance of two assassins coming out of the shadow to engage the group of guards. But they were fighting with men of experience so the delay in carrying out the task also brought in more guards. It was time for me to flee as the guards will be converging here now. I sneaked off among the shadows of the tent and hid in one to reassess my situation. Then I decided to re-trace my route to proceed to the personal home of Braven. He is still my target and I do not know who are the others, but I intend to complete my task. So I waited.
It was not long when I saw Braven coming in the home of his. He walked in and took off his sword to leave it on the table. Then he leaned over a bucket of water to clean his hands. It was then I struck him with my daggers onto the back of his neck and another into his heart. He died without a sound, but his lady protector has walked in then. She saw her fallen leader, and immediately alerted the guards. That was her mistake which cost her life. She should not had diverted her eyes from me to raise the alarm. My twin daggers struck at her chest and killed her instantly. Immediately then I flee along the back of the house but I was discovered by more guards. I ran off down another direction with the guards in my pursuit. I turned to see them and let off one of my dagger at the one who was leading but he manged to deflect it.
Praetorian Genus
I saw the assassin coming towards me from the back fo the house. and gave chased with the guards. But the assassin turned track and went down the right side of me. The assassin looks like a lady dressed as a serving maid, which we have many in the hall. She was running along the way to the hall, and which now is packed with people trying to put out the fire. She must be trying to blend in, and she released another dagger which I managed to deflect with my sword. I almost reach the assassin, but she was now grabbing a horse left unattended in her track. She mounted and was galloping away between the huts while people jumped aside to avoid her trampling, and soon she was pass the corner. I tried to get myself a horse but found none. I tried to raise the alarm for more guards but they are all too busy with the fire.
I rushed back to the home of the leader but Braven the Leader was dead. His body was carried back to the hall. The Elders stood there to pay homage to it. I was given the daggers which killed him, and saw it an unique design seen before. Then I remembered seeing someone who uses it daily. Its a lady I know as the bodyguard of Mistress Camy. I don’t know her name, but I now know her profession well.
The funeral took three days to complete before the leader alongside with his lover was put to the pile of woods to be sent on his final journey. The fire was lit by myself and then the council convene. The elders discussed the identities of the assassins, and the appointment of the new leader. I was invited in to join and offer my advice. I did not speak much but I did checked the bodies of the assassins. I knew one of them from my days in the 2nd Party of Prime Leader Romus of the Praetorian. That man also also rode with me to kill the old Prime Leader then in the ambush sixteen completed seasons ago. His name is Lance, as he likes to boast of his skill with the lance he carries. I would assumed he was send y the Prime Leader himself. As for the dagger assassin, I kept my suspicion to myself. I am not ready to disclose the identity until I verified the dagger design again.
On the second issue, the elders did not take them long to elect a new leader. One that will carry the name of Braven the Leader as it has been for the last hundred completed seasons. But this time, that leader is not from among them, but an outsider. His name was Genus and now called Braven. He is the 36th in the line for leadership.
I took on the role and responsibility as I felt I owed Braven a cause; the same cause he done to his people. The cause to unite and make his people free of oppression. Today, the Praetorian died and the Leader of the Outsider was re-born.
‘Hail Braven’ was all I could hear.
‘Who march with me to take back our land?’ The roar was louder. I will have my army to fight the Lords and the betrayal of the Praetorian.
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