1.3.
Three months ago
from that night of the murder of Lord Tannen, a hooded man in the dark robe took
his strides rather swiftly while he crosses the streets. He was in the seedy
side of the city where the thieves and murderers congregate openly. He had
crossed over a few streets and always checking for any one tailing. Once he was
sure that he was not followed and proceed on the route that he was familiarize
with. It was the next third street that he sneaked past the third door after
the right corner. The gas light there lighted at dusk revealed it as a hat
shop.
Inside the shop,
the rows of hats had been there for some time, and the owner of the shop was seen
dusting off some imaginary dirt when the hooded man walked in. The owner looked
up and nodded before reaching for the hidden switch below the counter. The wall
cabinet at the rear of the shop slide open to reveal an open passageway. It was
a short walk descending with careful steps as there were a series of traps
there for the uninvited. He came on a grilled gate padlocked from the outside.
There was a guard there, seated behind a desk. The guard was a bulky man
dressed in a plain tunic, but he was underrated by many opponents who normally
ended with injuries. His right hand was placed
below the desk holding a pair of pistol aimed at the hooded man.
“Welcome, Kassius.”
The hooded man was greeted at the end of the passageway. The hooded man did not
bother to reply but he shown the hand signs of the Guild to allow him entry to
the door behind the sentry. The sentry pressed the switch to activate the lock
on the grilled gate. It was a pneumatic switch which when activated, released
the air to push the latch back. The door opened to a small hall where another
sentry was seated there behind another desk. The man was also dressed in a
loose plain tunic smiled.
“You are late.
Way too late.” The man in the loose plain tunic reached to raise the desk board
before he pulled the lever there. The hooded man ignored the guard there, and
walked on towards the door next to the desk. It opened to what will be called
an elevator. It was a metal cage measuring six by eight feet that was hoisted
by a pneumatic pump that brought it up and lower.
The hooded man
stepped in while the elevator lowered him three levels. The ride took over a
minute before it stopped before opening to show a larger hall. In the hall,
there were rows of larger and wider desks manned by more men dressed like the
one that was in the earlier hall. They were all busy at their desks. He knew
some of them; recorder of the tasks carried out by the assassins. The Hall was lighted by the overheads oil lamps
that were the tradition of the Guild.
“Kassius, you
are needed.” A voice boomed from the end of the Hall. The hooded man drew back
his hood to reveal his face. The face was half covered with the unkempt facial
hair while longer hairs flowed past his ears to his shoulders. It was the
emerald eyes that brought out his expression.
“Master, I was
away.” Kassius replied. “For too long.”
“No, Kassius.
You were away not of your own doing, but the test to rebuild your strength and
also your faith in yourself.” The man who earlier spoke limped on his half
stump encased in the metallic leg. The man was similarly dressed like the
others, but he had an appearance of leadership in his move.
“Kassius, your
return is timely as you are to embark on another task.” The man whom Kassius
called his Master replied. “But first, get some rest and meet at the Main Hall
for the brief on your next task at dawn tomorrow.”
The figure
beneath the hood whose name was Kassius nodded and proceeded to the lower
levels where the personal chambers are based. He was soon in his personal
chamber. The place was furnished with bedding and some basic furniture. On the
side of the chamber, his uniforms were stacked there in an orderly manner. The
servants ensured that he always have three sets of those uniforms at any one
time. There were three sets there when he arrived. He holds no other personal
memorabilia of himself, except the curved sword given to him by his Master on
the completion of his fifth task. He had expressly his desire to keep it that
way.
Kassius removed
his robe before he took out the tatters what was once his uniform. He had
survived a grueling pursuit across the land and hills, with not a single wink
of sleep for over a week. His pursuers were after his head after he has killed
their leader in the sleeping chamber. It was a simple task to sneak in and
administered the killing blow, but Kassius was discovered upon his escape. The
alarm was raised and the guards came to apprehend him. He had fought and
escaped but the pursuit was tedious. The pursuers had formed three groups to
hunt him. During the pursuit, he had lost two horses and all his belongings but
the pursuers had also lost a fair deal of men.
“Kassius, you
are a lucky man.” The voice belonged to a lady; about his height but was build
plain like a boy. She may not be most beautiful lady but her nature as a tomboy
fascinated the other. She was dressed in the same plain tunic like the others. She
helped Kassius to pull his tatter uniform off. The later cringed when he felt
the fabric of his uniform opened up the older wounds.
“Kassius, you
are a fool.” The lady muttered. She slowly peeled the vest and saw the lacerations
on the back of Kassius. “Did you get caught?”
“No, Irina. I was
dragged by the horse for some distance.” Kassius replied after he dropped the
vest. He walked to the wash tub that was prepared for his return.
“Why Kassius?
Why do you get all these difficult tasks? Even Marcus has rejected two of your
tasks, but you just nodded like a fool.” The lady sighed. “You are not the best
among them but you are darned lucky to alive today.”
Kassius ignored
the other and lowered himself into the tub of water. It was his first bath
after some days. He laid back and smiled. He believed what Irina said; he was
one lucky bastard from the eight tasks that he had undertaken. It was within a
time period of one year, given the risk they undertook as assassins. The
experienced one retired after the ninth escapes from death, as they were all
paranoia of pushing beyond the ninth attempt. He had taken all the difficult
ones since he was commissioned into the ranks of assassin. Not all the
commissioned ones made it past the fifth tasks on average.
“Kassius, let go
of the next one.” Irina told him while she dabbed the cloth over the wounds but
Kassius had fallen asleep. Irina continued on her ministration and then left
the assassin to his rest. She loved the man so much but the she accepted the
works of Kassius made him a different man.
A harder man to
be in love with.
“God! I hate
myself for loving you.” Irina sighed. “But I can’t help it.”
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