We were waiting for long time in the dark, gritty room. Christen sat on the table, clinging to the candle, and staring at the dead rat. I wandered about, looked at the door, looked at the walls, and when I was satisfied that there was nothing more in the room, I took out my flask. Rico sat on the chair Luke had been sitting on, playing with the ends of his long, red hair.

It was more than an hour later when finally Luke came back. He opened the door and brought us into an alley. However, this alley had no entrance to the main streets, and had a wooden roof built over it. Torches burned from the walls of houses.

“My brother owns many houses in the city.” Rico muttered. “They are all turned into this never-ending maze of attached houses.”

“I would hardly call this a maze.” I said. Luke turned.

“This? Oh no. There are, however, numerous tunnels dug underground going from house to house, various secret exits, passages that go over houses with people living in them. We build as necessity dictates. However-” he walked up to a door at the end of the alley, it was one of three doors. “-It is only necessary for you to go in here.” He knocked on the door. There was a muffled grunt that was unintelligible to me from inside. Luke unlocked the door, and let us in.

It was another large room, though this one was in much better shape than the last one. There were no windows, but there was a large stone fireplace in the wall, with a roaring fire already in it, so the room was pleasantly warm. The walls were lined with shelves, filled with book and trinkets, weapons and potions. At one end of the room there was a desk, behind which sat a man who looked a few years older than I. Various notes and maps were scattered over his desk. As we entered, he set a few sheets of blank paper over them.

The door behind us slammed shut.

“Greetings, Justin.” Rico said slowly.

“Rico.” Justin said. He glanced at Christen and I. He leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “Sit down.” He said, waving at a few crates off to the side. Rico grabbed three and pulled them over. I sat down on one, crossing my legs and leaning forward.

“Rico, why did you bring these people here?” Justin said.

“They are allies.” Rico said, “They helped me to escape the halfling Tenlon, and also helped me escape Almond and the armies of Baliancia. Because of this, they are now wanted by both Kos and Baliancia. I thought that-”

“You don't know if they're working for Kos already.” He snapped, “You don't know-”

Rico stood up and pointed at me. “This is Stiri”

There was a moment of silence. Justin tore his gaze away from Rico and stared at me. I smirked back at him.

I always love it when my name gets such a reaction.

“The Stiri?” He asked. “The assassin?”

I nodded. Justin looked me over for another moment.

“I've heard of you, and mostly the prize on your head.”

“I am an assassin. I'm not surprised. What's the price on my head?”

“One hundred gold coins last I checked.” he said. I whistled.

“Don't bother trying to get that reward just yet: wait a while, the price of my head will go up.”

Justin smirked. “I suppose it will.” His eyes flickered to Christen. “And the girl?”

Christen stood up and curtsied. “Christen, Sir Justin. A thief.”

“You've good manners for a thief.” he said. Christen blushed and sat down.

Justin let his eyes go over Christen once more, then back to me. “Well, I have been somewhat of a fan of your stories. Heard them a few times in pubs. I hear your a good assassin.”

“I am.”

“Good, good...I might have a job for you.” He turned back to Rico, “You should have sent a message ahead. I may have been busy.” Rico glanced down at the floor.

“It was difficult for us to do so.” Christen said, “We were fleeing. There is an army after us.”

“Ah.” Justin looked over at Rico. “That's why you brought them here, isn't it? You thought I could protect them?” After a moment, Rico nodded. “You fool!” Justin slammed his fist down on the table, “You wanted to lead Almond and his army right here? You wanted to endanger the Vanguard?”

“No! I just... We needed help.

Justin sighed, then turned back to me. “Pardon me, Rico's lack of foresight often amazes me.” He picked up a map and began to trace his finger over a few lines. “Tell me, where did you say the army was following you from?”

“I didn't... but.. From Lord Necanda's villa.”

“That's a long way off Rawlin, Rico. What were you doing there?”

“... I heard a rumor about the pendant.” Rico said after a brief pause, “I went to see if there was truth to it, but the villa is ab-... it seems to have burnt down a while ago.”

Justin quickly let his eyes flicker from the map to Rico, then back again.

“Well...” Justin said after a few moments. “The obvious place for you to go would be Primus. Small, discrete, and out of their way for the moment.”

Christen clenched her fists, and stopped breathing for a moment.

“However, I think that's too obvious.”

I gave a sigh of relief along with Christen. I didn't want to go back there either, not just yet.

Justin ignored us. “Going south is the next best option, but again, it's too obvious. Also, this late in the year, we can't send you off...” he pondered over the map. “I guess the best option for you is to head North, towards Rawlin.” He dropped the map down. “It's a little risky, because after Almond leaves here, he'll likely be heading north to Frigidis... That's where Baliancia's leaders hide.” He balled his hands together and rested, his hands covering his mouth. “What I would suggest..” He said. “Is to wait here for a little while. Stay here in Teans, stay low, and wait until they've moved on before you try too outrun them.”

I could have figured that out on my own. What good was Justin.

“Outright, we can't fight an army.” Justin said, “But we can cover your tracks, provide distractions, and try to get Almond out of here as quickly as possible... I suppose a rumor about the pendant might serve as a good distraction.” He glared at Rico, “If Almond is daft enough to fall for it.”

Rico said nothing. Under my tunic I felt the cold touch of the pendant.

“For now, that's all I can do.”Justin said. “I can't afford to draw unnecessary attention to the Vanguard. We would not survive against an attack.”

“That should help.” I said. It wouldn't be hard to hide in Teans for a while. Rent a room, wear a disguise. I had a wig laying around in my Caravan a while ago, stolen from a lady who had lost all her hair. I wondered if I could still use that.

“Now then.” Justin leaned forward once more. “Stiri. If you're interested, I do have a job for you. It is by no means little, by no means insignificant. If you do it, if you are successful, it might actually mean the end of this whole struggle.”

“I don't take sides.” I said.

“I know. I intend to pay you well.”

Rico looked from his brother to me, and then sat down, glad to be forgotten.

“I might be able to do something if I'm paid well.” I said. Justin grinned.

“Do you know of the shard of moonlight?” Justin asked.

I nodded. “I may have heard of it.” I watched as Justin glanced over at Rico. “Rico didn't tell me.” I said, “Someone else did.”

Justin looked back at me. “Very well. Kos has it, or so my information tells me. It had been hidden in a castle outside of Rawlin. However, since efforts to retrieve it there seem to have failed-” Rico's shoulder's dropped at this, “- then I have to find another way to get it. I have found out it's present location, and simply have need of someone capable to get it.”

“I might be able to do so.” I said, “Where is it?”

“Rawlin's keep.”

“R-Rawlin's keep? Justin, that's... that..”

“That's insane!” Christen gasped.

Rawlin's keep was the great castle in the center of Rawlin. I had never been inside, but from what I have heard, the defenses are simple, deadly, and brilliant. The towers reach up to the sky, visible to all people in the city. Rumor has it that the dungeons lay underneath, and the endless tunnels there reach into the depths of the thieves forest, under the impassable mountains, and under Lake Artis. When I was very young, before I knew of Almond, of Cara, of being an assassin even, I was caught for thievery, and was almost brought there. The guard that caught me amused himself by telling me that the guards in the prisons like to play with the prisoners as do the demons in the deepest pit of the underworld. Among other things, he told me they liked to pull the fingers off the prisoners. He said they would tie the prisoner down in a chair, so that they could see what was happening. Then, with only their own hands, they would grab the fingers one at a time and pull until the joints gave way, and the bones snapped. They pulled until the hands was black with blood on the inside, the the flesh finally gave way. Then they did the same thing to each other finger.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

To this day, I can't look at the castle without feeling my fingers itch.

“I'll pay very well.” Justin said.

“I know you've heard a lot of great things about me-” I said, “But as a rule, I don't take on insane-”

“One thousand gold coins.” He said. “To start. If you accept, I will give you one thousand gold pieces. Most merchants in Teans don't have that much to themselves. Not only that, If you steal the Moonshard, I'll give you another one thousand gold coins.” He paused a moment, letting the numbers sink in. A log snapped in the fireplace. Justin let silence overwhelm the room before speaking again.

“And two thousand gold coins for Kos' head.”

That much gold, and I would never have to work again. That much gold and I could bribe all my enemies into forgetting me. All that gold and I could likely take a ship, even though I hated them, and sail off to one of the small islands and live there for the rest of my days without having to move a finger, without having to draw a dagger.

“Done.”

***

Christen woke me up the next morning. She stormed into my room in the inn and drew back the curtains, letting harsh sunlight flow into the room.

“If you're going to take away my sleep, let me keep my nights at the pubs.” I muttered.

“You wouldn't need to sleep so much if you didn't spend so much time at the pubs at night.” She snapped.

“Why are you waking me up anyway? We need to stay low. That means no thieving, no assassining... Not that we need to.” I glanced at one of the bags of gold coins laying on the floor next to my bed. “Not for a while at least.”

“Rico's scared.” she said. “And quite honestly, so am I.”

“Of what?”

Christen turned from the window and looked at me incredulously. “Scared about Rawlin's Keep. Even I've heard stories about it!”

“Oh? And what stories did you hear?”

“I heard that the last one to try to take the castle was a necromancer. And even he failed!”

“Lies.” I said. “Stories told to keep people away. True, I haven't heard about anyone breaking in or out...” I sat up in bed and took a drink from my flask, “But I'm sure I'll find a way.”

“You have no idea how you're going to do it, do you?”

“No.” I leaned back in bed and took another drink. “But I'm sure I have lots of time to figure out how to do it.” I flipped my flask over in my hands a few times. “Poison seems to me to be the best idea... If I could figure out a way to posion the entire fleet guarding the castle-”

“Impossible.” Christen said.

“Unlikely.” I said “But possible.” I stared into the silver of the flask, looking at the distorted reflection of my own eyes. “It would require a lot of planning, and a lot of waiting.” already, I was forming a plan in my head, though it was a bad one, it was a plan. I looked over at Christen “Let's go buy some poison, shall we?”

***

The storm outside had passed. The streets were covered in blinding white snow. Little children ran about throwing snow at one another, building men of snow, and then knocking them down. Christen, Rico and I wandered through the streets, the hoods of our cloaks pulled up over our head. Cider was being sold from bubbling pots on the streets. A pig was roasting over a fire, and the smell of meat tempted my nose.

I, however, was looking for thieves. Thieves that generally travel from the islands and sell their stolen wares here in town. They always had the most potent poisons.

I was passing the vendor selling the cider when there was a tug on my cloak. Christen was trying to get my attention.

“Wait, I want to get some cider.” she said. I shrugged, and she walked primly over to the vendor. Sitting on the ground next to the vendor, a man dresses in rags looked up as he warmed himself by the fire.

“What are we doing?” Rico whispered.

“Looking for a few thieving friends of mine.” I muttered, keeping an eye on Christen. The vendor gave her a metal cup, filled with mead. She stood nearby and sipped on it. Figures. Some of the vendors won't let you leave their sight with things such as cups or mugs.

“Why are we doing that?”

“Various reasons. I had an idea that might help in Rawlin's keep. Also, I generally find vendors here with various weapons-”

“You have lots of weapons.”

“- to add to my collection. Besides. I'm out of fire-powder. The stuff turned out to be quite useful, and I could use some more.”

I glanced over to check on Christen. The beggar sitting on the ground started tugging at her cloak. Christen took a few copper coins from her cloak and handed it over to him.

“It wasn't a good idea to accept the job.” Rico said, “And... I don't know if I can go with you.”

“Why not?”

“... Justin might need me for something here... Or elsewhere.”

I shrugged. “He doesn't need you, he doesn't even like you.”

Rico let his eyes flicker to Christen. I followed his eyes. The beggar was asking for more coins from Christen. Christen was trying to tell him she didn't have any more.

“You wouldn't understand why I would want to stay, assassin.” Rico said. “It's loyalty to my family.”

I shrugged. “Whatever you say.” The beggar tugged hard on Christen's cloak, almost pulling it off her shoulders. Her hood fell off her head. She snarled and pulled her cloak away, pressing the mug back into the hands of the vendor. “It is that...” I said softly, “You hope that, by putting yourself into a life of servitude under him, you hope he will-”

“Can you believe that!” Christen snapped as she approached us. “That beggar tried to steal my cloak! And the vendor just watched.” She glanced back, “There's something odd about him.”

“If you say so.” I said. I glanced over and noticed that the beggar was gone. “Let's find some thieves, shall we?”

We walked through the harbor front for a long time, glancing at the odd stand, though most of them sold nothing but cheap trinkets and food. Christen picked through these, and Rico was happy enough to humor her as she did. I tried to press her on though. I felt as though we were being followed, though in the crowds around us, it was difficult to see who might have been following us.

I finally managed to drag her from a particularly inviting display of baked goods, and pulled her quickly around a corner. There were two guards standing on guard there. Christen pulled on my cloak.

“Relax. We've done nothing, not yet.”

“Those are guards from Primus.” Christen whispered, pulling her hood up further. “What are they doing here.”

“Who knows.”

I turned around, and saw for only a moment the begger. He disappeared back into the crowd.

“Let's get out of here.” I said. “That begger who tried to take your cloak, I think he's been following us!”

We ran around the corner and rushed down the street, knocking people out of our way. Behind us, I heard guards chasing us. Maybe running had been a bad idea. I turned several corners, dodged through several lanes, and leapt over a fence that blocked my path. Finally, I was in a deserted alley.

“That was unpleasant.” I gasped as Rico landed next to me. “My lungs are frozen. I hate the cold, I really do!”

Rico nodded, gasping for breath himself. “I know.” He said. “Christen, are you alright?”

There was no answer. Rico and I turned at the same time, looking for her. She was not in the alley with us.

I went to the building on the street, and climbed effortlessly up a pile of boxes and into the roof Rico followed me, making a great deal of noise as he did so. I ignored him for the moment, and tried to find the guards

I could see them. The guards were surrounded by a great circle of people. In the middle of them was what looked like Christen. They were heading to the town center.

Rather than go back to the street and try to make my way through the crowds that way, I pulled Rico after me, and flew over the roofs of the houses, catching up quickly to Christen's captors. I heard Rico yelp as he fell behind, and likely off one of the rooftops. I hesitated only a moment, then went on.

Rico would be fine. Christen, however, might be in trouble.

Finally, I got to the town square. I leapt down from the rooftops, and made sure my hood was pulled up over my head. I joined the group of spectators, standing off to the side of the town center. Christen stood in front of the mob, her hands tied behind her back. The house that lay before her was the house of Lord Emmerson, and Lord Emmerson was standing on his balcony.

Lord Emmerson was the law.

Though Rawlin was the capital of the kingdom, when one spoke of justice, or punishment, often they thought of Teans. It's ironic that this would also be the best place to find a whore, or a thief, or an assassin. However, it might be because of the presence of such characters, attracted by the harbour and the many different forms of wealth and employment it attracted. Lord Emmerson, then, as the Lord of Teans was also the Lord of the Law. The small villages near Teans couldn't carry out their own executions, they had to come to Teans to do it. Anyone accused of any punishable crime, and was thought to be deserving of death was brought before him, and was given a trial. Lord Emmerson would then decide if the person on trial lived, or died.

Lord Emmerson himself was a different type of person altogether. Maybe it's just that he took his role as Lord of Teans, and Lord of the Law too seriously. He had always tried to be as indifferent as possible to people, to the extent that he never socialized with citizens, had never married, and even fell out of contact with his own family. Years ago he fell very very ill. It is said that he reached the gates of the underworld, and the demons there saw him. However, he was revived by his doctors, and brought back. Since then, he has taken to wearing a white porcine mask, and white clothing all over his body: Shoes, gloves, cloak, trousers, tunic. It was said that he did this so that the demons of the underworld would not be able to recognize him.

“And then this wretch-!” On of the men from the mob cried out as he pointed to Christen, “Had the audacity, after having killed her father and her husband, to try to take her father's place as Lord of our little village. Lord Emmerson, I bring before you a immoral girl, who tricked her father, tricked her husband, tricked the entire town to fall to her own whims, and her own desire for power. This is not to mention how she slew her father, and her husband! Truly, she must be killed so that justice may be served.”

This wasn't good. There was the odd time when a person's crime might be so terrible that they were slain on the spot. I double-checked to make sure my cloak was covering my face and stepped forward.

“Lord Emmerson!” I called out. The town center fell silent as all eyes turned to me. I caught a glance at Christen, whose eyes lit up when she saw me. “Lord Emmerson, the charges against this girl are exaggerated.” I said. I had to think quickly. Of course I knew what really happened, but I couldn't let anyone know who I really was while I did so. “I myself heard the story from the great and mighty assassin, Stiri, born of Ice!” I loved how that title rolled off my tongue. A muttering rose up from the crowd. “It was he who slew the young man, having been hired by Lord Whyte, and it was he who slew Lord Whyte after he refused to pay him his due.” It was a decent story at least. Believable, and close enough to the truth.

“That's a lie!” A voice called out from the crowd. “The great and noble Stiri worked his cunning to trick that ungrateful wretch's father into letting her marry the painter.”

Great and noble; that was a new one.

“And already you contradict yourself!” I said, “Only moments ago, you accused that girl of using her own cunning to make her father do as she wished.”

There was a moment of muttering among the mob, and among the spectators.

“Quiet.” Lord Emmerson said. His voice was dull and raspy, but it carried well. It was said that he drank potions to change his voice as well, so that the demons of the underworld might not hear him. “Since the charges have been challenged, then there will be a hearing.” he said. “I would like to have both parties come to my court immediately. A hearing will be held. and by sunset, I hope to have the question of her innocence, or lack thereof, solved.” Then, Lord Emmerson turned away and walked back into his house. A few people from the mob pulled Christen towards the house. She turned around and looked desperately at me, tears running down her face.

I turned away. I had things I needed to do.