Chapter 11: Are Assassins Ticklish?

My focus was on the two women across from me. Both were staring at the hand I had resting on One's hip as she leaned against me. I did my best to remain impassive, just staring at them calmly as they slowly realized what they were doing, and their eyes flicked my face.

Four looked like she was doing her best to avoid letting the terrified look slip onto her face that I could tell she wanted to show. Her usually adorable features were pinched, and the faint trace of a smile that she wore when she had greeted me was nowhere to be seen.

Nine was mostly impassive. She studied my face for a second, and then I could see her posture relaxed lightly. Perhaps she was used to my weirdness after only a day or half a day with me. One hadn't mentioned that Nine had thought something was a little wrong. As I relaxed a little, I leaned against the door and pulled One tighter against me. Nine gave me a small, tentative smile that only lasted for a second, but I was confident I hadn't imagined it.

Perhaps it wasn't too early to start changing my image in more drastic ways than I originally had planned. I gently rubbed my hand up and down One side. And I could feel her lean into me just a tiny bit harder. It felt nice and comforting. I would get used to having such soft and cuddly women next to me. It was truly one of the great joys I found in my extremely short life so far. As short as it was, I didn't think that anything would come close to this.

This was a long trip, two or three days, and it would be awkward if I had to continue as I was the entire way. Looking around the small, confined space, I figured this might be an opportunity. During this trip, it was a good time to get Nine and Four on my side. I had a week where I could focus on them instead of having so many people rotating in and out. It would also expose me more, but I'd have to be aware of that and that I needed not to push them too hard. But this was a good chance to really get to know each other. I had to spend some time feeling them out for now.

One turned her head slightly and began to doze as we sat in silence for a few minutes. Eventually, I grew bored and pulled out the notebook from one of my many pockets and started flipping through my schedule. There were a few things that came up, but. I'm sure Five would take care of anything until I get back. She seemed to get everything ready, so presumably, she canceled my meetings. None of them seemed entirely important.

It was strange that I would go a week without meeting with anyone. But I suppose that was best, it helped me get into character more before anyone who wasn't going to be close to me had to do more interacting with me. I figured that my Numbered would find out about my secrets. It didn't seem that past me had kept any many secrets from them at all. It showed a level of trust that seemed odd. Thought the contract might have had something to do with it. One said it was still binding, so I could trust them, too.

Maybe not exactly for now, but one day I hoped. However, for anyone who wasn't as close to me, maybe I'd keep up the act. I was pondering over this when nine eventually broke the silence. "Master. Can I ask what the purpose of this trip is? I would like to prepare if I can."

I looked up and saw her eyes trained on me. Only once, they flicked down to where One was snuggled up. "Certainly, the contract on King Gerald has been moved up, and I'm going to go complete it personally."

They took the information in stride. Not even One acknowledged what I was saying might be odd. But I decided I would elaborate anyway, even if it was just to reset expectations.

"The three of you are here to simply act as support in case you need an extra pair of hands. Unless any of you want to take the lead on the mission?" I asked. I was hoping that one of them would actually agree, but they all shook their heads.

"We'll follow your lead," Nine said. With that, we went back to our carriage ride, and I continued flipping through my schedule for another few minutes before I finished it. Putting it aside, I peered out of the carriage window. The thin crossings of wood made it possible to see out but not so easy to see in.

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I watched the beautiful forest stream past us and wondered how I got here. With how little I knew of the world and the magic in it, I didn't have much to go on, so that didn't keep me distracted for long. If only I could talk to them, but I didn't figure out how to wait to break the ice. Even if I could get them talking, how well could I keep up the act? If not, this would be an excruciatingly boring couple of days.

***

After racking my brains for nearly 20 minutes, I couldn't quite think of anything to say, and the other three seemed perfectly content and silent. One was napping. Nine stared out the window while Four sat cross-legged on her seat, eyes closed as if she was meditating.

Sighing, I pulled out the folder of papers that Five had packed for me. It contained maps of the city and other lists of contacts and resources that I could use to complete my mission if I needed to. Skimming through the map, I noticed the city was built in multiple rings on a hill. Three distinct districts, separated by gates and guards. They each required a reason to enter. None of them were very relevant to me, as I should be just fine with my plan. But it was good to know.

I found the seal of lesser nobility that would let us go anywhere pretty much without question. It was just a piece of paper with an old king's signature and seal. A plain crest on the paper showed me to be the heir of some lesser barron. It was just a cover meant to be burned. The surrounding documents gave the back story about a knight being raised recently due to heroism in some border skirmish. It was all fake and wouldn't last forever, so it was fine if I destroyed it after the mission.

After a little bit more reading, I closed the folder, leaned my head back, and felt the shadows around me. I felt some filaments stream across my forehead as the light from the window cast shade through the carriage.

Closing my eyes, I tried to reach out with my mind and touch the subtle shadow. To my surprise, it was exceedingly easy. The strands responded instantly and swirled around my head in a finger-width strand as it passed into the light. It diminished, but it was still there.

Trying something new, I had a little bit of the shadow run down my arm and pull into my hand. I squeezed it gently, and it puffed into mist and dissipated back to where it had come from. I repeated this exercise, reinforcing it a little bit with my will each time. Each time I tried a little harder, it forced me to squeeze more firmly to break it.

It was exhausting, and soon, I had to take a respite from that and go back to reading the boring papers. It seemed that some of the talent my body's previous owner had carried over, but none of the exercise and magical ability. That was dangerous. I was much weaker than I should be, and I would need to fix that as soon as possible.

The instant my mental fuzz from over-exercising my magic reduced, I went back to practicing again. The first half of the first day passed like that.

But soon after that, I started to grow restless. Apparently, I just wasn't a very patient person, which I imagine was detrimental to being an assassin. Still, I was bored out of my mind. I needed to talk to someone.

Looking down at where One was still snuggled up to my side, softly breathing in and out, clearly sleeping. I slowly dragged my hand away from her hip and up towards her ribs, giving them a little tickle. She jerked slightly and snorted in her sleep, and I continued, and she started giggling and swatting at my hand.

I reached over and grabbed it, prying it away before I started tickling her stomach too. Not going quite up to the armpit, and soon she was writhing and laughing loudly.

"Stop. Stop! Please stop!" One begged as I grinned down at her. After a few moments more, I showed mercy, and she pushed away from me. Sitting upright, she gave me a dirty look but struggled to suppress the smile.

"What?" I asked with feigned innocence.

"I was having a very nice nap, thank you very much."

"I could tell, yeah, my arm was falling asleep." It wasn't really, but it was a good excuse. She narrowed her eyes at me and then looked over at the two other women in the carriage.

Four's mouth was hanging open as she stared at the two of us. Nine had her head cocked, and she was looking at me consideringly. One smiled at Nine and nodded. "You were right."

Nine returned the smile slightly, bowing her head in respect. Four continued to look baffled. Nine leaned over and whispered something into her ear that I couldn't quite make out. The confused woman's eyes snapped between One and me before looking at Nine.

Shaking her head, Four responded, and then Nine leaned back in to whisper some more. Taking advantage of the distraction, I leaned over to One and whispered, "Are they okay?"

She nodded slightly. I decided to trust her. With her aura reading ability, I would probably be best to follow suit if she is willing to share this much openness with them. So, I decided to open up as well.

"Remind me Nine. When was the last time you were on a mission like this?" I asked the first thing that came to mind.