Chapter 4: The Black Willow 1

In the cover of darkness he moved. Staying in the deepest shadows he crept along the edge of the manor. Looking at the slight sliver of the moon he knew that he didn’t have much time to accomplish this. He was paid a lot to perform this and it had to be done. To think that the Lord of this manor had paid him for this. Avoiding the guards again he crept forward, eased the window open and stepped into the room. The moon shone fully into the room he could see the 2 cribs against the wall, the small bed next to them.

Damn it! Where was the boy? Shit, he was supposed to get all of them. Reaching for the two bassinets, he dropped a little, very little sleep potion into a handkerchief and briefly put them over the noses of each child. He made sure to keep them apart so he knew who was who later. Looking around the room again he cursed his luck, damn it he would lose some of the money, he needed every cent to be free. Sighing, he moved to the window. Silently he crept out, looking both ways and into the shadows.

Ten minutes later as he left, he looked back at the manor as the alarms went off. What the hell! They shouldn’t be any alarm till later. Back in the room, the tall lanky boy had walked into the room and noticed that his sisters were missing, also their bassinets were gone. They were never gone unless their parents were gone. Alerting the guards the manor became a beehive of activity as his mother screamed at the empty room. “What did you see? Where are they? Talk to me boy NOW!” She screamed into his face, her face flushed, her eyes bulging out as her breathing came in gasps, her nostrils flaring, her eyes boring into him.

“I don’t know mother, I just walked back in here, I had to use the toilet” he whispered.

Grabbing him painfully by the shoulders, she slapped him hard across the face “Find them, you little bastard, find them now or I will personally cut your balls off”.

Running out into the night, he started looking with the guards. Then he saw a shadowy figure outside the gate “I see someone!” He shouted as the guards rushed to the gates. The man started to run now, how did the little brat spot him? The boy shouted more as the guards gave chase “Don’t hurt my sisters!”

Damn it, he hoped his contact was there or he would have to fight his way out of this. Rounding a corner, he sighed as his contact stepped from the shadows.

“Here take them. This one is Mary, the other is Ann, guard them well. I will return soon. These are instructions if I can’t get near for a while.” He said as he handed a thick packet to the shadowy man. The man just nodded, then seemed to vanish into the shadows. Damn, he’s good. Running, he sped away from the alleys and open road. Rounding another corner three blocks away he met up with a contingency of guards with the young man at the front of them. “Now, bastard where are my sisters!” he screamed as the guards lunged forward and grabbed him. Laughing, he just replied, “Somewhere you’ll never find them”

“We’ll find them, you don’t know the resources we have” the boy screamed in his face.

“You mean that you DID have. I have heard that your family is on the outs with the emperor and that he will soon send you all to poverty!” as he laughed harder in the boys face, the guards took him back to the manor. Once there, the boys mother took charge of interrogating him. True to his word, he never said a word to the woman or the guards, but it cost him dearly as the woman had him chained to the wall, stripped naked, a red hot poker shoved up his ass, his scrotum tied around with a rope, then it was pulled by a pulley system till they were tore from his body. As his screams died down, the mother became angrier, as she continued to slap the boys face until he was unconscious. When the father arrived home moments later, he grabbed his wife and struck her across the face knocking her to the ground.

“You fucking WHORE! Don’t you ever raise a hand to OUR son AGAIN! I took you away from a life on the streets and I can put YOU back there again!” Grabbing his unconscious son he took him into the master bedroom and called for a healer as his wife glared at him but sat shrunken and defeated in the corner.

Across town after many narrow escapes and detours, the shadowy man entered a hidden room in a back alley way. Looking at the two girls, he just shook his head. He wasn’t the fatherly type, so he hoped the rat would come get them soon. Opening the packet, he read and almost choked on what he read. Cursing, he thought to himself, if the guards didn’t kill the rat, he damn sure might. He and the rat raise these children? He had to be out of his mind! Taking off his cloak, his blonde hair springing forth, the many scars on his face throbbing as he tried to think of a way out of this. Falling asleep he thought to himself, what has he gotten me into now?

Taking the girls to a wet nurse, he had her take care of them while he went out each day, honing his skill even more, he was already a notorious assassin, but he didn’t think his skills were good enough. At the end of the day he came home to the two happy little girls, still waiting for word from his partner, the rat. 2 months later, he heard word of an execution that was to take place. A man had kidnapped two children from a manor of one of the emperor’s advisers. Sighing, he went out to the public square to see. As he drew nearer the crowds began to thicken, and as he entered the square there was the rat, chained to a pole in the center, many guards around him.

After the charges were read, a squad took up positions with plasma rifles and the order was given to fire. It was a hell of a way to die, the plasma eats its way slowly into the body when fired slow like this was. It takes hours to die and unfortunately, once started there wasn’t really a way to stop it. The blonde man just shook his head and walked away. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t give the girls back to them. They would kill him even slower than they had his partner. Damn it, rat you were an idiot! You never did know how to make a good back up plan, now I am stuck with these two waifs to care for. At least you had the sense to leave me money to care for them.

Ten years later, Mary moved into the shadows and vanished. She liked this game that her guardian played with her, she was actually quite good at it now. He had taught her all he knew and she learned a few tricks from some of the other thieves and assassins around the royal city. Her sister Ann really didn’t want to play, she was more concerned with being a girl, being pretty. But not Mary, she liked to hide, jump out and scare people. It was the most fun she had. With only 2 or 3 years between her and her sister, Mary did her best to look after Ann.

Now at the age of 13, Mary was considered one of the best in the city as she proved the last time she went out with her guardian. Sighing, she knew he was getting old and wasn’t as good as he once was, but he kept up appearances for the sake of Mary and her sister. She was afraid that the next time would be the last time and he wouldn’t be back. He had been grooming her each day for years. She was fast, almost undetectable. Her reflexes were sharper than his had ever been. Mary thought of his number one rule, don’t trust ANYONE unless; one, they CAN kill you and don’t and two, they start wanting to make a deal. That way you know they don’t have complete control. Always have at least three ways to escape and always make sure they are completely different and unexpected.

As she practiced with her knives, she heard excited yelling coming from the street. Running to see, she saw many posters were being put up for volunteers in the civil war that threatened to rip the empire apart. A special squad of killers with special skills. Mary laughed as she took the poster so fast no one saw her or so she thought. A tall man across the way started to follow her, looking down every few seconds. As she ran back to her practice, she didn’t hear him approach as he slipped behind her. He stood there and watched her throw.

“You’re very good you know,” He startled her out of her thoughts.

“Who the hell are you and what do you want?” she paused in her throw at the target.