The Assassin

                                                                                                      Moorscamp Inn

                                                                                                          Year 222 AF

Tania Hanaldi watched him through slitted eyes, her fingers lightly stroking the rough grains of the filthy table under her hands. Lord Ballimore was fat, his jowls jiggling as he laughed boisterously with his foul friends. If he was her first mark, then the guild was serving him up like a roasted pig.  It would be an easy thing to rid the world of him. Certainly the barmaid he was groping would find it a relief to have him gone.

But where to do it? It would be foolish to confront him in a crowded tavern full of witnesses. Should she seduce him and have him take her to his room? That depended on whether she could resist slitting his throat for treating her the same way as that long-suffering barmaid. Perhaps a few fatal seconds in a dark alley when he was alone?

"Who is she?"

The whispered words reached her ears even through the noise of the tavern, for she had been trained to listen to a room instead of individual conversations. Two men were watching her from three tables away. Why? She was as inconspicuous as any of the other travelers: plain brown hair tied back with a leather strip, a common dress bought in this very village, and a hooded cotton cloak to protect from the autumn air. She was no great beauty to behold; she'd made sure of this. Only her eyes were significant and she had kept them purposefully lowered. From the corner of those eyes,  she focused her attention on the men examining her.

The one who had spoken was a youth, possibly only a few years below her own age. It was easy to dismiss him as a minimal threat. The other was older- hardened- with shaggy black hair and a gruesome scar down the right side of his face. Dangerous. She felt a chill on the back of her neck as he answered his young friend in a gravelly voice.

"She is no one of importance, " he smirked. "Isn't that obvious?"

Tania's heart pounded, alerted like a rabbit catching the scent of a wolf. He knew. A mercenary? Perhaps this mission was not as easy as she previously thought.

Be calm. How should you adapt?

She closed her eyes and took a slow breath as she considered what avenue was best at this point. The man she had come to kill was apparently smarter than he looked, but none of them could possibly know she was an assassin. This was her first mission, after all. A spy or thief,  perhaps? Yes. She was now a thief sizing up her next victim and trying to appear inconspicuous. Running might inspire a chase and she had yet to do anything wrong, so the best course was to finish her meal and leave as casually as possible. It was her own failing that she had not noticed the mercenary sooner. Escape and regroup was the only option now.

Tania forced the roast and mead past the burning in her throat. Rage nearly choked her- rage at her own carelessness. Not only had she alerted the mercenary to her interest in his charge, but she had also allowed him to see her face.  It would no longer be possible to approach Lord Ballimore without his guards being instantly alerted.

As she rose to leave, the mercenaries quietly moved to stand beside Lord Ballimore. The older one was watching her, but she refused to meet his gaze. There would be no way to disguise herself in the future if he saw the glowing amber eyes she had inherited from her mother. It was a rare color even for sprites and a burden to her trade, but at least her skin wasn't giving off light. There was some benefit to being a half-blood. Grimly, she made her way to the door.

I will not fail. 

She vowed,  refusing to be beaten by these servants of Emperor Ochxon. How could anyone serve the treacherous hierarchy that was ruling Acona? Lord Ballimore was only one of the many nobles brutalizing the continent and she would kill them all before allowing that to stand.  This mercenary fool would not stop her, no matter how skilled and experienced he might appear.  No one would stop her.