My Sweet Assassin

I walked along the cobblestone alleyway without a care in the world— until I saw the wanted posters. The off-set yellowish color of the parchment complimented the brown brick walls it rested in the center of and the dirty, worn stone that made up the path to the town square. I stopped in my tracks and looked over the words of the poster, which by now, I've read dozens of times, but once more couldn't hurt. Could it?

My clover cloak swayed in the misty air as I walked toward the poster, acquiring the information that I already bore once more. The text was muddy brown—almost an off-set black—and was timeworn, like other people touched the words, hoping to absorb the information another way instead of just reading it like a normal commoner would. My hazel eyes scanned over the words as I mouthed them to myself; I've read it multiple times by now that it started to feel like a song branching from my throat.

WANTED

MOORE'S MURDERER HAS RETURNED

ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THE CRIMINAL WILL BE REWARDED GREATLY

"- Will be rewarded greatly," I said rolling my eyes. “Sure. And by 'greatly' you mean 'drinks on us.' That's the only thing this godforsaken town is good for—taverns and the idiotic people in them." I skimmed over the poster once more before I turned around and continued on my journey down the cobblestone path into the town square, where Henry - the town's best and only baker was.

My grey-blue dress turned up dirt as I made my way into the town square, which, as usual, was more crowded than the King's Annual Knight Fight. Men and women of all ages and colors gathered in the square, going to different booths, buying or trading things with the mercenaries and traders who worked for the town of Moore—the town that I unfortunately live in. To the left of the square, weapons, minerals, clothing, and basic goods were being sold at oak tables. Some had muscular men behind them, while others had a sweet handmaiden running the booth. Who you got all depended on which items you wanted to purchase. But today I'm not going to any of those places; I'm going to my favorite place: Henry's Bakery. And in my opinion, it's the best bakery in all the land. He makes everything from scratch and—if you're a beloved customer like myself— he takes the pleasure of adding a little bit of love into the mix.

My parents were Henry's best customers when they were alive. They went every week without fail and brought home a variety of sweets for my sister and I to enjoy. Those were my favorite moments with my family: sitting on the faded blue rug by the fire, eating chocolate, and talking with my family about my day. Everything was great, more than I could've asked for. . . Until they were murdered in cold blood in our own home.

The memories surfaced to the front of my mind as I walked, more like stumbled, my way through the labyrinth of people and booths, and approached the staircase leading to the bakery. The bakery wasn't much, but it was a second home. It rested on the second story of a brick tavern and had an antique staircase leading up to the oak doors. The pathway of stairs was made of brown stone, and was decorated with an iron handrail and ivy vines crawling its way through the multitude of cracks in the stone steps. People usually missed the bakery altogether and went straight to the popular tavern underneath it. Why have sweets when you can have ale in your sweaty palm and a girl in your lap in under five minutes. But Henry's was a sacred place, so I always went out of my way to go there every week to collect the loaves of bread that I had with dinner each week with my lover, Felix James.

I reached the bakery's oak door, and before I could think of knocking, a big, jolly face came into view and hugged me half to death with his flour-covered arms. And almost instantly, I knew it was Henry.

"Rose! It's been too long."

"I was here just last week. You know I make sure to come here every week." I stated this as if it were a fact, which it was.

"I know, I know. I just missed you, that's all." Henry grabbed my hands and pulled me into the warmth of his bakery and shut the door to prevent any further cold air from entering his humble home. For as long as I knew Henry, he basically lived at the bakery. Yes, he did have an actual home, but his bakery was more of a comfort to him than any establishment labeled as forever. It was sweet to know that someone like Henry was happy in this godforsaken snake pit of a town. All anyone ever cared about anymore was booze and good times, and everyone knew it too. Maybe that's why someone was murdering people; probably fed up with people's shit that they took matters into their own blood-covered hands. Based on what people are doing around town, no one's trying to stop the culprit. It's like they know exactly what's wrong with the town and they're finally happy that someone's weeding out the worst of the worst. It's horrible to even think about it, let alone say, but I can't help myself to my dark thoughts. "Is it just rumors, or did I hear that your sister was to be married by 'morrow's eve?"

The question shouldn't have taken me by surprise—I've been getting asked the same question all week. It was rather annoying, but I kept the feeling to myself. I didn't need Henry thinking the same thoughts or carrying the same opinions that the whole town thought of me...

"She's nearly eighteen summers old and she hasn't married or even captured the eye of any young lad of the land."

"Maybe she's a nun?"

"What a prude!"

"Just get on with it!"

"They aren't rumors, Henry. They are the full truth. Our dear Violet is getting married tomorrow." I said this as I sat down at a wooden table and waited for Henry to get my weekly order of bread. "I'm happy for her. Unlike me, she's following my parents wish of marrying off their daughters," I added, picking at the wood on the table with my fingernail.

Henry came back into the main part of the bakery with my three loaves of fresh bread made with all of his love. "I'm happy for her, too, Rose. Your parents would be very proud." Henry grabbed my cheeks with his now washed hands. I could feel the water he failed to wipe away in-between his fingers. "I just hope someday, that you follow in your sister's footsteps. You can't stay alone in this town forever." He hesitated before he spoke again, almost like it was hard for him to speak the words. "You and I both know what happens when word gets around that a fair maiden, such as yourself, is untouched." He nearly whispered the last part. I knew what would happen: I would be kidnapped in the middle of the night and thrown into the nearest bar and be forced to become a tavern girl. Several young ladies such as myself have suffered that fate, but they all had one thing in common; they didn't have what I have.

A lover who's a trained assassin . . . and the lessons he has given me.

"Henry, I promise you. I will find someone eventually. Let me live a little and see the world outside of Moore. I can't stay in this poor town forever." I gave Henry a smile that I knew he couldn't resist. Maybe Mother's training about the opposite sex does work after all. "And who's to say that I haven't found anyone . . ." I trailed off, leaving more to the imagination.

Henry raised his brow, "You've found someone. You. Out of all people, found someone who could handle your temperament." I nodded. Henry laughed. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Your loss." I giggled. His loss, indeed.

Henry and I both made our way to the bakery door, mixing the flour and dust that rested on the floor with our hurried feet. I was about to walk out back into the spring air when the same two hands as before grabbed me back. Henry gave me the same bone-crushing hug as he did before. "Stay safe, Rose Alexander." Henry let me go and kissed my cheek in good-bye.

~~~

The sounds of home hit my ears as soon as I stepped through the door. The noises of the house settling and my dear Felix, doing who-knows-what in the kitchen, were cacophonous against the silence of the forest surrounding my woodland home. Yes, it was annoying, and of course, it was loud, but it was home, and I would have it no other way.

I hung my cloak on the rack near the door and grabbed the bread—which I laid on the table—and made my merry way into the kitchen, where I knew I would find Felix.

Felix James was one of the kingdom's most trained and deadliest assassins. He's a part of an organization who likes to call itself "The Blades," an extremely deadly pact of the kingdom's most vicious and cruel; some members were even ex-criminals. They're trained under a man who calls himself "The Butcher," and they undergo a series of dangerous tasks to prove themselves worthy of further development and prosperity. If you passed the tasks without dying, which so few did, you were paid extremely well. Felix James, being the most skilled by having trained his whole life for it, passed the tasks with flying colors and received the very house I was standing in as a result. The night that Felix passed his tasks, he went out to the popular bar in town and enjoyed a few steins of brown water with his fellow companions. And, realizing that he was completely intoxicated, decided to leave to rest for an early day that he was to have after the descent of the moon. But as everyone eventually does in this town, he ran into trouble and I, being the "helpless" young maiden I was, was literally dragged into the whole mess. After punches were thrown and after red stained the hay in the town square, Felix took me to his reward of a house and patched me up and the rest is history. Ever since that night, we've been inseparable and completely in love.

I remembered that night as I walked into the kitchen to stumble upon Felix cleaning his knives that were drenched in blood. His lucky blade—that one that I gave him a year ago as a birthday present—was painted with the blood of his poor enemies whose lives ended this very day. I smirked at the thought. Hell's gate received new residents today.

Clang!

"Son of a Bitch!" Felix cursed as he dropped his almost blood-free knife on the kitchen floor. He went to pick it up, then proceeded to bang his head on the bottom of the table. "Shit!"

I laughed as I approached my assassin. "Stealthy assassin of the night, huh? Hate to say it, but I'm not very impressed." Felix, from his position on the dirty ground, quickly shot up and went into fighting position, getting ready to kill whoever intended him harm. Much to his dismay, it was only me.

"How the hell did you sneak up on me?" questioned Felix getting out of his fighting stance and relaxing his broad shoulders. "I'm an assassin, trained to sense danger, and yet, a commoner sneaks up on me like it's the easiest thing in the world." He placed his silver blade on the table. "Maybe I need to practice more..."

I ran up to Felix, hugged him, and proceeded to give him a chaste kiss on the lips. "I'm not a commoner, I'm your lover."

He smirked, "That's even worse." He kissed me quickly in return to his horrid response and turned around to continue cleaning his weapons.

Damn him.

"So," I ask, hugging Felix, " how was your day? I read some this morning and then I went to Henry's and got the bread we needed for this week." Felix removed himself from my arms and positioned himself so that his face was in front of mine, not his back.

"Oh, well, you know. Got dressed. Went to work. Murdered some criminals, tortured some crime lords. The usual."

"How productive," I said, laughing at his sense of normal.

"It was, and because of the killing and torture that happened today, I may or may not have found out who the Moore Murderer is." Felix wrapped his toned arms around me, the leather of his black trench coat squeaking in his actions. He moved a fallen piece of my brown hair out of my face, placing it behind my ears. "Just a little bit more . . . pushing, and I think I got a shot at catching your—the guy. A shot at catching the guy."

Felix was about to say something else. Your what? My what? I've known Felix for a long time, and he never messes up, and if he does, he has a reason. A life or death reason.

"You messed up."

"Messed up what?" He questioned, and he froze.

That's it!

"You're lying. You're hiding something. First, you misspoke, and just then you froze. You've never done that. Either you're sick or you're hiding something. Spill your secrets." As I kept speaking, Felix kept flinching and moving his feet back and forth. He was about to speak again when I slight muffling came from the next room.

I turned around, about to investigate the mysterious noise, when Felix's hand quickly grabbed my wrist. "What's that noise?" I asked, trying and failing to get my wrist back of his firm grip. Damn him for training so much.

"It's nothing."

"A noise came from inside my house and I didn't recognize it. I get every right there is to quench my curiosity and figure out what is it." I removed myself from his hands at last and started heading to the door, but at the last possible second, Felix got in my way yet again. "Now, if you would"—I pushed him out of my way, determined to find out what that noise was—" I have some investigating to do."Knowing that Felix will try to stop me again, I practically ran to the room from which the unknown noise was emitting from. Before Felix could lay another useless hand on me, I opened the door.

I didn't expect what I saw.

I saw my sister, in her wedding dress, tied to a wooden chair in Felix and I's shared bedroom. I stopped myself at the door frame, leaning on it for some much-needed support. I heard Felix running after, telling me to stop and not open the door. Too late for that. I felt Felix's presence behind me. After a while of my heavy breathing, my sister's scared face, and Felix's state of panic, he finally broke the ice and started to speak. " I can explain."

I turned to face him, my anger coming to life like a lioness. "You better. Why is my sister tied up in our bedroom." I gave him a look that would have sent gentlemen running, but Felix didn't, for he was an assassin, not a gentleman. I lifted my eyebrow, awaiting an answer.

Felix was about to speak when surprisingly, my sister spoke up and filled the silence with her voice. "She doesn't know, does she?" She giggled.

I turned around, finally walking into the room, Felix on my tail. I walked up to Violet tied in the chair, looking at her in question. What did she mean? What don't I know? I voiced my thoughts. "What do you mean? What don't I know? What's going on?"

Violet, ignoring the fact that she's tied up, gestured with her hands as she said: "Might as well tell her big, mighty assassin. She can either find out the messy and bloody way, or she can find out from her lover."

I looked at Violet, really looked at her. And for what I took as red flowers, was actually blood stains on her wedding dress, leaving a trail of past lives that once took in a breath. Tears starting of form in my confused eyes. "What? Someone, please tell m-me what's going on?"

Felix moved from behind me to stand in front of me, completely blocking my view of Violet. He placed a comforting hand on my cheek, stroking it with his calloused thumb. He started speaking in the calmest voice he could, but anger was lingering behind it. "For the past couple of weeks, my assigned task was to find Moore's Murderer. At first, it was fruitless. Until a couple of days ago, I tortured a crime lord from several towns away, and he said that he knew the identity of the murderer. At first, I didn't believe him, but he confirmed suspensions that I've been having for a while."

He stopped to look into my tear-stained eyes. I motioned for him to continue. And so he did. "Rose, I'm sorry. I really am. But, Violet is behind the murders. Your sister is Moore's Murderer, and her next target was you."