Act 17.

He moved through the gardens near the castle without a sound.

They had upped the number of guards but that did not surprise him. His partner, now in the bosom of the Great Mother thanks to a little help from himself, had failed in his last attempt.

He knew that they would have a more stringent security after that, and so seeing it come true did not really make him worry.

It did not matter how many guards were on duty or how tight they thought security was. He didn’t achieve the rank of master for nothing.

These people were not the ones he had to worry about.

No, but there were some he did need to look out for.

That knight in the black armour, the sister of the king. He had heard tales about her and thought them just exaggerations.

But he saw her break off that shield from the statue and use it. It would have given any other man near twice her size a problem, but she wielded it as if made of a light metal.

He was a good fighter, having learned the empty hand technique, but he knew that if she were to get ahold of him, he would be hard pressed to break away. Not to mention she could probably break parts of him quite easily.

He shook a little at the thought but quickly pushed it out of his mind.

This was not the time to let doubt or worry come into the picture. He could do this before anyone would be aware of his presence.

But what about the one in gold.

He cursed his mind for bringing that up.

The Queen’s Champion.

It was said that she was from another world, that she had been brought here to fulfil a prophesy.

She wore the gold armour of the Champion, that was said to never tarnish and could stop any sword blow.

That he knew was exaggeration. Maybe not the tarnishing part, that could be true. He was told there were simple spells that allowed this to be.

But the stopping of any sword blow.

He knew from experience that no amount of magic will make armour perfect. Many who thought they were immune from his attempts paid dearly for the lesson.

But she was an unknown factor in the equation.

He had not been told by his former partner that she would be here. May he suckle only from the left teat of the Great Mother for doing such a poor reconnaissance.

Because of that he had not set out to learn as much about her as he should have.

What were her weaknesses? What were her strengths?

He did not know and he did not like not knowing.

He lay flat in the hedge as two guards walked close by. He stilled his breathing and set his body rigid.

The sun had set by the time he had returned after making sure he had not been followed. Now the moon was coming out but most of the garden was in shadow.

So long as he did not make any hasty moves he would not be spotted by these useless guards.

They walked passed without even a twitch.

He allowed himself a small smile. There were few of his brethren who could stay unnoticed by people walking that close. He prided himself on his abilities.

When the guards were far enough away he began to move again.

He reached the walls of the castle without any other incidence.

He looked up toward the light emanating from the window up high on the wall.

This window would lead him to the hall in which his target would be.

He knew that once the alarm had been sounded that they would move all possible targets to these quarters as being the most safest of rooms, being the ones without windows, but still luxurious enough for dignitaries. The plans they had bought were coming in handy.

He began to climb.

The castle was old so there were many cracks and hand holds for him.

The climb was quick and easy.

He paused just under the window.

Inching his head, up he peered into the corridor. It was well lit, again just as expected. they were doing everything the way they should, making his job easier.

He need only go down to the junction and then turn left. His target would most likely be in those rooms, but this was where all hypothesis could break down.

There was a chance the target was not in those rooms, but it was a calculated risk. And one he was willing to take.

He slipped into the corridor and listened.

There were footsteps, but far off for now. He would have to move quickly. there were few hiding places in here. This was the most dangerous portion of his mission.

He moved silently down the corridor to the junction.

He peered around the corner to look down the left hand corridor.

He saw four people.

Two regular house guards were standing on either side of a door.

Talking to them were the one called the Dark Knight, and that Queen’s Champion women.

What was her name again?

Oh yes. Linda.

What a common name.

They talked to the guards for a bit when he heard the Knight say.

"Keep your eyes open. We will be back to check on you in 20 minutes."

Perfect.

He had plenty of time to do his job and get out before anyone would notice anything amiss.

The two warriors moved down the corridor towards his position.

Quickly he looked around.

The only thing in the corridor was a small door, most likely a closet for the linens, and nothing else.

The door had a small ledge for decoration near its top.

That would have to do.

He pulled himself up and with the toes of his left foot, and the fingers of his left hand, gripping the ledge, he reached up with his right to feel for another handhold.

He found it and held on tight.

It was precarious but the safer place than on the corridor floor.

He again slowed his breathing and stiffened his body. He need do this only a little while he told himself.

The two warriors walked by and never turned to look down his corridor.

When he could no longer hear their footsteps he gently lowered himself back down on the ground.

He pulled out an arrow with a small bag on the end of it and notched it.

He did not have time to try and take down the two guards one at a time. There was the chance that the one not hit immediately could sound off an alarm before he could be silenced.

He was a very good archer but not so good that he can get off two arrows one immediately after the other, and be perfectly accurate as to get both men with a killing strike.

That was the stuff of fairy stories. Not real life.

But the bag on the end of his arrow was filled with a powder that would cause a smoke to put the two guards into a deep sleep, before they could say anything.

He let fly with the arrow.

It landed in between the two guards and sent smoke all around them.

They fell senseless to the floor.

He hurried over to the door, opened it, and entered the room.

His target was sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace. His back was to the door, so he never moved, not knowing someone had entered.

Not that the fat bastard ever really moved. That was why they wanted him removed. His silly airs and grotesque appetite and corpulent nature made him a disgrace in the eyes of some, and they wanted him gone.

He pulled his dagger from its sheath and approached the prince.

He would face him to see the prince’s reaction just before taking his life. The shock of surprise was one of his favourite sights.

Quickly he moved to in front of the fool. The prince’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

He smiled at the prince and struck with his blade.

The prince’s hand moved quicker than he had expected. Not that he had expected any resistance at all, but he had never seen the prince move this fast before.

He heard the bone in his arm break before he felt it. He looked at the hand that had squeezed his arm and could see some of the bone sticking through his sleeve as the dagger fell from his limp hand..

He was too surprised to cry out in pain. There was pain but it did not seem to register in his mind as his own.

He stared at the prince who was smiling.

And then his form shimmered and sitting in his place was the Dark Knight.

Again he did not see the hand hit him, only felt it. He felt the crack of his ribs and tasted the salty taste he knew to be blood in his mouth.

He slammed hard into the wall, but thankfully no bones broke in his back.

He looked up and the Dark Knight was standing over him, still smiling.

The door opened and into the room walked the Queen’s Champion and the Dark Knight.

He blinked, not comprehending, when the second Dark Knight’s body shimmered and was replaced by that of a woman in white with a foreign face and long braids of silver hair on either side of her head.

The Dark Knight turned to the two other women.

"It worked." she said.

"Thanks to Mikako for following his progress when he returned and letting us know his movements." said the Queen’s Champion.

"That and the disguises." said the Dark Knight. "That really helped.

"You are welcome." answered the one called Mikako. "But now that you have things well in control, I would like to stop this projection. It takes much energy. I will need a lot of rest after this."

The Queen’s Champion nodded.

"Of course." she said. "Thank you again."

With a nod the foreign woman disappeared.

"I owe her one." said the Dark Knight. "And if you tell her I said that, I’ll thump you."

The other woman laughed.

He tried to move but only managed to make himself cough up more blood.

A wall at the far end of the room opened up and through it walked the King followed by the Princess and the fat fool.

"Good work." said the king as he joined the others around him.

"Now my friend." the king addressed him. "We must have a talk and find out who sent you.

He smiled.

The king was a fool to think he would get anything out of him.

"I am afraid I will have to decline the invitation to converse." he told the king.

He moved his tongue to dislodge his fake tooth.

Suddenly the Champion’s hand was in his mouth.

She felt around and found the tooth he had been going for and pulled it out.

She dropped the pill inside the tooth onto her hand.

He stared at her opened mouthed.

"How did you know?" he finally asked.

"Saw it in a movie once." was her reply.

"What’s a movie?" asked the Knight.

"Ummm. I’ll explain another time." said the Champion.

"Now that that has been taken care of," said the King. "Perhaps we can get back to that conversation we were about to have?"

He knew his time of pain had only just begun.