Disclaimer: Everything in Discworld, from the Great A'Tuin to the highest peak of the Ramtops and everything in between, belongs to Terry Pratchett. I just like sticking a few things on it and playing a little. Oh yes, and Ienska's mine.

NB: Ienska is pronounced with a long "I" at the beginning.

~

Havelock Vetinari stood still. Most people, when they try to stand still, affect a relaxed stance and simply don't move. Vetinari was motionless. He didn't even sway.

The Assassin's Guild set great store in concealment and Havelock Vetinari, a young student of the Guild, was one of the best they had. Though, if you asked the man who instructed the classes on concealment and camouflage,* he'd tell you he'd never even seen the boy in class.
[* The Unseen University had a similar course known as Invisibility for Dummies. The pass requirements were quite simple: don't ever let the professor see you. For some reason, the class was quite popular among two of the school's major factions, the students and faculty.]

A vendor pushing a cart with a squeaky wheel shuffled by.

It was a testament to Vetinari's motionless stance that the man didn't even glance at him. Street vendors in Ankh-Morpork had a sixth sense when it came to potential customers. If there was anyone within a several mile radius, they seemed to gravitate toward them. The man nearly rolled over Vetinari's foot.

***

Ienska Tineshan leaned against the dirty brick wall of a bustling Ankh-Morpork city street. Everything in Ankh-Morpork bustled, it was the secondary state of matter in the city.* Ienska, however, seemed immune to the bustling, as a matter of fact, she seemed to exude a sort of anti-bustle. It wasn't that she didn't move – though she didn't, really – but that she failed to do so in any way that would be considered in the least bit interesting.
[*The primary state being the mob. Everything in Ankh-Morpork considered the time between interesting events to be a sort of intermission to reality and waited for any chance to gather in large groups and shout things.]

The Masters said she had a gift. She could stand in the middle of a crowded room and scream, they said, and no one would notice her if she didn't want them to. Or she could stand quite still in a corner, doing nothing much, and every eye in the room would be drawn to her. She seemed to have unequivocal control over her presence. The Masters found this a remarkable talent, unmatched in all the skills time could endow a person with, and, besides that, quite unnerving.

Ienska herself didn't really think about it.

If anyone had noticed her, they would wonder how she could possibly blend in. She wore a tunic of striking, dark blue over loose trousers. Ankh-Morpork was an enlightened city, women were allowed to wear pants if they felt like it, especially if they had business like sharp edges about their person. Which Ienska had in the form of a slightly curved sword hanging from her hip. It wasn't that there was anything wrong about her appearance, but there wasn't anything subtle about it either. And yet…

Yet she stood there, leaning unconcernedly against the wall and no one paid her so much as a glance. One of Ankh-Morpork's infamous vendors continued on by without trying to sell her anything, an action usually reserved for vendors in a state of post-mortem. He passed so close she could smell the grease of the cart's delicacies.

***

Not only was Vetinari excellent at standing still, he quite enjoyed it. It was a chance to observe the city and her people without that annoying bubble of empty space that tended to surround an Assassin everywhere he went. He watched in amusement as the vendor ambled up to a man having a heated discussion with an associate and proceeded to endorse his merchandise.

The man glared at him angrily, waving his hands emphatically. The vendor's expression never changed and he continued to speak, ignoring the increasingly furious words of his would-be customer.

Vetinari sidled closer, interested.

"Finest meats in the city, sir! My personal guarantee on that. Go on, sir, try one of the meat in a buns!"

The man stared at him in disbelief. "Meat in a buns? That's what you call them?" He said, fascinated despite himself. He looked at the food on the cart. "What meat are you talking about? No! Never mind! Just go away, I'm not hungry!" He turned, grabbing his friend by the arm and starting to walk off in the opposite direction. The vendor was already there.

"Go on, sir. I insist! Full money back guarantee!"

Vetinari shuffled a little nearer, blending in to the brickwork even as he moved. Well, he blended in until he tripped and fell flat on his face, anyhow.

***

Ienska gave a small shout as she tumbled forward. Something had kicked her feet out from under her. But she hadn't seen anyone, simply felt her feet shoved rather suddenly to the side.

And then she saw him. Or, rather, then she landed on top of him.

He didn't really seem to be there until she was just above the pavement, but then, just as she fell on him nearly full length, he was there, lying face down beneath her.

There was a moment of motionless silence. A few passersby who had seen, to their amazement, a girl suddenly appear falling to the street and a young man appear just as suddenly to break her fall paused to stare. As soon as they stopped moving, though, both of them seemed to vanish. The observers continued quickly on their ways, avoiding each others eyes. The phrases, A girl, what girl? And a young man, you don't say? were imprinted studiously on their faces.

"Get off!" said the form sprawled underneath Ienska, starting to squirm. She quickly hauled herself to her feet, brushing the knees of her trousers off distractedly. The person who had broken her fall struggled to his feet as well.

"Where in the Disc did you come from?" he hissed. He had the look about him of someone very unused to being surprised.

"I've been here for hours," said Ienska. "What about you?"

"I…I wasn't looking where I was going," he said, seeming to regain a calm composure.

"Yeah, right," said Ienska, eyeing him up and down. He had the look of a young gentleman about him, aside from the dust that now covered the front of his rich clothes. There was also a familiar air about him. "You're an Assassin, aren't you?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

He looked startled. He wasn't wearing the traditional black, which Ienska had thought was a requirement for Guild members, but maybe the Guild had finally wised up and allowed their members to wear colors that actually blended in well. This particular young man was dressed in a very dark green.

"How did you know that? I'm not in uniform," he said.

She shrugged. "You just look like an Assassin." This appeared to trouble him.

"Who are you?" he asked finally.

Ienska mentally wrinkled her nose. It always came back to that, didn't it. Even here, in a huge city full of thousands of people, the first thing someone wanted to know was who you were, as if they'd remember. It seemed to be a peculiarity of human nature: when in doubt, ask who they are.

She held out her hand politely, anyhow. "Ienska Tineshan," she said.

He took her hand gingerly. Not used to dealing with commoners, this one. That's Assassins for you. She thought about that. Not that I'm particularly common or anything.

"Havelock Vetinari," he said, trying a little flourish.

"Very nice to meet you," Ienska said carelessly. "Now, where did you say you came from?"

"What do you mean?" asked Vetinari cautiously.

"I've been standing here for ages and I didn't see you coming," she said, narrowing her eyes. "I don't usually miss things like someone tripping over me."

"Perhaps you should pay more attention in that case," said Vetinari. He checked his watch. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"There's supposed to be someone coming along in a few moments with whom I have a…appointment," he said.

"Bet he doesn't know you're coming," muttered Ienska.

"Naturally not."

"Why in the middle of a crowded street, then? Wouldn't it be easier to catch him somewhere else, somewhere alone?" she asked.

"Perhaps," answered Vetinari. "But there's no challenge in that." He looked up and down the road. "What exactly is a young lady such as yourself doing standing around in shadows for hours?"

"Oh, waiting for someone," she said.

He raised his eyebrows. "You are aware that killing without a license is murder?"

A look of disgust crossed Ienska's features. "I do not murder anyone. If you must know, I'm here to stop someone being killed. There is, apparently a contract on his head that terminates in a few hours when he's sworn in to the Omnian priesthood. This is the last time he'll be out in public before then and the Assassin to whom the contract fell will undoubtedly…ah."

"Quite," said Vetinari calmly. "You don't appear to be the typical bodyguard."

"I'm not," she said, eyes momentarily watching something over his shoulder. "He doesn't even know I exist."

Vetinari frowned. She quickly drew her gaze back to his face. Stupid, she thought. Don't watch him. "What sort of person risks their life for someone who doesn't know they exist?" he asked.

She shrugged, face brightening. "Well, I'll be about now that my job's done," she said cheerfully.

Vetinari whirled around.

"That's right," she continued brightly. "Shouldn't ever turn your back on the building you think your target's going to be entering. They might do something original like come from the wrong direction."

He turned quite calmly around to face her again. "Then it seems that both of our jobs are over. Perhaps we shall meet again, in the course of business." But she was gone.

After looking both ways along the street and even up the wall of the building, Vetinari shrugged and made his way back toward the Guild.

Ienska watched him go, leaning once more nonchalantly against the wall.