Assassins: Book one
The moon was high in the night sky. The wind blew a faint chill into the city. It was the perfect night for getting into trouble. I slid into the shadows as a large drunken man stumbled by. The smell of ale floated from his body causing me to pinch my nose from strong odor. "This will be too easy!" I thought to myself, smiling as I stalked behind him in to shadows. A good thief always knew when the right time to strike. And I was a very good thief indeed. So I waited until he made his mistake of walking down the wrong ally.
He rounded the corner to his left, so I went right. I was in front of him now as I came around another corner to meet him head on. I hit him hard almost knocking him to the ground. My hand slid into his pocket and quickly slid back out with a bag full of coins.
"Hey, watch where you're going, you nasty whore."
He stumbled forward, once again on his way, not noticing that his pocket felt lighter than before. I went around a corner smiling to myself. "That was too easy." There were many people on the cobblestone walkway, some hurry home and others going out for a few drinks but I knew better then to get cocky with myself. It's better to take what you need then risk getting caught trying to steal another purse. I needed to get something to eat anyway. I made my way to the docks and headed for the little river shop that was always open.
"Hello Cassandra, how are you tonight?"
The older gypsy lady voice was cool and soothing. It was always I joy to see her again.
"Hi Clarissa, I'm ok, I just need a few things."
"Slim pickings tonight or great?"
"Great."
"Well my dear, what is it that you need?"
"Bread, milk, cheese, and a few pieces of meat if you have any."
"Of course, of course. One minute."
I waited while Clarissa went to back and fetched the things I needed. She was quick as she went around with her business with speed and efficiency. Within a few minutes she returned with my things all wrapped in a small tan cloth. She handed them to me and I gave her the coin.
"What's all the food for?"
"Dimitri and I are celebrating my birthday tonight."
"Oh really now? And how old are ya?"
"Nineteen now."
"Well then you just wait one minute and I'll be right back."
She left without saying another word and returned with something in her hand.
"Here you go child."
She handed me something of a deep royal blue.
"It's an outfit I made myself. Just some pants and shirt nothing special."
"It's beautiful, but I can't accept this though."
"Yes you can, I need someone to show it off anyway."
"Thank you so much."
"Here come back here and try it on."
I went around to the back and walked in the open doorway where Clarissa was waiting for me.
"Right here."
She pointed to a little room with a curtain for a door. I walked in and she shut the curtain behind me. Quickly I replaced my old ragged trousers and light cotton shirt for the rich, royal blue outfit. First I slipped on the trousers then the black knee high boots. Next I put on the light weight, very soft and tan shirt. I left the strings above my breast that tightened the shirt loose and open, showing my tan, bare chest. I put on the blue shirt that went over it and walked out to where Clarissa was standing.
"It's a great fit."
"It's really comfortable and easy to move in."
"Perfect."
We walked back to the front of the shop and I grabbed my bag off the stand thankful that no one had taken it. People walked up and down the docks, some looked at me with curiosity and others went about their business paying me no attention. I thanked her once again and began to walk away when I saw the first snowflake of winter fall. "Dimitri!" I turned back around to the little shop.
"Do you have anything I can get for Dimitri? Winter will be cold this year and he needs new cloths anyway. He's getting to big."
She nodded her head and bent down, then handed me clothing from behind her bar. I paid her quickly and I noticed the coin purse felt lighter in my hands as I pushed it back into my pocket. But of course it felt lighter, I had just spent most of it. "At least we would be warm and our bellies would be full, for a little while anyway."
"Dimitri? You here buddy? I have something for you."
I walked into the old a banded shake on the outskirts of the city. A small fire was going in what was left of the fire place and there was a pot of boiling water from the nearby creek. The roof was falling in and parts of it was already gone allowing the moon beams to shine in brightly. The stone walls were coming down also but they kept most of the wind out and the fire helped keep the inside warm. I walked around looking for Dimitri but he was nowhere to be found. "He's probably out setting traps in the woods." I went to the fire place where a pot of water was boiling. I sat my bag down and got the meat and began chopping it up. When I was finished I dropped it all in the pot, then began adding plants that I knew would flavor the stew. I laid back on the small blanket that was on the floor waiting for the stew to get ready.
After laying there for a few minutes I got up and grabbed the coin purse. I took it to the farthest room, pulled out a loose brick and stuck the purse there.
"There, maybe we can finally start saving so we can get out of this place."
I went back into the front room and sat back down.
"Cassandra? You home?"
"In here."
I turned around as he walked into the front room. His black hair, so much like my own, was wild: sticking out all over his head. His blue eyes were bright and large, shinning in the moonlight. He was young, only ten but he was smart and he knew his way around the woods.
"What's that?"
He looked down at the bag he was holding, then lifted it up high, all the time with an enormous smile plastered on his face.
"Rabbit."
"Skinned?"
"Yes. Did it when I was in the woods."
"Here I'll put it in the pot and keep it cooking. We can eat on this for a couple of days. I also have some bread and cheese."
"It smells amazing already."
He sat down beside me and helped me cut up the meat to add to the pot. When we finished we both went down to the stream to wash off our hands. We came back and I stirred the pot while Dimitri cut two slices of bread off and two wedges of cheese.
"Cassandra, where did you get that outfit?"
"Clarissa. You know the gypsy from the docks. She gave it to me for my birthday."
"Oh."
He looked down and returned back to what he was doing.
"Here I have something for you to."
He looked up and smiled, eyes bright once more. I went over to the bag and dug out the winter cloths. A soft tan shirt and dark brown trousers with black boots.
"Here"
"Wow! Thank you so much."
He stood up and ran into the back room. When he came out he was dressed with his hair somewhat smoothed down.
"It's a little big."
"You'll grow into it. It was the only pair that she had."
He came up and hug me around my waist tightly, his head only coming to my chest. I wrapped my arms around him protectively.
"Come on. Let's eat."