House of Cards
As I wait, sitting at the wooden table I tap my nails along its edge. Each curved nail making its own hard sound as they come down onto the wooden surface. My left foot taps to the beat of the music, my cloak swaying as I move. As I listen to the music the men beside me laugh as they hold their pints of beer and shout at the waitress nearby. I glance at the waitress and see her discomfort but the men keep shouting, soon the waitress walks by my table and places an envelope near my tapping nails. I place my hand over the envelope and watch the men pull the walking waitress onto their laps, lifting her skirts as another takes the tray in her hand. I place two coins onto the table and stand putting the envelope into my purse; I glance at the waitress once more and the men still holding her. I grab six knives from my holder and with a quick motion of my hand all the men fall to the floor dropping the waitress onto the ground. I walk over to each man and pull the knives from their lifeless bodies. The waitress dares not look up at me; instead she grabs her tray and crawls into the kitchen. I replace my knives and cover them with my cloak stepping out onto the dark street, pulling my hood over my masked face.
It took Nahdia nearly four days on horseback to travel from Abrozzo to Molise, since it was just an errand for father landau she made a track throughout the city to walk as a tourist. Nahdia followed her map and collect everything that father landau wanted and then set out on her own journey. She looked at many paintings, books, instruments and even tailers. Soon Nahdia grew bored with wandering and looking at different stores and restaurants so she decided to run the Molise rooftops in search of something new. Nahdia climbed the nearest wall and hide herself inside a house when a group of guards walked below her. The house she hid in was painted with marble; Nahdia looked at the marbled floor and walls and inspected the paintings the house contained, tracing her fingers on the beautiful handmade furniture. Nahdia felt everything, the carpets, paintings, even the curtains tied with rope. At the end of the room stood a double door dressed in red fabric, draped over the top and sides. Nahdia walked towards the door and felt the softness of the fabric, tracing the lines of the pattern printed on the doors. With a hard push the double doors opened into another room, exactly the same as the one before her. In the middle of the room was a wooden desk with a red cushioned chair behind it. On the desk there was a bottle of black ink, its quill sticking out. The feathers on the quill was dyed a light green while its tip was white. Nahdia circled the desk, her skirts just touching the edge. Next to the ink and quill was a satchel branded with a stylish letter R. Beside the satchel was a deck of cards with the same brand as the satchel. Nahdia opened the satchel and found many documents and bills. Nahdia replaced the documents back and left the satchel looking as if it wasn't touched. Nahdia stared at the deck of cards as she circled the room, watching them as if they were hiding secrets.
Just as Nahdia finished her fifth circle around the room the double doors opened with a sudden bash. A man dressed in black with a blue waits coat stormed into the room and sat at the desk. Nahdia hid behind the curtain drapes and watched the man with all her patience she had. The man at the desk opened the satchel and took out the documents inside, he read all but one. The man took the quill from the ink bottle and scratched his signature onto the bottom of each document replacing them back in the satchel when finished. The document that he didn't read was left on the desk, exposed. The man then shouted out towards the doors in a language that Nahdia didn't understand, the doors opened and another man walked in but he was different. This man wore a hat and carried a sword beside his left thigh. The man took the satchel and bowed slightly before leaving the room. When the doors shut behind him the man stood and walked towards the window, looking through the glass down at the streets below. Nahdia was just inches away from the man's right shoulder but she kept quiet and still. When the man grew bored he walked back towards the double doors, looking back at the room before closing the doors behind him. Nahdia realised that she was holding her breath and let out a loud sigh. After a couple of breaths Nahdia walked towards the desk and picked up the document that was left. Nahdia read the document many times but she didn't quite understand the language it was in. Nahdia took two more tries at reading the document but she did not succeed, not until that is. One of the words written on the document was similar to the word that the envelopes had when they were given to her. Nahdia realised that the document was coded but the language that they wrote in before they put it in code was Spanish. Nahdia decoded the document leaving the Spanish text for her to read.
EstimadoRomaro,
No ha habidopalabras sobrela llegada deNahdia Florintan's llegadadeMolise, que ha causadomuchos comentariosen toda la ciudady algunos incluso estánconspirando para matar aesta chicapor lo quesus padresyMarieGabrielleha hechola ciudadesta. Como usted bien sabeGabrielleyMarieeranasesinosy tenía dos hijas. Por desgracia, suvidallegó a un finalrepentinodejandoNahdiaFlorintancon la iglesia deAbrozzo. Por el bien deeste niño yMaría, tenemos que encontrar a su hijay traerla ala seguridaddeque podríaser el próximoasesinoenmascaradoNegro.He expuestodiez de misesclavos, cada uno en busca deella, peronola he vistotodavía.Si la encuentras, traerlaa la direcciónen la parte inferiorde este documento.Hemos encontradouna casade seguridadpara ella yestán dispuestos a compartirla dotecon usted siusted la encuentra.
Traerla aesta dirección: 23Kanangala calle, la casade la izquierda esdonde hay quellevarla.
Saludos,Jorge.
English
Dear Romaro,
There has been word about the arrival of Nahdia Florintan's arrival to Molise; it has caused much gossip throughout the city and some are even plotting to kill this girl for what her parents Gabrielle and Marie have done the this city. As you well know Gabrielle and Marie were both assassins and had two daughters. Unfortunately their lives came to a sudden end leaving Nahdia Florintan with the church of Abrozzo. For the sake of this child and Marie, we must find her daughter and bring her to safety for she might be the next Black Masked Assassin. I have set out ten of my slaves, each looking for her but none have seen her yet. If you find her, bring her to the address at the bottom of this document. We have found a safety house for her and are willing to share dowry with you if you find her.
Bring her to this address: 23 Kananga Street, the house on the left is where you must bring her.
Regards, George.
Nahdia read the letter many times and translated it back to English more than once just to make sure. They knew who she was.
Nahdia revised the address many times, making sure it stuck in her head. When she was finished she replaced the document on the desk and climbed out through the window and onto the roof's tiles. Nahdia scaled the rooftops towards the eastern suburbs, watching for anyone who might oppose as a threat. When Nahdia was clear she climbed down and joined the town people, walking along the streets till she found the house. It was a deep red with a white strip running across the door; she remembered the address and took a couple of steps around the house making sure it was right. Instead of knocking on the door Nahdia walked towards the house on the left inspecting its colour and window frames. The window's glass was a light brown, while its frames were pure white, the door was the same. Nahdia tidied her skirts before knocking on the door with the rusted handle. On the second knock the door opened revealing an old man dressed all in grey with a white beared.
"Who are you?" the man asked politely.
"I'm sorry to disturb you sir but I was told to come to this address" Nahdia made her voice stern but easy to hear.
The old man looked at Nahdia and raised his chin. Nahdia stood still as the man looked on, watching him pull of a book and pen and placing his glasses onto the tip of his nose. The man wrote a few scribbles in the book, his eyes still watching Nahdia.
"All right, what's your name my dear?" The man asked still scribbling in his notebook.
Nahdia was just about to answer when another man dressed in black walked past the old man, taking Nahdia's gloved hand he walked her up the steps and through the doorway.
"Her name is Nahdia Ariadna Basilia Florintan, mother: Marie Basilia Abella, father: Gabrielle Adolpho Florintan. Married five years before Nahdia and her little sister Célia Corazón Florintan was born and died when Nahdia was only thirteen, her sister along with them. Nahdia takes mostly after her mother's beauty and skills, and her father. Well she has her father's wits and cunningness plus the hair." The man described Nahdia as if they were best of friends but the thing was that Nahdia had never met this man before but he knew a lot more about her than she did herself.
"And you are?" Nahdia replied raising her eyebrows.
The man still holding Nahdia's gloved hand led her through another doorway into a brightly light room. The room was scented with lavender and rosemary but had a faint of vanilla. The man sat Nahdia in a blue chair while he sat across her in a twin style chair to her own.
"My name is Edmundo Fermin Abella. I am the eldest brother of Marie Basilia Abella. Nahdia I am your uncle."
Nahdia started at the man shocked at what he said. She tried to pronounce a few words but all she got out was Uncle. The man slid forward in his chair and took Nahdia's hands cradling them as if they were precious.
"Nahdia, your mother didn't tell you that she had a brother because it was to keep you safe from the other families that lost their family members too. They blamed your parents and tried to hunt you down just for your blood."
Edmundo paused and watched Nahdia's face as she listened. After a couple of minutes he continued. Nahdia listened to all that he had to say and only disrupted when he got onto the topic of her parents and sister's murder's after that she kept quiet.
When the blue sky turned to grey Edmundo retired leaving his servant Fidel to show Nahdia her quarters. When Nahdia was ready for bed Fidel warmed the sheets with a metal bowl filled with hot burning coals and a wooden handle sticking from one end. Nahdia found it quite interesting. When Fidel was finished he placed a deck of cards on the table near her bed and left. Nahdia wondered why he left them but soon grew bored and tried to sleep. After many hours Nahdia found it hard to sleep so she decided to make a house out of the cards on the table. The pictures on the cards were of jesters and kings and his court, others were of nights and the queen surrounded by her ladies in waiting. Soon Nahdia built a house out of cards, using all but one. On the card was a picture of four assassins, one was wearing a black mask while the other three wore black hoods. They each carried a sword and five daggers at their sides, a purse and whip. The only difference between them was that they each had their own marking on the inside of their left forearm. One was a picture of a snake while another had a picture of an eagle. The two closest to Nahdia each had a letter, its shape curved onto itself making it hard to read. Soon Nahdia felt tired and fell asleep with the card still in her hands.