Chapter Fourteen
"Ready" grandfather asks. "Ready gran-pa" the boy says. "Excellent, here we go" grandfather says, flipping to the correct page.
"And so, the Assassin, knowing how to get into the castle undetected, climbs into the moat of poisonous snakes." grandfather reads, already building up the tension in the story. "Surrounded by every kind of poisonous biting snake in all the lands of Sharapuur, the Assassin fears them not, and simply walks casually through them…"
"Wait a minute, gran-pa!" the boy says, incredulous. "Walks!?"the boy asks. "Yes, he simply walked through." the grandfather says, smiling at the look of wonder on the boy's face.
"How!?" the boy asks. "I mean, you don't just walk through a moat of snakes!" The boy asks. "Well, my boy, he wouldn't be the Greatest Assassin in all the Realms if he didn't have a few tricks up his sleeve, now, would he?" grandfather says, refusing to ruin the secret until the end of the story. "You'll just have to wait, I promise, you'll find out eventually." grandfather says knowingly.
"Oh, ok, gran-pa." the boy says, giving up with a small sigh. "And so, simply walking through the snakes, who didn't even try to bite him, the Assassin grinned in an Evil smile as he entered the castle through the heavily locked metal door to the castle dungeon. For what is an Assassin, if he cannot open a complex lock?" grandfather continues.
"After gaining entrance to the castle, the Assassin makes his way to a place he knows all too well..., the throne room." grandfather reads. "For the Assassin had indeed been here many times in the past…" grandfather says, before the boy can ask the question he knows is coming, then continues, "...He was, in fact, a suitor to the Princess herself!" and with that proclamation, grandfather pauses dramatically, watching the boy's eyes widen in understanding.
"Yes, the Assassin, the Greatest Assassin in all the Realms, the Shadow-Spinner who had already slain an untold number of Knights, was secretly an admirer of the Princess. But now, he was here for a much different reason, and would not let anyone; the Knights, or others like the Assassins he had killed to protect the Princess before, get in his way…" grandfather continues, building up the surprise for the boy, who can only listen in wonder at these newest revelations.
"He is on the way here now! I know it!" Sir Otto states to the King, the Princess, the Warlords, and his fellow Knights who are left standing. "I know he is!" Sir Otto states emphatically to those around him, who are now not so sure, for the Assassin had not shown himself for some time. "We've sent emissaries to all of the people left in power in Sharapuur, and none claim to know anything about this Assassin." the King says, beginning to wonder why he was the target of this Assassin he had never seen or heard of until now. "We have doubled the guards, and no new assassination attempts have happened since you overthrew the Merchant's Guild, now two months past!" the King says, on the edge of his patience with the whole affair.
""Yes, my King." Sir Otto says, "But this is how he works! He is simply waiting for us to let down our guard so that he can slay us all." Sir Otto states, matter-of-factly. "Well, I for one will not live my life in perpetual fear, Sir Otto." the King says. "And I say let him come as he may, for I shall not entertain the notion of being holed up in this castle, constantly surrounded by guards, anymore." the King decrees.
And with those words, and nods all around, (save from Sir Otto, who can only shake his head in sad reservation), the King and his entourage escort the Princess outside for some fresh air.
Inside , however, hidden away in the rafters above the throne, the Assassin smiles to himself as he stares into the dark shadows of the stone castle walls.