A Ravens Mask

Death Is Simple (1)

This novel is full of joyful characters with no need to protest of the ways of their land. Their world is a perfect world, with no parasites, no intruders and the promise of happy endings.

The man I pursue cowers against his bookshelf with his grey beard against his chest as he curls himself into a smaller being by bringing his knees up to meet the beard. All while his wife stands in front of me. She is much younger than him, much braver, more desperate.
She holds her hand out with intense fear distorting her face that is mixed with fear and hope. She is pretty, but not pretty enough to keep alive. I only succeed in my mission if I kill the person assigned to me, whom is the man cowering behind his wife.
"Please." The man begs in a whisper. "You have the wrong man." He shivers in his little corner of the wooden room.
I put my sword to my belt to make it appear that I am sheathing it. This causes the woman's guard to lower. She no longer has any limbs in the way when I cleave her head off. I step over the body to the sound of bouncing flesh and scattering utensils resounding as she crumples to the floor.
"No!" The man shrieks with a high enough pitch to cause my ears to protest with a pained twinge.
"Please!" Tears well in his eyes. "I will give you all my wealth!"
I slide my sword into his chest. I listen to him wheeze for breath as his punctured lung drowns him in his own blood.
Silence ensues.
I clean the blood off my sword with the old man's napkin that i pinch from his breast pocket before throwing it onto the floor. I then make sure I have no blood tainting the black leather of my outfit, before walking around the wife's body that has begun to pool with blood.
I put a hand on the door handle while the other slips to my belt. I open a small leather box to pull out a damp cloth. I wait for footsteps to sound before swinging open the door and shoving the cloth into the persons face.
He thinks I am trying to muffle him. He strikes at my throat. I swerve to the side to narrowly miss contact. I press my hands to the mans face. The instant he inhales he collapses to the floor.
I put his first layer of clothes on which are the his pants, shirt and leather vest. I move my belt to the outside layers to store my head wraps and gloves, before tying my hair into a topknot so that people will assume I am a man.
I listen for people before walking into a random room and opening the window. I climb out the window to pull myself onto the streets. I take to the alleys and make my way to my uncle's house.
The alarm bell is rung with a deep pounding gong as I open the front door to the wooden house. Here, it would be called a mansion, but to the people that live on the opposite side of the mountain range, it's a large house. The furnishings are lavish enough for a prince, but only in the rooms my uncle uses.
Footsteps swish past outside in answer to the alarm. I watch them stream past in the darkness as I turn to close the door.
"Murder!" is yelled and echoed by many, but their shouts dull when the thick wooden door thuds closed. I turn to eye the large table, that holds many candles set about on it in the middle of the room. To the right is a staircase that hugs the wall all the way up to the second floor. To the left of the staircase is a door. The kitchens lie behind a different door, a door on the opposite side of the table. The open door beyond the table wafts in the sweet scent of the servants cooking. I can hear the pots clanging and water splashing while their chatter mumbles, ignorant to the murder outside.
I didn't kill the guard.
Damn, I almost had no witnesses. The people investigating might know my eye colour. I curse myself as I walk up the stairs.
"Virdinand." I hear my uncle greet me from the right as I pass the first door. He lingers in the archway of the second door with a heavy glaze over his eyes.
"Gozhou." His last name. In the middle of the room, but pressed to the far wall, is a bed. To the left is a walk in wardrobe, and to the right is a desk covered with paper. Rubin Gozhou moves to sit behind the desk and shuffles his papers, then scribbles something down. I wait for him to finish patiently.
He clinks his quill into the inkwell before looking up at me with heavy bored eyes. "You killed Ponhi then."
"Indeed uncle." He is the only family I have left. I was orphaned when I was too young to remember. I do not mind, I did not know my parents, or I don't remember that I did.
"Oh come now Vir, no need to be so sullen." He leans on the table.
"Sorry," I smile convincingly enough that I know most would believe it. I lighten my tone to aid me with the lie. "You have a meeting tomorrow, the murder will be the main topic no doubt."
"No doubt." He echoes "I have finished the work for it, let's go eat. Are you hungry?"
"I need to change my eye colour." I grumble.
"What for? I like your eyes blue." He tilts his head slightly.
"I left a man alive, and he saw my eyes." I do not budge a single muscle.
"It can be put down to coincidence." He shakes his head in disappointment. "Come on now."
I drop the light tone. "You can see a person's essence from their eyes. Too many coincidences make a discovery."
"Not many can see someone's essence in their eyes. That's only for the trained or talented, but mostly a loved one. You have met up with too many people working for me to change your eye colour anyway." It's a fair point. If people that he has connections with know my eyes changed colour they could connect the dots. Also, if I leave another person alive next time, and they see the assassins eye colour is changing with mine they will know it was me and Rubin will be discovered.
"Agreed. Let's eat."