Red and Black

Just your basic forced engagement

The kick was angled perfectly and given with enough force to knock the target out cold. Unceremoniously, falling onto the marble floor with a muffled thud.

Another easy target...

Allison thought as he removed a dagger from beneath his black cloth. He brought the dagger to the throat of the knocked out heap beneath him; it was never easy — taking a life. Whenever the dagger landed, warmth frantically left a body until it's but a carcass remembered only by the good and bad done.

One single thought kept him going — someone has to do it. He plunged the dagger into the soft flesh at the neck and with a single spasm; another assassination complete, the cycle repeating itself. Beneath the domino mask, his expression was completely unreadable.

He left the dagger there: no family crest neither was it custom made. It'd be impossible to trace it back to him.

Allison walked over to the open window, the high quality drapes swaying to the tune of the evening breeze and beneath the luminescent full moon. He was an assassin... Completely. Despite wearing leather boots and breeches, he moved with such poise that no sound was made. With a single practiced leap, he jumped onto the stone carved windowsill and allowed his crimson eyes a peek at the star spangled sky.

He rose to his full height and despite a source of comparison, he'd be at least a head taller than the average person. His sharp eyes swept across the city beneath him — mostly carved of stone and entrenched in a high stone wall. The most being the luxurious premises of the high class; it was a sign of prestige to own more than one house. Then the poor were packed in their own pitiful corner. You know the usual: disease, rotting wooden houses, high population.

That mattered little now, he was in one of the most prestigious houses, so large it could pass for the castle of a minor lord, not a merchant that engaged in trafficking children. Shaking off the thoughts he looked at the pavement, four stories below.

Opening his arms, he fell into the embrace of gravity — the wind picking up around him, his cares falling away and then it hit him.

"Shit," he mumbled, "I got a party to attend."

                                                                               ...........................

Men have a certain magic to them. Be up at 10:40, shower, brush, iron, dress up and be at their destination by 11:00am. Allison managed to pull that off despite the long run and short time window. He gave himself a victorious smile for it. With the mask gone, the tension faded and changed out of all the leather, he looked like the many nobles around him. With a sleek doublet, high cheekbones, a charming smile and sly tongue, he weaved in and out of the conversation. No mercy was shown to the drinks that the waiters passed about. And he threw his best compliments to all the beautiful maidens he snared.

Allison's parents hosted the party so he felt at home in the walls. He knew the dark spots to sulk when the banter became excessive or when the stench of perfumes mixing overpowered him. The night dragged on like that until the distinct, 'clink clink clink.' was sounded. A toast — how cliché. "Evening everyone." A female voice said. The noise in the hall died down to a few stubborn murmurs. Not surprisingly, his mother was the one speaking. They looked very similar: cheekbones and face. In fact the only difference between them was the hair — hers was long blonde and fair, his short red and unruly.

A knot formed in his stomach. The sudden posh party, many noble guests invited, he knew what was coming...

"Thank you all for coming here." The murmurs all died and everyone listened in silent anticipation. "Tonight I'm honored to announce the engagement of my son, Allison!" Applause picked up, riddled with uncertainty until everyone is whooping and those in proximity patted Allison on the back. A few maidens wiped tears. This was the oldest trick in the book. Public announcement — any refusal later would mean complete social suicide.