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Lord Marzui’s chambers are easy to spot.
Dark red velvet double doors loom at me from the end of the passageway.
I flit across the passageway.
Guards are muttering to one another somewhere close by. The tinkle of crockery being moved sounds from the ground floor. The wind has picked up and whistles and whispers through the leaves of the dozens of Tiphe trees that grow on the estate.
The doors to Lord Marzui’s chambers are unlocked.
He is probably waiting for his wife to join him in the future.
He is asleep.
I pull one of the daggers from the sheath on my back.
I do not make a long job of it. My clients did not ask me for any theatrics, and to be quite frank, I would not have given them any if they had. The dagger is sharp and slips through his skin, flesh, fat, and muscle as easily as a hot knife slicing through softened butter.
I cannot help but grin at the ease of it, the neatness of it.
A droplet of blood wells up from the wound when I pull the blade out.
I clean it off quickly with a disposable cloth and slip it back into the sheath.
I examine Lord Marzui before I turn to leave. He is – was – a weaselly little dark elf. He snored loudly and sweated a lot, and it is no fucking wonder that his wife, who bore him seven children, stopped sharing his bed.
I hear the guards outside. They are very close to the doors to Lord Marzui’s chambers.
They open the door just as I leap out of the window.
They must notice the death of their employer immediately because there is a shout and shuffle behind me.
The chase is close.
But I drop down to the ground and disappear into the whispering darkness of the Tiphe trees.
2
NEVEAH
“Gods, who would’ve thought I could actually be happy here?”
I am standing in the courtyard of the Ilnais estate, and I am basking in the warm light of the sun.
It is so beautiful, so warm, so gentle, sobright,that it makes me shudder with uncontrollable pleasure for a second. My skin tingles, and the fine, faint hair on the back of my neck raises in response to the pleasure I am feeling.
“I could stand here all day,”I mutter to myself. But then I look down at the bucket of soapy water in my hand, and I shrug off my sunlit fantasy.
I walk across the pristine courtyard and make my way to the section of the Ilnais mansion that is separated from the main part of the mansion by the courtyard.
Today is my turn to clean up Rhicura’s chambers, the Ilnais' son, and I am going to be late if I do not let go of the sunlight.
When I look back, I see that the light is following me, stretching after me, and I smile at it before I let go of it completely and open the doors to this smaller version of the giant mansion that houses Morgath and Uhicra Ilnais and all their servants and guards.
Even this smaller version of the sprawling manor has more wings than seem necessary for just the three of them and their personal staff. Rhicura’s wing has its own garden, though I have never seen anyone enjoy the beauty of the garden. There’s an identical wing alongside his that sits constantly unoccupied, despite its beauty.
I have had no real contact with the master and mistress of the house, though I suppose that’s to be expected even if I have worked here for about a year now. I am simply a servant, after all.
I know that I am more curious about the Ilnais family than I have any right to be. And I also know that I can never act on my curiosity, not unless I want to be harshly punished for it.
