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And it hits me hard.
Because I’ve known that since the first time I saw her.
31
THALI
At least the weather in Vhoig will be pleasant this afternoon and evening,I think to myself as I stand in my apartment in Pyrthos, and pack up my bag for the night.
I hope to return to Pyrthos tonight, but there is always the chance that something might happen on my job.
I like to prepare for every eventuality, even though my jobs very rarely go wrong. And if they do, it is usually not my fault.
I cannot help but prepare for the worst, and I always want to execute each job with complete perfection.
You’re too anal about perfection sometimes,I tell myself as I add a few more weapons to the bag, even though the client was quite specific about what she wanted.
But perfection is what my clients want. I wouldn’t be very good at my job if my targets didn’t end up dead.
I smile as I shoulder my bag and head for the exit to my building.
I take a flying carriage from Pyrthos to Vhoig in the afternoon.
I look perfectly innocuous when I step off the carriage in central Vhoig and head to the section of the city which has the most inns and guesthouses.
This part of the city is particularly prosperous, but so is all of Vhoig, except for the lowtowns where the humans live.
I could have taken another carriage to the inn that I am headed for, but I like walking, especially when I am not in Pyrthos.
I have an excellent memory, and as I walk, I commit each route I take to memory.
I am wearing my usual work clothes. A pair of black cotton trousers, and a black shirt that is slightly oversized. I also wear a pair of taura leather boots and a taura leather coat over my clothes.
Tonight, I am checking into an inn, the Paradise Inn in central Vhoig. In my room, I remove the case with my bow and arrow in it. I slip a couple of daggers into my belt and boots, just in case I have to fight my way out of wherever I am going.
Then I sling the strap of the case over my shoulder, underneath my coat, before I head for the inn’s bar.
Where I immediately find my target.
I watch his every move, as I think about my client’s instructions and the best way to pull this off.
She was very specific about what she wanted,I think to myself again.
I have one drink while my target makes his way through a rich, decadent, three-course meal.
By the time I am following him out of the bar, he is loaded up on mead and zhisk and stumbles with every step that he takes.
There is always the chance that he might see me following him, no matter how drunk he is. And there is also the chance that someone else might see me following him and remember this after his death.
So I veer off into a side alley and scale the side of the building. I can follow him perfectly well from the rooftop, and this is what I do.
My movements are light and swift. In fact, I barely touch the surface of the rooftop many times, because of how quickly I move.
There is a wider gap between the rooftop I am on and the next, and I know I will have to use some magic to make it across.
The magic sputters and sparks from my hands as I take a running leap across the gap between the rooftops.
I barely make it to the ledge at the top of the building, and I almost slip and fall, before I vault myself over the edge.
