Shadows

You must become one with the shadows. Your entire being must disappear as if you never existed.

Amelia waited in the alleyway; her mark would soon be upon her. She had been tracking him for weeks, sticking to the shadows and learning his routine. He was a simple man, only went to work, the market and home. Simple must also mean boring.

Amelia’s life however, was not boring. She came from a poor family; the man she had been tracking reminded her of her father in a lot of ways. He always worked hard to struggle to provide food for Amelia and her mother. They lived in a rundown, rickety cabin whose siding had been damaged by many storms. There were holes in the walls and drafts coming through the window. It was not perfect, but it was home. Was being the keyword.

            It was a brisk fall day when it happened. Once again her father had failed to pay the taxes on their land. They had no idea what was going to happen to them as a result. Finally, the knights came to collect on their bounty. Amelia and her mother waited inside to find out what they wanted. Her father’s face went as pale as the snow and suddenly he was on the ground begging the men for something. Amelia could feel a pit in her stomach at that sight. She did not know what they were saying, but she knew it was not good. The men shoved her father over and pointed to the house.

There was nothing of value inside the house, they had basic wooden furniture that was falling apart. There were no decorations on the walls, or even curtains in the windows. The whole house was only one room, she looked over to her cot that she slept in, which was not far from her parents’ bed. There was nothing in that house that would be worth the amount of money they owed on taxes. Her father stepped in the house looking grim. He placed his hands on Amelia’s shoulders trying to hold back tears.

“Amelia, darling, I am so sorry I could not protect you.” He said. At that, her mother started to cry understanding what had been asked of him. Amelia still had not caught on, but she knew something bad was coming.

“Father, what is happening?” She asked him. Her voice quivered a bit from the fear that was welling up inside her.

“We have to give you up, the knights won’t take anything else,” her father said. His eyes fell to the ground. Amelia looked at her father, he was a thin scraggly man. He was not a man who could stand up to the knights. He could not fight them. If he even tried to fight, he would die and her mother would be left alone.

“Then I will go father. You and mother need to keep on surviving. I know I will be fine.” Amelia said. She was trying to sound brave, but her voice kept coming out shaky. It was not an easy thing for a young woman at just the age of fifteen.

Amelia shook the memory from her mind. That day was supposed to have been taken from her when she went through her training. The day she became an assassin was the day she lost herself. She focused her eyes to her target once again, this was about the time he went to the market for his dinner. He always ate such boring meals; bread and stew, he never indulged in wine. This man was described to her as a middle-class working man, but from her observations he seems to be more in the lower class, like her family.

He always seemed to buy a lot of food for one night’s dinner. This made Amelia wonder if the man had a family that relied on him, like she had relied on her father. If the man had a family, this job would become significantly harder. No! She could not allow her emotions to overtake her. If she cannot do this job, then her life is as good as forfeit.

Money exchanged hands from her mark to the merchant and off he went again. Ameila kept to the shadows, her head covered by a black hood and her body hidden by the rest of the cloak. She knew this route well; he took the same path every day. Idiot. One should never follow the same path for moments like this one, when someone would pay to have your life taken.

One would not think that could be such a common thing; assassins being sent after marks. For some reason the guild was very busy at this time. Amelia wondered if the kingdom was having people killed to force more people into servitude. When she had been taken from her family, they assessed her skills before sending her to the assassin training. She remembered seeing many others around her age, all waiting for their forced assignments. A corrupt government indeed.

Amelia followed the man silently, keeping to the dark alleyways where he would never see her. He was on his way to his little home just on the outside of the town. She had never gotten close enough to his home to see how the man truly lived. For all she knew his apparent status could be a façade. Maybe he was a wealthy man who feigned being poor for sympathy. He could be as corrupt as the government she serves. Amelia shook her head suddenly; she should not be thinking this way. Her job is to get in and take care of him. She had no time for emotions. She should not be having to convince herself to do her job. Although this was not her chosen job. They chose her because she was small and nimble, but they did not see how she would handle this job emotionally.

Finally, they slipped out of the town and the man walked towards his home. Tonight was the night she would strike, she just needed to inspect the house. She waited for the night to darken before moving forward. From the house erupted the smell of freshly baked bread and meat stew. Amelia’s stomach gurgled, it had been a while since she was able to indulge in a decent meal. She crept silently across the grass towards the man’s house. She pressed herself against the side and peeked in through the corner of the window. The interior of the house reminded her of her own home. Simple furniture, multiple beds in one room, and no decorations. This man was as poor as her father was. Her eyes scanned the room where she saw the bread sitting on the rickety table and the stew simmering in a pot on the fire.

Amelia heard multiple voices from within. Her eyes fell back to one of the beds in the room where two girls sat. One looked to be around Amelia’s age when she was taken, the other just a bit younger. This man had a family. He had two daughters who would be put through the same process she had endured once he was gone. Amelia looked back over to the stew pot where another woman stood, stirring the liquid. The woman looked to be older, around her own mother’s age. She called to the girls to come to the table for dinner. The girls jumped up from the bed and ran over to the table excited for the meal their mother had prepared for them. Then their father joined them, the man she was expected to kill.

How could she do this job now? Amelia did not want to see anyone go through the same thing she had. She did not want the mother to know the pain of watching her daughters get taken away from her. She could not imagine the grief that would follow the sudden death of her husband. She slipped down the side of the house into a sitting position as she contemplated her life up to this point. Amelia knew she had only three options. One, she could just do the job and let it hang on her conscience forever. Two, she could go back and tell them she could not do it which would mean the end of her life. Three, she could warn the family and disappear. Her training would make it easy to vanish into thin air. Take on a new life, find happiness in a kingdom far away from this one.

Amelia peeked through the window again. The family was almost done eating dinner. She only had a few moments now to decide her path. Her eyes fell to the daughters again, so happy and carefree. Their lives were easy, or so they thought. No matter what decision she made, their little family would be thrown into turmoil. Dinner was done, her time was up and she knew exactly what she was going to do.

Amelia slipped away from the side of the house and found a small rock. She crouched down in the darkness and threw the rock at the window. The voices inside quieted, she could see the father motioning with his hands to tell his family to wait here, before stepping out into the cool dark night. He approached the spot Amelia was hiding. Once he got close enough she stood up and pulled the cloak back from her face, her long brown hair falling around her face.

“W-w-who are you?” The man stammered. She could not blame him for being nervous.

“Who I am is not important. What is important is that your life is in danger. You need to pack up your life and get out of this kingdom tonight.” Amelia responded. She was convincing herself that she needed to do the same with her words. “Why would my life be in danger? I have done nothing wrong!” He said. His voice was shaking from fear.

“I have a suspicion, but cannot confirm the truth of it. You must leave so you can protect your wife and children.” Amelia said firmly.

The man nodded to her. He turned to go back to the house before his eyes fell on her again. “Thank you miss.” Amelia nodded back to him before turning and disappearing into the night, never to be seen again.