[Mkguild] Spies and Assassins (2/?)

[Nathan Pfaunmiller]

Not much to say on this one.  Just some necessary push in the right
direction.

-LurkingWolf

___________________

<i>February 21, 708 CR</i>



Vincent Lois had never been accustomed to callers, even during his recent
experiments with legal professions.  When the rapping came on the door in
the early afternoon that day, he couldn’t think of too many options for who
it might be.  Perhaps it was Paula, coming early in anticipation of the
evening’s training.  Perhaps it was one of his fellows from the patrol,
come to inform him that they were finally being given a new assignment.  Beyond
those two options, however, the only other option he could come up with was
some official news from the Keep.  That would certainly be interesting.



Sighing, the ermine stoppered the inkwell that he had been writing with,
cleaned the quill, and left the writing supplies in a somewhat organized
heap on the desk.



He always answered the door personally out of force of habit.  Despite
having nothing to hide, his years as an assassin had made him somewhat
paranoid.  He slid the bolt lock open just as the knock came again.  Stepping
back, he opened the door to a comfortable width and greeted the person at
the door.



“Balrog!”



“Ah, so you do remember me!” the large man said with a wry grin.



Lois chuckled quietly.  “I’m sorry I haven’t visited since I had you take
me to the Healer’s.”  Lois stepped back to allow the large man to enter.  His
friend did so, glancing about in a sarcastic appraisal of the contents.



“I think I had expected something a little less… sparse,” he commented
drily.



“You think?”  Lois shook his head as he stepped back over towards his desk.
“You need to pay a little more attention to your own opinions, it seems.”



Balrog shrugged stiffly.  “I never know what to expect with you, so this
really isn’t much of a change.”  He turned towards the ermine.  “How are
you, Lois?  Recovering well, I hope?”



Lois nodded.  “I recovered quickly,” he admitted.  “I haven’t taken much
time to do social calls, mostly because of training Paula.  You remember
her, or at least I hope you do.  I’d suppose that you’re careful enough to
recall which people that you’ve revealed your secret to.”



The disguised lutin gave a lopsided smile, running a hand over the scars
that hid his magic tattoos.  “Of course I remember her,” he said.  “Her
reaction to my true form was quite satisfying.  How is her training going,
by the way?”



“Very well,” Lois said, giving an approving nod.  “She is a remarkable
talent.  She was originally training with two-handed weapons, but she is
definitely more suited to light weapons.  I don’t remember if I had
mentioned it before, but she has shown an ability that makes her training
extremely easy.  She is clairvoyant.”



The lutin raised an eyebrow.  “I have never heard of that ability,” he
admitted, sounding impressed.  “I can see why lighter weapons would be
preferable for her.”



Lois nodded.  “I am excited to see her develop, and to see her in the field
as well.  She should be joining a patrol soon, and I can only imagine that
she will be a boon to whatever team she is assigned to.”



“Is that confidence based on your training her, or on her skill?” Balrog
asked.



Lois chuckled and shook his head.  “I think they are both important.  She
has skill, but she was working with the wrong weapons before.  Provided
that she is allowed to use a pair of daggers, or even a shortsword, she
will do well.”



Balrog nodded, looking around the room again.  Lois watched him for a few
moments, waiting to see if he would say anything else.  Finally, he decided
to break the silence himself.



“So, you didn’t just come here to talk about my apprentice and me.  Is
there another reason for your visit?”



The disguised lutin rubbed the back of his neck for a few moments before
nodding.  “There is another reason, yes,” he admitted.  “I have thought
about this since we worked together several years ago.  I wanted to ask for
a favor then, but I was never able to get it out.  When I saw you again I
started to think about it, started to stew on it, and I decided that I have
to ask, even if you won’t help me.”



Lois looked at his friend with a silent sort of appraisal.  He wasn’t
certain what his friend would ask him, but he only knew of a few things
that could be involved with asking him for a favor.  “I may be able to help
you, but it will depend largely on what the favor involves.  There are some
things I can do, and there are some things that I will not be able to do.”



Balrog nodded and sighed.  The light in the room was low, so Lois could not
see well what the expression on the man’s face was, but he could tell
simply from Balrog’s voice that he was conflicted.  “I confided in you
years ago about why I left my tribe in the Giantdowns.  The chief and
shaman are both intense supporters of Nasoj, despite all of his failures.  Many
of the tribe have demanded that we stop serving the mage, but the shaman is
too powerful, and has too much influence for anyone to truly challenge.  He
has mercilessly killed many who challenged the chieftan’s position.  They
have turned fear to their advantage, and the tribe does not dare to
challenge them anymore.  They need to die.”



Lois kept his expression neutral for a few moments, but it quickly changed
to a look of distaste.  “You want me to assassinate them,” he said quietly.



The lutin misunderstood the intent of the statement.  “I have saved some
gold since last we met.  I can afford to pay you if you need money.”



“No,” Lois said coldly.  “I will not take money to kill.”  He reached down
and picked up a pack that was set by the desk.  He searched through it for
a few moments before hissing a curse and dropping the pack back to its
place.  “I have turned my back on that part of my life.  I am not going
back.”



“Lois…”  The lutin rubbed the back of his neck again, trying to find a way
to rephrase the request to make it more attractive.  “Metamor itself is at
war with my tribe.  It would not be an assassination so much as an act of
war.”



Lois hissed in anger again.  He drew a bottle from where it had been
deposited in a drawer beside his desk and poured himself a glass of the
cheap wine inside it.  He sipped slowly, trying to calm his nerves.  “Act
of war…  That is how I always justified myself.  Always nothing more than
an act of war, justifiable by anyone who might challenge me…”  He took
another sip, glancing at Balrog as he did.  The lutin was frowning, but did
not seem to feel threatened at Lois’ outburst.



“You already work with their patrols,” Balrog pointed out.  “You will kill
my people in acts of war whether you justify it or not.  How much different
is killing two lutins, two lutins who need to die to prevent further
bloodshed, while they are in their tents?”



“I cannot do it, I will not do it anymore,” Lois insisted.  He took another
sip, only to find that he had already drained the glass entirely.  “I am
sorry, Balrog.  Our friendship remains unaltered, but I would not return to
assassination if the Duke asked me to.”



Balrog winced.  He had truly hoped that he would find some help from his
old friend, but he could not force him to perform an assassination if he
did not wish to.  “I am sorry for suggesting it,” he said with quiet
sincerity.



Lois shook his head as he retook his seat, a paw clasping his temples
between two claws.  “I am sorry, Balrog.  I did not mean to speak so
harshly.”  He looked up at the man, watching as Balrog shifted.  “You have
confided in me; allow me to confide in you.  I have sought to do away with
my reputation as an assassin for years now.  I can no longer justify the
deaths I have caused, and I wonder how I justified them before.  I hope
that I can somehow make amends for the pain I have caused, but I fear that
I can never do that now.  The one thing I cannot justify is returning to
that path after having left for so long.”  He managed to look Balrog
straight in the face for a moment.  “I wish I could help you, I really do.  I
realize that having to leave your own people because of their decisions is
difficult, but I am not the solution.”



The lutin nodded.  “You do not need to say any more.  I respect your
decision, even if I had hoped for something else.  One day, I will return
to my tribe, but I cannot do it while those two still live.”



Lois nodded and sighed softly.  “Then I hope that they both meet an
untimely demise at the end of a Keeper’s blade.  I can do nothing further.”



Balrog nodded to Lois, even managing to smile.  “And I hope that you can
escape the shadow of your past.”  He moved towards the door.  “I do not
have time to remain for long, I will be leaving with a patrol in the
morning and I need to prepare.”



The ermine nodded and stood to see his friend to the door.  The latch was
still undone, so the lutin had already opened the door by the time he
arrived.  Lois gave the man a solid pat to the back as he arrived.



“Take care of yourself in the field,” he said.  “We need you alive so that
you can make your return to your tribe once things have changed.”



Balrog chuckled quietly.  “I’ve survived in the human world for far longer
than most other lutins survive in our ancestral home.  I think I will be
fine for several days of work in the wild.”



The two shared a final laugh together before Balrog left.  Lois watched him
until he disappeared beyond the bend.  Sighing, he turned back to the rest
of the room, looking around with quiet frustration.  He wondered about what
he had done since leaving the life of an assassin.  What had he truly done
that could redeem a man from such a long life of dealing death?  Was there
anything that could truly wipe away the bloodstains that covered him from
head to toe?


Such considerations lasted only a few moments before he silenced them.  The
silence in his mind was something he had become used to over the course of
years.  It was the only way to escape from the answers to his musings.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integral.org/archives/mkguild/attachments/20130715/5ad55731/attachment.html>