Gloved hands clutched at the roof tiles, the slate points digging through the thin leather into clutching palms. Water dripped steadily off the end of Thessa’s nose and onto her soaked cloak. She crouched, shivering under the harsh early morning breeze, which made the cold spring rain almost unbearable. The only other soul awake in this alleyway was a smokey gray cat, cleaning its coat with its tiny pink tongue, trying to lick away the stray drops still clinging to its fur. It was perched safely underneath the outcropping of the roof over the wall. It perched precariously while enjoying the rainy morning in a way only a cat could.
A sharp whistle echoed through the maze of houses, and Thessa leaped into movement, hastening to where she knew Sparrow would be waiting with information. Thessa’s feet were numb from waiting hours in the cold rain. Her movements had become slower and more clumsy as the hours of waiting had numbed her feet through the thick leather boots. The toe of her boot scraped across the slate tiles with a scraping noise as she jumped across the three-foot gap to the next roof. The gray cat jolted to its feet, back arched, hissing at the disturbance before dashing off into what was left of the night. Thessa picked up speed with each leap, hopping nimbly from roof to roof. Finally, she saw her guide come into view. Her guide for this mission was a young man with a lean slight figure like that of a boy who had not yet become a man. He was wrapped in swaths of dark fabric with only his eyes showing, gleaming under the pale moonlight.
Thessa suddenly stopped in front of Sparrow, the harsh movement knocking back Thessa's hood, revealing to the night sky a young woman with a black strapped leather mask over her mouth and nose. She had thin and straight brown hair pulled back from her face and twisted into a simple metal clip, bluish-grey eyes, and the slightest hint of freckles that peeked over the top of her mask.
“Where is the mark?” Thessa’s question came out more terse than she had planned.
“Hello, Thessa. You look tired. Do you need to rest?”
“Hello, Acolyte Sparrow.”
“It's okay to just call me Sparrow.”
“The Great Mother sees all Acolyte Sparrow. You would do well to remember that. Now, who is the target?”
“The man living in the two-story house with the red roof. The mark will be sleeping in the attic bedroom; your entrance is through the ventilation window on the back side of the house. I scoped the area. There have been more patrols tonight than I have seen in a while, but the last one just passed, so they should be gone for plenty of time to take out the mark. The house has no dogs, and no one else entered or exited the house, but just to be safe keep the job quiet and stick to the attic. I checked, and the window has been propped open for airflow, so no tools will be needed.”
Thessa nodded expecting the consult to be over and started stretching trying to get her cold and stiff joints limber enough to shimmy through a window. She was hyper-flexible and on a good day could scrunch herself into all manner of tiny cramped spaces, but rainy days tended to make her joints achy and unresponsive. Sparrow coughed to get her attention while she stretched, “The Priestess told me to make sure you leave no trace. Apparently, the marked one was eccentric and kept everything a certain way so try not to touch anything inside the room.”
It wasn’t unusual for Thessa to get so many instructions. The High Priestess never allowed for sloppy work. Her power was always best used when the marked criminal died in their sleep like a ghost had been there. Thessa wavered on her feet, her energy wavering for a moment as she thought through the job ahead. Sparrow watched her with thin slitted eyes but did not repeat his worry from earlier so Thessa turned away and leapt off toward her target's house.
The red roof was pretty obvious even under the moonlight. Just to be safe, Thessa checked to make sure she could see no other houses with a red roof. It was of utmost importance that the only person who would be affected by her work tonight was the intended mark. If any innocent was dragged into her work and had to be silenced, there would be hell to pay when she returned to the church to report. She stopped a roof away to check for lights in the house and to find her entrance point. She circled the appointed house twice to check for other people, traps, and the like. Getting chased and bitten in the arm by a guard dog that her previous guide had not warned her about once was enough to become extra careful and detailed about preparing for her hits. Sparrow was a newer guide and she didn’t fully trust his capabilities despite him never failing so far.
The entry point this time was little more than a small round vent hole with a bamboo cover to keep the house cool during summer. “Of course,” she whispered to herself upon realizing that her idea of an entry point and Sparrow’s was quite a few inches off. She measured the tiny round window with her eyes and glanced down at the diameter of her ass, groaning when she realized it was TECHNICALLY possible, although it would be a tight squeeze. Frowning, Thessa realized that either all her guides had gotten access to her exact measurements or Sparrow had been spending way too much time staring at her ass for her liking. She made a note to give him a good wack during the weekly sparring match tomorrow. Taking in a long deep breath Thessa closed her eyes. She breathed in, counting to five. Held the air tight in her lungs. Then let out the air slowly through pursed lips. After a few repetitions, she felt her heart rate slow down. Her mind stopped thrashing from one thought to the next, always jumping one thought ahead of her body. Instead, her entire being was primed for one thing and one thing only—the mark.
Thessa knew she would need as little extra bulk for this next maneuver so she stripped off the unnecessary parts of her outfit. She shed her waterproof cloak and removed the leather straps around her arms, thighs, and chest which held all her tools. None of them would be necessary for this specific job. Finally, Thessa removed her well loved boots knowing she would need maximum control to make it through the window. The only thing left on her body was a tight forest green long sleeve shirt and a pair of pants that clung to her legs but had enough give to move and stretch in. She left on her gloves and mask to protect her identity just in case someone saw her. Stashing her clothes inside the waterproof cloak Thessa took one last look around before leaping across the gap. She snagged the roof edge with her fingers. The sprint to the house had thankfully gotten her blood pumping and her fingers were warmer and most of their strength had returned. The eves thankfully held firm under her weight but the momentum from the jump sent her legs swinging underneath her towards the wall. Thessa squeezed her core and leg muscles tight, coming up a few centimeters short of slamming into the wall and possibly waking up the household.
A few feet down, directly underneath her, was the window, and from this angle, her only option was feet first. Thessa huffed, grabbing the edge of the roof slates tighter and gripping her toes into the top edge of the window sill. Once her feet were in place, she stopped to listen for any signs of someone waking up, and upon hearing nothing other than the sound of light snoring, she shoved her left foot through the vent hole gripping the window with the strength of her feet. Thessa carefully switched her grip on the roof to be one-handed. Gripping both the roof and wall tighter with her left side she bent sideways to grasp the window sill with her now free hand. Her body screamed from the unnatural angle of the stretch but she managed to grip the top edge of the window with the tips of her fingers. Believing in her grip strength she loosened her grip on the roof and quickly but carefully switched it to the top of the window next to her other hand.
Eventually, Thessa shifted both legs through the open window until only her torso was hanging out, without her grip failing. Feeling around with her feet, she made contact with a sturdy, flat surface and began the painful process of slowly squeezing through the opening. The pockets of her pants got caught on the edge of the window but a sharp tug yanked her the rest of the way through the window and onto the surface. Thessa ended up crouching on a desk next to a messy pile of documents. Ignoring the documents she stepped off the desk and into the attic bedroom. The bedroom itself was even less orderly than the messy desk. There were mixed piles of haphazardly stacked clothes and miscellaneous items in almost every corner of the room with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Used to the stark empty rooms of the church, Thessa's nose wrinkled as she glanced around at the piles of unnecessary stuff.
There was no light in the room except that from the tiny ventilation window. On the other side of the room, a man lay snoring in his bed tucked under a red blanket, none the wiser as she approached. Thessa carefully sidestepped the items on the floor being extra careful to follow directions and not touch anything. She tugged off her left glove with her teeth. Thessa took off the glove on her left hand, revealing the sigil etched permanently into its back. It was the image of the Order of Aeito, a star with 8 points that bled to represent the Goddesses' three sacrifices. She traced the shape of the star absentmindedly, before shoving the glove into her pocket and approaching the graying middle-aged man. The man was still snoring and obviously fast asleep. Taking one final glance around the room for unanticipated dangers, Thessa reached forward with her uncovered hand and pressed her palm against the man's forehead.
The man opened his eyes at the touch but it was already too late for him to save himself. Her power ran through the man in an instant, tightly locking up his entire body. Thessa looked down at the unfortunate man who had been led astray and called upon her God with a quiet whisper, “Great Mother save your child's soul.” Thessa could feel the man strain against his bonds trying to break free and attack her with a muffled growl from inside his throat. Her power welled up inside her at the call. It felt like a change in air pressure which sucked the air out of their throats and out of the room into the night air. The hair on the back of her neck stood up like she was standing in the path of an oncoming lightning strike. Thessa’s eyes flashed gold as her ears filled with the sound of a buzzing ring inside her head. The buzzing grew louder until it felt like thousands of bees inside her head. Just as Thessa felt a scream building up inside her throat, her ears popped leaving her alone inside the silent bedroom.
Thessa gingerly removed her palm from the man's still-warm skin. The adrenalin had left her body entirely, leaving her hands cold and clammy. She clenched her fists open and closed a few times before wiping the moisture off onto her pants absent-mindedly. The man looked peaceful aside from his wide-open unseeing eyes. Thessa felt no need to stay and check to make sure that his soul was gone knowing it to be true. Gently pressing her fingers to his eyelids, she pushed them down, whispering, “May his soul rest in the Great Mother's embrace,” Stepping back, Thessa left the way she came in. She slipped out as silently as she had come, leaving behind her peaceful mark, who had been playing with fire and finally gotten burned. Climbing back out of the window and onto the roof was easier than getting in. When Thessa arrived back at the rooftop from earlier that night, she found her guide waiting patiently on his back, arms behind his head and eyes closed and snoozing despite the cold and wet roof he was inhabiting.
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“Ehem.” Thessa coughed just loud enough to startle the unfocused man cat-napping in the drizzle. He sat up sitting cross-legged and blinked at her unrepentantly rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the back of his fist, “No problems right?” Thessa nodded, wrapping her cloak further around her middle to stave off the chill, “Wow, you are always so perfect. You are the best of us for a reason I guess. Well thankfully we just have the one job tonight, it was a priority so the Priestess gave us all night to deal with it and we only have to return before the morning service."
“That is a pleasant thought because I am tired and hungry. Maybe I can finally take a nice long break after this.”
“In that case do you want to get breakfast before we head back to the church?” Thessa’s mouth spread into a small smile underneath her mask at the thought of eating something that wasn’t Priestess Thorpe's cooking. She responded to the query with a tired jerky nod. Acolyte Sparrow shifted nervously like he was being tugged in two directions, “Oh wait, I forgot I had to deliver this to the High Priestess as soon as I got it! She is going to be so annoyed, but I don’t want to leave you here all alone.”
Thessa put him out of his misery, “It’s fine. I will just pop down to the bakery a few blocks that way. Maybe I will pick you up a bun too even though you are abandoning me.” Sparrow whined but seemed less worried about running off to finish the tasks he should have done hours ago.
“Bye Thessa.”
Thessa squinted at him.
“You are no fun. Bye Acolyte Thessa.”
“Good luck with bathroom duty again. I will see you during the morning ceremony.” Sparrow let out a whining groan as he climbed off the roof and footed it towards the Church at top speed.
The sun had just started to peak in the horizon casting the sky with hues of gold and orange. Thessa sat for a while enjoying the rare sight of an unobstructed dawn. Eventually, it was the scent of freshly baked bread that slowly trickled out of the baker's ovens and into the cool humid morning which woke her out of her daze and set her stomach growling angrily at being ignored for so long. The sun had risen high enough that the light was bathing her face in golden rays. Her ears filled with the sound of people waking up and getting on with their day which filled the still drowsy city with the early morning buzz of the working class.
Thessa’s nose led her to a busy bakery a few blocks away. The only thing separating it from any other building was an old soot-stained wooden plaque that had the image of a crossed spoon and fork and a loaf of bread which symbolized a bakery. But despite the dilapidated conditions, there were many people wandering by the bakery tossing a coin on the counter and leaving with a freshly baked loaf of bread or a bun. Thessa waited for a gap in customers and quickly trotted across the street over to the bread tray in the bakery window. Thessa sighed at the mouth-watering sight of fresh golden brown buns drizzled in honey and sprinkled with chopped almonds and flakey salt. Thessa pulled out her money pouch and glanced inside. She didn’t often have a reason to use the pocket money the acolytes were given since her guide usually paid for them both. Inside were a handful of coins of varying sizes and colors. Since there were no prices, Thessa just shrugged and dropped one of the smaller-sized coins on the counter before reaching for a honey-glazed bun. She was so intent on getting her breakfast that she didn’t notice the man leaning against the wall to her right until his large, rough hand wrapped around her reaching wrist, yanking it back a few inches from the tray of buns that were just begging to be devoured.
Thessa glanced down at the hand inexplicably attached to her wrist wondering sleepily why someone would block her from her much-needed calories. She had spent all day yesterday training a new acolyte and before she could get any sleep was sent off to do a job halfway across the city. Due to the lack of sleep, her processing speed was marginal at best. Thessa frowned at the annoying hand which had yet to release her wrist. The man's hand was twice as big as hers, covered in calluses and old scarred knicks from using a sword or knife. Following the path of his wrist, her stare hesitated at his strong arms and broad shoulders, noting that he was obviously a working man from the strength residing under simple clothes with plenty of room to move. He was wearing the stiff uniform of the city guard, black with silver accents on the collar buttons and cuffs. Eventually, her processing speed caught up to the fact that this city guard was gripping her wrist like a street rat stealing bread, and also currently keeping her from her breakfast. “I already paid. Sir.” The sir came out a bit late and ground out between her teeth, not liking the assumption that just because she looked poor she was a thief.
“Careful, it's hot.” The voice was deep and gravelly, coming from above her head as the man towered above her. Glancing at the tray, Thessa’s brain finally registered the steam and heat waves rolling off the tray that had obviously just been pulled from the oven. Flushing in embarrassment at being corralled like a stray child by a complete stranger, she yanked her hand out of his grip using more effort than she would have expected from a simple city guard. Everyone knew that city guards were corrupt and useless, “I knew that. I am wearing gloves, after all.” She wiggled her ungloved digits in front of the man's face realizing seconds too late that she had never put her glove back on after her job.
“Whatever you say, princess.” He chuckled, obviously enjoying her suffering as her brain was desperately trying to keep her upright and speaking coherently.
“I am not a princess.”
“You could have fooled me, throwing money around like that in this part of town?”
“I did not th- wait, what?”
“That coin,” he pointed to the coin she had dropped on the window sill, “could buy a couple of trays of buns. Where is your minder, Princess? Little girls with no concept of money shouldn’t be wandering around this part of the city alone.” Thessa smiled at him prim and fake “My thanks, good sir. But I can take care of myself.” Refusing to admit that she didn’t know how money worked, Thessa ignored the fact that she had overpaid and grabbed a single bun with her right hand, leaving the money lying where it was. She couldn’t help but give the guard one last glance out of the corner of her eye before walking across the road to get further away from the embarrassing situation. She could hear the man asking for a loaf of bread from the baker and took a not-at-all-covert glance behind her.
The man wheeled around after thanking the baker for his loaf of bread, which he stuffed into a linen sack, and she finally got a solid look at his face. His face had a very noticeable face for a simple guard. Handsome in a very rugged way. He had a strong nose, a sharp jawline with a well-kept short beard, and curly black hair. The guard glanced up catching her eyes on him and his face became pensive as he walked down the street and out of sight. Thessa couldn’t help but wonder what on earth the smug man was imagining about her, but when he walked around the corner she shook him from her mind feeling assured that they would never meet again so it didn’t matter what he or anyone thought of her.
Thessa’s back grew tense as her walk back to the convent led her through the slums and past the bottom of the forgotten tower. She practically inhaled the bun while she walked and quickly wished she hadn’t been so easily embarrassed and had grabbed a second one. She followed a sidepath off of the main strip and down a small staircase that dropped down below the city streets and into a maze-like tunnel system that ran under the entire city. It was difficult to path-find down there even for the most knowledgeable slum rat. Thessa had taken this pathway through the bowels of the city so many times she could walk it with her eyes closed, that is if she wasn’t keeping an eye out for the rats that populated the tunnels and the occasional thief or cutthroat wandering about down here up to no good. She walked this way and that, sometimes backtracking not because she lost her way but because this was how she had been shown to path-find down here and why test her luck and possibly get stuck down in the tunnels to die.
After what felt like much too long but only amounted to about 20 minutes at a casual stride Thessa reached the nondescript wooden door which she had been seeking. At this point, Thessa knew that the tunnels had led her underneath where the Church of the Great Mother sits in all its stately glory. The Church entrance was only for the congregation of their church, so the Acolytes with jobs outside of the church's four walls had to come and go through the tunnel system. Nobles were so weird about which doors people used and stuff like that. Thessa raised a fist and thumped the door twice, lowering her hand as the door swung open almost instantly, letting the warm glow of candlelight stretch out to snuff away the dark of the tunnels. Acolyte Marcia’s worried, plump face was tilted beyond the door to stare at her. Marcia's hands clutched the door tightly, the red of her chubby hands turning white under the pressure. She was smiling brightly, but her brow had a slight pinch, and her body language was tense enough that Thessa had to do a double take. Something was wrong.
“Oh my, oh my, thank goodness you have arrived, Acolyte Thessa. The High Priestess has been so insistent to see you. She keeps walking up behind me and peering at me intensely like I am keeping you in my pockets or something.”
“I see. Thank you Acolyte Marcia for the message I will head over right now.” Thessa moved to walk away with as much speed as would not be considered rude. Not because she was in such a hurry to see the Priestesses, but because stopping meant that Marcia would hear a silence and become compelled to fill it. Thessa had neither the time nor the energy to listen to the Church Gossip, but that didn’t stop Marcia from scampering along behind her and starting in on it anyway.
“So of course, everyone has heard that Sparrow was late in fulfilling his tasks and got reprimanded by both the High Priestess and Priestess Thorpe. He apparently has Bathroom cleaning duty for the rest of the month.”
“hmm,” Thessa responded noncommittally, hoping to end the conversation before it got to a roll. She was desperate to check in with the High Priestess as quickly as possible so she could final dShe stopped at the coat rack, stripping off her outside clothes and boots and replacing them with the vestments she left there last night, and her pair of indoor shoes. It was a simple red robe with a white rope tied loosely around her waist.
“And Acolyte Trella finally got caught flirting with that noble boy she is obsessed with. Honestly you would think she would learn after the last time, but no. She has been restricted to the church grounds indefinitely until she can learn to be ladylike, which means she will most likely never get to leave again.”
Thessa didn’t bother to reply this time but Marcia was stubborn when it came to gossip. She paused for a moment and Thessa hoped that Marica was done but it seemed she was only trying to gather suspense for her last piece of gossip, “Acolyte Rya didn’t come back last night.”
The entrance to the Priestesses chamber was just within reach, but Thessa paused at the threshold, finally turning to acknowledge Marcia, who was practically buzzing to unload the best piece of gossip. Unlike the rest of the gossip, which was just the same old happenings, this was new.
“You aren’t serious, are you? Acolyte Rya skipped work? Ridiculous.” Thessa shook her head in disbelief.
“That would be juicy gossip since she was even more obsessive about her work than you are, but no it's even crazier.” Marcia paused trying to drag out the suspense.
“Just say it plainly, Marcia.”
“Fine you spoil sport. They sent the guide Raven after her when she didn’t show up last night and he managed to find her.”
“Where?”
“Not where but how! She was dead. Like full-on dagger to the chest lying in a puddle of her blood.” Marica's voice had amped up in pitch and speed until she was practically screaming, whispering the gory details. Thessa let out a gasp of shock. The story seemed impossible, but while Marcia was known to exaggerate her stories, she wasn’t a lier, which could only mean one thing. An acolyte was dead, and not by natural causes.
