An Accommodating Assassin

By Kurt Dysan

Lady Anne wants Jason to kill the King's youngest son. The Prince will have her husband for treason and have their property confiscated if she doesn't give in to his sexual demands. She also wants Jason to ravish her. Her beautiful slave girl, Arun, is also attracted to Jason and wants his help to escape.

The least he can do is to try to accommodate them all.

~~~~~ PG Excerpt ~~~~~

Jason waited until dusk before approaching the castle. He didn't need to wait for the fullness of dark, just for the light to fade enough that he wouldn't be noticed. In the light of day, he stood out. He was a trained warrior, fit and well-muscled; not a man to be inconspicuous among the peasants who routinely came and went, fetching food and running errands for the masters who lived in the castle.

He had no desire to attract attention. He'd left his sword and a few other tools of his trade with the innkeeper. A crafty combination of promises of gold and threats on his life would ensure the man's discretion and that they would be there when he returned for them. The man had a normal mixture of greed and fear, and Jason had no serious concerns about his things.

As he came close to the castle gate, he spotted the path to one side that he had been told would be there. It was easy enough to see if you were looking for it, and it led through hedges, down a slope by the moat and around the castle. The path was narrow and seldom used — it was overgrown in places, and branches of thorns and other bushes blocked his passage, but he easily pushed them aside.

The path meandered around the castle, ending at an embankment. There, he found what the servant who'd contacted him called a rabbit hole. It was a bit large for any rabbits Jason had ever seen, and although it was overgrown with brush, it was perfectly adequate for a man, even of his stature.

He entered the dank hole and followed a tunnel that angled down. As he entered the darkness, he trailed his hands along the damp earth on either side of him. He couldn't see in that darkness, but then what was there to see? Nothing else moved in the long tunnel.

He finally emerged in a small clearing just outside the castle at the base of its protective wall. Looking back, he could see he'd passed under the moat and now stood at a stout door. If he hadn't known it was there, if he hadn't been told to look for it, he might have missed it, as it blended into the wall.

Whoever built this castle intended this portal to serve as an escape route in a siege; Jason had no doubt that it likely found more use for assignations best-kept secret — like this one.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Boruma Publishing, LLC
• Release date: May 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463546734

Kurt Dysan

Kurt Dysan gets to the existential heart of human motivation, probing the emotional triggers that drive people from the beaten path and exploring the consequences of actions many of us think about but never actually take. Kurt writes and travels the world, especially lurking about Asia, keeping a much lower profile than his characters. You won't find him on Facebook or Twitter.

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