Taris felt himself flush just a bit, when Paytin began to help Aera undress, and looked away for a moment out of courtesy. She’d never know but Taris couldn’t bring himself to betray her trust like that. But he looked back when he heard a note of surprise in Paytin’s voice, Aera was going without gloves. Maybe he’d best not approach her for now, then, if she still thought him a threat, her choosing to go without gloves made him nervous. He watched a little more as Aera gently grabbed Paytin’s hand and examined the marks on her wrists. [i]Damn[/i], he thought, [i]I shouldn’t have lost my temper.[/i]

Aera left the room after telling the maid to stay, and Taris waved away the image, instead stepping into the darkness. He emerged slowly into Aera’s room keeping his hands to his sides, “Paytin.”
She turned with a jump, and stepped back involuntarily. “Taris, “ she answered shakily, holding her wrists.
The assassin made no attempt to move, instead he cast his eyes to the side. “I’m sorry, Paytin. I hurt one of my Sister’s and you have every right to demand a… ‘Resolution’ of me.”

He paused and he could tell she was weighing his words. If a member hurt another of his guild-brothers or -sisters, through action or inaction, the wronged guild member could demand what was called a ‘Resolution’ in the guild. One shot at the person who wronged them with whatever weapon they wanted. Usually a dart or dagger with a mild poison to make their lives miserable for a few days, but in severe cases, an arrow through the heart had happened before.

Paytin looked at him a moment or two and asked, “Are you in love with Aera?”
The question was not what he was expecting and it threw him hard, “I… I’m not sure.”
The maid nodded at this, “I understand, it’s hard to keep your mind on your mission around her, like she has this aura that pulls at you.” She shook her head after a moment, “I don’t want a ‘Resolution’ Taris, I’ll live. I’ve had worse bruises than this having a tumble with a friend.”

A laugh burst from Taris’ mouth, and he stepped forward slowly, taking her wrists gently in his hands. Reaching deep inside his soul he grabbed his power, it was hard to use magic like this on this side of the barrier, and sent a burst of healing into the bruises. He let go and reached into a pocket, pulling out a note and giving it to her, “Give this to Aera, to tell her I’m sorry. She’s no longer on the list.”

Paytin nodded and took the note, “Bet that was an enjoyable talk with the Guildmaster…” she watched as Taris snorted and melted into some darkness behind an armoire.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Taris walked along the streets sometime later, the sun just barely below the horizon. He needed a kill to clear his head, Paytin’s question had rattled him badly. His next target was the Duke of Mamron, and his son, Perro. A contact told him they were at a tavern in the richer part of the city, and Taris planned on ambushing them on their ride home outside of the city.

He was enjoying the failing light when someone bumped into him going the opposite direction, muttering a quick, “Sorry.” He felt a whisper of something in his head for just a fraction of a moment, before it was gone. The assassin glared and spun around, but the other person was gone, lost to the crowd. He instinctively checked his pockets, finding a piece of wheat that he knew had not been there, but nothing was missing. The man was good, that Taris couldn’t pick him back out of the crowd. [i]One of Envy’s then[/i, he thought, [i]it must be.[/i]

The elf sighed, and continued out of town, there was nothing he could do but go threaten the Kartaian. Something told him Aera might not appreciate that right now though, and he missed talking to her already. About a mile out of town he found a nice patch of trees and set up to wait.

A couple hours later he spotted them, they were on horseback instead of a carriage, surprising the elf. He changed his plans and pulled out a rope-dart, a length of light strong rope tipped with a barbed needle. He stood on the branch he was waiting on, until they were right beneath him. Taris threw the dart out, wrapping it around the son’s neck and hopped off the branch, hauling the young man into the air and strangling him, pinning the barb on the other end of the rope into a tree root. The Duke turned around and looked at his dying son in horror. Seeing the elf he drew his sword and charged with a scream. Taris waited patiently until the horse was upon him, deftly sidestepping the blade and swinging up behind the man in one fluid movement. “It was a good attempt,” he whispered into the man’s ear, before burying his dagger into the Duke’s kidney.

Within moments they were both dead, and Taris collected what coin they had, throwing their jewelry and other valuables into shadow, he had no need of them and wanted this to look like a bandit ambush. The assassin then stepped into shadow himself, heading back to his flat in the inn to make his report.