An Assassin in Stones Kingdom

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King Epirius barged into the room with an angry countenance, he had been disturbed from his peaceful slumber by a meeting the elders decided to host.

At his sight, everyone present at the table stood up immediately and only sat down when he was seated.

"Speak," He commanded.

"Your Majesty, there have been some rumors running around that there is an Assassin here in our kingdom," The Duke said.

"What do you mean, what Assassin?" He asked. The anger he entered with had completely vanished, replaced by something else.

"Yesterday we found over twenty bodies of bandits scattered on the square, some impaled and some, beheaded," General Sam said.

"Some people who were out late last night admitted that they had seen someone, he moved swiftly like the wind, he was light on his feet and very skilled,"

"What were they doing out so late?" Epirius asked.

"They complained that the tax was too high so they had to work late to make money and then they were attacked by bandits." General Sam said again.

"But then the Assassin finished them off and according to the people, in less than a minute," The old Duke said.

"What, a total of twenty Bandits in less than a minute?" Epirius asked and they nodded.

"Okay, let's take it this way, The Bandits have been a thorn in our flesh, and finally someone came and pulled it out, have you ever considered that this Assasin might be on our side?" King Epirius asked.

"Well no, but now that you said it, it might be possible," The Duke said.

"But we can't take our chances, we need to ensure the safety of our people," Evie said. She had grown beautifully and wise, she demanded to be heard as the future queen and now she was included in every meeting.

"This is nonsense, we have nothing to worry about," King Epiruis said.

"..."

"Alright, Sam, put up a curfew hour, every resident of this kingdom must abide by them," He said again and General Sam nodded.

King Epirius stood up abruptly and excused himself just like that, he wasn't taking this case seriously, but those who heard about what was happening and saw the horrified look on the poor subjects' faces knew this was something that was not meant to be taken lightly.

Later that day, after the dismissal of the meeting, General Sam proceeded to give a new announcement about the curfew hours, all residents were not allowed to be seen outside their houses at the sight of midday.

''There will be guards on patrol at every corner and street and anyone who is caught disobeying these orders coming directly from the king will be penalized," General Sam shouted as he rode on his horse accompanied by two other soldiers as they rode through every streets of the kingdom and also piercing papers of the law to the walls.

The subjects were curious, but they dared not disobey the king's orders, he was ruthless and wouldn't think twice about killing them. Penalize was just a way to make it sound pretty. However, the bandits were born violators, they knew the bandits were still going to find a way to come out.

***************

At night when the full moon was up, the skies were clear with no sign of clouds and just the stars gleaming beautifully could be seen.

Evie was brushing her locks, sitting by the window of her room, staring into the peaceful darkness when she heard a pained scream.

It was the sound of a man, and it was coming from within the castle walls, causing her to jolt. She hastily ran out of her chamber and down the stairs, she alerted the guards, and they trailed behind her until they finally reached outside the Castle building.

The sight made Evie's tummy churn, the blood painted the floors of the Courtyard, and their organs were gouged out. She looked around and saw the soldiers all dead and lifeless, lying in their pools of blood.

Shortly after, Epirius came out of his chambers, he couldn't believe his eyes, he didn't have enough soldiers from the last time he sent them after those slave girls back in the forest, and now his remaining Soldiers were dead. He now had a few left, apart from the new ones that were still under training.

"What the fuck happened here?" He asked.

"The Assassin," General Sam simply said.

"Your Majesty," A soldier called, staring at a wall. Epirius took slow strides towards the soldier who called him and froze when he saw what was written on the wall, with blood.

'Watch Your Back Epirius, I Am Coming For You,' it said.

Epirius felt weak in the knees, he finally recognized this feeling, it was fear. He had never been scared before, but right now he could feel shivers run down his spine.

"Find out who did this and kill them!!" He yelled with his hands balled into fists.

"Clean this up!!" He yelled again, talking to those who were around him. He was panicking but didn't want to show it so he wouldn't be considered a weakling, a useless emperor.

He turned and went back into the castle and Evie followed. They walked through the halls and Evie kept on adding to his worries with her complaints.

"Father, you've seen it for yourself, this Assassin, he is not on our side! We need to take action now!" She said.

"Enough Evie?!" He yelled as he halted in his tracks, causing Evie to jolt in surprise.

"Do you think I'm not making an effort, I am trying my hardest!" He yelled again and then ran his fingers through his hair with his other hand on his waist.

"You are scared, I know you more than anyone Father, you are scared you may not survive this and you are only trying to protect yourself!" She said angrily.

"Evie!" He called her name with a warning tone, his hands clenched into fists.

"Yes, you do not care about anyone but yourself, not your soldiers, not your subjects, not me. You are an incompetent king!" Evie said and Epirius raised his hands, about to hit her but it stopped in mid-air, however, Evie didn't flinch.

"Go to your room," He said, and despite knowing how much her Father despised disobedience towards him, she didn't listen to him.

"I am not the scared little girl you always order around back then Father, I will go to my room whenever I want to," She said and turned in the opposite direction, heading back to the courtyard to help the soldiers and maids clean up the bodies.

"What a little bitch," he cursed under his breath while massaging his temples. The migraine he felt was out of this world.