The Discovery of an Assassin

by Brian Keller

  Once through the door Cooper saw they’d entered a room filled front to back with rows of tiny but tall tables. Each table wouldn’t be able to hold an unrolled parchment without it hanging off the edges. The tops of the tables were all tilted and each table had its own stool paired up with it. The very tops of the tables, the part furthest from the stools, were horizontal and each had its own inkpot and quill. There were a series of bookcases in the back of the room that were loaded with books and rolls of parchment. He could see that he and the old man were the only two people in the room. He followed the old man to the center of the room and the old man gestured about and asked, “Do you see anything out of place in this room?”. Yet again, Cooper had been caught off guard. ‘Would this ever end?’, he wondered. Cooper looked around. Everything seemed strange to him, the tables weren’t right, they were too small, and they were tilted. The stools looked too tall for the tables. But everything matched… the rows were neat and aligned. All the tables were clear, but tilted the way they were he would’ve been surprised to find that anything stayed where you put it. But he was fairly certain that this wasn’t what the old man was asking. Cooper glanced across the back wall and smiled, “The corner bookcases aren’t right.”. The old man raised his bushy brows again, which Cooper had to admit (to himself) was a rather impressive sight. “What’s wrong with them, young man?”. It took a moment for him to think about his answer and he decided that all he could do is describe what he saw, since anything else would be guesswork. He pointed to one corner, “That bookcase is firmly in the corner”, he stated. Then he turned to point in the other direction, “That one is not. It sits about eight inches away from the corner.”. “Quite correct”, said the old man, “and what would you deduce from that?”. He faced Cooper with a look of calculation. Cooper felt like he was being tested but no idea why, or for what. “Absolutely nothing, sir.” The old man looked a disappointed, but there was still a little twinkle in his eye. Cooper added, “Unless I’ve overlooked something I don’t have enough information to make a deduction, but I could venture a few guesses.”

  The old man smiled, “Fair enough.”, he said. “Follow me and see if your ‘guesses’ have any merit.”. The old man walked to the bookcase that set back away from the corner. He removed a book to reveal a cord hanging from the wall. He gave the cord two quick tugs, paused and then pulled again. From some other location Cooper thought he heard corresponding ringing of a small bell. The old man replaced the book and stepped away from the bookcase, indicating that Cooper should stand beside him. No sooner had he done so then he heard a strong clunk, like someone drawing back a large deadbolt. He then saw the entire shelf shift away from the wall a few inches, as if levitating, then shift left several inches before rotating away to reveal a hole through the wall leading to a hallway.

  The old man smiled at him and said, “The craftsman got the plans reversed. That bookcase was supposed to set in the corner just like the other one, and it was supposed to shift and rotate in the other direction. It amuses me to keep it as it is now. Guards of any kind rarely come into the Copyist’s Room, but when they do, none of them notice the discrepancy, or if they have no one has mentioned it. Of course, the craftsman was killed for his error, and to keep the passage secret, but that was a long, long time ago.”. A boy who looked to be a year or two older than Cooper stepped from the passage into the room and looked expectantly at the old man.

  The old man hadn’t acknowledged the other boy and continued speaking to Cooper, “Nowadays, the only people that notice the error are our recruits. As I said, it amuses to me see which of them notice and who does not.”. Cooper sputtered, “Excuse me… recruits?!?” The old man gave him a critical look, “Why, of course, young man. What do you think you’re doing here? Didn’t Phineas explain any of this to you?”. Upon hearing that name, Cooper heard a sharp intake of breath from the other boy. The old man had paused in thought but before Cooper could reply the man continued, “No, I don’t suppose he would’ve, would he.” He noticed that the last comment was an observation, not a question; and the old man seemed to be speaking more to himself than to anyone else.

  The old man seemed to wake from a brief daydream and turned a sympathetic eye to him, then turned to the other young man, passed the token with the cat’s eye over to him, and asked in a pleasantly conversational tone said, “This young man has no idea why he’s here but he has likely had quite an experience in the last day or so. Show him to the newcomer’s room and see that he gets settled. Please try to answer his questions as well as you are able, and try to fill in some answers to questions he might not think to ask. Understood?” The boy had been holding the token in his outstretched hand as if he were waiting for it to bite him. The old man’s last word lashed the other boy like a whip. Even Cooper had jumped a little bit. The boy’s face took on a shocked expression and he snapped to a position of attention that would make the most seasoned Sergeant of the Guard proud. “You can count on me, Master Worthan!”

  Master Worthan then turned back to Cooper and said, “This is Tolbirt, you heard the instructions I have just given him. Follow him.” With that said, Master Worthan turned and walked away.

  Tolbirt extended a hand, and Cooper reached forward and clasped it. Tolbirt released his grip quickly and said, “As Master Worthan told you, my name’s Tolbirt. Most everyone calls me Birt, but I’ll answer to either one. Most times anyone calls me Tolbirt I figure they need something from me or I’ve been discovered doing something I shouldn’t.” Cooper guessed the boy was around twelve years old and thought ‘he should be Manifesting soon’. Birt was a few inches taller than him. He had sandy blond hair parted on one side with what looked like a stubborn cowlick in the back. Cooper wasn’t one to look harshly on that since his own hair always looked like it was wrestling with itself… and losing. Birt had an oval face with a slightly pointed chin that seemed to be tucked in under and behind his mouth.

  Cooper tried to mimic Birt’s good natured introduction, “Cooper. I suppose I get called a few other things from time to time, but Cooper’s all I really answer to.”. Unless something happened to make him change his mind, he’d already decided that Birt was a likeable sort.

  Birt nodded, “Alright, Cooper it is then. Wow, you’ve got quite a pair of eyes there, don’t you?” Birt paused for a moment while he considered the token in his hand. “Well, I’d imagine that you’re full of questions right about now. How about I just cover the broad strokes and then you ask your questions to fill in the blanks? I can talk while we walk.”

  Cooper stopped him, “Before we get all caught up in that, there’s something I’d like to ask now in case I forget to ask later…what can you tell me about Phineas?”

  Birt shushed Cooper, “First thing I’ll tell you is that he hates that name. Don’t use it, and certainly never if there’s a chance he could hear you. The name he goes by is Felis, and you’d do well to get it right. Especially since the sound of it is closer to his real name than anything else. You might hear some of the older students refer to him as Philius, or even Phyllis if they are trying to be especially disrespectful. I wouldn’t recommend that. Felis heard an Enforcer Adept call him that and dragged him to the Training Room for a lesson. The Adept spent the following week in the infirmary, and that was after some of our best healers took round-the-clock shifts for the first two days to keep the fool alive. The scary thing is, Felis isn’t even considered to be one of our best Assassins, he hasn’t even achieved Master status, though I have no doubt he soon will. He’s twice as active as any of our Masters. I’ll say this about you though. Something about you must’ve made quite an impression on him. This is the first time I’ve ever seen his token. I had started to wonder whether he even had one. He’s never recruited anyone as far as I know.”

  Cooper knew. “Master Worthan told me that he hadn’t seen Felis’ token for a few years, but he may have been exaggerating.” Birt didn’t think long about his reply, “Master Worthan isn’t prone to exaggeration
. And you might think that he’s just an old man but he doesn’t miss a thing.”

  Cooper asked, “What is Master Worthan a master of?”. “Languages.”, was Birt’s reply. Birt had answered almost too fast, like he had his answer prepared. “Alright let’s get you educated about where you are. Then once you feel like you know enough to settle in I’ll expect a little story from you. I don’t need to get my questions answered immediately, I won’t forget to ask later.” Cooper was trying to decide whether Birt was teasing him or testing him. From the twitching at the corners of Birt’s mouth, Cooper decided he was teasing, and quick nudge from Birt seemed to confirm it. “C’mon”, he said. “Let’s find you a bunk.”.

  As they walked through hallways, Birt told him that at this moment they were more on College grounds than in the Trade Quarter. The information bounced from topic to topic sometimes but it was all good information. “This part of the school has some of the oldest structures in the city. I’m not sure if our buildings are the oldest, but they’re close. Either way, we have a feature that other parts of the school don’t. We’re mostly underground. As our members get older, they attend many classes in the college. Some of our members attend the college full time during the day and then spend a couple hours a day here. Before we get too deep into what all happens here, I suppose I should start off with the stuff that’ll apply to you starting immediately. Birt turned right and walked through a wide archway. They were now in a wider hallway that was about eighty feet long with doors on either side every twenty feet. Birt went to the first door on the right and paused before working the latch. Birt told Cooper, “This room is where our bunks are. In this hallway, this is the only room you go into unless you are sent into one of the others for some reason. If you go into one of those other rooms unbidden, you could get roughed up a little.” He nodded that he understood. Birt opened the door and they walked in.

  In the Trade Quarter, Cooper had walked past a stable before and that was the impression he had looking into this room. There was a center hall about four feet wide that went the depth of the room, which was about forty feet. There were a series of short walls, one on each side of the room, every seven or eight feet. This divided the large room into eight ‘stalls’, four on each side. Each space had a narrow bed and a footlocker. The spaces that were already claimed had other belongings, of course. Birt told him to find an unoccupied space and ‘settle in’. While he unstrapped all his worldly belongings, he placed some on the floor and some into the footlocker, Birt continued talking. “I’ve been here about six months now. In this hall, the first year recruits, Manifested or not, work as couriers. We carry messages all over the city. For us, in our first year, most of us take our classes in the Copyist’s room. That’s the room where I came and picked you up. Master Worthan teaches most days, but it could be any teacher, sometimes we even have a teacher come in from the college. Any time there’s a message that needs delivering one of us will be called away from our lessons to carry it. All throughout the day we’ll all be coming in and going out. We all take turns delivering messages. If something big happens in the city that affects a lot of people, we can expect the classroom to get emptied quickly. Most of us in our first year are learning to read and write. Many of us are also learning our way around the city. Most of us were street kids, but whatever you were before and wherever you lived, that’s all in the past.” A thought flashed through Cooper’s mind, “Sorry, Egil. I won’t be forgetting about you.”

  Birt continued, “Once you have satisfied your requirements as a first year student, you can take the tests. If you pass you can advance to second year. Second year students spend their time learning different lessons. From what I’ve learned we all stay as second year students until we Manifest. Once any of us Manifests, we get tested during some kind of ceremony that the Masters do each month, and at that time the Masters decide the direction each person’s education goes.

  Birt walked over to his own bunk, retrieved a wineskin and took a swig. “Whew, all this talking is thirsty work!”, Birt smiled and continued, “I don’t fully understand how a person’s educational plan goes, of course. I’m not even sure about what classes we might attend, but I know we have healers and poisoners, we have forgers and break-in artists, we also have thugs and assassins. I’m sure the list goes on, but those are the specialties I know of. Welcome to the Guild.”. Birt took another swig, “That’s most of the broad strokes except for continuing the tour. Privy’s in the back of the room, and dining hall is back in the first hall we were in two doors, well, first huge archway to be precise, further down on the left. As a courier, you’ll be paired with me until you know your way around. Once you’ve learned your way all around the city, it’ll be your turn to show the next Scribe recruit around. What are your questions?”.

  Cooper thought for a few seconds and asked, “You say ‘Scribe recruit’ like there are other kinds of recruits…?” Birt nodded, “Good catch, yes. There are also Enforcer recruits, they focus on building strength, endurance and fighting skills during first and second years, I think, but they don’t get to ignore lessons in reading and writing. No one gets to advance to second year without passing their tests in reading, writing, and figuring. Scribe recruits make up the majority of recruits, from the Scribe field we can pretty much go into any specialty depending on how someone Manifests, even into Enforcement. An Enforcer recruit usually stays in that field. If they Manifest powerfully enough with an affinity contrary to Enforcement they can find themselves in a different specialty, but from what I hear those are unusual cases.

  Cooper felt he had to ask, “What if recruits fail any tests along the way? Or what if they Manifest very weakly?” Birt said, “I can’t say for certain but I know there are older students that are respected forgers, accomplished thieves and decent apothecaries. There are also a few older scribes that bring in a fair amount of coin by simply copying rare books and selling them. I’m sure there are others that have been assigned by the Guild to other positions, including positions as house staff for the noble and the wealthy of the city, brothel workers and slum House Fathers, for example.”

  Birt told Cooper, “We’ll be around each other almost all the time for the next couple weeks at least. During the day we’ll be at lessons or making courier runs. We can’t really talk about Guild stuff during those times, but save up your questions during the day and you can ask me in the evenings.” Cooper was thankful for that, but he had one or two more questions he wanted to ask. “How are Assassin’s classified? It seems like they’d be thought of as Enforcement…?”. Birt said he wasn’t sure, but he thought there were less than a dozen full-fledged Assassins. “The guild has several Killers but the distinction between those two specialties was like comparing a City Guardsman with a Sword Master. And from what I have heard, being an Assassin isn’t completely based on strength of Manifestation, although affinities certainly play a part. I have also heard a rumor that the Guild only has so many Assassin positions available and the Masters assess the candidates for ‘promotion’ whenever there was a vacancy. Keep in mind that is purely a rumor. I would’ve kept that bit to myself, but since you asked…” Cooper figured he already knew the response he’d get from his next question, “What’s it take to become an Assassin?”. Birt gave him a knowing smile, as if he’d expected that question sooner, “Dunno. Ahem. I don’t know. I expect the only ones that do are the Assassins themselves and the Masters.”

  Birt looked at him as if to ask if there were any other questions for the moment. Cooper shook his head. Birt took this opportunity to lean against the partition wall next to Cooper’s bed and asked, “So, what can you tell me about Felis? You’re the one that showed up carrying his token, after all.” As Cooper relayed the story, Birt’s eyes kept getting bigger and bigger. He told Birt about Skaiven’s death and the expectation of being next to die, Birt seemed impressed enough with the description of the pile of gems and jewelry, but didn’t seem to know what to think when he got to the part about havin
g to return it all. Birt’s eyes seemed to go out of focus while he voiced his thoughts, “So he spoke to you like you were both just regular people…? And he was helpful…?”. Birt shook his head as if to clear it. “Ah, that reminds me, here,”, he handed the cat’s eye token back over to Cooper, who accepted it, “since you’re still sparkling new here, there may be others that inquire who you are and what you’re doing here. Show them this. In a few days, or a week, or sometime after that when he thinks of it, Felis will come and reclaim his token. Hang onto it until then.” Birt paused for a moment, lost in thought, then spoke again, ”Considering the token and the owner, treat it like a prized possession, because it is. We call them tokens, but what they are in street terms are Markers. As in having someone owe you a favor and you ‘call in your Marker’. There are plenty of people here that would like to be in possession of that token. You understand what I’m telling you?”. Birt paused again and frowned, “I need to speak plainly, instead of skirting around the topic,”, Cooper hadn’t realized there was any skirting going on, but Birt continued, “students here are forbidden from fighting anywhere outside the Training Room. There are penalties for injuring or killing another student. If a student is badly injured or killed, the Masters have to convene to assess the circumstances and determine what the punishment will be. They do not even like having to convene once a month for judging Manifestation and for administering Tests, so any additional meetings are usually very brief and not to either student’s benefit. That’s not to say that there aren’t fights or scuffles, there are. Just try walking into a senior student’s quarters without permission and you’ll see what I mean. I only mention this to you since you’re new, and because you’re carrying a token that belongs to Felis. When he handed you that token he was vouching for you. He also ‘marked’ you. What I’m trying to say, and failing miserably, is that by giving you that token he has also put both you and himself at risk. Almost everyone here fears him to some degree, and those who don’t certainly respect his abilities. There are very few, however, who would say they like him and several here may even dislike him strongly enough to take your token, likely harming you in the process, to gain a Marker belonging to Felis.”. As Cooper began to feel a sense of dread forming around him like a mist, Birt continued, “I wouldn’t worry though. Master Worthan has seen you with that token. Anyone else caught with it would be investigated…. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t help you to heal.”.