Catching a Break

Every once in a while, things break your way.

Image by Thomas Wolter from Pixabay 

Lorna wished she could catch a damned break. Just once. Was that too much to ask? The human had been following her for several blocks now. The wood elf led him down a darkened alley, giving him the opening he had clearly been waiting for. He took it.

She sidestepped her assailant as he came at her from behind, simultaneously applying a crushing grip to his knife-wielding wrist and applying her own blade to his neck. The human froze as his hand spasmed, then released his knife, sending it clattering to the ground.

“When,” Lorna grunted, letting her knife taste his blood, “will you humans learn that you invariably announce your presence like a bear in a curiosity shop?”

“Not here to harm you,” the boy, for she now realized that the would-be assassin was but a boy, croaked.

Lorna eased the knife slightly, allowing him to breathe. “Your blade says otherwise.”

“It’s dangerous on the streets, Miss, especially at night.” Though his voice had yet to break into manhood, the boy spoke with a calmness most men would not in his situation. “My Da, told me never to walk unbladed.”

“Your Da, is a wise man, then.” Lorna spun him against the brick of the nearest building. “What shall I call you, human? And why were you following me?”

“The name’s Davey, Miss, if you please. And my Da is gone this last winter. It’s only me.”

Lorna looked at Davey with a new interest. He had survived on the streets for months on his own. In a cesspool like Revoken, that was no mean feat. “And the answer to my second question?”

“I’ve heard of you, Miss Lorna. They say you’re the best assassin in the guild.”

“Then you should have known better than to sneak up behind me, boy.”

“Aye. It was a mistake. But I was afraid you wouldn’t speak with me, had I not approached when you were alone.”

Lorna couldn’t suppress the smile that came unbidden to her lips. She saw her younger, more naïve self in this boy, human though he was. “A word to the wise, young Davey. Never approach an assassin for any reason unless you are looking to have someone killed or to die yourself.”

“I do want someone killed, Miss.”

“Really?” What to make of this human boy? “Why would you want someone killed, and how would a homeless rat pay for such a thing?” Lorna barely stopped herself from running him through as he lunged toward her, then threw himself to his knees at her feet.

“Teach me. I will serve you the rest of my life if you show me how to repay the man who murdered my father.” Davey said not another word, only watched her, awaiting her reply.

“You know not what you ask, boy.”

Still he regarded her, as she weighed his request. It had been many years since she had taken an apprentice, and never had she apprenticed a human. Yet Davey intrigued her. He didn’t ask her to dispose of his father’s killer. He wished to do so himself. And he was willing to enter a lifetime of servitude to do it. “Ten years.”

“Beg pardon, Miss?”

“You will serve me for ten years. During that time, I will teach you. You will obey my every command without question. You will travel as I travel and live as I live.”

Davey hesitated. “And you will let me kill him?” At Lorna’s nod, he said, “I will serve you gladly, Miss.”

Lorna scowled at him. “One more thing. My name is Lorna. Don’t ever call me Miss again. You caught a break tonight. I have killed men for less.”

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Even would-be assassins need to catch a break. This fantasy is a story I might explore further, if I can ever find the time.