“Are you happy now, Ikashi? I’ve done what they asked me to.”
“You fulfilled your mission then.”
“His body lies lifeless in the bed even as the blood cools on my blade.”
“You have done well.”
“My body grows lifeless as well, Ikashi.”
“Do not say such things. Your life was pledged to this Guild, Nikolai.”
“Pledged? I pledged nothing, Ikashi. My name is not signed in blood on the Guild scroll. No weapons were given to me.”
“All the weapons you may have required were easily found in the dwelling. You were to gain the man’s confidence and glean what information was there to be had.”
“Oh, aye. And I did so.”
“Then return. The elders are eager to hear this news.”
“There is no return for me, Ikashi. The only home I may ever have had is gone now.”
“This is news to me. Has the Hall been destroyed since last I saw it?”
“To hell with the guild and its gods be damned Hall! There was but one place in this wretched world that I would call home, one person I would truly swear myself to and he is dead now! At my hand!”
“You knew what would happen before you came here.”
“I didn’t know I would fall in love. None of you knew it either.”
“You what?”
“I loved him Ikashi. Is that so hard to understand or are you truly that cold?”
“You were forbidden…”
“Forbidden… forbidden how? I can not tell my heart or my soul to whom they will belong. The guild most certainly did not have them.”
“Gods… Nikolai… You’re Genichan. You’re supposed to be distant from your target.”
“I am not Genichan! I never was. I was just some foolish child who was stupid enough to listen to you and your tales.”
“You’re neither stupid nor a child. You’re a soldier.”
“No, Ikashi, I’m not. I never have been. I never will be.”
“Nikolai, please, just come back to the hall. Give your report.”

Ikashi Takimachi gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. It had been three days with no word from Nikolai after that strange conversation. And now he knew why. Now he knew what that last whispered good bye was for. Why it had sounded so sad. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. Opening his eyes again, he opened the door to the bedroom and stepped inside. A few small strides took him across the room to the large bed and its occupants. Fingers flexing on the cording of the sword hilt, he steeled himself and slowly looked down at the sheets. The stains were nearly black, dry now that the blood no longer flowed and he followed them towards the center of the bed to the two figures that lay twined together. The larger of the two was a man. Older, mid to late thirties perhaps, but regal looking if not slightly arrogant, his blond hair in immaculate order, blue eyes half closed as though he was simply lost in thought. Even in death, Baron Damien Maybus was still an imposing figure. But Ikashi paid him no mind, his gaze focusing on the small figure curled against the man’s side. His free hand reached out of its own violation to brush raven locks away from the young face. Then he jerked his hand back, clenching his teeth and turning his head. How? How had he allowed this to happen? Why hadn’t he seen it? Forcing himself to relax, he looked back at the bed.
“Oh Nikolai…” he whispered.
For the first time since he’d met her, the petit young woman looked peaceful and strangely content. Had he not known that if he turned the body there would be the mark of a blade on that pale skin, Ikashi would have sworn she was sleeping, curled up against the man she loved. But this was the final sleep, the one from which no mortal ever returned. There would be no more hand to hand combat practice in the Guild fields, no walks along the rocky beach at noon while debating tactics or talking of dreams. Never again would he get to watch her violet eyes glare at him from behind the wooden quetzhan swords. Nikolai Linden had forsaken her assassin’s life to lie forever in death with her lover. Stepping back from the bed, Ikashi took one last look at the couple. The room had been perfectly sealed, there was no sign of decay and were it not for the stains, the scene was no different than that found in hundreds of other bedrooms. Before he closed the door, Ikashi paused.
“Rest well my friend. Perhaps now you will gain that which you could never find in this world”, he murmured.
Whatever secrets Nikolai had learned from Damien she had subsequently taken to her grave. He sighed, making his leave of the house. With the death of the baron, the Guild no longer had any need to continue their battle with the Trepel and the information would serve no purpose anyways. In the end whether it was her intent or not, Nikolai had stopped both the fighting and her own internal torment. The gods would hopefully grant her and Damien a happy afterlife together. And as for himself Ikashi decided that it was time for him to make a few changes in the name of his old friend. But first… a walk on the beach at noon.