The assassin's apprentice (Private)

[Pseudosym]

Leoden is an assassin, one of several at the castle. He's not the highest in the chain, but he takes his job very seriously. He's fairly tall with a narrow build, good for sneaking around in the dark, but strong enough to strangle a grown man—when necessary. He wears a lot of black.

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Leoden led the boy into the back entrance of the castle. He tried not to think about the sizable sum of money he had just parted with. And for what? he scolded himself. A child? What are you going to do with a child?

As they climbed the spiral staircase up to the tower, Leoden said, "I don’t run a charity." It was the first thing he’d said to the boy since he’d bought him ten minutes earlier. "You're not a slave anymore. You're free to leave, if you wish. If you stay, I’ll feed you, clothe you. Give you a place to sleep. In return, you’ll work for me."

Doing what? snipped that annoying voice in his head. Tipping poison darts? Sharpening daggers? Are you out of your mind?

Frowning, Leoden inserted a key into the door at the top of the stairs. The door clicked open, and he held it for the boy. "Welcome home."

The child followed after him dressed in old ragged clothes that were a bit oversized for him. He was holding his hand wondering what what going to happen to him. He followed the strange tall man into the room which he looked around. “I want food!” The starving child told him or well more like demanded the older man.

The child had no manners whatsoever. He wasn’t raised with manners or having respect to other people. The child glanced up at him smiling as he waited for him to give in to his demands.

[Pseudosym]

"Oh... yes, you must be hungry."

Leoden led the boy to the pantry. It was a small room off the main chamber. The maids always kept it well stocked, despite Leoden's protests. He wasn't a heavy eater, himself.

"We'll make dinner in a little while," he said. "But you can have whatever you need in the meantime." He pulled an apple from a sack on a low shelf and handed it to the boy. "By the way, I'm Leoden. Do you have a name?"

THe child smiled at the food and he took the apple taking a big bite into it. He ate it like a ravenous wolf and he heard him ask his name. “Moira!” The boy told his name with his mouth full. He soon finished the apple and even ate the core and seeds! He smiled and he demanded seconds!

[Pseudosym]

"Moira." Leoden nodded. He watched the boy dig into his snack with ferocity. Poor kid must be starving.

He stood up. Maybe a tour was a good idea? "This is the pantry," he said without ceremony. He waved an arm around the main chamber, where they'd entered. "Entry hall, dining room, library." He pointed across the room where another door stood closed. "My room. Ah, that's off limits. You understand?"

He glanced at the boy in time to see him crunch through the last of the apple core. "Hey, whoa! You don't eat—ugh." Leoden ran a hand through his hair. "All right, listen. You can get yourself one more apple," he said, pointing back toward the pantry. "After that, wait for dinner."

The child glanced at the pantry and then he heard the room was off limits. That made him want to go to that room more! “Understand!” The boy said although he’d check out that room later! Once he ate the entire apple, he took the second apple eating it slower than the rest so he could savor the flavor. “Yummy!” The child smiled, his hands and mouth sticky! He soon finished it and he sat on the floor bored.

[Pseudosym]

"Not there," said Leoden. "Put it in the bin." He pointed into the corner where a bucket stood, holding food scraps and other refuse.

"Now, I've got some chores that need to be done. First of all..." He paused. Could the boy help with that? He shrugged to himself. He didn't see why not.

Leoden hefted a box near the door and brought it to the table. From the box, he pulled out three large bottles containing different colored liquids: one purple, one a shimmering red, and one black as coal. "Don't touch," he cautioned. "These are extremely dangerous. If you can be careful, you can help me." He extracted a pouch from inside his jacket, where he kept tiny vials of various poisons. "Can you be careful?"

The child took the core of the apple and threw it in the trash. “Chores? How boring!” The child responded and he glanced at the shiny liquid. “Wow!” He smiled pointing at it. He heard they were dangerous which he wondered why. “I can be careful!” The child boasted. He saw the pouch he took out which he tried to grab it from the older man’s hands.

[Pseudosym]

"Boring, but necessary." Leoden pulled the pouch quickly out of the child's reach. "Being careful means you do exactly as I say. Otherwise you could get hurt. Now, listen. The alchemist brews these potions for me. They each do something... specific. And if I combine them in different ways, they do... uh, different things." He scratched his head, unsure of how much he could explain to such a small child.

"Once I mix them, they'll be very hard to tell apart," he said. "All the same color. But they do different things. See? So I need to keep them organized, so I know which is which."

He handed the pouch—which was empty at the moment—to Moira, and he pulled a box of tiny, empty vials out from under the table. He took the stopper out of the red potion and dropped some of it into the empty vial, meticulously counting the drops as they fell. "...Three, four, five." Then he added some of the red potion, corked the vial, and handed it to Moira.

"This one goes in the front pocket," he said.

The child held the the little pouch watching him put the weird looking potions inside it. When he heard him tell him to put it in the front pocket, he did as he was told. “Is this okay?” The child asked making sure. He thought this was a very boring task for him. He rather play and he actually wanted to go inside his ‘master’s’ room. He wondered what was in that room, this man seemed rich too! He tried to fix his dirty old clothes, hoping he’d get new clothes, although there was nothing wrong with these clothes besides it needed to be washed.